It's time for the weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with yet more best of 2018 lists, Outlander, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Aquaman, Bumblebee, Mortal Engines, Bird Box, The Dead Room and much more.
Speculative fiction in general:
- Princess Weekes offers a very brief timeline of women writers of science fiction and fantasy.
- Paul Di Filippo takes a look at how science fiction tackled the events of 2018.
- Font Folly explains why science fiction is about more than just ideas.
- Cody Goodfellow is not happy with the current state of epic fantasy.
- Roberto de Sousa Causo reports about science fiction in Brazil.
- Joe M. McDermott wonders why SFF worldbuilding so rarely deals with food and the labour required to produce it.
- James Davis Nicoll shares six science fictional means of transportation to avoid.
- Iwan Morus explains how real life experiments inspired Frankenstein.
- David Hambling muses whether malnutrition and hypothermia caused Ebenezer Scrooge's hallucinations in A Christmas Carol.
- John Hertz shares his appreciation for the works of Theodore Sturgeon.
- Ruth Graham asks why there are so many bestselling books with "fuck" in the title right now.
- Scientist and SFF author Larry Eisenberg has died aged 99.
Best of 2018 lists:
- Andrew Liptak shares his favourite science fiction and fantasy books of 2018.
- The Barnes & Noble bloggers share their favourite science fiction and fantasy books of 2018.
- The Fantasty Literature reviewers share their favourite science fiction and fantasy books of 2018.
- The SFF World reviewers shares their favourite science fiction books of 2018.
- Megan McCluskey shares the ten best fantasy books of 2018.
- Vicki Who Reads shares the best hidden gems and underappreciated YA fantasy novels of 2018.
- James Whitbrook and Charles Pulliam-Moore share the best comics of 2018.
- iO9 shares the best, worst and most unforgettable movie moments of 2018.
- iO9 shares the ten best and worst speculative TV shows of 2018.
- Audible shares the best science fiction and fantasy audiobooks of 2018.
- iO9 shares the most tragic fictional deaths of 2018.
Film and TV:
- Ryan D'Agostino and Eleanor Hildenbrand revisit the 1981 science fiction film Brainstorm and its troubled production history.
- Mark Harrison revisits the 1998 fantasy film Pleasantville on its 20th anniversary.
- Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the 1990 comic strip crime movie Dick Tracy.
- Lucy Mangan calls the new Watership Down tame, drab and deeply unsatisfying.
- Renaldo Matadeen explains the season 2 finale of Runaways.
- Vivian Kane shares her thoughts on the Timeless Christmas Special and series finale.
- Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Counterpart.
- Eric Francisco reports that we're not going to see He-Man in the new She-Ra and the Princesses of Power anytime soon.
- Kaila Hale-Stern talks about the fact that way too many superhero movies have forgettable villains.
- The AV Club reviewers rank all seasons of the Netflix Marvel TV series.
- Richard Newby discusses the strange appeal of Christmas horror.
- Kerry Truong shares her thoughts on the Korean TV drama W - Two Worlds.
- Sean O'Grady declares that British television was more diverse and representative than ever in 2018.
- Former Doctor Who companion Karen Gillan talks about the massive pushback against a female Doctor and how Jodie Whittaker defied it.
- Paul Cornell imagines Doctor Who Christmas specials for previous Doctors that never were.
- Callum Gunn reports that a recent Star Wars comic has finally revealed the identity of Anakin Skywalker's father (spoilers, obviously).
- Leah Schnelbach shares six intergalactic holiday specials to watch.
- Actor Donald Moffat, who appeared in The Thing, Logan's Run, The Right Stuff, Night Gallery and many others , has died aged 87.
- Actor, director and writer Peter Masterson, who appeared in The Stepford Wives and The Exorcist among others, has died aged 84.
Comments on Aquaman:
- Kaila Hale-Stern calls Aquaman a wildly adventurous, if predictable romp under the sea.
- Richard Lawson calls Aquaman surprisingly jolly.
- Gary Westfahl calls Aquaman an overall successful superhero film.
- Lifelong Aquaman fan Glen Weldon is not happy that Jason Momoa portrays the hero as a surfer dude in the current movie.
- Wesley Morris is quite impressed with the physical presence of Jason Momoa in Aquaman, but not so much with the movie itself.
- Brandon Zachary talks about the fight to bring a much maligned character like Aquaman to the big screen.
- Renaldo Matadeen finds a big plothole in Aquaman.
- Renaldo Matadeen also explains the three tridents of Atlantis and the role they play in Aquaman.
- Meanwhile, Kevin Melrose explains the seven kingdoms of Atlantis as seen in Aquaman.
- Jason Cohen reports that Mera as played by Amber Heard is more than just a sidekick and love interest in Aquaman.
- Laura Bradley explains how Julie Andrews came to make a very unusual cameo experience in Aquaman.
- Kate Gardner is annoyed with some dated and sexist attempts to market Aquaman to women, since apparently no one can conceive that women might actually like superhero movies.
- Rachel Leishman shares some Twitter reactions to Aquaman.
- Germain Lussier interviews James Wan, director of Aquaman.
- Vivian Kane ranks the hairstyles of Aquaman.
Comments on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse:
- Clarisse Loughrey calls Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse a comic book come to life.
- Renaldo Matadeen declares that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse shows why we need more animated superhero movies.
- Narayan Liu explains the surprise cameos in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Comments on Bumblebee:
- Glenn Kenny is stunned that Bumblebee is a Transformers movie that's actually good.
- Scott Tobias declares that Bumblebee soars over the low expectations engendered by a Transformers film these days.
- Geoffrey Macnab calls Bumblebee a considerable upgrade on previous Transformers films.
- Jesse Hassenger cautions that even though Bumblebee is the best Transformers movie to date that doesn't necessarily mean it's good.
- Josh Bell calls Bumblebee a refreshing reset of the Transformers series.
- Renaldo Matadeen declares that Bumblebee rights every wrong of the Michael Bay Transformers films.
- Ian Cardona declares that the opening scene of Bumblebee is exactly what Transformer fans have always wanted to see on the big screen.
- Ian Cardona explains how Bumblebee lost the ability to speak.
- Kevin Melrose answers the question whether Bumblebee has a post-credits scene.
- Renaldo Matadeen declares that Bumblebee's post-credit sequence hints at the future of the Transformers franchise.
- Germain Lussier interviews Christina Hodson, screenwriter of Bumblebee.
- Brandon Zachary also interviews Christina Hodson, screenwriter of Bumblebee.
Comments on Outlander:
- Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Outlander.
- Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Outlander.
- Natalie Zutter traces the evolution of Outlander's opening theme, "The Skye Boat Song" as arranged by Bear McCreary.
Comments on Bird Box:
- The Little Red Reviewer shares her thoughts on the post-apocalyptic horror movie Bird Box.
- Geoffrey Macnab declares that Bird Box doesn't do anything new with the horror genre.
- Renaldo Matadeen declares that Bird Box would have worked better as a TV series and could have been Netflix's answer to The Walking Dead.
- Renaldo Matadeen also calls Bird Box this decade's The Happening, only with a better villain.
- Germain Lussier discusses Bird Box's take on motherhood.
- Kate Gardner declares that Bird Box rounds out a year of horror movies about mothers.
- Waylon Jordan interviews Josh Malerman, author of the novel upon which Bird Box is based.
Comments on The Dead Room:
- Juliette Harrison calls The Dead Room a tight, traditional ghost story.
- Pat Stacey calls The Dead Room the horror story you'll want to watch this Christmas.
- Adam Bloodworth calls The Dead Room the ghostly love story we've all been hankering for this Christmas.
Comments on Mortal Engines:
- Renaldo Matadeen calls the widely panned Mortal Engines the most political movie of 2018.
- Renaldo Matadeen also declares that the biggest influences in Mortal Engines come from Star Wars.
Awards:
- Mike Glyer reports that four winners have refused Parsec Awards due to a highly controversial winner.
- Podern Times has more background on the Parsec Awards issue.
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- Charissa Weaks shares some tips for infusing emotion into fiction.
- Jeff Zafaris shares four writing techniques to borrow from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.
- J. Kathleen Cheney shares five tips to improve your next book cover.
- Judy Penz Sheluk shares some tips for setting up a multi-author bookstore event.
- The Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers is having a sale on its writing courses.
Interviews:
- Locus interviews Becky Chambers.
- Erin Bartnett interviews Michael Chabon.
- Ari Shapiro interviews N.K. Jemisin.
- Christian A. Coleman interviews S.A. Chakraborty.
- Mallory Yu interviews Taneka Stotts.
- The Qwillery interviews Clay Sanger.
- Deanna Destito interviews Scott Duvall.
Reviews:
- James Davis Nicoll reviews Finders by Melissa Scott.
- James Davis Nicoll reviews The Prisoner of Limnos by Lois McMaster Bujold.
- Roisin O'Connor reviews Fire and Blood by George R.R. Martin.
- Colleen Mondor reviews A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney.
- Steven Poore reviews Chasing Embers by James Bennett.
- Liz Bourke reviews Salvation's Fire by Justina Robson.
- Liz Bourke reviews Hidden Sun by Jaine Fenn.
- Liz Bourke reviews Vigilance by Robert Jackson Bennett.
- Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay reviews The Black God's Drums by P. Djèlí Clark.
- Gary K. Wolfe reviews Rosewater by Tade Thompson.
- The Fantasy Café reviews The Mortal Word by Genevieve Cogman.
- Paul Di Filippo reviews Hazards of Time Travel by Joyce Carol Oates.
- Jana Nyman and Tadiana Jones review European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman by Theodora Goss.
- Paul Weimer reviews Implanted by Lauren C. Teffeau.
- Ian Mond reviews Chercher La Femme by L. Timmel Duchamp.
- Amy Goldschlager reviews Julia Unbound by Catherine Egan.
- A.M. Justice reviews Between the Shade and the Shadow by Coleman Alexander.
- J.C. Kang reviews Web of Eyes by Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle.
- Allison Meier reviews Typeset in the Future - Typography and Design in Science Fiction Movies by Dave Addey.
Classics reviews:
- Beneath the Stains of Time revisits Ross Rocklynne's 1941 science fiction mystery Time Wants a Skeleton.
- Rich Horton revisits Fritz Leiber's 1953 science fiction novel The Green Millennium.
- Timothy the Talking Cat revisits Walter M. Miller's 1959 post-apocalyptic novel A Canticle for Leibowitz in his inimitable style.
- Judith Tarr revisits Andre Norton's 1962 science fiction novel Eye of the Monster.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits The Dragon, a 1963 fantasy novel by Jane Gaskell.
- Ron Kitchin revisits Kurt Vonnegut's 1969 science fiction novel Slaughterhouse Five.
- Mark Yon revisits Arthur C. Clarke's 1979 science fiction novel The Fountains of Paradise.
- Gerard Saylor revisits F. Paul Wilson's 1984 Repairman Jack novel The Tomb.
- Casual Debris revisits Alan Dean Foster's 1985 science fiction novel Sentenced to Prism.
Crowdfunding:
Con and event reports:
- Angie Wenham weighs in regarding the situation with Nine Worlds Geek Fest in London, UK.
- Nine World Geek Fest shares a status update via its Twitter account.
- Corey Kilgannon reports about the New York City chapter of the Society for Creative Anachronism and their events.
- Paul Cornell talks about organising the Fairford Festival of Fiction in Fairford, UK.
- Stuart Starosta reports about a visit to the Tolkien - Maker of Middle Earth exhibition at the Bodleian Library in Oxford, UK.
- Locus reports about a massive multi-author Halloween signing at Forbidden Planet in London, UK.
- James Tate Hill reports about two llamas paying a visit to Scuppernong Books in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Science and technology:
- Associated Press reports that the hole in the Soyuz capsule was drilled from the inside, though the culprit is still unknown.
- David Rothery explains why it might be snowing on Mars this Christmas.
- Joe Palca asks what comes next for tiny satellites.
- Paul Rincon shares the ten biggest science stories of 2018.
- Helen Briggs reports that ten new plant species have been found in 2018.
- The BBC reports that the remains of a horse still wearing a harness have been found at a villa in Pompeii.
Free online fiction:
- "The Counsellor Crow" by Karen Lord in Lightspeed.
- "Under the Sea of Stars" by Seanan McGuire in Lightspeed.
- "I, Cthulhu, or, What’s A Tentacle-Faced Thing Like Me Doing In A Sunken City Like This (Latitude 47° 9’ S, Longitude 126° 43’ W)?" by Neil Gaiman at Tor.com.
- "Two Year Man" by Kelly Robson in Clarkesworld.
- "Master Zhao: The Tale of an Ordinary Time Traveler" by Zhang Ran, translated by Andy dudak in Clarkesworld.
- "When We Find Our Voices" by Eleanna Castroianni in Clarkesworld.
- "Russula's Wake" by Kay Chronister in The Dark.
- "Sequestration; Vitrification" by Allison Jamieson-Lucy in Strange Horizons.
- "McEdifice: Ghosts of X-Mas Past" by Timothy T. Cat and Straw Puppy.
Odds and ends:
- Watch a trailer for Black Mirror: Bandersnatch.
- Watch a teaser for Doom Patrol.
- Watch a teaser for the Doctor Who New Year's Special.
- Watch a trailer for Us.
- Watch a trailer for The Kid Who Would Be King.
- See the Urinals of the Justice League.
- Watch a Star Trek parody from the Stephen Colbert Show.
- Watch the first ever film version of Frankenstein from 1910.
