Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for July 24, 2015

And here is our weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with commentary on Marvel's Ant-Man as well as your regular dose of Hugo discussion and yet more reports from San Diego ComicCon.

Speculative fiction in general:

• Portland Monthly profiles Ursula K. LeGuin.
• Jake Rossen discusses Harlan Ellison's habit to write in bookstore windows. 
• Cecilia D'Anastasio takes a look at the earliest science fiction. 
• Jeff VanderMeer wonders whether science fiction can answer the question "Are we alone in the universe?"
• Jared Shurin points out that the western isn't dead.
• Aliette de Bodard talks about chosen ones, specialness and the narrative of the one. 
• Chuck Wendig replies to a reader who is angry about the inclusion of a gay character in Wendig's Heartland trilogy.
• David B. Coe a.k.a. D.B. Jackson talks about community and genre.  
• Liz Bourke talks about all-white and all-male recommended reading lists and conversations founded on false assumptions.
• Liz Janssen discusses the uses of displeasure using Hogg by Samuel R. Delany as an example.  
• Pat Cadigan offers praise for translators.
• Jonathan McCalmont discusses the issues facing book bloggers. 
• Ella Morton shares a cultural history of capes in SFF and real life.
• Medievalist Michael Livingston analyses how medieval Game of Thrones truly is. 
• Andrei Tarkovsky calls 2001: A Space Odyssey "a phony film with only pretensions to truth".
• Olly Richards remembers Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow and its influence on today's movie making.

Awards:

• The nominations for the 2015 Emmy Awards have been announced. 
• The shortlist for the 2015 British Fantasy Awards has been announced.
  
• The nominees for the 2015 Sidewise Awards have been announced.
• The finalists for the 2015 Baen Fantasy Adventure Awards have been announced.
• The first round of nominations for the Prix Bob Morane have been announced.
• Ghost Train to New Orleans by Mur Lafferty has won the 2015 Manly Wade Wellman Award. 
• The winners of the 2015 Curt Siodmak Awards have been announced.  
• The winner of the 2015 Premio Minotauro has been announced.

Hugo debate:

• Nicole LeBoeuf-Little shares 6 things to know about voting for the Hugo Awards. 
• George R.R. Martin urges everybody to vote for the Hugos. 
• Steve Davidson explains how he is planning to vote for the Hugos.
• D.B. Jackson a.k.a. David B. Coe weighs in on the Hugo controversy.
• Karl-Johan Norén discusses the evolution of fandom and the Hugo Awards.
• Kevin Standalee explains how a WorldCon business meeting works in this handy video.
• Jason Sanford points out that the Tor boycott seems to have had no impact on the company's sales.
  

Comments on Ant-Man:

• Khalil Johnson calls Ant-Man a small but fun blockbuster.
• Dave Smith thinks that Ant-Man may be Marvel's best film yet.
• Kyle Smith claims that Ant-Man is the only superhero movie you need to see this summer. 
• George R.R. Martin is very impressed by Ant-Man. 
• Emily Asher-Perrin calls Ant-Man fun and endearing, but entirely unnecessary.
• Jake Coyle says that Ant-Man feels like a movie wearing clothes that are too big. 
• Andrew Lapin would have preferred to see Edgar Wright's take on Ant-Man instead.
• Nicole Sperling interviews Ant-Man director Peyton Reed.
• Sarah Begley also interviews Peyton Reed.
• Geeks of Doom interviews the cast and crew of Ant-Man.
• Evangeline Lilly talks about playing a female superheroine (sort of) in Ant-Man.
• Esther Bergdahl points out that Ant-Man is less feminist in 2015 than it was in 1963 due to the treatment of Janet Van Dyne a.k.a. the Wasp.
• Alex Abad-Santos explains the post-credits scenes of Ant-Man.
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Lauren Roy shares five and a half ways to cast out writerly doubt.
• Elena Linville shares what Korean dramas can teach about storytelling.
• Chuck Wendig advises writers to think, plan, write, edit, repeat.
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch talks about cover branding.
• Patty Jansen talks about investing in your writing.

Reviews:

• Elena Linville reviews Late Eclipses by Seanan McGuire.
• Andrew Liptak reviews Armada by Ernest Cline. 
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Tortures of the Damned by Hunter Shea. 

Interviews:

• Veronica Scott interviews Kelly Jensen and Jenn Burke.
• Charlee Allden interviews K.S. Augustin.
• Laurel Amberdine interview Mary Robinette Kowal.
  

Crowdfunding:

• The Side of Good, the Side of Evil, a comic book flipbook anthology is looking for funding.
• Comic artist Norm Breyfogle who redesigned Batman among many other things needs some help to recover from a stroke.

Con reports:

• Heidi McDonald and Calvin Reid report about the changing face of San Diego ComicCon.
• Van Jensen shares his experiences of San Diego ComicCon.
• Jacob Kastrenakes talks about the horror that is Hall H at San Diego ComicCon as well as the endless line to get in.
• Nick Eskey also tackles the issues of Hall H and the endless line.
• Malcolm Thorndike Nicholson reports about Ragnarok, an epic fantasy roleplaying event in Lake Cooper, Pennsylvania.
  

Science and technology:

• NASA has discovered the most earth-like planet yet, named Kepler-452b. 
• NASA is also studying windpowered robotic probes for exploring gas giants.
• There is a dark matter bridge between the Milky Way and the Vigo Cluster.

Free online fiction:

• "God Showed Up One Day" by David Bussell
• "Christmas on the Moon" and "Incarceration" by Floyd Looney.
• "The Consciousness Problem" by Mary Robinette Kowal at Lightspeed.
• "E-Male" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
• "The Totally Secret Origin of Foxman: Excerpts from an EPIC Autobiography" by Kelly McCullough at Tor.com.
• "Tell Me About It, Stud", chapter 61 of Musketeer Space by Tansy Rayner Roberts.
• Chapter 5 of "Descendants... in Space", part 87 of The Descendants by Landon Porter. 

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a trailer for Attack on Titan.
• Watch a trailer for Pan.
• Watch a trailer for The Good Dinosaur. 
• George R.R. Martin gets eaten in Sharknado 3.

IMPACT: A Post-Apocalyptic Tale (Book 1 of the IMPACT series) by Matthew Eliot

Release date: June 28, 2015

Subgenre: Post-apocalyptic

About IMPACT:

 

IT'S BEEN NINE MONTHS SINCE THE METEORITES HIT.

They brought both destruction and disease, carrying a mysterious pathogen that has killed untold millions, while turning others into Meteorwraiths -- zombie-like human relics.

Now, the tattered remnants of humanity do their best to survive.

Alice and Adrian

have lost everything except each other. Both barely twelve-years-old, they fight their way across the ruins of Europe, in a desperate search for their family.

James Walscombe

is senior safety specialist trapped inside top-secret US nuclear facility Atlantis with two colleagues. They survived the impact, unscathed. But now, one of them has turned into a psychotic murderer.

Father Paul

struggles to keep his faith in a world resentful towards its gods. His life isn't the one he thought he'd chosen when he entered the seminary, and now new, dark deities are creeping out from the shadows.

Earth's survivors are trying to adapt to the harsh realities of the post-impact world.

But the worst is yet to come.

IMPACT is a post-apocalyptic serial novel. This is book one.

Excerpt:

 

Adrian and Alice

Twelve-year-old Adrian stood shivering in the dark.

With one hand, he held the trembling wrist belonging to the love of his brief, unfortunate life. In the other, a butcher’s knife.

The creature, the meteorwraith, was somewhere close. Too close.

Alice, one year his junior, buried her face in his shoulder.

“Adrian… I’m scared,” she whispered. Her body was shaking. Despite his own fear, he couldn’t help notice the cold tip of her nose against his thin neck. She was so young, so vulnerable. They both were.

“I know. It’s okay. We need to be quiet.” He hoped he sounded brave and confident, capable of defending her. They were words he thought a grown-up might utter – one willing to protect them, perhaps. There had been very few of those since their journey began. Other than Maurice of course, but no help would come from him ever again.

Adrian freed her wrist, and passed an arm around her shoulder, embracing her. She snuggled up against him. How odd his life had become. How unfair. Love, in the form of this delicate, trembling girl with its unfocused promise of happiness, and the shy intimacy that constantly sent waves of indecipherable warmth through his chest, contrasted bleakly with the world of constant threats, horror, and pain which he was currently trying to fight back with the butcher’s knife in his right hand. The opposite worlds of love and death, balanced on his brave, but oh-so-narrow shoulders.

They had entered the cave two days ago. It had seemed safe. Thick woods surrounding it, and a small entrance partly concealed by thorny shrubbery. Its deep, dark recesses would provide some degree of safety. Secrecy and concealment – these were the grim, necessary requirements of survival on post-impact Earth.

“Do you like it here?” he had asked.

Alice had shrugged with a smile. A sad smile. It’ll have to do.

Now, as he tried his best to keep himself and his friend alive, Adrian bitterly considered the ruthlessness with which fate had brought an end to their childhood. What they had received in return was neither the innocence of youth, nor the experience of adulthood.

Something was moving in the shadow ahead. Although meteorwraiths generally travelled in packs, Adrian believed there was only one of them in the cave. He desperately hoped so. His eyes darted from left to right, scanning the dark cave, trying to spot a movement, trying to catch a glimpse of their hunter. Then, the creature spoke.

“Vous etes ici. Je sais,” it hissed. “Viens. Viens ici, mes cheris…”

It was a male. They were the worst. Alice tightened her embrace around him. He tightened his grip around the knife.

The thing moved. They heard the faint crackling of stones and pebbles beneath its feet.

“Viens ici, mes amis…”

Then he saw it. A skinny, hunched silhouette crawling towards them.

Adrian had to think fast."

 

Amazon

 

About Matthew Eliot: 

 

Hello, I'm Matthew Eliot. I'm British, and live in a somewhat surreal Italian town featuring both a medieval castle and a beautiful lake, just north of Rome, with my wife and baby daughter.  

IMPACT, A Post-Apocalyptic Tale, is my first book. I hope you enjoy it. 

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Interview with Cindy Borgne, author of The Vallar Series

1. How did you become a writer? 
I think it comes from having an overactive imagination that needs an outlet. I also enjoy the end result of a long project and enjoy sharing my stories with other people.

2. What inspired you to write Seer of Mars?
I started out wanting to write a story about a character with psychic ability. Then I thought what if he was caught in a situation of being used by someone with power. What if he didn't realize at first, but when he did he was still forced to do things he knew were wrong? What would he do?
  The idea of putting this all on Mars came about when I’d heard about companies building rocket-like planes capable of going into orbit around the Earth. I thought maybe one day it would be corporations that go to the moon or even Mars. I needed conflict, of course, so in my story the corporations were abandoned by Earth. In order to survive, they turn against each other.

3. Tell us a little about your main character
Ian Connors is a psychic who struggles with the visions he sees of the future. His heart is always in the right place even though he makes mistakes. Ian is stubborn, but for the right reasons. He will go against anyone who is trying to make him do the wrong thing, even though he’s only one person against a huge corporation.

4. What was unique about the setting of the book, and how did it enhance or take away from the story?
Mars is a fun and unique setting. There were limitations because every time a character has to go outside they must be in a spacesuit, but as I wrote the story the plot became connected to this situation. I realized this because there were times I thought about moving the story to another location, but whenever I tried to do that it messed up the plot. Some of the dangers the characters experience is the risk of being exposed to the harsh conditions on Mars, such as the sub-zero temperatures and lack of oxygen. What if there is a leak in a spacesuit? How do you treat a wounded character while in a spacesuit? I came up with some things for these problems.
  I also found that as far as anyone knows there is little to no sound on Mars because of the lack of atmosphere. I like to include sound in my description, so I had to work around it whenever the characters were outside. I used “vibrations” instead.

5. What research did you have to perform to back up your story?
There was a good deal of research involved. I studied the book A Traveler’s Guide to Mars. This book has the best detailed description of the various areas of Mars that I could find. I also have a geologist/engineer critique partner that helped me with some of the technical aspects. I studied any map about Mars I could find. Google Mars is a good resource.

6. Why did you choose to write Seer of Mars in first person point-of-view as opposed to say, third person point-of-view?
I wrote some scenes with this story in third person, but I ended up going with first person because I liked the voice better. It sounded more personal. First person helps me get inside the mind of the character. This led to the story being written in a way that lets the reader discover surprises and other things through Ian’s eyes.

7. Which is your favorite scene from your book?
There is a scene where Ian finds out a secret about his boss (Sonny) at the elevator factory. I like it because it throws in a bit of a twist and adds to the characterization of Sonny. It also emphasizes more of the suffering caused by Marscorp.

8. Why Science Fiction?
I like stories that are about something different or unusual, so my writing leans toward that genre. Although, my stories aren't what I would call hard science fiction, they are more speculative and mainly about the characters and how they deal with the situations I get them into – the poor things. But don’t worry, I do cover the technology. I just don’t go overboard with too much info.

9. What do you consider the most challenging about writing a novel?
Getting an idea that is unique and good enough. Plus bringing together all the conflict needed to go novel length. The hardest part of the story to write is the climax and ending. Everything has to come together. All the questions have to be answered. But oddly, I like writing the ending the most. Also I can't always write at the best time of day for me, which in the morning. I have two kids, so I have to write whenever I get the chance and with interruptions.

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About Cindy Borgne:

Cindy is the author of  Seer of Mars and Visionary of Peace,  Books 1 and 2 of The Vallar Series: both are available from Amazon. In her own words:

I tend to have an overactive imagination and the only way to unload is to start writing. My dreams are very vivid and I remember many of them. Part of this is portrayed in one of my characters, a psychic, Ian Connors, who has visions about the present and future. Anything new in science and technology is always an interest to me. I love to keep learning and enjoy research. When it comes to reading, I’m always looking for a unique premise and I strive for the same thing in my books. Although I tend to lean toward speculative fiction, I’m open to other genres as well.

Being able to connect with other writers via blogs or groups has been very motivational for me. In between raising kids, I've worked as freelance editor, web-designer, database programmer and computer instructor. Currently, I work at a hospital as an administrative support coordinator. I'm also a Mom to two great kids.

Mir: shamanworld, Books 1-3 box set by Jessica Rydill

Release date: July 18,2015

Sub-genre: Fantasy, Steampunk, Metaphysical

About Mir: shamanworld Books 1-3

Follow the adventures of young shaman Annat Vasilyevich and her close-knit but eccentric family as they travel between worlds and fight fearsome enemies.
From quirky humour to deep sorrow, watch her as she grows from an awkward teenager to a young woman, trying to master her magical powers, understand her complex sexual nature and avoid getting killed by fanatical medieval lords, foreign wizards and the Inquisition.
Annat is a Wanderer and a shaman in a world where Wanderers are outcast and shamans are viewed with fear and suspicion. Will she survive to adulthood, or will she be killed and exiled to the underworld where shamans continue to travel even after death?

This boxed set includes the first three novels in this fantasy adventure series: Children of the Shaman, The Glass Mountain, and Malarat.

Excerpt:

Annat put on her black Kinsale cloak and looked at herself in the mirror. Out of the shadow of the hood, only one of her eyes shone brilliantly, seeming to reflect a thousand reflections itself. She covered her magical eye with her hand, not an eye-patch, and at once the illusion was gone. Why had they given her that eye, which seemed to work only in certain lights – what message had they been trying to teach Annat, when they put out her human eye and replaced it with one from faerie? And what had they been trying to teach Yuda when they maimed him – that no-one could possess infinite power? 

Casildis had invited Annat to celebrate the worship of the Goddess with other women in the Alyscamps. Though Annat had not stopped believing in her Wanderer faith, she could not deny the existence of the Goddess, for like Govorin, she had met her. She knew the true power of the twofold deity with her dark and light aspects – and Casildis had hinted that there were other avatars of the goddess, which could not be divided into dark or light, good or evil. 

Annat went down the stairs with the cloak rustling about her. She was herself a dark figure, dressed in black, with none of the festive colours that the other women would put on. I am like a shadow, she thought, and it was a thought that partly pleased her. Except for Malchik, she had always thought of her family as being shadow-like in their sombre dress. They were the black and white images of a camera obscura, briefly caught on a luminous surface. She felt that she held the thought cupped inside her, as if her hands held a flower, like a rose or a water-lily. 

The other women waiting in the hall also wore cloaks and hoods, and they were masked – but it was easy to recognise Casildis by her stature and her long fair hair, let down from its usual set. Katya was holding her hand, and for once Annat was amused to see that her mother had persuaded her to put on a dress, a scarlet robe made from velvet. She wore a fox mask and was carrying her favoured doll, Loumi, dangling from her free hand. 

Annat herself did not need to put on a mask because she was not a member of the sect. The Women, as they were known, did not prohibit their gatherings to outsiders, though men were not encouraged to attend every ceremony. Philippe would have been permitted to come, because of his age, but had decided that he was a man and did not wish to be young enough tonight. Casildis whispered this to Annat before they set out.

Amazon

About Jessica Rydill:

Jessica Rydill was born in Bath, England but can trace her ancestry back to Ireland, Prussia and Yorkshire. With Irish Catholic and Jewish roots, she has always been obsessed with religion, myth and folklore, especially that of Eastern Europe. She did a lot of travelling in her twenties, including a spell as a volunteer on a kibbutz, and a visit to Swaziland as a volunteer, nominally. Latterly she preferred going to France, as her books were inspired by a workcamp in Drome in 1980, where she worked on restoring the village church. Two of the villages she visited, Eyzahut and La Garde Adhemar, appear in her first book, Children of the Shaman.

Jessica's novels are a cross-genre mash-up; they embrace fantasy with mediaeval warlords, and steampunk adventure with lightning-wielding shamans. Magic is used to solve daily problems, with unexpected results, and a myriad of underworlds and other dimensions are only a short step away.

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The Great Symmetry by James R. Wells

Release date: July 5, 2015

Subgenre: Hard science fiction

About The Great Symmetry:

You hold in the palm of your hand an object that could change the course of humanity’s future. What do you do? 

Archaeologist Evan McElroy has made a discovery about an extinct alien race. But Evan’s corporate sponsor sees the potential to make huge gains if the new findings are kept completely secret. Step one of their plan is to kill the entire research team - starting with Evan.

As Evan flees for his life, his trajectory awakens a long-buried struggle. The Infoterrorists, who believe all ideas are screaming to be free, have been waiting for the right moment to take on the seven great families that control all of civilization. This could be their opportunity. Or, it could be time for millions to die.

The Great Symmetry is classic science fiction from the great-grandson of pioneering author H.G. Wells.

Excerpt:

 

All eyes were on Axiom.

“Is there any disagreement?” Axiom asked. There was none. “I say that the time is now. I request that each of you engage every resource that you have. We move at the top of the hour in just three minutes, exactly on the millisecond. Hold nothing back. Let every person on Kelter become aware. And on the moons, and the stations. Tell everyone.”

Although he was the generally recognized leader of the infoterrorist network, Axiom had no ability to issue orders. He had no position power at all. He could only request, and have some faith that others would take his request seriously.

Which they did.

The counterterrorism centers on Kelter were on duty every moment of every day. They had run drills for many different situations. They were skilled, they were experienced. They were prepared.

But not for this.

The monitors blocked, and they chased, erasing the message wherever it was found. For the first few seconds, no human directed this activity.

The message was not pre-cleared, and simply so big, and so pervasive, that it was automatically sequestered. Moments later, alarmed humans confirmed the emergency, directing every agent to stop the spread of infoterror.

If a message could be said to have awareness and volition, then it is fair to say that she screamed. Yet it was not from despair or pain. It was a battle cry as she flung herself at the defenses, searching for any crack, no matter how small.

She split and split again, thousands and then millions of times, sending many of herselves prospecting for new avenues in search of freedom.

If some or even most of them perished, it did not matter. In any given setting, she only had to win once, while the defenders had to pitch a perfect game, and then another perfect game, and then thousands more perfect games extending through the digital equivalent of centuries.

Human eyes, ears, and brains were beginning to receive the message. An audacious hack sent the story out through twenty of the top channels in the Spoon Feed as a lead story. It mysteriously found itself on that day’s lesson plan for every grade school student on the planet.

Human brains were beginning to process the story, and add to it. If a message could be said to experience emotion, then it was pride as she saw her children come to life and take wing, then have children themselves.

Analysis. Discussion. Debate. The start of understanding, not only of the immediate information, but of what it could mean for the future.

With parental pride, she recognized in her children, not just the variations on the original message, but also the memetic imperative that powered her forward:

Tell Everyone.

Other humans were panicking as their security, born of the imposed consensus on family-centered facts and values, fell apart before their eyes.

To deny the message was to feed it.

To ignore it was to be irrelevant.

She scanned the field of battle, searching for places not yet overrun, computer networks not yet breached or social circles unmoved. There she directed her energy. She worked together with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

And she sang.

 

SALE PRICE $0.99 THROUGH JULY 21 ONLY, REGULAR PRICE $2.99

 

Amazon  

 

About James R. Wells:

James R. Wells is the great-grandson of pioneering author H.G Wells, and so naturally he grew up loving science fiction. He writes in very personal terms about the kinds of choices that we all may face in the fast-arriving future.

James is a life-long cave explorer and outdoor adventurer, having led expeditions deep into some of North America’s great caves, including the Mammoth system, longest cave in the world.

When he is not writing or with family, James can be found in a cave, on a mountain, or anywhere else outside.

The author lives in northwest Washington state with his wife and his daughter.

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Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for July 17, 2015

And here is our weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with commentary on the new Netflix TV series Sense8 as well as plenty of reports and trailers from San Diego ComicCon.

Speculative fiction in general:

• Andrew Milner tackles the persistent issue of how to define science fiction as well as speculative fiction and scientific romance.
• Shiloh Walker shares the roots of her love for science fiction.  
• Rhonda Mason shares six must-read space operas. 
• Karin L. Cross talks about sex in science fiction.
• Damien Walter talks about the weird western subgenre. 
• C.T. Phipps attempts to explain the appeal of grimdark. 
• muchbooks explains why the popularity of dystopian YA and YA fantasy has been eclipsed by realistic YA.  
• Nina Allan tackles the problematic canon of science fiction and how it often erases women.
• Natalie Luhrs points out the problem of popular white male authors recommending and supporting only other white male authors.
• Justin Howe tells people to broaden their reading horizons and read something other than just white men once in a while. 
• Sherelle Jacobs discusses the weird worlds of African science fiction. 
• James Bridle also talks about African science fiction.
• N.K. Jemisin discusses the unfortunate implications of many post-apocalyptic stories.
• Nicolette Barischoff talks about the portrayal of disability in SFF. 
• Jason Sanford analyses the impact of the Tor boycott proposed by some sad puppy activists and finds that it has none.
• Gregory Benford takes a look at Pluto as portrayed in science fiction.
• Paolo Bacigalupi explains how science fiction can make people care about climate change.
• Jim Kakalios talsk about the physics behind Ant-Man. 
• The Radio Times takes a look at the science behind Doctor Who.
• William Shatner attempts to explain why Star Trek has become so popular.
• Tai Weiland takes a look at upcoming space opera TV shows.
• Lauren Davis praises the new TV show The Expanse.
• Fade Manley praises Sense8. 
• Joshua Rothman calls Sense8 "sympathetic science fiction".
• Foz Meadows talks about the portrayal of sex in Sense8. 
• Carinah Townes explains why the diverse cast of Sense8 may help to boost Netflix's audience among demographics other than straight white men.
• Athena Andreadis discusses the feral orphans and chosen families of Mad Max: Fury Road. 
• The meaning of life according to Joss Whedon.
• The head of F.W. Murnau, director of the legendary silent vampire film Nosferatu, was stolen from his grave. A possible motive is occultism.  
• A spokesperson of the Welsh government responded in Klingon to a question about UFO sightings in Wales.

Awards:

• The nominees for the 2015 Endeavour Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the 2014 Shirley Jackson Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the Prometheus Award for libertarian science fiction have been announced.
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Rebecca Roland explains why she writes female SFF lead characters. 
• N.P. Martin talks about morally grey characters.
• Chris Winkle explains why social justice is intrinsic to storytelling.
• Elena Linville talks about writing what hurts.
• Charles Stross talks about the unglamourous reality of being a professional writer. 
• Juliet E. McKenna discusses the many pitfalls of the online life of authors.
• James R. Wells talks about finding your community as a self-published author. 

Reviews:

• Victoria Hooper reviews Of Noble Family by Mary Robinette Kowal.
• Paul Weimer reviews the Morgaine Cycle by C.J. Cherryh. 
• Paul Weimer also reviews Time Salvager by Wesley Chu.
• Elena Linville reviews Rubberman's Cage by Joseph Picard. 
• Floyd Looney reviews Archer of Venus by James Palmer. 
• Robin Shantz reviews Where by Kit Reed.
• Justin Howe reviews A Day in Deep Freeze by Lisa Shapter. 
• Percival Constantine reviews 5000 Words per Hour by Chris Fox.
• Bradford Bates reviews the movie Ex Machina.
  

Interviews:

• Lucy Smee interviews Lois McMaster Bujold.
• This is Writing interview Jennifer Foehner Wells.
  

Crowdfunding:

• Dust!, a post-apocalyptic graphic novel from France by Pymm and Shiru Deku, is looking for funding.
• Apex Publications is running a book sale with all proceeds going to Michelle Scalise, the wife of author Tom Piccirilli who recently died of cancer.
  

Con reports:

• Tor.com offers a summary of almost everything that happened at San Diego ComicCon.
• Regan Morris interviews female fans at San Diego ComicCon. 
• CNET has a gallery of cosplay photos from San Diego ComicCon.
• io9 also has a gallery of cosplay photos from San Diego ComicCon. 
• Chuck Wendig shares his experiences at San Diego ComicCon.
• Actor Jesse Eisenberg, who plays Lex Luthor in Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, outraged fans by comparing ComicCon to genocide.
• Crystal Huff talks about the campaign to bring WorldCon 2017 to Helsinki.

Science and technology:

• See photos the New Horizons probe took of Pluto and its moon Charon.
• New Horizons offers many new insights into the natures of Pluto and Charon. 
• Pluto is geologically active, though it's unknown why.
• Dennis Overbye points out that we will soon be entering an era where no human being alive has been to the moon. 

Free online fiction:

• "Kindred Souls" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
• "STS Classified" and "Gills" by Floyd Looney.
• "Aurora" by H. Lynn Keith. 
• "The Bottle" by A.S. Warwick.
• "The Dusty Hat" by China Miéville at Salvage. 
• "In the Cave of Delicate Singers" by Lucy Taylor at Tor.com 
• "The Space Pirates of World War III" by P.W. Singer and August Cole at Terraform. 
• "A Multiverse Love Story" by Jacob Drud at AE SciFi.
• "Judge, Jury and Executioner", Part 60 of Musketeer Space by Tansy Rayner Roberts.
• Chapter 4 of "Descendants... in Space", part 87 of The Descendants by Landon Porter. 

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a trailer for series 9 of Doctor Who. 
• Watch a trailer for Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice.
• Watch a feature about the making of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  
• Watch a trailer for Air.
• Watch a trailer for season 6 of The Walking Dead. 
• Watch a trailer for Suicide Squad. 
• Watch a trailer for Fantastic Four.
• Watch a trailer for The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
• Watch a trailer for the TV series Ash versus the Evil Dead.
• Watch a trailer for the TV series The Shannara Chronicles, based on the novels by Terry Brooks.
  
• Watch a trailer for the new TV series The Expanse (only works in the US apparently). 
• Watch a trailer for a fictional 1950s adaptation of Marvel's The Avengers, featuring Diana Rigg as Black Widow.
  

Guest post by Amy Kuivalainen: Urban Fantasy - what I know for sure

 Urban Fantasy - What I Know For Sure 

This year I have been lucky enough to publish my books Cry of the Firebird, an urban fantasy novel with heavy Nordic and Russian Fairytale influences and as of June The Eagle Key, an original fairy tale about a key that can open the heart of anything it touches.

I have written eight novels but I like to look at myself as just gaining momentum as a writer. Urban fantasy is my stomping ground and there are three things that I have discovered are true no matter how strange the story gets. 

     

1. Real life finds a way in

Speculative fiction writers are often met with confusion in certain writing circles. I know from personal experience when I have told people I write urban fantasy the response has been a cool, “Oh, you write all that paranormal stuff not actually about real life,” like somehow if you aren’t writing literature you aren’t capable of drawing on real experiences or human suffering. We get a glimpse at worlds that such people could never imagine or experience so we can smile politely and not take it too personally. It is true that Speculative Fiction writers get comfortable working side by side with monsters and magic but that doesn’t mean real life doesn’t wriggle its way in.

            As an urban fantasy writer I am constantly trying to find the balance between the real world and the supernatural demi-monde operating behind it. Sometimes adding the magical into the mundane is a planned action. Sometimes aspects of real life and experience bleed in unexpectedly.

            Being born in Australia but raised as a Finn I have some serious displacement issues. When I first started writing my Firebird Fairytales Trilogy I wanted a chance to explore the Finnish side of my heritage. What I didn’t realise until it was done was that I ended up exploring all of my displacement issues at the same time. My protagonist, Anya, is half Finnish, half Russian, raised on a farm that sits on the crossroads between Karelia and Russia as well as the Finnish and Russian Otherworld. That’s three layers of being neither one nor the other and fitting in nowhere. This hunger for belonging, of finding a family, plays a large role when trying to understand Anya’s desires and motivations. In exploring my own experiences it allowed me to add a personal depth to Anya’s character.  Don’t be fooled folks, pieces of you will always find ways in and it’s not a bad thing.

2. Research Properly 

The majority of the Firebird Fairytales Trilogy takes place in various parts of Europe, most of which I haven’t had the privilege of visiting. So I researched my butt off. Google Maps, street views, tourist websites, local restaurants closest to where my characters were staying, anything I could lay my hands on. Much of what I researched didn’t make it into the books but I needed to do it in order to get the vibe of the place. You have to be able to know the city the way your character knows the city. Writing fantasy means we can add in the weird but we need to be able to know where the good places are in order to do it convincingly.

            A good example of this is Ben Aaronovitch’s Peter Grant series. He knows London like the back of his hand and because of that he can write about the spirit, history and geography of the city with confidence. By the end of researching I could tell you all about the flora and fauna of Nordic forests, esoteric folklore, shamanic practices and where the best place to buy dumplings in Budapest.

            In the fantasy sections you can go as weird and wonderful as you like but when traipsing about reality stick to the facts because if you don’t you can make damn sure your readers will pull you up on it.

           

3. Focus on Your Vision

People will either get what you do or they won’t. Everyone has a niche that they are trying to carve out and luckily the world is big enough that hopefully you will find readers who like that niche too. In my days of trying to get Cry of the Firebird traditionally published I often heard the same story of “we like it but can you write it for YA? YA is selling really well right now” or “your references are really obscure.” When all was said and done it basically boiled down to my marketability. That’s okay, the traditional publishers are a business and they have to weigh up the risk. Did it mean I was going to rewrite and compromise my whole vision because I wasn’t appealing to the Twilight crowd? God no and as a writer you shouldn’t either. My journey to get published was not the one I had first imagined but I can still hold my paperback every night in my hands and be proud of it. I’m finding more readers every day and the feedback I hear the most is how much they like the obscure references because it’s opened them up to myths and fairytales they never knew existed.

            Stay true to your story, don’t compromise and you will end up with something unique that readers will enjoy and you can be proud of.  

About Amy Kuivalainen:

I am a Finnish Australian writer that is obsessed with magical wardrobes, doors, auroras and burial mounds that might offer me a way into another realm. Until then, I will write about fairytales, monsters, magic and mythology because that's the next best thing. I am the proud author of CRY OF THE FIREBIRD (2014) and it's soon to be released sequel as well as THE EAGLE KEY (2015), an original fairytale for adults.

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