Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for January 2, 2015

I hope everybody had - as we say here in Germany - a good slide into the new year. Some things have changed, including here at the Speculative Fiction Showcase. However, also in 2015 we will continue to bring our weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web:

Speculative fiction in general:

• The New Yorker profiles Michael Moorcock.
• At Wired, Naomi Klein wonders whether the popularity of dystopian fiction isn't a warning sign that many people now consider environmental collapse inevitable.
• At io9, Anne Leonard explains why the best fantasy stories include mundane everyday elements.
• Jim C. Hines responds to certain people upset by two women holding hands in a romantic way in the final episode of Legends of Korra.
• K.S. Augustin writes about emotions, science fiction and science fiction romance.
• Christina Vasilevski explains how science fiction and fantasy authors made her a better feminist.
• At the Guardian, Nirpal Dhaliwal explain how science fiction movies embraced Hinduism without even noticing. 
• Max Gladstone explains why Die Hard is a fairy tale.
• Rachel Cordasco looks at literary moments in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
• Claire Ryan talks about the swordplay in the Lord of the Rings movies.
• Claire Ryan also praises the swordfights in The Princess Bride. 
• Gene Bathurst remembers Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth, a post-apocalyptic Jack Kirby comic from the 1970s.
• Jo Walton explains how getting an e-reader changed her reading habits. 

Best of 2014 lists:

• The staff of SciFi365 choose their best science fiction books of 2014. 
• Ana Grilo and Thea James of The Book Smugglers share their favourite 2014 books.
• At the SF Signal Mind Meld, several writers, readers and fans share their favourite genre works of 2014.
• The staff of io9 share their favourite science fiction and fantasy books of 2014.
• The Qwillery chose their best books of 2014.
  
• blastr shares 14 groundbreaking 2014 moments for women in SF.
• At The Book Smugglers, Rochita Loenen-Ruiz discusses movements in the speculative fiction world in the year 2014.
• Harry Manners shares his favourite reads of 2014.
• S. Lee Benedict shares his favourite books of 2014.
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• In his New Worlds of Publishing series, Dean Wesley Smith talks about how failure must be an option.
• Dean Wesley Smith also talks about setting goals you can control. 
• Charles Stross explains what short stories are good for.
• Nancy Fulda shares some tips for getting your characters out of difficult situations.
• Patty Jansen introduces her character Cory Wilson. 
• Mark Edwards shares the 11 ingredients of a sizzling book description.
• Jake Kerr discusses Kindle Unlimited. 

Interviews:

• C.N. Crawford interviews Sever Bronny.
• Nicky Peacock interviews Margaret Skea.
• Reedsy interviews the author collective Triskele Books.
• Redditors interviewed Margaret Atwood. Some highlights are here.

Reviews:

• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Extinction Horizon by Nicholas Sansbury Smith. 
• Judy Goodwin reviews Soul Meaning by A.D. Starrling. 
• Paul Weimer reviews Hot Lead, Cold Iron by Ari Marmell.
• C.P.D. Harris reviews The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.
• John O.E. Stevens shares a philippic, not a review about The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.
• Stella Wilkinson shares her appreciation for the Constantine TV series.
• Charlie Jane Anders reviews the 2014 Doctor Who Christmas Special.
• Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts about the 2012 movie Snow White and The Huntsman. 

Crowdfunding:

• Flourescence, a four part YA SF series by P. Anastasia, is looking for funding.

Con reports:

• Sci-Fi Journal has a video report from Rhode Island Comic Con.

Science and technology:

• More on NASA's plans to establish a floating colony on Venus.
• Discovery takes a look at the science behind Interstellar.
• Wired wonders how many Gs the Millennium Falcon pulled in those daring maneouvres during the asteroid chase in The Empire Strikes Back. 
• At io9, George Dvorsky explains how humanity could conquer space without rockets.
• A long overlooked dwarf galaxy had finally been discovered.
  
• 13 of the most amazing things discovered in space this year.
• ESA shares some stunning timelapse videos of Earth taken by German astronaut Alexander Gerst aboard the International Space Station.
• At Singularity Hub, Jason Dunn wonders about the possibility of the 3D-printed moonbase. 
• Singularity Hub also explains how technology brought us closer to the future in 2014.
• Chinese researchers have developed a smart window that tints and powers itself.
• The first bike lane paved with solar cells was unveiled in the Netherlands.
• The hacker organisation Chaos Computer Club have managed to copy the fingerprint of German secretary of defense Ursula von der Leyen using only a photo.
  

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a robot orchestra perform the Doctor Who theme.
• An 84-year-old metalworker has created a Death Star firepit for his grandchildren.