Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for November 6, 2015

And here is our weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with the announcement of a new Star Trek series, NaNoWriMo tips, Chinese science fiction and a debate whether the classics of SFF are still relevant to today's teenagers.

Speculative fiction in general:

• Publishers Weekly lists its best science fiction and fantasy books of 2015. 
• Jason Sanford discusses the fossilization of science fiction.
• John Scalzi responds to Jason Sanford and points out that today's teenagers aren't reading genre classics, because they have no reason to do so.
• Nate Hoffelder responds to Jason Sanford and John Scalzi and points out that culture and relatability are the reasons why so many teenagers are bouncing off SFF classics.  
• Annalee Flower Horne and Natalie Luhrs discuss the continued relevance of Joanna Rush's How To Suppress Women's Writing.
• Marko Bosscher has some handy tips about how to review Ann Leckie's Imperial Radsch series, especially if you haven't actually read it. 
• Tùng Nguyen explains what young entrepreneurs can learn from The Martian.
• Liu Cixin talks about Chinese science fiction and Chinese reality. 
• Jeremy Hsu feels that Liu Cixin's The Three Body Problem and The Dark Forest are the perfect antidote to optimistic Star Wars futures. 
• Lidia Zuin responds to the solarpunk versus cyberpunk debate.
• Andrea Cremer talks about deadly Steampunk weaponry.
• Syreeta McFadden believes that today's dystopian fiction reflects our reality more than it reflects our anxieties. 
• Theresa Frohock attempts to define the difference between grimdark fantasy and horror. 
• J.L. Gribble discusses the evolution of vampires in popular culture.
• Meredith Borders shares her top ten gothic romances.
• Obsidian Wings talks about misreadings of Ivanhoe.
• Liz Bourke looks at the mythological background of Sarah McCarry's YA fantasy novels.
• Peter Berbegal shares his appreciation for Thomas Ligotti. 
• Andy Browers explains why autumn belongs to Ray Bradbury. 
• Eric Volmers profiles Aviva Bel'Harold.
• Richard Kaufman shares his appreciation for the John Carpenter version of The Thing. 
• Emily Asher-Perrin reevaluates Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.
• Various celebrities recall their first time watching Star Wars.  
• Jon Michaud explores the tangled cultural roots of Dungeons and Dragons.

Comments on the new Star Trek series:

• CBS has announced that they are planning to make a new Star Trek series. 
• James Hunt discusses what he wants from the new Star Trek.
• Angela Watercutter considers it weird that the new Star Trek series isn't tied to the J.J. Abrams movies. 
• Johnny Oleksinski fears that CBS is already ruining the new Star Trek series. 
• Alison Baumgartner claims that the new Star Trek series already threatens to be a flop.
• Luke Holland wonders whether Star Trek still fits into today's TV landscape.
• Cory Barker believes the new Star Trek series is a glimpse into the future of TV.

Awards:

• Voting has opened for the 2015 Goodreads Choice Awards in the science fiction, fantasy and horror categories among others.
• The winners of the inaugural 2015 Canopus Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the 2015 Palmarès Awards have been announced at the Utopiales festival in Nantes, France. 
• Amy Wallace has a summary of the 2015 Hugo Awards controversy.
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Terri Windling talks about making art after trauma. 
• Gary Gibson shares some writing advice.
• Ian Sales talks about writing rules and how-tos and why he feels they are useless. 
• Patrick S. Tomlinson challenges the "Write What You Know" advice.
• James Smythe shares tne things he learned about writing from Stephen King.
• J.S. Collyer is telling writers to get that first draft written. 
• Charlie Jane Anders points out that the difference between a great and a bad story can be tiny. 
• Seth Dickinson talks about worldbuilding.
• Lisa Goldstein talks about overcoming assumptions about history.
• Julie E. Czerneda talks about naming characters, places and things. 
• Julie E. Czerneda also talks about writing series.
• Tony Peak talks about his development as an SF writer. 
• Annie Cardi uses The Martian as an example to explain that even getting rejected by traditional publishing doesn't mean your book won't go on to find a lot of fans and readers.
• Theodora Goss talks about writers and money. 
• Gail Z. Martin talks about book marketing.
• Caitlin Dewey reports about Amazon catfishing.
  

NaNoWriMo advice:

• Percival Constantine offers his answer to the question whether writers should do NaNoWriMo. 
• Cristina Silva shares ten tips for a successful NaNoWriMo.
• Kristian Wilson shares twenty-one books to help you with NaNoWriMo.
• Alice Wright discusses thirty-one things you can expect while doing NaNoWriMo. 
• Dina Gachman shares eight ways to explain NaNoWriMo to your non-writer friends.

Interviews:

• Alexandra Alter interviews Stephen King. 
• Guy Kelly interviews Brian Aldiss.
• Joe Berkovitz interviews Margaret Atwood.
• Michael Cunningham interviews Ursula K. Le Guin. 
• Rachel Cordasco interviews Gail Garriger. 
• Anthony Vicino interviews Linda Nagata. 
• Kristin Centorcelli interviews Emma Newman.
• A.C. Wise interviews E. Saxey.
• Julie E. Czerneda interviews Allyson Johnson.
• Shaun Duke interviews Michael R. Underwood.
• Matt Staggs interviews Daniel José Older.
• Bull Spec interviews Marko Kloos.
• Nick Vivarelli interviews Steven Moffat.
  

Reviews:

• Jay Sherer reviews Star Wars: Aftermath by Chuck Wendig. 
• Ross Johnson reviews Shadow of Empire by Jay Allan.
• Karen Burnham reviews The Apollo Quartet by Ian Sales.
• Ceridwen Christensen reviews Planetfall by Emma Newman.
• James Nicholl reviews Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. 
• Terrence Rafferty reviews The Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King. 
• John Holyoke also reviews The Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King. 
• Justin Hickey reviews Bats of the Republic by Zachary Thomas Dodson.
• Paul Weimer reviews This Gulf of Time and Stars by Julie E. Czerneda.
• Anthony Vicino reviews Swords and Scoundrels by Julia Knight. 
• Heather Rose Jones reviews The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner.
• Bibliotropic reviews The Weight of a Crown by Tavish Kaeden.
• Bibliotropic also reviews Bloodrush by Ben Galley.
• Ron Fortier reviews Gentleman Rogue by Percival Constantine. 
• Angela Blackwell reviews The Builders by Daniel Polansky.
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Bad Apples 2: Six Slices of Halloween Horror.
• Alasdair Wilkins reviews the Doctor Who episode "The Zygon Invasion".
• Dan Martin reviews the entire 9th season of the new Doctor Who to date.
  

Crowdfunding:

• Apex Magazine is having a subscription drive.
• The comic book anthology Visions of Punktown, based on Jeffrey Thomas' Punktown stories, is looking for funding. 
• Lovecraft P.I., a three issue limited comic series by Fritz Striker and D.W. Kann, is looking for funding.
• Occult Generation, a hardboiled SF graphic novel by Ryan Fukada, is looking for funding. 
• Funtastical Bedtime Stories, an anthology edited by Joshua Palmatier, is looking for funding.
• Familiar, a short film by Joshua Gates based on China Miéville's eponymous short story, is looking for funding.  
• Gail Z. Martin shares five things to know when using Kickstarter for publishing.
  

Con reports:

• The controversy surrounding SXSW Interactive in Austin, Texas, continues.
• Alasdair Stuart reports about an audio book panel at Fantasycon in Nottingham, UK. 
• Juliet E. McKenna also shares her experiences at Fantasycon in Nottingham.
• Tim Walters shares photos of a cosplayer dressed as Groot at Wizard World Comic Con in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 

Science and technology:

• Is it possible to terraform a portion of Mars by enclosing it in a dome? 
• What would an alien megastructure look like?
• A new animal species is about to emerge in Eastern North America from the interbreeding of dogs, wolves and coyotes.
• Researchers at the University of Bristol have developed a sort of tractor beam.
• Do we love robots because we hate ourselves? 
• Andrew Zalewski explains why robots have always scared us.

Free online fiction:

• "So Much Cooking" by Naomi Kritzer in Clarkesworld Magazine.
• "Points of Origin" by Marissa K. Lingen at Tor.com. 
• "The Bridegroom" by Amelia Mangan at The Book Smugglers.
• "In the House of the Seven Librarians" by Ellen Klages in Uncanny Magazine.  
• "And the Balance in Blood" by Elizabeth Bear in Uncanny Magazine. 
• "Wooden Feathers" by Ursula Vernon in Uncanny Magazine.
• "Giraffe Cyborg Cleans House!" by Matthew Sanborn Smith in Diabolical Plots.
• "Blood on Beacon Hill" by Russell Nichols in Apex Magazine. 
• "Rescue from Suburbia" by Kyra Halland. 
• "Mediation for the Dead" by Juli D. Revezzo.
• "Rats" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. 
• "Dark Envoy" by Floyd Looney.
• "Running Men", chapter 11 of Second Front by Floyd Looney.
• Chapter 3 of "Just Us Sidekicks", part 90 of The Descendants by Landon Porter. 

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a trailer for the TV adaptation of Garth Ennis' Preacher.
• Watch a trailer for Alice in Wonderland 2: Through the Looking Glass. 
• Watch a trailer for Momentum.
• Watch a trailer for the Russian superhero movie Guardians.
• Watch a trailer for Aurora. 
• Check out these homes inspired by classic science fiction movies.