And here is our weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with best SFF of 2015 lists, lots of Star Wars discussion, the first trailer for Captain America: Civil War, comments on The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2, the TV show The Expanse and the streaming video shows Jessica Jones and The Man in the High Castle (including a controversy about its ad campaign) as well as the ongoing controversery about the World Fantasy Award trophy.
Speculative fiction in general:
- Largehearted Boy collects the various "Best of 2015" book lists.
- Damien Walter points out that literature vs. genre is a battle where both sides lose.
- The Geek's Guide to the Galaxy points out that science fiction and fantasy have infiltrated the literary mainstream by now.
- Garland Grey offers a takedown of a certain type of literary novel by a certain kind of older male author.
- David Gerrold talks about the soul of science fiction and what science fiction actually is.
- Steve Davidson responds to Kim Stanley Robinson's declaration that science fiction should no longer feature any interstellar travel at all and focus solely on Earth.
- Ian Sales shares some thoughts about the space opera subgenre.
- The participants of this week's SF Signal Mind Meld share which books have inspired them most.
- Joel Cunningham shares his enthusiasm for Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples.
- Jackie Hatten shares five books that give women their apocalyptic due.
- Kelly Jensen talks about the double standard in YA literature.
- Isabel Yap talks about how young people from non-western cultures will nonetheless write only American protagonists, because that's all they see in popular culture.
- Haris A. Durrani explains why science fiction and fantasy matter to postcolonial life.
- Sarah Avery attempts to explain why massive books and lengthy series are so popular in science fiction and fantasy.
- Sady Doyle talks about Mary Shelley and Frankenstein.
- Howard Andrew Jones offers a reappreciation of The People of the Black Circle by Robert E. Howard.
- John De Nardo talks about dinosaurs in science fiction.
- Allanah Faherty shares six reasons why Into the Badlands deserves to be your new favourite TV show.
- Robin Burks takes a look back at recent dystopian and post-apocalyptic films.
- Sam Kriss argues that Spectre, the latest James Bond movie, takes place within the Cthulhu mythos.
- Jim C. Hines shares his appreciation for Jupiter Ascending.
- S.L. Huang explains how she fell back in love with Star Wars.
- Michael J. Martinez shares his reappreciation of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.
- Germain Lussier points out everything that went wrong with Star Wars: Attack of the Clones.
- Sean Hutchinson explores the giant Star Wars/Marvel feedback loop.
- Gavia Baker-Whitelaw wonders what the trailer for Captain America: Civil War says about the relationship between Steve Roger and Tony Stark.
- A Reddit user believes they have figured out the Doctor's real name using mathematics.
- Jason Davis discusses the legacy of Ray Harryhausen.
Comments on Jessica Jones:
- Henry Hanks calls Jessica Jones a superhero show for adults.
- David Sims praises the sublime darkness of Jessica Jones.
- Kevin Fitzpatrick sees Jessica Jones as a superhero horror series.
- Courtney Lindley finds some parallels between Jessica Jones and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
- Tansy Rayner Roberts reviews the first two episodes of Jessica Jones.
- Liz Bourke shares some initial thoughts upon finishing Jessica Jones.
- Mike Hale shares his thoughts on Jessica Jones.
- Robert Jackson Bennett shares his thoughts on Jessica Jones.
- Rudie Obias shares ten facts about Jessica Jones.
- Jason Serafino explains how Jessica Jones ties into Daredevil, Iron Fist and the larger Marvel Universe.
- Jeff Somers points out that the main problem with all the Marvel shared universe films and series is the same, namely why don't they just call the Avengers.
- Libby Hill interviews Melissa Rosenberg, showrunner of Jessica Jones.
Comments on The Expanse:
- Andrew Liptak describes the new TV shows The Expanse as a shining example how to adapt a book for television.
- David Brooke shares ten reasons why The Expanse is must-watch TV.
- Watch the first episode of The Expanse online.
Comments on The Man in the High Castle:
- Willa Paskin believes that The Man in the High Castle is the second best show Amazon ever made.
- Laura Miller shares her thoughts on The Man in the High Castle.
- James Poniewozik shares his thoughts on The Man in the High Castle.
- Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on The Man in the High Castle.
- Paul Levinson also discusses the meta elements in The Man in the High Castle.
- Charlie Jane Anders points out that it's a freaking miracle we got a series based on The Man in the High Castle at all.
- Jeremy Egner takes a look at the production design of The Man in the High Castle.
- Patrick Kulp reports about reactions to Amazon's advertising campaign for The Man in the High Castle, which involves plastering both its homepage and New York subway cars with Nazi and Imperial Japanese imagery.
- Cora Buhlert also shares some thoughts on Amazon's problematic ad campaign for The Man in the High Castle.
- Paul Levinson also weighs in on Amazon's ad campaign for The Man in the High Castle.
- John Chandler reports that Amazon quickly pulled the ads following backlash.
- Ryan Britt offers a primer on the Philip K. Dick novel on which The Man in the High Castle is based.
- Andrew Liptak also takes a look at Philip K. Dick's original novel.
- Eric Grundhauser takes a look at the various covers the novel has had over the years.
Comments on The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2:
- Emily Yahr shares five things the Hunger Games franchise brought to the world.
- Lisa Respers France explains how the Hunger Games franchise changed Hollywood.
- Molly Driscoll also explains how the Hunger Games series changed the film industry.
- Danny Leigh explains how The Hunger Games staged a revolution.
- Sarah Hughes attempts to explain why teenagers fell in love with The Hunger Games.
- Todd McCarthy shares his thoughts about The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2.
- Sarah Doran explains why The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 is every bit as dark as the book.
- Angela Watercutter profiles Philip Messina, production designer of the Hunger Games series.
Awards:
- The winners of the 2015 Prix Aurora have been announced.
- Carmen Maria Machado has won the 2015 Diverse Writers and Diverse Worlds grant.
- Jay Lake has won the 2015 Endeavour Award.
- Nominations are open for the newly created Kunkel Awards for videogame journalism.
- Lovecraft scholar S.T. Joshi is still enraged over the decision to change the World Fantasy Award trophy.
- Caitlin Kiernan shares her thoughts on the World Fantasy Award controversy.
- Peter Finocchiaro weighs in on the Lovecraft bust controversy and Lovecraft in general.
- Justin Steele offers his take on the World Fantasy Award and Lovecraft controversy.
- The World Fantasy Awards Administration has issued a call for submissions for designs for the new trophy.
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- Alan Moore shares some writing tips and advises writers to self-publish.
- David Neth talks about discovering what kind of writer you are.
- Kristine Kathryn Rusch talks about the perils of writing to market.
- Stuart Whitmore discusses the parallels between the dime novels of the 19th century and indie publishing.
- Andy Martin and Lee Child conduct a sentence by sentence analysis of one of Lee Child's Jack Reacher novels.
- Michael Livingston talks about transitioning from short story to novel.
- Veronica Sicoe shares thirteen tips for writing faster.
- Veronica Sicoe also discusses the advantages of writing out of sequence.
- Richard Lea discusses the rise of present tense in fiction.
- Robert Jackson Bennett shares some thoughts about worldbuilding.
- William Meikle talks about verisimilitude in writing.
- Kathleen Valentine talks about the people who live in her head.
- Max Florschutz has some advice about naming characters and places.
- Haruki Murakami discusses going the distance when writing a novel.
- Matthew Stott shares ten ways to avoid distractions.
- Dean Wesley Smith has some advice regarding what to do when writers face the deadly question "What's the point?"
- Michael R. Underwood explains how tags and keywords can help readers find books.
- Anne R. Allen shares the facts behind Amazon's recent review purge.
Interviews:
- NPR interviews David Mitchell.
- Andrew Leon Hudson interviews Ken Liu, Lauren Beukes and Tobias Buckell.
- Sandra Odell interviews Kameron Hurley.
- David Barr Kirtley interviews Ernest Cline.
- Paul Weimer interviews Michael Livingston.
- Justin Sloan interviews Jason Denzel.
- Allie Sumner interviews Nancy Glynn.
- Melissa Leon interviews Kelly Sue DeConnick.
- Alyx Dellamonica interviews J. Kathleen Cheney.
- The Little Red Reviewer interviews Karina Sumner-Smith.
- Terry W. Erwin interviews Nate Dray.
Reviews:
- Andrea Johnson reviews The Graveyard Game by Kage Baker.
- David Steffen reviews The Flux by Ferrett Steinmetz.
- Michael Patrick Hicks reviews The Trials by Linda Nagata.
- Elena Linville reviews The Casquette Girls by Alys Arden.
- Allie Sumner reviews The Cresecren Chronicles - Novus by Crystal Marcos.
- Floyd Looney reviews The Vintages by Andrei Cherascu.
- Bill Crider reviews Fender Lizards by Joe R. Lansdale.
- Paul Weimer reviews The Shards of Heaven by Michael Livingston.
- Paul Weimer also reviews Genrenauts: The Shootout Solution by Michael R. Underwood.
- Paul Weimer reviews The Art of Language Invention by David J. Peterson.
Crowdfunding:
- Time Fiddler, Volume 1, a graphic novel by Ellis Kim, is looking for funding.
- The Dark North, an art book featuring the works of various Scandinavian illustrators, is looking for funding.
- Tycho Journal, which attempts to reinvent the science fiction magazine, is looking for funding.
- Mindjammer, a transhuman science fiction roleplaying game by Sarah Newton, is looking for funding.
- This cute zombie nativity set by NerdTalk Toys is looking for funding.
Con reports:
Science and technology:
- Bacteria resistant to the last fully effective antibiotic have begun to appear in China.
- NASA is planning to build a bipedal robot to help colonise Mars.
- Is NASA prepared for the dangers of deep space?
- Why do the two sides of the moon look so different?
- For the first time ever, astronomers have observed the birth of a planet.
Free online fiction:
- "Limestone, Lye, and the Buzzing of Flies" by Kate Heartfield in Strange Horizons.
- "And This is the Song It Sings" by Megan Arkenberg in Nightmare Magazine.
- "Summer at Grandma's House" by Hao Jingfang, translated by Carmen Yiling Yan in Clarkesworld.
- "Liminal Grid" by Jaymee Goh in Strange Horizons.
- "Descent" by Carmen Maria Machado in Nightmare Magazine.
- "The First Gate" by Floyd Looney.
- Chapter 1 of "Rock and Roll Lifestyle", part 91 of The Descendants by Landon Porter.
Odds and ends:
- Watch the long awaited first trailer for Captain America: Civil War.
- Watch a trailer for A Monster Calls.
- Check out Kaijumatic, a wiki for Kaiju.
- The history of Doctor Who since 1963, rendered in the style of the Bayeux tapestry.
- Take a look at this map based on Ursula K. Le Guin's classic story "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas".
- Artist Dave Pollot inserts pop culture characters into thrift store paintings.
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