Speculative fiction in general:
- Ann Leckie talks about "transparent prose" and "pretentious writing" and why it's not a dichotomy.
- Ann Leckie also talks about guilty pleasures and why they shouldn't be.
- Tor.com shares nine horrifying books that are not shelved as horror.
- Ardi Alspach shares five Asian inspired speculative works.
- Andrew Liptak shares the most realistic works of military science fiction in various media.
- Frank Cavallo talks about his love for the sword and planet subgenre.
- Juliet E. McKenna is not pleased with the male focus of the epic fantasy episode of the BBC documentary program Andrew Marr's Paperback Heroes.
- However, Juliet E. McKenna is pleased with the even gender distribution of the finalists of the self-published fantasy blog-off.
- Tara Sonin shares her five favourite sexy vampires.
- Silvia Moreno-Garcia shares five vampire novels that don't sparkle.
- Meghan Ball discusses the enduring legacy of H.P. Lovecraft.
- Gideon Marcus shares his appreciation for Sense of Obligation by Harry Harrison.
- Abigail Nussbaum shares her thoughts on various new SFF TV series of 2016.
- Brian Moyhan shares his thoughts on the TV adaptation of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.
- Ariel Schudson shares her appreciation for the 1933 horror movie Supernatural, starring Carole Lombard.
- Jeff LaSala shares his appreciation for the 1986 horror comedy Haunted Honeymoon.
- Eric Grundhauser explains how to read the secret language of Starfleet uniforms from Star Trek.
- Leonard Maltin profiles Stan Lee.
- Vanessa Friedman asks if it's time for Wonder Woman to hang up her classic bathing suit type costume.
- The Geekiary reports that comic writer Chelsea Cain was hounded off Twitter by trolls angry that Marvel character Bobbi Morse a.k.a. Mockingbird identifies as a feminist.
- James Whitbrock declares that the Mockingbird miniseries at the heart of the controversy was really good.
- Alastair Stuart shares a guide to the upcoming Assassin's Creed movie for non-gamers.
- Caroline Lowbridge celebrates twenty years of Tomb Raider and explains how Lara Croft became an icon.
- In Cumbria, a man dressed as Batman is fighting the killer clown plague.
Deaths and tributes:
- Science fiction writer Sherri S. Tepper died aged 87.
- John Scalzi shares his tribute to Sherri S. Tepper.
- Ceridwen Christensen also shares her tribute to Sherri S. Tepper.
- The SFWA remembers Sherri S. Tepper.
- Comic artist Steve Dillon, co-creator of Preacher, has died aged 54.
- The BBC remembers Steve Dillon.
- Jack Chick, artist and writer of unintentionally hilarious religious propaganda comics, died aged 92.
- Fred Clark remembers Jack Chick and his work.
- Musician and horror writer Dennis M. Cummins died aged 64.
- John Hertz shares his memories of the late Dave Kyle.
Comments on Doctor Strange:
- Cheryl Morgan offers a mildly spoilerish review of Doctor Strange.
- Michael Arbeiter shares a spoiler-free reviews of Doctor Strange.
- Peter Bradshaw calls Doctor Strange an eye-poppingly freaky extravaganza.
- Paul McInnes discusses Doctor Strange with star Benedict Cumberbatch.
Comments on Class:
- James Whitbrock declares that the Doctor Who spin-off Class becomes much better, when it divorces itself from the parent show.
- Dan Martin is quite taken by Class and compares it to Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Comments on the Rocky Horror Picture Show remake:
- K.K. Bracken really liked Laverne Cox, but otherwise wasn't thrilled with the Rocky Horror Picture Show remake.
- Brian Moyhan declares that the Rocky Horror Picture Show remake offers solid performances, but also dialled down the sexual content for broadcast television and doesn't quite work.
- Beth Elderkin explains that the Rocky Horror Picture Show remake failed because it wasn't live.
Comments on The Walking Dead season 7 premiere (spoiler warning):
- Stuart Jeffries offers a recap of The Walking Dead season 7 premiere.
- Kendall Ashley shares a heartbreaking detail viewers might have missed in The Walking Dead season 7 premier.
- Rob Bricken reveals the answer to the question whom Negan has killed in The Walking Dead.
- Rob Bricken declares that the season premier of The Walking Dead wasn't worth the build-up.
- Zack Handlen declares that the season 7 premiere of The Walking Dead was manipulative and a new low point for the show.
- Mark Chadbourn explains why he stopped watching The Walking Dead.
Comments on the new Westworld:
- Emily Nussbaum discusses the meta-politics of the new Westworld.
- Aaron Brody shares his thoughts on the new Westworld.
- The Geekiary explains why everyone should watch the new Westworld.
- Katharine Trendacosta explains why everybody was wrong about the man in black in the new Westworld.
Awards:
- The winners of the 2016 Geffen Awards have been announced.
- The shortlist for the 2016 Utopiales Awards has been announced.
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- Diana Pharaoh Francis explains why truth is no excuse for fiction.
- K.M. Weiland explains how to find and fill all your plotholes.
- Cat Rambo shares her advice for new writers.
- Natalie Zutter shares writing tips from several SFF authors for NaNoWriMo.
- B.R. Sanders talks about worldbuilding through romance and sexuality.
- Gail Z. Martin shares some tips for creating a magic system.
- Damien Walter shares a writing exercise that will make you a stronger writer.
- Steve Davidson explains how he came to accept indie publishing as a valid path.
Reviews:
- A Dragon in Space reviews Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor.
- Ana Grilo and Thea James review Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff.
- Gareth D. Jones reviews Death's End by Liu Cixin, translated by Ken Liu.
- Chris Kammerud reviews All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders.
- Our Words reviews The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers.
- Farid Ul-Haq reviews Unblemished by Sara Ella.
- N.E. White reviews Hand of Glory by Susan Boulton.
- Mark Yon reviews Ghost Summer by Tanarive Due.
- Stefan Raets reviews Faller by Will McIntosh.
- Jeff Somers also reviews Faller by Will McIntosh.
- Nicole Hill reviews The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington.
- Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Witching Hour Theatre by Jonathan Janz.
Interviews:
- Locus interviews Connie Willis.
- Locus also interviews Nisi Shawl.
- Andy Stout interviews Susan Cooper.
- Hank Garner interviews Brandon Sanderson.
- Gareth D. Jones interviews Liu Cixin.
- Tom Hunter interviews Simon Ings.
- This is Horror interviews Steven Kozeniewski.
Crowdfunding:
- Piracity, a pirate-themed anthology of SFF stories by authors from Bristol and the Caribbean edited by Cheryl Morgan, is looking for funding.
- Apex Magazine are running their annual subscription drive.
- The horror podcast Pseudopod is looking for funding on its tenth anniversary.
- Jennifer Usellis is looking for funding to produce a CD of pop songs in Klingon.
Con reports:
- James Bacon shares his experiences and some photos of Octocon in Dublin, Ireland.
- Ellen Datlow shares some photos of the Children of Lovecaft Reading at the Lovecraft Bar in New York City.
- Tom Mendelsohn shares a report as well as the best boardgames presented at the Internationale Spieltage in Essen, Germany.
- Mike Glyer shares some videos from WorldCons past.
Science and technology:
- Why is our imagination regarding alien life so impoverished?
- Alien life does not necessarily need a sun, but might survive off cosmic radiation.
- Two extremely bright X-ray flares might be proof of unusual black holes.
- A new supernova analysis calls dark energy into question.
- We may only have twenty years to prevent the sixth mass extinction.
Free online fiction:
- "Clover" by Charlie Jane Anders at Tor.com.
- "A Glass Kiss for the Little Prince of Pain" by Martin Cahill in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
- "A Cup of Comfort" by Stephanie Burgis in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
- "The Souls of Horses" by Beth Cato in Mythic Delirium.
- "The Wind at His Back" by Jason Kimble in Mythic Delirium.
- "The First Confirmed Case of Non-Corporeal Recursion: Patient Anita R." by Benjamin C. Kinney in Strange Horizons.
- "Degrees of Beauty" by Cassandra Khaw in Terraform.
- "meat+drink" by Daniel Polansky at Tor.com.
- "Trick or Treat" by T.S. Paul.
Odds and ends:
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