Speculative fiction in general:
- Ardi Alspach shares new fairytales to invoke the spirit of winter.
- Jeff LaSala explains some alleged plot holes regarding the eagles in Lord of the Rings.
- Kate Macdonald shares her appreciation for No Woman Born by C.L. Moore and The Lady in the Tower by Anne McCaffrey.
- Charles Payseur shares some thoughts about reviewing and owning your opinion.
- Mimi Mondal talks about the problematic depiction or lack thereof of people of colour and LGBT people in Harry Potter.
- Foz Meadows shares her thoughts on a racism debate currently going on in the YA sphere.
- Sara Amundson has more about the controversy surrounding Sunil Patel.
- Shaun Duke explains why the true fan argument is stupid.
- Elana Levin explains how Glorious Godfrey, a character from Jack Kirby's comic The Forever People, anticipated the rise Donald Trump in 1971.
- Sean Bernard explains why Stranger Things is corrupted by faux nostalgia.
- Emily Asher-Perrin shares her favourite holiday movies.
- Leigh Butler shares her appreciation for the 1988 holiday movie Scrooged.
- Tansy Rayner Roberts explains how the success of The Avengers killed the upcoming Justice League movie before it had a chance to find its feet.
- Rich Juzwiak shares an e-mail exchange between Margaret Cho and Tilda Swinton regarding the whitewashing controversy in Dr. Strange.
- Evan Narcisse declares that the streaming video series The OA, is pretty to look at, but nonsense.
- Dean Takahashi reports that game developer and anti-harrassment activist Brianna Wu is planning to run for US Congress in 2018.
- John Hertz remembers the late Kate Yule.
Best of 2016 lists:
- Several authors share their favourite books of 2016.
- Michael Patrick Hicks shares his favourite books of 2016.
- Smash Dragons shares his favourite books of 2016.
- Joel Cunningham shares the best SFF collections and anthologies of 2016.
- Alex Brown shares the best comic books of 2016.
- Brigid Alverson shares the best new manga series of 2016.
- Katharine Trendacosta shares the best of worst television moments of 2016.
- The 7th Matrix shares the 17 best indie SF, fantasy and horror short films of 2016.
- Rob Bricken shares the pop cultural high- and lowlights of 2016.
- The staff of Pornokitsch share their definitive guide to the best of everything in 2016.
Comments on Star Wars: Rogue One:
- Todd McCarthy calls Rogue One action-packed and engaging, but complains about the lack of strong male lead characters.
- Shaun Duke responds to Todd McCarthy and points out that not every film needs to have a male lead character, strong or otherwise and also points out that McCarthy is mistaken about the character of Cassian Andor.
- Evan Narcisse declares that ordinary people are the best part of Rogue One.
- Peter Travers declares that the Force is definitely with Rogue One.
- Zach Foster declares that Rogue One does the original Star Wars trilogy justices.
- Aziz Poonawalla declares that Rogue One is the Star Wars movie fans were looking for.
- Will Sisney calls Rogue One a dream come true for Star Wars fans.
- John Scalzi declares that Rogue One proves that Disney has done well for Star Wars.
- Chris Klimek claims that Rogue One is one of the better Star Wars movies and has some really cool battle scenes.
- Emily Asher-Perrin claims that Rogue One is visually stunning, but lacking in the characterisation department.
- Richard Lawson declares that Rogue One has earned its place in the Star Wars canon.
- Richard Roeper calls Rogue One a bright light in the Star Wars canon.
- Ignatiy Vishnevetsky calls Rogue One "Star Wars in a minor key".
- Peter Debruge calls Rogue One the first Star Wars film for adults.
- Emily Asher-Perrin points out that grittiness and character deaths do not necessarily make Rogue One more adult and also that the characters are underdeveloped.
- Ann Hornaday says that Rogue One doesn't offer much joy, but that Star Wars fans will enjoy it anyway.
- Bryan Menegus shares his problems with Rogue One.
- Erik Kain shares the five biggest problems with Rogue One.
- Bob Mondello calls Rogue One a filler movie that focusses too much on battle scenes.
- A.O. Scott calls Rogue One a mediocre movie that feels like homework.
- Stephanie Zacharek calls Rogue One bland and inoffensive.
- Richard Brody not just fails to be impressed by Rogue One, he also wonders whether it's time to abandon the franchise altogether.
- Meanwhile, Eve Peyser reports that a rightwing campaign to boycot Rogue One has been spectacularly unsuccessful.
- James Whitbrook and Germain Lussier point out all the links and cameos to other Star Wars films and TV series to be found in Rogue One.
- Beth Elderkin explains how director Gareth Edwards was able to insert previously unseen Star Wars footage into Rogue One.
- Germain Lussier discusses the use of CGI characters in Rogue One.
- Michael Cavna is very impressed by one of those CGI characters in particular.
- File 770 has a thread for a spoiler discussion of Rogue One.
- Alice Ross reports that the Temple of the Jedi Order has failed to be recognised as a religious organisation in the UK.
- Watch all the scenes and dialogue from Rogue One seen in the trailers that weren't in the final film.
Comments on Passengers:
- Sheri Linden declares that in spite of its two stars and the dazzling design, Passengers doesn't quite work.
- Germain Lussier declares that Passengers has big ambitions, but no guts.
- Germain Lussier explains how the casting of Jennifer Lawrence transformed Passengers.
- Farid Ul-Haq is seriously creeped out by Passengers and wonders how such a movie could get made in the first place.
- Rebecca Hawkes declares that Passengers is not a romance in space, but a creepy ode to stalking and manipulation.
- Kristy Puchko declares that Passengers soils is escapist science fiction plot with its repulsive relationship dynamics.
- Adam Woodward calls Passengers a catastrophic space romp.
- Jason Sanford offers a quick rewrite that fixes the problems with Passengers.
- Germain Lussier reports the writer's and director's responses to the criticisms of Passengers.
- David Edelstein actually liked Passengers except for the ending.
- Germain Lussier explains that the spaceship in Passengers was inspired by a trip to Alcatraz.
Comments on Hidden Figures:
- Elizabeth Blair shares her thoughts on the movie Hidden Figures and also discusses the real life background.
- Genevieve Valentine also shares her thoughts on Hidden Figures and the book by Magot Lee Shetterly it was based on.
Comments on the Assassin's Creed movie:
- Evan Narcisse declares that the Assassin's Creed movie makes the same mistakes as the games and also takes itself way too seriously.
- Gita Jackson and Mike Fahey declare what they didn't like and really didn't like about the Assassin's Creed movie.
Comments on season 2 of The Man in the High Castle:
- Katharine Trendacosta declares that season 2 of The Man in the High Castle is too good to watch all at once.
- Katharine Trendacosta also explains that there is more to the alternate universe portrayed in The Man in the High Castle than many viewers realise.
- Leah Schnelbach shares her thoughts on season 2 of The Man in the High Castle.
- Paul Levinson shares a detailed review in three parts of season 2 of The Man in the High Castle. Here are part 2 and part 3.
Awards:
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- Sophia McDougall explains why writing novels and making art is important in troubled times.
- Several writers explain how they are getting back to work after US election induced writers' block.
- Richard Ridley urges writers not to burn themselves out.
- A.C. de Fombelle shares an ultimate guide to web content for writers.
- Kate Macdonald shares some advice about how not to market your book.
Interviews:
- Carl Slaughter interviews Dean Wesley Smith.
- Adrian Ling interviews Brandon Sanderson.
- Joshua Sky interviews Mike Resnick.
- Tom Doherty and L.E. Modesitt Jr. interview each other.
- Kate Macdonald interviews Elizabeth Moon.
Reviews:
- Tadiana Jones reviews One Fell Sweep by Ilona Andrews.
- Andrea Johnson reviews The Narrator by Michael Cisco.
- Aaron Pound reviews The Buried Life by Carrie Patel.
- Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Odd Man Out by James Newman.
- Camestros Felapton reviews Babylon's Ashes by James S.A. Corey.
- Camestros Felapton reviews the movie Arrival.
- Mari Ness reviews the Disney movie Moana.
Crowdfunding:
Con reports:
- Nancy Jane Moore shares a report about the 2016 Tiptree Symposium in Eugene, Oregon.
- Mark L. Blackman reports about the latest installment of the Fantastic Fiction Readings series at the KGB Bar in Manhattan, New York, featuring Sarah Pinsker and Livia Llewellyn.
Science and technology:
- The biggest space exploration milestones of 2016.
- Could California start its own space program?
- How to terraform Mars in 100 years.
- How we got closer to the cyberhuman future in 2016.
- Apparently, an effective vaccine against ebola has been discovered.
Free online fiction:
- "The Fifth Star in the Southern Cross" by Margo Lanagan in Lightspeed.
- "The Venus Effect" by Joseph Allen Hill in Lightspeed.
- "The Thing About Growing Up in Jokertown" by Carrie Vaughn at Tor.com.
- "Can't Beat 'Em" by Nalo Hopkinson in Uncanny Magazine.
- "Daya and Dharma" by Shweta Narayan in Lightspeed.
- "Of Windows and Doors" by Mohsin Hamid in The New Yorker.
- "Stochastic Fancy: Play the Game and Find True Love" by Charlie Jane Anders in Wired.
Odds and ends:
- Watch a trailer for season 2 of The Expanse.
- Watch a trailer for Blade Runner 2049.
- Science fictional holiday gift ideas.
- Watch Walter Cronkite, Arthur C. Clarke and Robert A. Heinlein discuss the moon landing as it happened.
- Fans of Robert Jordan's and Brandon Sanderson's Wheel of Time saga should check out this English to Old Tongue dictionary.
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