Here is our weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with women in SFF, The Handmaid's Tale, American Gods, the new season of Doctor Who, the Odyssey Con controversy as well as another controversy surrounding Rocky Mountain Fur Con as well as the usual mix of awards news, writing advice, interviews, reviews, awards news, a whole lot of con reports, crowdfunding projects, science articles and free online fiction.
Speculative fiction in general:
- Kat Howard explains why there are so many women in her books.
- Maureen Eichner explains what fantasy written by women taught her.
- Katherine Arden discusses the problem of the overly perfect heroine.
- Carl Slaughter shares some anthologies of feminist science fiction.
- Alyssa Wong talks about sexual harrassment in the SFF community.
- Yoon Ha Lee discusses the portrayal of gender in Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer.
- Justina Ireland discusses Borderline by Mishell Baker and White Tears by Hari Kunzu.
- Shaoyan Hu takes a look at the growing science fiction community in China.
- Paul Levinson explains why time travel stories are so enjoyable.
- Leanna Renee Hieber talks about the gothic subgenre and the way it portrays women.
- Sarah Gailey discusses the background of her novella River of Teeth.
- Chloe N. Clark hosts a roundtable about dystopian fiction.
- Vance Kotrla shares his appreciation for Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.
- Chuck Wendig shares his appreciation for Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.
- Jess Nevins talks about his research into the pulp heroes of the pre-WWII era.
- Pamela Paul explains why you should read books you dislike.
- Sarah Lewin exlains that contrary to popular belief, redshirts are not the likeliest to die in Star Trek.
- Laurie Penny shares her thoughts about The Expanse.
- The Future of the Force discusses the politics of Star Wars.
- Jesse Yomtow declares that the Jedi were pretty incompetent and that the galaxy is probably better off without them.
- Emily Asher-Perrin blames the problems with David Lynch's adaptation of Dune on Lynch's lack of interest in science fiction.
- Lynn Hirschberg profiles Gal Gadot, the actress who plays Wonder Woman in the upcoming movie.
- Evelyn Wang talks about the golden age of horror movies directed by women.
- Curious British Telly shares fifteen horrifying moments from the nuclear drama Threads.
- Camestros Felapton explains why he is not watching Game of Thrones.
- Jim Vorel declares that Into the Badlands is the most stylish show on television.
- Rich Johnston reports that Marvel wants comic store employees to dress in Hydra t-shirts to promote Marvel's Secret Empire crossover.
- Meg Jayanth points out that 52% of gamers are women, even though the industry doesn't know it.
- Robin McKie reports about director and Monty Python star Terry Jones and his life with dementia.
Comments on the new season of Doctor Who:
- Dan Martin calls the first episode of the new season of Doctor Who the freshest season opener in years, though ironically it will be Steven Moffat's last.
- Ben Lawrence quite liked the first episode of the new season of Doctor Who and was particularly taken with new companion Bill Potts, played by Pearl Mackie.
- Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on "The Pilot", the first episode of the new season of Doctor Who.
- Philip Sandifer reviews "The Pilot".
- Stephen Kelly profiles Doctor Who producer Steven Moffat and discusses his messy relationship with the show's fans.
- Rebecca Hawkes reports how fans reacted to the rumoured casting of actor Kris Marshall as the next Doctor.
- Rob Leane shares some spoilerish rumours about the upcoming Doctor Who Christmas Special.
Comments on The Handmaid's Tale:
- Adi Robertson declares that the adaptation of The Handmaid's Tale is a chilling expansion of Margaret Atwood's novel.
- Katrina Onstad finds the adaptation of The Handmaid's Tale highly resonant in Trump's America.
- Margaret Atwood discusses what her novel The Handmaid's Tale means in the age of Trump.
- Margaret Atwood shares her favourite speculative fiction novels with a heavy focus on dystopian fiction.
- David Canfield reports that several women dressed as up as characters from The Handmaid's Tale to protest restrictive anti-abortion bills in Texas.
Comments about American Gods:
- Evan Narcisse declares that the TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman's American Gods goes for full weirdness, which is what makes it great.
- Meghan Ball shares seven things you probably did not know about American Gods by Neil Gaiman.
- Eric Johnson explains how an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's American Gods was not possible before recent changes to the medium of television.
- The Geekiary praises the women of American Gods.
- Leah Schnelbach interviews actor Bruce Langley about his role in American Gods.
Awards:
- The winner of the 2017 Philip K. Dick Award has been announced.
- The winners of the 2016 Aurealis Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the 2016 BSFA Awards have been announced.
- The nominees for the 2017 Seiun Awards have been announced.
- The nominees for the 2017 Sir Julius Vogal Awards have been announced.
- Mike Glyer compiles the reactions of several writers to the new World Fantasy Award design.
- Lettie Prell takes a look at the history of women winning Hugo Awards in the fiction categories.
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- George Saunders explains what writers really do when they write.
- Alex Segura talks about the moments that keep him going as a writer.
- Lauren Sapala shares how ignoring conventional writing wisdom helped her overcome writer#s block.
- Chuck Wendig shares what he has learned after five years as a writer and twenty books.
- Samatha Grasso reports about the #ThingsOnlyWomenWritersHear hashtag on Twitter.
- Martin Cavanagh shares some tips for creating dynamic characters.
- Rachel Neumeier talks about revising and rewriting old work.
- Sylvia Izzo Hunter explains how fanfiction turned her into a writer.
- Jessica Rydill talks about writing and researching Winterbloom.
- C.M. Subasic shares some tips for practicing your powers of observation and description.
- Joe M. McDermott talks about the writer industrial complex.
- Joshua Robertson shares some tips for creating the perfect fantasy cover.
- John Scalzi shares some tips for doing readings.
Interviews:
- Stephanie Palazzolo interviews Ada Palmer.
- Jean Vallesteros interviews Aliette de Bodard.
- Carl Slaughter interviews Martha Wells.
- Ryan Schneider interviews Laura J. Mixon.
- Peter Petros interviews Peter Newman.
- Peter Petros also interviews Brian Staveley.
- Liang Ai Ting Aileen interviews Joyce Chng.
- Maggie Slater interviews Jason Sizemore.
- Patrick St. Denis interviews Tad Williams.
- Farid Ul-Haq interviews Lana Campbell.
- Farid Ul-Haq also interviews Amber Meyer.
- Juliana Spink Mills interviews Nik Abnett.
- Clover Hope interviews actress Betty Gabriel, who starred in the horror film Get Out.
Reviews:
- Ceridwen Christensen reviews Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee.
- Victoria Hoyle also reviews Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee.
- Niall Alexander reviews Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel.
- Liz Bourke reviews Cold Welcome by Elizabeth Moon.
- Corrina Lawson reviews Off Rock by Kieran Shea.
- Nina Allan reviews The Core of the Sun by Johanna Sinisalo.
- Laura Miller reviews Borne by Jeff VanderMeer.
- Camestros Felapton reviews Death's End by Liu Cixin.
- Alyx Dellamonica reviews Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente.
- Andrea Johnson reviews Lost Souls by Kelley Armstrong.
- Brit Mandelo reviews Tender by Sofia Samatar.
- Paul Weimer reviews Wothwood by Natania Barron.
- Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Fairy Lights by Edward Lorn.
- Chris Gerrib reviews Hunger Makes the Wolf by Alex Wells.
- The Geekiary reviews Rise of the Chosen by Anna Kopp.
- Sam Reader reviews Entropy in Bloom by Jeremy Robert Johnson.
- Rob Bedford reviews Sins of Empire by Brian McClellan.
- Joe Sherry reviews Madness in Solidar by L.E. Modesitt Jr.
Crowdfunding:
- Todd Allen is looking for funding for his novelette series Legal Termination of a Warlock and Other Tales.
- The Museum of the Moving Image in New York City is looking for funding to restore various muppets for their Jim Henson exhibition.
- Filmmaker Christopher R. Mihm is looking for funding for his upcoming movie Demon with the Atomic Brain.
- Book blogger Tatiana Lee James needs some help to attend Book Expo America.
Con reports:
- Peter Jones reports about a protest by Christian fundamentalists at Norwescon 2017 in Seattle, Washington.
- Jacinda Phillips has a video of the Christian fundamentalist protests at Norwescon.
- James Bacon reports about a musical performance by Pauline Haas and Thomas Bloch at Eastercon 2017 in Birmingham, UK.
- Mike Glyer reports that Odyssey Con in Madison, Wisconsin, has now lost its last Guest of Honour.
- Mike Glyer also reports that shortly after the last guest of honour cancelled, Odyssey Con found two new guests of honour.
- Natalie Luhrs has more about the Odyssey Con controversy.
- Monica Valentinelli discusses how to make cons safer for everybody involved.
- Monica Valentinelli also offers a tentative plan for con safety.
- Michi Trota talks about volunteers, professionals and who gets to have fun at conventions.
- Cat Rambo discusses the Odyssey Con harrassment scandal as well as a panel at Norwescon in Seattle, Washington.
- Arinn Dembo also discusses the same panel at Norwescon.
- Blair Miller reports about the cancellation of Rocky Mountain Fur Con in Denver, Colorado.
- Kelly Weill also reports about the cancellation of Rocky Mountain Fur Con.
- The Boozy Barrister also reports about the Rocky Mountain Fur Con cancellation and its background.
- Given the many scandals surrounding cons, Jonathan Crowe asks if conventions are necessary at all.
- Eric Piepenberg reports about the HorrorHound Weekend in Sharonville, Ohio, and interviews several female fans.
- Scott Stevenson reports that a cosplayer dressed as a character from the videogame Fallout terrified the residents of Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada, and caused the police to be called in.
- Alexandra Erin shares some tips for those planning to attend WisCon in Madison, Wisconsin.
Science and technology:
- The robotic Boeing X 37-B craft has now been in orbit for almost two years, engaged in a mysterious mission.
- China has launched an unmanned cargo spacecraft intended to supply its planned space station.
- The Chinese military is developing laser weapons.
- Donald Trump is considering having NASA mine the moon for resources.
- ESA is developing a new reusable shuttle called Space Rider.
- A Dutch start-up has developed a "flying car" and is preparing to launch it.
- How to avoid algorithms causing AIs to develop racist biases.
- Artificial intelligence and creator bias.
- How false memories can be formed.
Free online fiction:
- "The Red Secretary" by Kamaeron Hurley in Uncanny Magazine.
- "Bookkeeper, Narrator, Gunslinger" by Charles Yu in Lightspeed.
- "A Burden Shared" by Jo Walton at Tor.com.
- "Seven Permutations of my Daughter" by Lina Rather in Lightspeed.
- "Bunny? What Bunny?" by T.S. Paul.
Odds and ends:
Thank you very much for the mention, Cora :)
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