Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for May 19, 2017

Here is our weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with a whole lot of space opera, American Gods, Alien Covenant, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword and All Systems Red 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:

• T.W. O'Brien shares 55 essential space operas from the past seventy years.
• Alan Brown shares ten classic space operas that unfortunately happen to be very white and very male. 
• Thankfully, Judith Tarr points out that women have always written space opera, too.
• Judith Tarr also talks about SF works featuring horses in space.
• Cora Buhlert declares that space opera is not just for white men anymore and never was in the first place.
• Sam Reader shares six comedic space operas. 
• Ellen Cheeseman-Meyer discusses the underrated importance of ordinary life in space opera. 
• Liz Bourke discusses space opera and the politics of domesticity.
• Liz Bourke also discusses the way different space operas portray empires and imperialism.
• Kameron Hurley explains how she created her space opera universe.  
• Ross Johnson shares ten great space opera comics.
• T.W. O'Brien discusses immortality in science fiction.
• Ellen Klages discusses her favourite bad girls of fiction. 
• Jeff Somers shares the ten fiercest mothers in SFF.
• Gillian Pollack shares a list of Australian Jewish speculative fiction. 
• Rachel Cheung talks about the new golden age of Chinese science fiction and profiles writers Hao Jingfang, Regina Wang and Wang Jao a.k.a Xia Jia.
• Molly Templeton shares her appreciation for the Lightless series by C.A. Higgins.
• Karin L. Kross shares her appreciation for the Culture series by Iain M. Banks.
• Leah Schnelbach shares her appreciation for Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany.
• Mike Resnick shares his appreciation for Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon. 
• Ted Gioia remembers Cordwainer Smith.  
• Tobias Carroll shares his appreciation for Lives of the Monster Dogs by Kirsten Bakis.
• Mike Everest shares his appreciation for David Gemmell. 
• David Barnett declares that George R.R. Martin has a duty to finish The Winds of Winter. 
• Laura M. Hughes talks about the SPFBO and how self-published fantasy is revitalising the genre.  
• Daniel José Ruiz talks about the friction between geek culture and race. 
• Alexa Graves shares her thoughts on Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2.
• Bob Mayer revisits the movie Edge of Tomorrow a.k.a. Live, Die, Repeat.
• Cheryl Eddy shares the fifteen best science fiction and fantasy noir films.
• Steve Rose revisits Twin Peaks and discusses how it influenced today's television.   
• Alan Brown discusses the season finale of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., season 4.
• James Whitbrook reports that an alarming number of parents named their sons Kylo after patricidal Star Wars character Kylo Ren last year. 
• Douglas Wolk comments on the Captain America debacle.
• Actor Powers Boothe, who appeared in The Avengers, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Sin City and Red Dawn among others, died aged 68. 

Comments on American Gods: 

• Adam Roberts declares that the TV adaptation of American Gods could not be more timely.
• Meghan Ball and Kelly Anderson take a look at the third episode of American Gods.
• Alex Brown offers a recap of the third episode of American Gods. 
• Brandon Cook explains how American Gods changed the game for gay sex on TV. 
• See the various American Gods characters portrayed as cute cats.

Comments on Alien: Covenant and the entire Alien series:

• Ben Child wonders whether Alien: Covenant and Blade Runner 2049 will ruin the mystery of the originals.
• Ryan Britt explains why the original Alien endures even after thirty-eight years.
• Danny Bowes shares his appreciation for the 1986 sequel Aliens. 
• Abraham Riesman shares the secret history of William B. Gibson's never filmed Alien sequel.

Comments on King Arthur: Legend of the Sword: 

• Peter Bradshaw calls King Arthur: Legend of the Sword an entertaining, if somewhat dodgy rollercoaster.
• Mark Jenkins calls King Arthur: Legend of the Sword an edgy script dulled by too much CGI.
• Brooks Barnes reports that King Arthur: Legend of the Sword underperforms at the box office.
• Gwilym Mumford wonders why King Arthur: Legend of the Sword flopped so badly. 

Awards:

• The finalists for the 2017 Locus Awards have been announced.
• The finalists for the 2017 Tomorrow Prize have been announced.
• The finalists for the 2017 Roswell Prize have been announced. 
• The nominees for the 2017 Anthony Awards have been announced. 
• Mike Glyer reports how a controversy about cultural appropriation in Canada spawned two new literary awards, including the Emerging Indigenous Voices Award created by Silva Moreno-Garcia. 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Alyx Dellamonica talks about the challenges of teaching writing.
• Maurice Broaddus talks about wrestling with writer's block.
• Jeff Goins shares his writing system.
• Colum McCann shares tips for novelists. 
• Stephanie Burgis talks about switching between writing for adults and for kids. 
• Nicola Alter discusses plot twists that defy genre expectations. 
• John Scalzi talks about writing diverse characters.

Interviews:

• Carl Slaughter interviews Walter Jon Williams.
• Jarrod Watt interviews Ken Liu. 
• Pat's Fantasy Hotlist interviews Tad Williams.
• Lawrence M. Schoen interviews Paul Levinson. 
• Dag Rambraut interviews J.M. Moncrieff. 
• David Cranmer interviews Court Merrigan. 
• The Qwillery interviews Jessica Reisman. 

Reviews:

• Martin Cahill reviews Raven Stratagem by Yoon Ha Lee.
• Renay Williams reviews All Systems Red by Martha Wells.
• Paul Weimer also reviews All Systems Red by Martha Wells.
• The Qwillery also reviews All Systems Red by Martha Wells.
• Martin Cahill reviews River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey. 
• Aiden Moher reviews Food of the Gods by Cassandra Khaw. 
• Jonathan Thornton reviews Agents of Dreamland by Caitlin R. Kiernan.
• Thea James reviews Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor. 
• Shana DuBois reviews A Tyranny of Queens by Foz Meadows. 
• Steve Damarell reviews Within the Sanctuary of Wings by Marie Brennan. 
• Lady Business also reviews Within the Snctuary of Wings by Marie Brennan. 
• Corrina Lawson reviews Vanguard by Jack Campbell.
• Aaron Pound reviews Abbadon's Gate by James S.A. Corey. 
• Rob Bedford reviews Cold Welcome by Elizabeth Moon.
• FictionFan's Book Reviews reviews The Ice by Laline Paull.
• Victoria Hoyle reviews The Power by Naomi Alderman. 
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi.
• Niall Alexander reviews America City by Chris Beckett.
• Mark Yon reviews Rhyming Rings by David Gemmell.
  

Crowdfunding:

• The Fantastic Fiction Readings series held every month at the KGB Bar in New York City is looking for funding.
• Emerging Indigenous Voices, a new Canadian literary award to support and nurture new indigenous writers, is looking for funding.  
• Author and editor Tom Shutt died much too young and people are raising money for his family.
  

Con reports:

• Karen Wada reports about an exhibition honouring Octavia E. Butler at the Huntington Library in Los Angeles, California.
• Beth Elderkin shares the coolest cosplay photos from Houston Comicpalooza in Houston, Texas. 
• Mark L. Blackman reports about the latest edition of the Fantastic Fiction Readings Series, featuring E.C. Myers and Sam J. Miller, at the KGB Bar in New York City.
• Heather Rose Jones offers write-ups of various panels presented at the Kalamazoo Medieval Congress in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
  

Science and technology:

• China is considering a mission to capture an asteroid and fire it into the moon's orbit.
• China is also simulating an extended stay on the moon.  
• Nuclear tests during the Cold War have created artificial radiation belts in space.
• Have astronomers found evidence of parallel universes?
• One of the best ever preserved dinosaur fossils ever has been found in Canada.
• The truth about rogue waves.
  

Free online fiction:

• "Damage" by David D. Levine at Tor.com. 
• "Sanctuary" by Allen Steele at Tor.com.
• "Capricorn Games" by Robert Silverberg in Galaxy's Edge. 
• "Read Before Use" by Chinelo Onwualu in Uncanny Magazine.
• "Dragonflies" by Seanan McGuire in Lightspeed.
• "Unicorns" by Mikki Kendall.
• "Trigger Snowflake, Lawman" by Ingvar at File 770.
  

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a trailer for Star Trek: Discovery. 
• Watch a trailer for Black Lightning.
• Watch a trailer for the new X-Men based TV show The Gifted. 
• Watch a trailer for The Orville.
• Watch a teaser for The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.
• Watch a trailer for The Crossing. 
• Watch a trailer for Okja.
• Watch a trailer for War for the Planet of the Apes. 
• Watch a trailer for The Mummy.
• Watch a trailer for Sol 87. 
• Watch a trailer for Salvation.
• Watch a trailer for Kill Switch. 
• See some photos of a real world Hobbit house in Scotland.
• How to make the famous, divinely good Twin Peaks cherry pie.