Here is our weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with Spider-Man: Homecoming, War for the Planet of the Apes, A Ghost Story as well as the usual mix of awards news, writing advice, interviews, reviews, awards news, con reports, crowdfunding campaigns, science articles and free online fiction.
Speculative fiction in general:
- The Tor.com reviewers share their favourite books of 2017 to date.
- The B&N Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog shares eight books that blend science and magic.
- Jeff Somers shares eight fantasy novels about the end of magic.
- Swapna Krishna shares eight YA SFF novels everybody should read.
- Sam Reader shares eight books about the horrors of adolescence.
- Ryan Thames shares his favourite science fiction books of 2017.
- Sarah Gailey shares her favourite fantasies set at the circus.
- Nancy Kress shares five books about ambitious birds.
- Christopher Brown tackles the persistence of folklore in American fantastic fiction.
- Corrina Lawson shares her appreciation for the Great Library series by Rachel Caine.
- Alan Brown shares his appreciation for Leigh Brackett's Eric John Stark stories.
- Derek Künsken discusses science fiction so hard and extraprolatory that it borders on fantasy again.
- Mark Yon talks about the joy of collecting vintage science fiction magazines.
- Gail Z. Martin talks about the heroes and heroines who inspired her.
- Gail Z. Martin talks about death, dying and epic fantasy.
- Matthew Keeley profiles John Crowley.
- Karen Grigsby Bates rofiles Octavia E. Butler.
- Stina Leicht talks about diversity and intersectionality.
- Sarah Laskow reports that an unpublished manuscript by children's book author Maurice Sendak has been discovered.
- Emily Asher Perrin shares the crazy fan theory that David Bowie attended Hogwarts.
- Thea James shares some tips where to start with the Star Wars tie-in novels.
- Germain Lussier calls Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets visually gorgeous and great fun, though the plot is a bit lacking.
- Glenn Garvin declares that the TV show Salvation will have viewers hoping for the end of the world.
- Jonathan Cook declares that Wonder Woman is a heroine only the military industrial complex could create.
- Echo Ishii revisits the obscure 1976 British horror TV series Beasts.
- Zachary Paul looks at the legacy of George Romero's 1985 movie Day of the Dead.
- Ana Maria Bahiana reports about the rise of Brazilian horror films.
- Graveyard Shift Sisters profiles horror film maker Elizabeth Bayne.
- Glen Weldon and Petra Mayer share their 100 favourite comics and graphic novels.
- Glen Weldon also shares some classic comics, while Petra Mayer shares some modern comics that did not make their top 100 list.
- Leo Barraclough reports that actor Jeremy Renner has broken both his arms while filming Avengers: Infinity War.
- Actor Nelson Ellis, best known for his part in True Blood, has died aged 39.
- Joan Lee, wife of comics legend Stan Lee, has died aged 93 after almost 70 years of marriage.
Comments on Spider-Man: Homecoming:
- Chris Klimek calls Spider-Man: Homecoming a funny and warmhearted superhero movie.
- Ana Grilo calls Spider-Man: Homecoming the best Spider-Man movie.
- Emily Asher-Perrin declares that Spider-Man: Homecoming has the clearest version of Spider-Man's central message, his connection to his neighbours and community.
- Renaldo Matadeen shares seven things about Spider-Man: Homecoming that worked and seven that didn't.
- Camestros Felapton reviews Spider-Man: Homecoming in verse.
- Glen Weldon explains what Hollywood can learn from the success of Spider-Man: Homecoming.
- Tara Marie sheds some light on Michelle, the character played by Zendaya in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
- Tara Marie also shares a list of comics to read after watching Spider-Man: Homecoming.
- Leah Schnelbach shares the moment in Spider-Man Homecoming that made her cry.
- Emily Asher Perrin explains how all the Marvel movies now exist in the same universe as Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home thanks to a cameo in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Comments on A Ghost Story:
- Bob Mondello calls A Ghost Story a meditation on loss and legacy.
- Mark Jenkins reviews the horror movie A Ghost Story.
Comments on War for the Planet of the Apes:
- Nicholas Barber calls War for the Planet of the Apes something of a let down.
- Ryan Lambie explores the ending of War for the Planet of the Apes and wonders where the series might go next.
- Ryan Lambie also interviews Matt Reeves, director of War for the Planet of the Apes.
Awards:
- The nominees for the 2017 Emmy Awards have been announced, with plenty of SFF programs among the nominees.
- The winners of the 2017 Rhysling Awards have been announced.
- The finalists for the 2017 Baen Fantasy Adventure Award have been announced.
- The winners of the inaugural Prism Awards have been announced.
- The winner of the 2017 Tähtivaeltaja Award has been announced.
- The nominees for the 2017 Tähtfantasia Award have been announced.
- The nominees for the 2017 Eisner Spirit of Comics Award have been announced.
- Camestros Felapton tackles the question whether a Hugo nomination has any impact on an academic career.
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- Nik Korpon explains how he learned to write science fiction as a crime writer.
- Anna Sabino shares tips how people with a full time job can still manage to write regularly.
- Laurence MacNaughton shares seven keys to creating bloodcurdling monsters.
- Pablo Defendini shares the lessons he learned in five years of publishing Fireside Fiction.
- Sarah Kuhn talks about writing a sequel.
- Kameron Hurley discusses how pro-writers deal with pro-criticism.
Interviews:
- Christiane Amanpour interviews J.K. Rowling.
- Gary Dalkin interviews Adam Roberts.
- Joshua Sky interviews Naren Shankar, showrunner of The Expanse.
- Daniel D'Addario interviews actress Emilia Clarke who plays Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones.
Reviews:
- Shellie Horst reviews The Rebellion's Last Traitor by Nik Korpon.
- Kelly Anderson reviews The Reluctant Queen by Sarah Beth Durst.
- Marion Deeds reviews The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne M. Valente and Annie Wu.
- Sam Reader reviews Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero.
- Ross Johnson reviews At the Table of Wolves by Kay Kenyon.
- Mark Yon reviews New Pompeii by Daniel Godfrey.
- Kelly Anderson reviews A Fading Sun by Stephen Leigh.
- Jana Nyman reviews Dusk or Dawn or Dark or Day by Seanan McGuire.
- Ardi Alspach reviews The Art of Starving by Sam J. Miller.
- For Winter Nights reviews Xeelee: Vengeance by Stephen Baxter.
- Sam Reader reviews The Rift by Nina Allan.
- Brit Mandelo reviews The Delirium Brief by Charles Stross.
- Ross Johnson reviews Tropic of Kansas by Christopher Brown.
- Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Clickers and Clickers II: The Next Wave by J.F. Gonzalez, Mark Williams and Brian Keene.
Crowdfunding:
- Improbable Botany, a science fiction anthology edited by Gary Dalkin, is looking for funding.
- Penned Dragons, an art book by Brian Kesinger, is looking for funding.
Con reports:
- Ethan Mills reports about CONvergence 2017 in Bloomington, Minnesota.
- James Whitbrook and Andrew Liszewski share a list of the most interesting and rarest toys and collectibles available at San Diego Comic Con.
- Jon del Arroz reports about LibertyCon in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and shares some photos.
Science and technology:
- Growing potatoes on Mars like in The Martian is not actually possible.
- Astronauts train for a potential Mars mission in the desert of Utah.
- The private space company Moon Express says that it will start mining the moon by 2020.
- NASA's Juno space probe has taken the best photos of Jupiter's great red spot yet.
- Tesla is planning to build the world's largest lithium ion battery in Australia.
- A robot has been deployed to capture the invasive lionfish in the Atlantic and thus reduce the population of this invasive species.
Free online fiction:
- "Waiting on a Bright Moon" by J.Y. Yang at Tor.com.
- "A Nest of Ghosts, a House of Birds" by Kat Howard in Uncanny Magazine.
- "How the Maine Coon Cat Learned to Love the Sea" by Seanan McGuire in Uncanny Magazine.
- "A Touch of Heart" by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro in Lightspeed.
- "Marcher" by Chris Beckett in Lightspeed.
Odds and ends:
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