It's time again for our weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with Star Trek Discovery, It, The Princess Bride at 30, yet more discussion of fantasy maps, the women of Batman, tributes to Kit Reed, Jerry Pournelle and Hugh Hefner 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:
- James Davis Nicoll shares twenty works of SFF about psionics or mind powers that every true SFF fan should have on their shelves.
- Noah Smith takes a look at science fiction predictions that came true and those that didn't and concludes that the cyberpunks did pretty well.
- Natalie Zutter discusses a new twist on generation ship stories.
- Emily Asher-Perrin discusses how science fiction handles the bodily autonomy of robots.
- McKenzie Wark explains why science fiction is better at addressing the issue of climate change than the bourgeois novel.
- Jason Sanford wonders what steadily easier access to information will do to storytelling.
- Fran Wilde shares five books that rock engineering.
- Jeff Somers shares seven hidden cameos in SFF novels.
- Theresa DeLucci shares five horror reads for fall.
- Jonathan Crowe responds to the recent critiques of fantasy maps to point out that the criticism should be directed at the worldbuilding rather than at the map.
- Camestros Felapton discusses the plot elements of fantasy maps.
- Vann R. Newkirk II discusses what The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien still has to offer 80 years after its first publication.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1977 novel The High Couch of Silistra by Janet E. Morris.
- Judith Tarr revisits the 1983 novel Ware Hawk by Andre Norton.
- Alan Brown shares his appreciation for the 1978 collection Callahan's Crosstime Saloon.
- Sam Reader shares his appreciation for the works of Philip K. Dick.
- Cheryl Eddy shares the nine most nightmarish movies about nuclear attacks.
- Glen Weldon calls the Lego Ninjago Movie less than fantastic plastic.
- Leigh Butler revisits the 1980 fantasy musical Xanadu.
- Brian Switek declares that the world does not need any more Alien prequels.
- Re Fab share their appreciation for the 2006 TV series Torchwood.
- Julia Raeside shares her thoughts on the afterlife sitcom The Good Place.
- Michael Moreci shares his appreciation for the 1997 movie Gattaca.
- Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the 2016 time travel movie Prisoner X.
- Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on the movie Wonder Woman.
- Rob Bricken shares his thoughts on the season four premiere of Gotham.
- Ross Johnson shares the most epic moments in Batman history.
- Rachel Swygert discusses female Batman villains.
- For the 50th anniversary of Batgirl, Ross Johnson traces her tumultuous history.
- Alex Brown shares her appreciation for the current Jem and the Holograms comic.
- Martin Wisse explains what the real trouble with comics is.
- Alanna Bennett reports that the author of the notorious Harry Potter fanfiction story My Immortal and the story behind it has been revealed after fifteen years.
- Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy Magazine which published a lot of science fiction short stories among the sort of thing it is better known for, has died aged 91.
Comments on Star Trek Discovery:
- Chris Taylor calls Star Trek Discovery smart and serious science fiction.
- Matt Zoller Seitz calls Star Trek Discovery a stirring and rare piece of science fiction.
- Andrew Lowry calls Star Trek Discovery and intriguing new Star Trek incarnation.
- Huw Fullerton calls Star Trek Discovery a fun and imaginative reinvention of the original format.
- Katharine Trendacosta declares that Star Trek Discovery is going forth boldly, even though no one quite knows where yet.
- Matt Miller declares that Star Trek Discovery is beautiful to look at, but wonders whether that makes it good.
- Marissa Martinelli calls Star Trek Discovery ambitious and emotional, but not always logical.
- Sam Thielman calls Star Trek Discovery darker and more depressing than it probably intents to be.
- Stephen Kelly feels that Star Trek Discovery is too dark and does not fit Gene Roddenberry's vision of a more optimistic future.
- Darren Franish isn't particularly impressed by Star Trek Discovery, but praises the performance of Sonequa Martin-Green.
- Maureen Ryan feels that Star Trek Discovery is closer to Deep Space Nine than to any other Star Trek show.
- Mallory Ortberg offers a recap of the first two episodes of Star Trek Discovery.
- Liz Barr and Stephanie Lai shares their thoughts on and issues with Star Trek Discovery.
- Keith DeCandido shares his thoughts on Star Trek Discovery.
- Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on Star Trek Discovery.
- Chris M. Barkley shares his thoughts on Star Trek Discovery.
- Ross Johnson takes a look at the novel and comic tie-ins of Star Trek Discovery.
- James Whitbrook reports that viewers outside the US can watch Star Trek Discovery with Klingon subtitles.
- Zach Sharf reports that Star Trek Discovery has become one of the most pirated TV shows worldwide.
- Watch a spoilerish trailer for the rest of Star Trek Discovery.
Comments on It:
- Sam Riedel declares that the scariest thing about It is its misogyny.
- Charles Pulliam-Moore explains how the director of It made sure that the child actor's terror of Pennywise felt as real as possible.
The Princess Bride at 30:
- For the 30th anniversary of the 1987 cult movie The Princess Bride, Billy Crystal, Rob Reiner, Robin Wright and others share their memories of the movie.
- Lisa Granshaw praises the relationship between the characters inigo Montoya and Fezzik in The Princess Bride.
Tributes to Kit Reed and Jerry Pournelle:
- Multi-genre writer Kit Reed died aged 85.
- Kit Reed's son Mack Reed remembers his mother.
- Tor.com shares tributes and reactions from SFF writers and editors to the death of Kit Reed.
- Jerry Pournelle's daughter Jennifer Pournelle shares her memories of her late father.
- Caroline Seals and Keith Sato share a tribute to Jerry Pournelle.
- John Hertz shares a report about the memorial service and funeral of Jerry Pournelle.
Awards:
- The winners of the 2017 Copper Cylinder Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the 2017 PastWords Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the 2017 SFPA Speculative Poetry Contest have been announced.
- Mike Glyer revisits a controversy surrounding the Hugo Awards in 1989.
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- Kameron Hurley talks about creativity and the fear of losing it.
- J. Lelse shares the true reason he writes every day.
- Drew Dennis explains why the back burner is the most important thing.
- Louis Chew shares some tips for how to start writing, when you don't know what to write.
- Jyssica Schwartz explains what the hardest part of writing a book is for her.
- Stephanie Burgis discusses how writing Snowspelled helped her through dark times.
- A.J. Dalton shares the top ten technical aspects of writing science fiction and fantasy.
- Annalee Newitz talks about writing near future science fiction.
- Alter S. Reiss explains how archaeology can be useful to fantasy writers.
- Beth Bacon offers nine revision techniques.
- Aimee Pearcy reminds us that done is better than perfect.
- Donna Ferguson reports about two data scientists who have developed an algorithm which predicts which books will become bestsellers.
- Jason Sanford talks about authors who can't be bothered to either read the magazine in question or the submission guidelines.
- John Scalzi discusses Amazon author rank.
Interviews:
- Laura Hudson interviews Ann Leckie.
- Ruth Copland interviews Ann Leckie.
- Jo Ladzinski interviews Fran Wilde.
- A.C. Wise interviews Kat Howard.
- David Barr Kirtley interviews Theodora Goss.
- Joel Cunningham interviews William Gibson.
- Steve Paulson interviews Amitav Gosh.
- Julia Rios interviews C.S.E. Cooney.
- Claire Vaye Watkins interviews Rivers Solmon.
- Ken MacLeod interviews Farah Mendlesohn.
- Gin Jenny interviews Thea James and Ana Grilo.
- Renay Williams interviews Ana Grilo.
- Andrea Johnson interviews Jon McGoran.
- John Valeri interviews Joe R. Lansdale.
- The Qwillery interviews Rick Claypool.
- Geoff Matthews interviews Harry Illingworth.
- Jeffrey Reynaud interviews Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang.
- Ian Cardona interviews Dustin Bates.
Reviews:
- Ana Grilo reviews Provenance by Ann Leckie.
- Liz Bourke reviews Provenance by Ann Leckie.
- James Davis Nicoll revies Provenance by Ann Leckie.
- Joel Cunningham reviews Provenance by Ann Leckie.
- Ceridwen Christensen reviews Horizon by Fran Wilde.
- Liz Bourke reviews Horizon by Fran Wilde.
- Bill Capossere reviews Horizon by Fran Wilde.
- Gerry Canavan reviews The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi.
- Siddarth Gore reviews Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
- Paul Weimer reviews All Good Things by Emma Newman.
- Brit Mandelo reviews The Black Tides of Heaven and The Red Threads of Fortune by J.Y. Yang.
- Joel Cunningham also reviews The Black Tides of Heaven and The Red Threads of Fortune by J.Y. Yang.
- Niall Alexander reviews Sleeping Beauties by Stephen and Owen King.
- Xan Brooks reviews Sleeping Beauties by Stephen and Owen King.
- John Holyoke also reviews Sleeping Beauties by Stephen and Owen King.
- Michael Patrick Hicks reviews The Haunted Halls by Glenn Rolfe.
- Ceridwen Christensen reviews Autonomous by Annalee Newitz.
- Jason Sanford also reviews Autonomous by Annalee Newitz.
- Tadiana Jones reviews Nyxia by Scott Reintgen.
- Jenny Trout reviews Handbook for Mortals by Lani Sarem.
Crowdfunding:
- Circlet Press is celebrating its 25th anniversary and is looking for funding to publish an anthology of the best erotic science fiction and fantasy.
- Jelly Vampire, a comic by Ida Neverdahl, published by Emet Comics, is looking for funding.
- Scorn, a videogame based on H.R. Giger's designs, is looking for funding.
- Rose Marie Lillian needs some help to cover the legal expenses incurred by suing to be granted the collection of Frank Kelly Freas paintings her late mother wanted her to inherit.
Con reports:
- Charon Dunn offers a multi part report of her experiences at Hawaiicon 2017 in Waimea, Hawaii, and also shares several photos.
- Nina Allan shares her experiences at Fantasticon 2017 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
- Kevin Bankston discusses the tech policy panels at Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia.
- Hooked From Page One reports about a Rooftop Book Club event in London, UK, featuring Alex Clarke, Jonny Geller, Lisa Jewell and Felicia Yap.
Science and technology:
- Hurricane Maria has knocked out the Arecibo radio telescope along with the rest of Puerto Rico.
- Remnants of ancient life have been found in almost 4 billion years old rocks.
- A newly discovered dinosaur was the biggest land animal ever.
- A mutated stain of super malaria is spreading in South East Asia.
- Custom printed drugs are the future of pharmaceuticals.
- Scientists have gene-edited gluten to allow people with celiac disease to eat wheat.
Free online fiction:
- "Shoggoths in Traffic" by Tobias S. Buckell in Lightspeed.
- "Though She Be But Little" by C.S.E. Cooney in Uncanny Magazine.
- "Ugo" by Giovanni de Feo in Lightspeed.
- "Grassland" by T.S. McAdams in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
- "On the Road to the Hell of Hungry Ghosts" by Richard Parks in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
- "The Gates of Balawat" by Maria Haskins in Samovar Magazine.
- "Hexen's Ghosts" by Russell Hemmell in Crimson Streets.
Odds and ends:
No comments:
Post a Comment