It's time again for the weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week witha whole lot about Star Wars: The Last Jedi (spoilers mostly marked, but reader beware), Star Trek, The Secret of NIMH, Arthur C. Clarke at 100 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:
- Swapna Krishna shares her favourite science fiction and fantasy books of 2017.
- Ceridwen Christensen shares seven series ending novels she loved in 2017.
- Ross Johnson shares thirty SFF sequels he's looking forward to in 2018.
- Gideon Marcus and the team of Galactic Journey share their favourite science fiction works of 1962.
- Megan from From Couch to Moon shares fifteen great science fiction books.
- Andrew Liptak shares eighteen science fictional power suits and exo-skeletons you don't want to meet on the battlefield.
- T.W. O'Brien talks about travel in science fiction.
- James Whitbrook shares the best and worst captains of 2017.
- Corey J. White shares the five coolest cats in outer space.
- Sean Connolly talks about contraceptives in fantasy.
- S.A. Chakraborty talks about what makes historical fantasy shine.
- Joyce Chng offers an overview of South East Asian horror fiction.
- Elissa Nadworny attempts to explain the popularity of post-apocalyptic and dystopian YA.
- Kate MacDonald revisits The Dark Is Rising series by Susan Cooper.
- Preeti Chhibber talks about colonialism and culture loss in the context of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series.
- Joshua Solomon profiles John Crowley.
- Lady Business talks about the state of short science fiction and fantasy.
- Sarah Gailey offers a praise of rereading.
- Camestros Felapton shares their thoughts on the Disney and 20th Century Fox merger.
- Emily Schaab shares fifteen things to look out for in "Twice Upon a Time", the 2017 Doctor Who Christmas Special.
- Tansy Rayner Roberts shares her appreciation for the character of Sarah Jane Smith in Doctor Who.
- Beth Elderkin shares a tribute to the most beloved SFF characters who died on screen in 2017.
- Jason Sanford explains why the red pill/blue pill metaphor from The Matrix is overly simplicistic and problematic.
- Abbey White reports how food stylists create futuristic meals for science fiction films and TV shows.
- Germain Lussier calls Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle a trivial action adventure elevated by its charismatic cast.
- Andrew Lapin calls the Spanish animated film Birdboy: The Forgotten Children beautiful, dark and boundary pushing.
- Emily Asher-Perrin declares that director Shane Black is the king of the Christmas action movie.
- Travis M. Andrews reports about the scandal surrounding incoming Marvel Comics editor-in-chief C.M. Cebulski.
- Disney animator Robert Givens died three months before his 100th birthday.
- Marina Popovich, record-breaking Soviet test pilot who narrowly missed becoming the first woman in space, has died aged 86.
- Actress Heather North, best remembered as the voice of Daphne in Scooby Doo has died aged 71.
Celebrating Arthur C. Clarke at 100:
- Andrew Liptak celebrates Arthur C. Clarke on his 100th birthday.
- Adam Roberts declares that Arthur C. Clarke is still the king of science fiction.
- Kim Pruett remembers the young Arthur C. Clarke before he became famous.
- Mark Yon revisits Prelude to Space, Arthur C. Clarke's first published novel from 1947, to celebrate Clarke's centennary.
- Bill Higgins offers an overview of Arthur C. Clarke cover art over the years to celebrate the author's 100th birthday.
- Tom Hunter, director of the Arthur C. Clarke Awards, explains how the awards organisation is celebrating Arthur C. Clarke's centennary.
- Adam Rowe reports about the decades-long flame war between Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov.
Comments on Star Wars: The Last Jedi (spoilers marked, but reader beware):
- Kristy Puchko calls The Last Jedi the epic adventure we have been waiting for.
- Tara Lynne declares that The Last Jedi is not The Empire Strikes Back and that is a good thing.
- Will Gompertz calls The Last Jedi a blockbuster packed with invention, wit and action galore.
- Gary Westfahl shares his thoughts on The Last Jedi and wonders whether Star Wars has run its course.
- John Scalzi shares his spoiler-free thoughts on The Last Jedi.
- Chuck Wendig shares his thoughts about The Last Jedi.
- Chris M. Barkley shares his thoughts about Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
- Steven Barnes shares his thoughts about The Last Jedi.
- Camestros Felapton shares their spoiler-free thoughts on The Last Jedi.
- Camestros Felapton also offers a spoilerish dissection of The Last Jedi.
- Ross Johnson shares his appreciation for The Last Jedi and particularly for Princess turned General Leia Organa, as portrayed by the late Carrie Fisher.
- Kameron Hurley shares her spoilerish thoughts on The Last Jedi.
- Abigail Nussbaum shares her spoilerish thoughts on The Last Jedi.
- Haibane declares that The Last Jedi subverts expectations.
- Emily Asher-Perrin declares that The Last Jedi is trying to wring all emotions it can out of its audience.
- Mark Serrels is pleased about the sheer weirdness of The Last Jedi.
- Laurel Carney talks failure, peace and purpose in The Last Jedi.
- Natalie Zutter declares that The Last Jedi addresses the temptation to run away.
- Rob Bricken discusses how The Last Jedi brought the Star Wars trilogy he grew up with to an end.
- Dan Golding explains how The Last Jedi redefines the legacy film.
- Renaldo Matadeen declares that The Last Jedi is the most political Star Wars film yet.
- Dan Gvozden declares that The Last Jedi fails galactic politics 101.
- Ian Young wonder if The Last Jedi may be the most divisive film ever.
- Andrew Telling wonders why critics almost unanimously praised The Last Jedi, while fans are divided.
- Noah Berlatsky wonders if Star Wars: The Last Jedi is science fiction at all.
- Gilbert Cruz and Dave Gonzalez offers a spoilerish explanation behind many of the questions raised by The Last Jedi.
- The Hollywood Reporter offers a spoilerish dissection of The Last Jedi and its plot twists and biggest moments.
- Tim Adams offers a spoilerish explanation of the ending of The Last Jedi.
- Rachel Paige offers some (spoiler-laden) complaints about the many character deaths in The Last Jedi.
- Germain Lussier describes a scene that was cut from The Last Jedi.
- Renaldo Matadeen tackles five questions The Last Jedi refused to answer.
- Vincent Pasquill wonders what will become of the Jedi after The Last Jedi.
- Emily Asher-Perrin examines what the events of The Last Jedi mean for the Force.
- Marc Bouchard wonders whatever happened to the Knights of Ren in The Last Jedi.
- Tim Adams takes a look at the character arc of Poe Dameron in The Last Jedi.
- Arkady Martine shares her appreciation for Vice-Admiral Amilyn Holdo in The Last Jedi.
- Joe Tonelli also shares his appreciation for Vice-Admiral Holdo in The Last Jedi.
- Keely Flaherty profiles Kelly Marie Tran who plays Rose Tico in The Last Jedi.
- Kevin Melrose takes a look at Benicio Del Toro's character DJ in The Last Jedi.
- Bill Bradley explains why Kylo Ren is shirtless for part of The Last Jedi.
- Mandalit del Barco profiles Rian Johnson, director of The Last Jedi.
- Joe Berkowitz also profiles Rian Johnson, director of The Last Jedi.
- Peter Sciretta offers a spoiler-filled interview with Rian Johnson.
- Ryan Parker reports that George Lucas was very pleased with The Last Jedi.
- Hau Chu takes a look at the porgs in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
- Oisin Feeney shares the real reason why the porgs were created for The Last Jedi.
- Andrew Husband shares some not entirely serious porg recipes inspired by The Last Jedi.
- Ron Dicker reports that actor Wil Wheaton, best known for playing Wesley Crusher in Star trek: The Next Generation, attended a showing of Star Wars: The Last Jedi in costume - a Star Trek uniform.
- Beatriz E. Valenzuela reports that there was an uproar at a movie theatre in Burbank, California, after the premiere showing of The Last Jedi accidentally started without sound.
- The BBC reports that The Last Jedi has grossed more than 450 million US-dollars on its opening weekend.
- Meanwhile, Paul Bond reports that the shipments of Star Wars toys have fallen compared to 2015 and 2016.
Comments on Star Trek:
- Anthony Brum shares his appreciation for the original Star Trek.
- Camestros Felapton revisits the original series episode "Omega Glory".
Comments on The Secret of NIMH:
- Mari Ness shares her appreciation for the 1982 animated fim The Secret of NIMH.
- Leigh Butler also revisits The Secret of NIMH.
- Andrew Tarantola shares the inspiration for The Secret of NIMH.
Awards:
- The Neukom Institute for Computational Science has announced the creation of the Neukom Institue for Literary Arts Award for Speculative Fiction and the
Neukom Institue for Literary Arts Award for Debut Speculative Fiction.
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- D.P. Woolliscroft shares his fantasy writing manifesto.
- Evan Hughes explains why Norway is the best place in the world to be a writer.
- Cathi Stevenson shares some advice for hiring a cover designer.
Interviews:
- Liz Bourke interviews Alex Wells.
- Meghan Ball interviews Kim Newman.
- Felicity Harley interviews John Crowley.
- Jean Marie Ward interviews Jaym Gates.
Reviews:
- Martin Cahill reviews The Will to Battle by Ada Palmer.
- Suzanne Joinson reviews City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty.
- Steve J. Wright reviews Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeanette Ng.
- Alison Flood reviews Places in the Darkness by Chris Brookmyre.
- Daniel P. Dern reviews La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman.
- Jana Nyman reviews Creatures of Will and Temper by Molly Tanzer.
- Elsa Sjunneson-Henry reviews Mandelbrot the Magnificent.
- Carolyn Cushman reviews Wellside by Robin Shortt.
- Gary K. Wolfe reviews The Changeling by Victor LaValle.
- The Hugo Award Book Club reviews The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin.
- Paul De Filippo reviews The Clingerman Files, the collected stories of Mildred Clingerman.
- Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Fury of the Orcas by Hunter Shea.
- Michael Berry reviews No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters by Ursula K. Le Guin.
- Jason Heller also reviews No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters by Ursula K. Le Guin.
Crowdfunding:
- 2001: An Odyssey in Words, an anthology to celebrate the centennary of Arthur C. Clarke with stories that are exactly 2001 words long, is looking for funding.
- Season 2 of The Racist Sandwich podcast is looking for funding.
Con reports:
- John Hertz shares his experiences as well as some photos of Loscon XLIV in Los Angeles, California.
- Jamie Sugah shares her experiences at as well as some photos of AnimeNYC 2017 in New York City.
- Ellen Datlow shares some photos of the Mad Hatters and March Hares reading in New York City.
- Andrew Wallace reports about a BSFA event in London, UK, featuring Anne Charnock and Glyn Morgan.
- Mark L. Blackman reports about the latest installment in the Fantastic Fiction Readings series in New York City, featuring N.K. Jemisin and Christopher Brown.
Science and technology:
- Paul Rincon reports that Oumuamua, the interstellar object currently passing through our solar system may contain alien water.
- Mary Beth Griggs has more about the mysterious Oumuamua object.
- Ted Chiang talks about Silicon Valley and its fear of artificial intelligence.
- Sarah Buhr reports that in San Francisco security robots are being employed to chase away homeless people.
- Jonathan Amos remembers the British Skylark rocket, which was launched in 1957.
- Ralph Blumenthal and Helene Cooper reveal the Pentagon's secret investigation into UFOs.
- Helene Cooper also reports about an UFO sighting by two US Navy airmen in 2004.
- Nature presents the best science images of the year.
Free online fiction:
- "The Christmas Show" by Pat Cadigan at Tor.com.
- "Everything in the World Wants Something" by Kate Elliott at The Booksmugglers.
- "Because Change Was the Ocean and We Lived By Her Mercy" by Charlie Jane Anders in Lightspeed.
- "The House at the End of the Lane Is Dreaming" by A. Merc Rustad in Lightspeed.
- "A Series of Steaks" by Vina Jie-Min Prasad in Clarkesworld.
- "Lures" by Jane Sand in The Fantasist.
- "Suddenwall" by Sara Saab in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
- "End of His Rope" by Guy Riessen.
Odds and ends:
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