It's time for the weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with tributes to Harlan Ellison, an uproar surrounding the new She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Sorry to Bother You, the failure of Asura, toxic fandom, the latest from San Diego Comic Con as well as the usual mix of awards news, writing advice, interviews, reviews, con reports, crowdfunding campaigns, science articles, free online fiction and much more.
Speculative fiction in general:
- Kameron Hurley shares five books that will restore your faith in humanity.
- Several authors share the books that terrified them.
- Joel Cunningham shares ten fantasy books steeped in Southern Gothic.
- Jeff Somers shares the ten best World War II alternate history novels.
- Cat Rambo offers an overview of recent furry fiction.
- Cora Buhlert offers an overview of the German pulp science fiction series Perry Rhodan and its imitators.
- Gideon Marcus revisits Harlan Ellison's 1963 short fiction collection Ellison Wonderland.
- Judith Tarr revisits C.J. Cherryh's 1976 science fantasy novel Gate of Ivrel.
- Joe Sherry revisits Katherine Kurtz's 1992 epic fantasy novel King Javan's Year.
- Rio Youers discusses the role of books in providing a safe space to examine society.
- Sarah Burns explains why J.R.R. Tolkien may be a candidate for sainthood.
- Brandon Vogt reports that there is a motion to make G.K. Chesterton a saint as well.
- Mike Fugere explains why comic book publishers dislike superhero weddings.
- Sean T. Collins declares that the only good and non-toxic online fandom left is Dune of all things.
- Alyssa Fikse views Syndrome, villain of The Incredibles, as an analogy for toxic fandom.
- Miles Klee explains that he believes The Last Jedi is the best Star Wars film, because it upset the nerds.
- Cheryl Eddy revisits the 1992 science fiction action film Universal Soldier.
- Tom Breihan declares that the age of the superhero movie began in earnest with Bryan Singer's 1999 X-Men movie.
- Alexa Grave calls Ant-Man and the Wasp an awesome team-up.
- Brandon O'Brien is pleased by the presence of LGBT characters in season 2 of Luke Cage, but would like to see more.
- Carrie Vaughn shares her thoughts on Avengers: Infinity War.
- Cheryl Eddy reports that James Mangold, director of Logan, has warned that toxic fan behaviour could drive talented directors and actors away from major SFF franchises.
- Kevin Melrose offers a brief history of the many problems surrounding the 2008 Incredible Hulk movie, starring Edward Norton.
- Ryan Britt points out that Star Trek can be as dark as Black Mirror on occasion.
- Jordan Hoffman declares that the post-apocalyptic film How It Ends has managed to make even the end of the world look boring.
- Cheryl Eddy declares that the time travel show Manifest wastes a perfectly good science fiction premise.
- Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the final three episodes of season 3 of Humans.
- Sam Stone reveals some plot details about the third season of Agent Carter that never was to be.
- Lesley Goldberg reports that Joss Whedon will create a new science fiction series for HBO.
- Daniel Holloway reports that Amazon has ordered Tales from the Loop, a streaming video series inspired by Simon Stalenhag's striking science fiction artwork.
- George R.R. Martin remembers the late Harlan Ellison.
- Ted White remembers Harlan Ellison.
- Actor Roger Perry who appeared in Star Trek and The Munsters among others has died aged 85.
- Special effects artist George Jepson, who worked on Return of the Jedi and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, has died aged 87.
Comments on the new She-Ra and the Princesses of Power:
- Tanya Chen reports that some (adult male) fans are upset that the new look of kids' cartoon She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is not sexy enough.
- Camestros Felapton weighs in on the backlash against the new She-Ra and the familiar names involved.
- Doris V. Sutherland compares the backlash against the new She-Ra to earlier backlashes against this and other female characters.
Comments on Sorry to Bother You:
- Evan Narcisse calls Sorry to Bother You the most surreal and most important science fiction film of the year.
- Evan Narcisse interviews Boots Riley, director of Sorry to Bother You.
- Grant Pardee wonders whether Sorry to Bother You is this year's Get Out!
Comments on the failure of Asura:
- Patrick Brzeski reports that the fantasy epic Asura, the most expensive Chinese film ever, has been pulled from cinemas after three days following a disastrous box office performance.
- Kenrick Davis has more on the massive box office failure of Asura.
Awards:
- The winner of the 2018 Arthur C. Clarke Award has been announced.
- The winners of the 2017 Shirley Jackson Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the 2018 David Gemmell Awards have been announced.
- The winner of the 2018 Manly Wade Wellman Award has been announced.
- The winner of the 2018 Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award has been announced.
- The winners of the 2018 Neffy Awards have been announced.
- The nominees for the 2018 Splatterpunk Awards have been announced.
- The Science Fiction Poetry Association has announced its 2018 Grandmaster nominees.
- Voting is open for the 2018 Awkward Author Photo contest.
- Voting is open for the 2018 eFestival of Words Best of the Independent eBook Awards and Cora and Jessica are both finalists.
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- John T. Weiss shares nine tips for filling up your creative gas tank.
- Nicole Kornher-Stace explains why she prefers writing platonic relationships to writing romantic relationships.
- Tim Eveland explains why most fantasy swords wouldn't work in reality.
- Chuck Wendig discusses the problem of writers relying too much on Blake Snyder's popular screenwriting book Save the Cat.
- Gabino Iglesias lists ten types of writers that should be (metaphorically) thrown down a well.
- Sarah Jeong offers a summary of the so-called "Cockygate" affair and the shenangigans that some indie romance authors get up to.
Interviews:
- Locus interviews Fonda Lee.
- Locus interviews Laura Anne Gilman.
- The Qwillery interviews Thea Lim.
- Shanna Heath interviews Bonny Becker and Mark Fearing.
Reviews:
- The Curious SFF Reader reviews Revenant Gun by Yoon Ha Lee.
- The Curious SFF Reader reviews Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfar.
- Paul Weimer reviews Shadow Sun Seven by Spencer Ellsworth.
- Nicole Hill reviews Kill the Farm Boy by Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne.
- Rob Bedford reviews Kill the Farm Boy by Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne.
- Doreen Sheridan reviews I Only Killed Him Once by Adam Christopher.
- Foz Meadows reviews The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi.
- Brit Mandelo reviews Apocalypse Nyx by Kameron Hurley.
- Becca Evans reviews The Last Sun by K.D. Edwards.
- Nick Hubble revies Luna: Wolf Moon by Ian McDonald.
- Lila Garrott reviews Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik.
- Adrienne Joy reviews Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik.
- Whiskey With My Book reviews Kiss of the Spindle by Nancy Campbell Allen.
- Paul Weimer reviews Witchmark by C.L. Polk.
- Michelle Snow reviews The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco.
- Emily Nordling reviews Guardian by A.J. Hartley.
- The Qwillery reviews Brief Cases by Jim Butcher.
- Alasdair Stuart reviews Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill.
- Alasdair Stuart reviews Water & Glass by Abi Curtis.
- Samira Nadkarni reviews Water & Glass by Abi Curtis.
- Camestros Felapton reviews The Black Tides of Heaven by J.Y. Yang.
- The Qwillery reviews The Garden of Blue Roses by Michael Barsa.
- Paul Weimer reviews City of Lies by Sam Hawke.
- Daniel Haeusser reviews Theory of Bastards by Audrey Schulman.
- Adrienne Martini reviews The Expert System's Brother by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
- Adam Roberts reviews The Quantum Magician by Derek Künsken.
- Liz Bourke reviews Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell.
- Gary K. Wolfe reviews European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman by Theodora Goss.
- The Real Book Spy reviews Vox by Christina Dalcher.
- Gabino Iglesias reviews Halcyon by Rio Youers.
- Niall Alexander reviews The Cloven by Brian Catling.
- Leah Schnelbach reviews The Mere Wife by Maria Dahvana Headley.
- Jamie Sugah reviews Nyxia Unleashed by Scott Reintgen.
- Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Practitioners by Matt Hayward and Patrick Lacey.
- Lance Christensen reviews Tolkien - Maker of Middle Earth, edited by Catherine McIlwaine.
Crowdfunding:
Con reports:
- Heidi MacDonald reports about the proliferation of comic cons and why San Diego Comic Con is still king.
- Jill Pantozzi, Beth Elderkin and Germain Lussier offer a video tour of San Diego Comic Con in San Diego, California.
- Lindsey Bahr reports that San Diego Comic Con has a problem with harrassment and a vague code of conduct.
- Mike Glyer also reports about San Diego Comic Con's deficient code of conduct.
- Tim Adams reports that Batman writer Tom King was assigned a bodyguard for San Diego Comic Con because of death threats.
- Kevin Standalee shares the business meeting and site selection schedules for WorldCon 76 in San José, California.
- KJ reports about a panel on geekiness and productivity at WisCon in Madison, Wisconsin.
- Vivian Shaw shares her experiences at Readercon 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts.
- Paul di Filippo shares some photos of Readercon 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts.
- Todd B. Vick shares his experiences at the 2018 Howard Days in Cross Plains, Texas, and shares some photos.
- The Science Fiction Poetry Association has suspended a member from posting at their forums and Facebook page for code of conduct violations and insulting another member.
- Ashley Knibb reviews the official tie-in app for the 2018 Sage Paracon in Coombe Abbey, UK.
- Karen Hardy reports about a Twitter feud related to the Camberra Writers' Festival in Camberra, Australia.
Science and technology:
- Ethan Siegel talks about the missing dark matter in the universe.
- Nadia Drake reports that twelve new moons orbiting Jupiter have been found.
- Eric Berger reports that further delays might endanger the launch of the James Webb Telescope, because the Ariane 5 rocket will be phased out in 2022.
- Dennis Overbye reports about the Baksan Neutrino Observatory in Russia.
- Corey M. Forsyth wonders if DNA might be the spark to the nanobot revolution.
- Sophie Kleeman talks about the future of food.
- James Vincent reports about a sunlight seeking robot that carries a plant on its back.
- Andrew Liszewski reports about the world's first full-colour 3D X-ray images.
- Shoshi Parks profiles solar power pioneer Mária Telkes.
- Nadia Drake interviews cosmonaut Gennady Padalka who holds the record for the most time spent in space.
- Helen Briggs reports that archaeologists have discovered the earliest evidence of bread making in Jordan, which proves that humans were already eating bread 14000 years ago.
- The BBC reports that a pudding which has been launched towards space via a high altitude balloon by students has been found on a farm in Lincolnshire.
Free Online Fiction:
- "Castle Coeurlieu" by Naomi Novik in Lightspeed.
- "Greetings Humanity! Welcome to Your Choice of Species!" by Adam-Troy Castro in Lightspeed.
- "The Nearest" by Greg Egan at Tor.com.
- "Drawing the Barriers" by Tamara Vardomskaya in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
- "Flesh and Stone" by Kathryn Yelinek in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
- "Bones in the Rock" by R.K. Kalaw in Uncanny Magazine.
- "By Claw, By Hand, By Silent Speech" by Elsa Sjunneson-Henry and A. Merc Rustad in Uncanny Magazine.
Odds and ends:
- Watch a teaser for series 11 of Doctor Who.
- Watch a trailer for series 11 of Doctor Who.
- Watch a trailer for Titans.
- Watch a teaser for season 3 of Stranger Things.
- Watch a trailer for Nightflyers.
- Watch a trailer for 7 Splinters in Time.
- Watch a trailer for The Darkest Minds.
- Watch a trailer for Patient Zero.
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