Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for September 21, 2018

It's time for the weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with Iron Fist, The Predator, Captain Marvel, the relationship of Ernie and Bert, a Goodreads scandal, the disintegration of KBoards 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:

• Silvana Reyes Lopez shares the 23 best fantasy series for adults.
• Camestros Felapton talks about castles, fortresses and refuges in science fiction and fantasy. 
• James Davis Nicoll shares six stories that find drama in utopian settings. 
• Todd McAulty shares the greatest science fiction robots of all time.
• Karin Tidbeck shares five stories about cannibalism.
• Grady Hendrix shares five devil-worshipping pulp horror novels from the 1970s.
• Kelly Lagor talks about the links between science fiction and modern biology and how both developed in parallel in the 1930s and 1940s. 
• Sam Reader explains where to start with the space operas of Peter F. Hamilton.
• Damien Walter talks about the thematic genius of Iain M. Banks. 
• Amanda DeMarco shares her thoughts on the works of Liu Cixin. 
• Jeff Somers shares his appreciation for the works of John Bellairs. 
• Darryn King profiles Goosebumps author R.L. Stine and explains how important the Goosebumps books have been for many children. 
• Stephen Mirarchi discusses how Dean Koontz's Catholicism has influenced his fiction. 
• Mike Glyer reports that Goodreads has deleted the series listing of FIYAH Magazine, even though other speculative fiction magazines were allowed to keep their series listings. 
• Mike Glyer has more on the deletion of the magazines FIYAH and Anathema from Goodreads and the resulting controversy.
• Kim Pruett reprints an article by Dave Mason about science fiction magazine distribution in the 1950s. 
• The Hugo Award Book Club takes a look at filmic adaptations of Hugo nominated fiction. 
• Steve Paugh wonders what broke DC's superhero movies and how they can compete with Marvel. 
• Rob Bricken explains how to save the DC superhero movie universe. 
• Alex Abad-Santos reports that Batman's genitals have been glimpsed for the first time in a recent comic.
• James Whitbrook reports that according to Disney's CEO, there will be fewer Star Wars movies going forward.
• Alasdair Stuart lists five B-movie monsters which deserve a a bigger following. 
• Cora Buhlert revisits the 1960 East German science fiction film The Silent Star. 
• Lorelei Marcus revisits the 1963 science fiction movie The Man With the X-Ray Eyes.
• Michael Coate remembers the original Battlestar Galactica for its 40th anniversary. 
• Austin Gilkerson revisits the 1977 animated film The Hobbit. 
• Vidhi Doshi reports about Stree, a new horror film from India, and how it reflects the situation of women in India. 
• Ian Sales shares his thoughts on The Meg.
• Sound engineer Frank Serafine, who worked on Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Tron among others, has died aged 65.

Comments on Iron Fist:

• Chris Edwards declares that season 2 of Iron Fist is better than season 1, but not by far.  
• Dave Richards shares his thoughts on episodes 1 to 4 and episodes 5 to 7 of season 2 of Iron Fist.
• Keith R.A. DeCandido shares his thoughts on season 2 of Iron Fist and focusses particularly on the characters of Misty Knight and Colleen Wing a.k.a. the Daughters of the Dragon.
• Ian Sandwell and David Opie explain who the character of Typhoid Mary, who appears in season 2 of Iron First, is.
• Bea Mitchell finds a Marvel hero hidden in season 2 of Iron Fist.
• Ryan Scott finds another Easter egg in season 2 of Iron Fist and wonders what this means for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
  

Comments on The Predator:

• Sam Stone declares that The Predator is the goriest film of the franchise yet. 
• nerds of a feather calls The Predator completely and utterly mindless. 
• Nicholas Friedman explains the ending of The Predator.
• Germain Lussier also discusses the ending of The Predator.
• Anthony D'Alessandro reports that The Predator tops the US box office, beating The Nun.
  

Comments on the Captain Marvel trailer:

• Ben Child declares that Captain Marvel will reshape the future of superhero movies.
• Michael Baggs explains why Captain Marvel is a gamechanger.
• Dan Marcus shares everything we know about Captain Marvel so far.
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw offers a scene by scene breakdown of the Captain Marvel trailer. 
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw also explains why Captain Marvel seemingly punches an old woman in the Captain Marvel trailer. 
• Emily Asher-Perrin explains what struck her most about the Captain Marvel trailer.
• Watch a trailer for Captain Marvel.

Comments on Ernie and Bert's relationship:

• David Reddish interviews Sesame Street writer Mark Saltzman, who also sheds some light into the nature of the relationship between Ernie and Bert.
• Brandon Zachary shares the responses of the Sesame Workshop and Frank Oz to Saltzman's statement.
• Charles Pulliam-Moore declares that Sesame Street wants viewers to believe that Ernie and Bert are just good friends.
  

Awards:

• The winner of the 2018 Forry Award has been announced. 
• The winners of the 2018 Dwarf Star Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the 2018 Primetime Emmys have been announced with some love for genre shows. 
• The shortlist for the 2018 Man Booker Prize has been announced.
• The shortlist for the 2018 BBC National Short Story Award has been announced.
• Haruki Murakami has withdrawn himself from consideration for the New Academy Prize in Literature. 
• The 2018 National Toy Hall of Fame Finalists have been announced.
• The winners of the 2018 Ig Nobel Prize have been announced.
• Maiysha Kai shares some photos of Nnedi Okorafor at the Emmy Awards ceremony.
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Matt Miller shares tips for finding writing inspiration.
• Robert Wood explains why writers should avoid fridging female and minority characters. 
• Richie Billing shares a guide for writing fight scenes.
• Rayne Hall shares some tips for writing about love spells.
• Claire Kirch reports that Target has been censoring book titles and descriptions.
• The Passive Voice reports about a rights grab uproar involving the popular self-publishing forum KBoards.
• Julie Ann Dawson also reports about the unannounced TOS change at KBoards after the forum was taken over by VerticalScope and offers a timeline of events.
• Marilyn Vix weighs in on the KBoards issue.
  

Interviews:

• Andrew Liptak interviews Mary Robinette Kowal.
• Emma Brockes interviews Gary Shteyngart.
• Andrew Liptak interviews David Lupton.
• James Whitbrook interviews actor Sam Witwer who has played Darth Maul in various animated Star Wars series as well as in Solo.
• Sandie Angulo Chen interviews Owen Vaccaro, star of The House With a Clock in its Walls.

Reviews:

• Alasdair Stuart reviews The Calculating Stars and The Fated Sky by Mary Robinette Kowal.
• Marion Deeds reviews The Fated Sky by Mary Robinette Kowal. 
• Bill Capossere reviews Vengeful by V.E. Schwab.
• Paul Weimer reviews Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse. 
• Hilde Heyvaert reviews Echoes of Aether by Gail B. Williams.
• Liz Bourke reviews Salvation's Fire by Justina Robson and Hidden Sun by Jaine Fenn.
• Mark Yon reviews Cold Iron by Miles Cameron. 
• Martin Cahill reviews The Queen of Crows by Myke Cole. 
• Becca Evans reviews The Ninety-Ninth Bride by Catherine Faris King.
• Carolyn Cushman reviews Dreadful Company by Vivian Shaw. 
• Brit Mandelo reviews Strange Grace by Tessa Gratton.
• Rob Bedford reviews Gift of Griffins by V.M. Escalada.
• Sam Jordison reviews Sweet Fruit, Sour Land by Rebecca Ley. 
• Sarah Ditum reviews The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas. 
• Maria Haskins reviews State Tectonics by Malka Older.
• Liz Bourke reviews Rosewater by Tade Thompson. 
• Kat Hooper reviews An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green.
• Tobias Carroll reviews Patient X by David Peace. 
• Paul di Filippo reviews The Sacerdotal Owl and Three Other Long Tales by Michael Bishop. 
• Ian Mond reviews I Still Dream by James Smythe.
• Adrienne Martini reviews Leech Girl Lives by Rick Claypool.
• Bill Capossere reviews Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster by Jonathan Auxier. 
• Carolyn Cushman reviews The Phantom Files: Twain's Treasure by William B. Wolfe.
• Philip Womack reviews The Lost Magician by Piers Torday. 
• Jamie Sugah reviews Pride by Ibi Zoboi. 
• John Langan reviews Spectral Evidence by Gemma Files.
• Ceridwen Christensen reviews Mecha Samurai Empire by Peter Tieryas.
• Kate Sherrod reviews Wolfman Confidential by Justin Robinson.
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Scapegoat by Adam Howe and James Newman.
• Leah Schnelbach reviews We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix.
• Ross Johnson reviews How to Invent Everything by Ryan North. 

Classic reviews:

• Sandy Ferber revisits the 1946 fantasy collection The Black Druid by Frank Belknap Long.
• Jen Zink revisits the 1963 children's speculative fiction novel A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. 
• Judith Tarr revisits Andre Norton's 1969 science fiction novel Uncharted Stars.
• Jason Heller revisits Piers Anthony's 1977 fantasy novel A Spell for Chameleon and finds it sorely lacking. 

Crowdfunding:

• Volume 4 of the Long List Anthology is looking for funding. 
• Fiction River, an original anthology series edited by Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch, is looking for funding.
• Erin Ptah is looking for funding for a print collection of her web comic Leif & Thorn. 
• The Princess Who Saved Her Friends, a children's book by Greg Pak and Jonathan Coulton with illustrations by Takeshi Miyazawa, is looking for funding.
  

Con reports:

• Matthew Rettino shares his experiences at Congrès Boréal in Montreal, Canada.
• Hector Gonzalez, who attended WorldCon 76 in San José as part of John Picacio's Mexicanx Initiative, shares his experiences in a two part post.
• Howard Andrew Jones shares a report about GenCon 2018 in Indianapolis, Indiana, as well as several photos in a three part post.
• Nokuthula Zwane reports about Comic Con Africa in Kyalami, South Africa.
• IOL explains what to expect at Comic Con Africa.
• Dave Lally reports about Science Fiction Sharing Conference in Chengdu, China, and shares several photos.
• Rich Johnston shares a warning about a chicken pox outbreak at Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia. 
• Ellen Datlow shares some photos of the latest Fantastic Fiction reading in New York City, featuring Patrick McGrath and Siobhan Carroll.
• John King Tarpinian reports about the premiere of the play Martians: An Evening with Ray Bradbury in Sherman Oaks, California, and shares some photos.
• Broadway World reports about The Woman Who Went to Space as a Man by Maureen Huskey, a play about James Tiptree Jr. a.k.a. Alice B. Sheldon, in Los Angeles, California.
  

Science and technology:

• Geoff Manaugh wonders how the police will solve murders on Mars. 
• Mike Pomeranz explains why beer might be the key to surviving on Mars. 
• Molly Olmstead reveals the true reason why the National Solar Observatory in Sunspot, New Mexico, was shut down by the FBI and evacuated.
• Sasha Lekach reports that BMW has developed a riderless motorcycle prototype, which they use to research safety systems. 
  

Free online fiction:

• "Dix" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. 
• "Harry and Marlowe and the Secret of Ahomana" by Carrie Vaughn in Lightspeed.
• "The Coin of Heart's Desire" by Yoon Ha Lee in Lightspeed.  
• "The Last To Matter" by Adam-Troy Castro in Lightspeed.
• "By Degrees and Dilatory Time" by S.L. Huang in Uncanny Magazine.
• "Heavy Lifting" by A.T. Greenblatt in Uncanny Magazine.
• "The Good War" by David R. Bunch in Literary Hub.
• "Nine Last Days on Planet Earth" by Daryl Gregory at Tor.com.
• "An Account of the Sky Whales" by A Que, translated by Andy Dudak, in Clarkesworld. 
• "A Game of Faces" by Carrie A. Brown at Akashic Books.
  

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a trailer for series 11 of Doctor Who.
• Watch a trailer for Prospect. 
• Watch a trailer for season 3 of Daredevil.
• Watch a trailer for You Might Be The Killer.
• Watch a trailer for Next Gen.
• Watch a trailer for Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors.
• Watch a trailer for The First.
• Watch a trailer for Mary Poppins Returns.
• Watch a trailer for Ralph Breaks the Internet. 
• Watch a trailer for The Grinch.
• Watch Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog offering their take on A Star Is Born.
• Watch a political ad featuring Bigfoot.