Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for October 12, 2018

It's time for the weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week feminist dystopias, the new series of Doctor Who, Venom, First Man, Short Treks and Star Trek Discovery, the Star Wars backlash, the latest adaptation of The Haunting of Hill House, New York Comic Con, lots of new trailers 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:

• James Davis Nicoll continues his overview of women science fiction writers of the 1980s.
• Sophie Gilbert discusses the remarkable rise of the feminist dystopia. 
• Alexandra Alter also talks about the rise of feminist dystopias.
• S.L. Huang offers a defense of power fantasies.
• James Davis Nicoll shares five contemporary books that improve upon Heinlein's juveniles. 
• Camestros Felapton compares the political systems in Malka Older's Infomocracy and Ada Palmer's Too Like the Lightning. 
• Jesse Schotter talks about existentialism in The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander.
• Claire O'Dell shares eight science fiction and fantasy crossover thrillers.
• Jaclyn Adomeit explains what fantasy fiction taught her about love.
• N.S. Dolkart explains how writing fantasy prepared him for dementia care.
• Harry J. Stead talks about the mythology and symbolism of dragons.
• Jim Novak, letterer and logo designer for Marvel Comics, has died.

Film and TV:

• Natalie Zutter calls the season 4 premiere of Outlander beautiful and brutal.
• Leah Schnelbach declares that the What We Do in the Shadows TV show is fantastic. 
• Molly Templeton declares that Peter Jackson's new film Mortal Engines looks better than expected, based on a preview at New York Comic Con. 
• Cath Clark calls the animated film Smallfoot a frenetic family film with an unexpectedly heartfelt message. 
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Manifest. 
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the season 3 premiere of The Man in the High Castle as well as subsequent episodes.
• Gideon Marcus revisits the early anime Astro Boy, which premiered in the US in 1963. 
• Natalie Devitt revisits The Outer Limits, which also premiered in 1963. 
• Kevin Bankston revisits the 1983 movie War Games on its 35th anniversary and traces the impact it had on actual US policies.
• Germain Lussier reports that director James Gunn, who was fired from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, is moving to DC and may write and direct Suicide Squad 2.
• Actor Scott Wilson, who appeared in The Right Stuff and was a regular on The Walking Dead, has died aged 76.
• Actress Celeste Yarnall, who appeared in the original Star Trek among other things, has died aged 75.
  

Comments on series 11 of Doctor Who: 

• Will Gompertz declares that Jodie Whittaker owns the role of the Doctor from her first scene on. 
• Lucy Mangan praises Jodie Whittaker's performance as the Thirteenth Doctor and declares that series 11 has heart and soul. 
• Emily Asher-Perrin also praises Jodie Whittaker's performance, but is disappointed with the fate of another character.
• Mike Hale declares that the Doctor regenerates and so does Doctor Who.
• Glenn Weldon declares that series 11 of Doctor Who goes back to the basics with a twist.
• Beth Elderkin, Jill Pantozzi and James Whitbrook discuss Jodie Whittaker's Doctor Who debut. 
• Dan Martin shares his thoughts on the first episode of series 11 of Doctor Who. 
• Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on the first episode of series 11 of Doctor Who.
• Guardian readers share their thoughts on the first episode of series 11 of Doctor Who.  
• Dan Martin wonders whether the Jodie Whittaker era can secure the future of Doctor Who. 
• Sage Young interviews Jodie Whittaker, who plays the Thirteenth Doctor.
• Tom Gerken praises the dyspraxic character of Ryan Sinclair, played by Tobin Cole, in Doctor Who.
• Camestros Felapton also explains how the character of Ryan Sinclair affected him.  
• James Whitbrook shares the io9 guide to Doctor Who.
• Hannah Mays reports that the series 11 premiere of Doctor Who has gotten the highest UK ratings for the show in a decade.
  

Comments on Venom:

• Charles Pulliam-Moore calls Venom a surprisingly solid action movie that's a lot of fun. 
• Simran Hans finds Venom disappointing compared to the Marvel movies.
• Chris Klimek praises Tom Hardy's performance in Venom, but declares that the film lacks bite.
• Brandon Zachary declares that Tom Hardy's performance as Eddie Brock is the best thing about Venom.
• Brandon Zachary also explains the mid-credits scene of Venom.
• Charles Pulliam-Moore declares that Venom's post-credits scenes are reason enough to watch the movie.
• Charles Pulliam-Moore also discusses the Freudian and sexual implications of Venom. 
• Renaldo Matadeen explains how the portrayal of the villain Riot in Venom differs from the comics.
• Richard Newby explains why Venom is dividing critics and audiences.
• Hannah Collins reports about a campaign by Lady Gaga fans to flood Venom with negative reviews and so boost Lady Gaga's film A Star Is Born.
• Charles Gant reports that in spite of all efforts by Lady Gaga fans, Venom has soundly beaten A Star Is Born at the box office.
• Charles Pulliam-Moore interviews Ruben Fleischer, director of Venom.
• Hudson Hongo asks a biologist what would happen if someone were to vape Venom's alien goo.
  

Comments on Short Treks and Star Trek Discovery: 

• Mike Bloom is quite taken by "Runaway", the first episode of Short Treks, a Star Trek Discovery spin-off series of 15-minute episodes.
• James Whitbrook declares that "Runaway" feels like a Star Trek B-plot in the best possible way.
• Emily Asher-Perrin shares actor Ethan Peck's reaction to being cast as Spock in the upcoming season of Star Trek Discovery.
• James Whitbrook interviews Mary Wiseman who plays Cadet Sylvia Tilly in Star Trek Discovery and the first Short Treks mini-episode.
  

Comments on the Star Wars backlash: 

• Julia Alexander reports about a recent study about how the backlash against The Last Jedi was promoted by people otherwise not explicit Star Wars fans, including Russian trolls and bots. 
• Todd VanDerWerff wonders why Russian trolls would focus on Star Wars of all things and bemoans the rise of what he calls fandamentalism.
• Steven Zeitchik interviews Morten Bay, author of the study about the Star Wars backlash.
• Meanwhile, Emily Asher-Perrin explains that the upcoming Star Wars Resistance animated series examines the galaxyfrom a surprising perspective.
  

Comments on The Haunting of Hill House:

• Katie Rife calls The Haunting of Hill House the most traumatic horror film of the year.
• Alison Flood explains how Shirley Jackson's 1959 novel The Haunting of Hill House rewrote the rules of horror and why it keeps getting adapted again and again.
• Cheryl Eddy offers a guide to the various adaptations of The Haunting of Hill House as well as unrelated movies with similar titles.
  

Comments on First Man:

• Peter Bradshaw calls First Man an occasionally soaring and occasionally staid biopic.
• A.A. Dowd calls First Man a grippingly unconventional portrait of a reluctant American hero. 
• Killian Fox interviews Damien Chazelle, director of First Man.
• Jeff Somers shares five plausible science fiction novels in the spirit of First Man.

Awards:

• The winners of the 2018 Aurora Awards have been announced. 
• The winners of the 2018 Imadjinn Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the 2018 Premio Italia have been announced.
• The winners of the 2018 Harvey Awards have been announced.
• The finalists for the 2018 Parsec Awards have been announced.
• The candidates for the 2019 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award have been announced.
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Oluwatosin Faith Kolawole implores writers not to wait for inspiration, but to write right away.
• Scott Myers implores creatives to trust in the process.  
• Scott Myers also talks about the pomodoro technique and shares some links to online timers and apps that can help. 
• Scott Myers shares 120 scene writing prompts.
• Ana Dean shares her biggest writing mistake and how she avoids it. 
• Destiny Soria shares some tips for writing through anger.
• Damien Walter shares the key to writing a great short story.
• R.F. Kuang talks about the racial rubber stamp and how to avoid it.
• Cat Rambo talks about Chekhov's gun, as deployed in James Tiptree Jr.'s story "The Women Men Don't See".  
• Diane Morrison talks about crowdfunded publishing, its advantages and disadvantages.
• Lauren Sapala explains how writers can recover from a bad beta reader.
• Kayleigh Donaldson reports about various scammy tactics used particularly by certain self-published romance authors.
• Margaret Bates reports how certain self-published romance authors, usually male, are engaging in scammy tactics and pretending to be women, writers of colour or LGBT writers. 
• David Gaughran declares that Kindle Unlimited is a cheater magnet.

Interviews:

• Ilana C. Myer interviews Rebecca Roanhorse.
• Locus interviews N.K. Jemisin.
• Alison Flood interviews Tamora Pierce.
• Andrea Johnson interviews Cassandra Khaw.
• Juliette Wade interviews Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff. 
• Brent Lambert interviews John Chu.
• Phoebe Wagner interviews Eric Fisher Stone.
• Mark Ebner interviews Stan and J.C. Lee.
• Jack De Quidt interviews Simon Stålenhag.
  

Reviews:

• The Eloquent Page reviews There Before the Chaos by K.B. Wagers.
• Liz Bourke reviews Adrift by Rob Boffard.
• Liz Bourke reviews The Phoenix Empress by K. Arsenault Rivera.
• Adri Joy reviews The Phoenix Empress by K. Arsenault Rivera.
• Alex Brown reviews The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee.
• Ceridwen Christensen reviews Alternate Routes by Tim Powers. 
• Paul Weimer reviews Ironclads by Adrian Tchaikovsky. 
• Aidan Moher reviews Street Freaks by Terry Brooks. 
• James Davis Nicoll reviews In the Vanishers' Place by Aliette de Bodard. 
• James Davis Nicoll reviews A Study in Honor by Claire O'Dell.
• Adam Roberts reviews Rosewater by Tade Thompson.
• Sophie Gilbert reviews Red Clocks by Leni Zumas.
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Vox by Christina Dalcher.
• Mahvesh Murad reviews The Boneless Mercies by April Genevieve Tucholke.
• Ana Grilo reviews The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton.
• Steve Wright reviews Semiosis by Sue Burke. 
• Alex Brown reviews Blanca and Roja by Anna Marie McLemore.
• Rob Bedford reviews Time's Children by D.B. Jackson. 
• Sam Reader reviews Time's Children by D.B. Jackson. 
• Ceridwen Christensen reviews A Conspiracy of Truths by Alexandra Rowland. 
• Corrina Lawson reviews Priest of Bones by Peter McLean. 
• The Eloquent Page reviews Priest of Bones by Peter McLean.
• Doreen Sheridan reviews In The Night Wood by Dale Bailey.
• Mark Yon reviews Wychwood: Hallodene by George Mann.
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Stranded by Renee Miller.
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews The Pale Ones by Bartholomew Bennett.
• John Langan reviews Halcyon by Rio Youers. 
• Paula Guran reviews Low Chicago, edited by George R.R. Martin and Melinda Snodgrass.  
• Joe Sherry reviews Infinity's End, edited by Jonathan Strahan.
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews The Future Is Female! 25 Classic Science Fiction Stories by Women, from Pulp Pioneers to Ursula K. Le Guin, edited by Lisa Yaszek. 
• Brit Mandelo reviews The Future Is Female! 25 Classics Science Fiction Stories by Women from Pulp Pioneers to Ursula K. Le Guin, edited by Lisa Yaszek.
• Paul Di Filippo reviews The Apex Book of World SF 5, edited by Cristina Jurado and Lavie Tidhar. 
• Rob Latham reviews Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard and the Golden Age of Science Fiction by Alec Nevala-Lee. 

Classics reviews:

• Dave Ritzlin revisits the 1936 story "The Black Abbot of Puthuum" by Clark Ashton Smith. 
• James Davis Nicoll revisits Robert A. Heinlein's 1941 science fiction novel Sixth Column a.k.a. The Day After Tomorrow.
• Judith Tarr revisits the 1958 novel The Silver Brumby by Elyne Mitchell.
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1977 fantasy novel Drowned Ammet by Diana Wynne Jones. 
• Joe Kenney revisits Satellite Slaughter by Lionel Derrick, a science fictional outing of The Penetrator men's adventure series from 1979.
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1982 science fiction novel Special Deliverance by Clifford D. Simak.
• Bogi Takács revisits the 1987 science fiction novel The Empress of Earth by Melissa Scott. 
• Alan Brown revisits the 1996 tie-in novel Star Wars: X-Wing: Rogue Squadron by Michael A. Stackpole.

Crowdfunding:

• Octocon, the Irish national sicence fiction convention, is looking for funding to secure its future.
• Mike Glyer reports that IndieGoGo cancelled a crowdfunding campaign for a comic book to be published by alt-right writer Vox Day's Arkhaven Comics imprint for TOS violations, after they became aware of Day's activities via an interview with Bleeding Cool.
• Camestros Felapton wonders whether Vox Day crowdfunds himself and whether that is the reason his latest campaign was cancelled. 
• Bleeding Cool has pulled the Vox Day interviews and apologises for ever running it in the first place.
  

Con reports:

• Rebecca Inch-Partridge shares plenty of photos from WorldCon 76 in San José, California.
• Rob Bedford reports about New York Comic Con in New York City and shares several photos. 
• Tor.com shares a round-up of news and articles about New York Comic Con. 
• Andy McDonald shares the best cosplay photos from New York Comic Con. 
• Scott Lynch shares a gallery of cosplay photos from New York Comic Con.
• Sylas K. Barrett reports about the #OwnVoices panel at New York Comic Con.
• Natalie Zutter reports about the intersectional feminism panel at New York Comic Con.
• Leah Schnelbach reports about the American Gods panel at New York Comic Con in New York City. 
• Meagan Damore reports about The Gifted panel at New York Comic Con.
• Andrew Liptak reports about the Harry Potter pensieve experience at New York Comic Con. 
• Beth Elderkin praises the fandom food truck at New York Comic Con.
• The Qwillery reports about Book Expo America in New York City and shares several photos.
• Marcin Klak discusses the issues facing Polcon, Poland's national science fiction convention.
• SF Gate reports that a man has died in an accident during a Society of Creative Anachronism event. 
  

Science and technology:

• Matt Novak reports that the launch of a Soyuz capsule has failed and the capsule with two astronauts aboard was forced to make an emergency landing.
• Leah Crane reports that some moon have moons of their own, which are imaginatively called moonmoons.
• The BBC reports that Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic will reach space in weeks rather than months. 
• John Wenz reports that menacing ice spikes might endanger future landings on Jupiter moon Europa. 
• Mike Wehner declares that the likelihood of finding water-rich exoplanets is high.
• Ethan Siegel points out that we know almost nothing about Proxima b, the nearest exoplanet to Earth. 
• Ethan Siegel also explains how NASA's Chandra X-ray observatory has proven the existence of dark matter.
• Camestros Felapton discusses the economics of space energy.
• Carl Slaughter talks about lunar mining and Trump's proposed space force.
• S.C. Stuart explains why aliens will probably come in peace.
• Robert Z. Pearlman interviews NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine.
• Jon Christian reports that the robot Pepper will testify in front of the British parliament.
• Ashley Strickland reports that bones found in a cave in Poland belong to a Neanderthal child that was eaten by a giant bird. 
• Olivia Smith and Elisa Tang report that 14-year-old student Audrey Larson has designed a bulletproof wall to protect students during school shootings.
  

Free online fiction:

• "Asphalt, River, Mother, Child" by Isabel Yap in Strange Horizons. 
• "Bargains by the Slant-Light" by Cassandra Khaw in Apex Magazine.
• "Between the Firmaments, Part 1" and "Part 2" by J.Y. Yang in The Book Smugglers.
• "Magic Potions Behind-the-Mountains" by Jaymee Goh in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• "The Tale of the Scout and the Pachydormu" by Gregory Norman Bossert in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• "Under the Cover of Fog" by Nicky Drayden at Magic: The Gathering.
• "Big Boss Bitch" by Adrienne Celt in Lightspeed.
• "Super-Luminous Spiral" by Cameron Van Sant in Lightspeed.
• "Abigail Dreams of Weather" by Stu West in Uncanny Magazine.
  

Odds and ends:

• Watch a trailer for Aquaman.
• Watch a trailer for season 2 of Star Trek Discovery.
• Watch a trailer for The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. 
• Watch a clip from The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
• Watch a trailer for Good Omens.
• Watch a trailer for season 5 of Gotham. 
• Watch a trailer for season 2 of American Gods. 
• Watch a trailer for The Boys. 
• Watch a trailer for Anna and the Apocalypse.
• Watch a trailer for Origins. 
• Watch a trailer for Nightflyers. 
• Watch a trailer for The Haunting of Hill House. 
• Watch a trailer for Glass. 
• Watch a trailer for Mortal Engines.
• Watch a trailer for Time Freak.
• Watch a trailer for The Christmas Chronicles.
• Watch Mark Ruffalo spoil Avengers 4 (sort of) in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel.