It's time for the weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with Star Trek Discovery, Outlander, The Orville, Glass, The Punisher, The Passage, Russian Doll, The Kid Who Would Be King, Bill Maher's ongoing attacks on comic fans and much more.
Speculative fiction in general:
- Reedsy shares their 100 favourite fantasy series of all time.
- Mya Nunally asks why science fiction and fantasy novels by women are so often classified as YA fiction, even when they clearly aren't.
- Sian Cain also asks why science fiction and fantasy novels by women are so often marketed at teenagers.
- Kelly Robson talks about the trouble with utopias.
- Kelly Jensen shares five inhospitable planets from science fiction.
- Tansy Rayner Roberts and Rivqa Rafael share five books that give voice to artificial intelligence.
- James Davis Nicoll shares five science fiction novels about global cooling.
- Jeff Somers explores science fiction and fantasy's love affair with towers.
- Bill Capossere talks about his favourite animal companions in fantasy and science fiction.
- Sam Reader shares eight truly terrifying Asian horror novels.
- Susan Kasten explains why Frankenstein is still relevant two hundred years after the novel was first published.
- Sam Kates shares his favourite and not so favourite Stephen King books.
- Charlie Jane Anders points out that US senator and presidential hopeful Kamala Harris is wrong about science fiction.
- Michael Barnard attempts to explain why conservatives hate postmodernism so much.
- Brian Cronin traces when Martha Wayne's torn pearl necklace first appeared in Batman's origin story and explains why the scene makes no real sense.
- Rami Hapaz, Israeli air force officer and Tolkien translator, has died aged 80.
Comments on Bill Maher attacking fans:
- Hillary Hanson reports that talkshow host Bill Maher still attacks adult comic fans, after mocking people mourning Stan Lee last year.
- Peter Davis responds to Bill Maher.
- Taylor Williams shares Kevin Smith's response to Bill Maher.
- Colin Hickson shares Joe Quesada's response to Bill Maher.
Film and TV:
- Beth Elderkin calls Alita: Battle Angel a middling science fiction film, but praises the performance of Rose Salazar.
- Amy Nicholson shares her thoughts on the science fiction film I Am Mother.
- Paul Levinson calls the science fiction thriller Anon a minor work by a great writer and director.
- Daniel Fienberg shares his thoughts on the latest version of Roswell, New Mexico.
- Peter Bradshaw calls Crucible of the Vampire erotic horror that doesn't deliver.
- Peter Bradshaw declares that with How To Train Your Drahon: The Hidden World the series of animated fantasy films is running out of steam.
- Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Counterpart.
- Rachael Sigee asks why television is so obsessed with the afterlife.
- Sean O'Neal wonders why the announcement of a new Ghostbusters film always causes so much anxiety.
- Danny Leigh explains how The Matrix shaped and influenced the real world.
- Brittany Vincent offers a defence of the 1984 science fiction movie 2010: The Year We Make Contact.
- Rosemary Benton revisits Stanley Kubrick's 1964 science fiction satire Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb.
- Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits Avengers: Age of Ultron.
- Sadaf Ahsan revisits the 1999 live action version of Inspector Gadget.
- Tom Breihan that for better or worse, Man of Steel is exactly the Superman movie Zack Snyder wanted to make.
- Shawn S. Lealos threatens that Zack Snyder isn't done with the DC Universe yet.
- Germain Lussier interviews Zachary Levi, the star of Shazam!
- Charles Pulliam-Moore interviews Debbie Berman, editor of Black Panther and Captain Marvel among others.
Comments on Star Trek Discovery and Star Trek in general (spoilers):
- Zack Handlen shares his thoughts on "New Eden", the latest episode of Star Trek Discovery.
- Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on "New Eden".
- Keith R.A. DeCandido shares his thoughts on "New Eden".
- Gavia Baker-Whitelaw shares her thoughts on "New Eden".
- James Whitbrook shares his thoughts on "New Eden".
- Kayti Burt shares her thoughts on "New Eden".
- Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts on "New Eden".
- Ryan Britt asks if Captain Pike was mistaken with regard to the Prime Directive in "New Eden".
- Devon Maloney declares that a mansplaining moment and the respective takedown in the Star Trek Discovery season 2 premiere take the series back to its roots.
- Gavia Baker-Whitelaw explains why the Klingons look different once more in season 2 of Star Trek Discovery.
- Meanwhile, John Orquiola tries to user the Klingons of Star Trek Discovery to explain why the Klingons look different in the original series.
- Geoff Boucher interviews Jonathan Frakes, director of "New Eden" and Commander William Riker in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
- Ethan Alter shares some details about the proposed Star Trek series focussed on a post Next Generation Jean-Luc Picard.
- Andrew Liptak reports that you can now watch "Brother", the season 2 premiere of Star Trek Discovery, for free on YouTube (US only).
Comments on The Orville:
- Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of The Orville.
- Nick Wanserski shares his thoughts on the latest episode of The Orville.
Comments on Outlander:
- Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the season 4 finale of Outlander.
- Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya shares her thoughts on the season 4 finale of Outlander.
- Elyse at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books shares her thoughts on the penultimate episode of season 4 of Outlander.
Comments on The Punisher:
- Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on season 2 of The Punisher and explains why it's probably for the better that the Marvel Netflix shows are winding down.
- Meagan Damore traces how the minor Daredevil character of Sergeant Brett Mahoney became a major figure in season 2 of The Punisher.
- Kevin Melrose feels that season 2 of The Punisher is almost derailed by an infuriating finale.
- Brian Cronin shares a gallery of artwork featuring the Punisher gunning down various pop culture villains.
Comments on Glass:
- Renaldo Matadeen calls Glass the best redemption arc in superhero movies.
- Ian Sandwell reports that according to director M. Night Shyamalan, the first cut of Glass was more than three hours long.
- Inspired by Glass, Susana Polo wonders whether supervillain origin stories are all about bad parents.
Comments on Russian Doll:
- Josh Bell declares that Russian Doll adds style and cleverness to the time loop formula.
- Danette Chavez calls Russian Doll a highly rewarding time loop series.
Comments on The Kid Who Would Be King:
- Brandon Zachary declares that Patrick Stewart's performance is reason enough to watch The Kid Who Would Be King.
- Germain Lussier interviews Joe Cornish, director of The Kid Who Would Be King.
Comments on The Passage:
- Adrian Horton declares that Justin Cronin's vampire novel The Passage has lost some of its bite in its adaptation to television.
- Daniel Fienberg shares his thoughts on The Passage.
Awards:
- The winners of the 2019 SFWA Kate Wilhelm Solstice Awards have been announced.
- The finalists for the 2019 Prometheus Hall of Fame Award have been announced.
- The winners of the 2019 American Library Association Youth Awards have been announced with quite a bit of love for genre books.
- The 2019 LITA SF Notable list has been announced.
- The winners of the 2019 Screen Actors Guild Awards have been announced with some love for genre movies.
- The nominees for the thirtieth annual GLAAD media awards have been announced with some love for genre properties.
- Renaldo Matadeen explains why Black Panther deserves to win the best picture Oscar, even though it probably won't.
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- Angela Slatter talks about how to be a writer.
- Robert Jackson Bennett explains how stories can change reality.
- Arkady Martine talks about narratology and why stories need to make sense.
- Kelly Robson talks about being a late blooming writer.
- Bob Mayer talks about the importance of good titles.
- April Henry talks about all the research she did to become a better writer.
- Toby Frost explains that fantasy worldbuilding is more than just mapmaking.
- Jason Shen explains how great writing ends.
- Kristine Kathryn Rusch discusses the growing importance of intellectual property planning.
- Camestros Felapton reports that Amazon has closed the KDP account of Vox Day's small press Castalia House over alleged rights violations.
- Mike Glyer also reports that Amazon has terminated and subsequently reinstated the Castalia House KDP account.
Interviews:
- Holed Up in a Book interviews Yoon Ha Lee.
- Andrew Liptak interviews Rivers Solomon.
- Karen Lord and Karen Burnham interview Kij Johnson.
- Chris Urie interviews Wesley Chu.
- Chaim Gartenberg interviews Myke Cole.
- Rakib Ahmad Khan interviews R.J. Baker.
- Andrew Liptak interviews Marko Kloos.
- Locus interviews Kathleen Jennings.
- Seth Lindberg interviews Charles Gramlich.
- Jeff LaSala interviews Ted Nasmith.
Reviews:
- Paul Weimer reviews The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons.
- Liz Bourke reviews The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons and The Women's War by Jenna Glass.
- Liz Bourke reviews The Brilliant Death by Amy Rose Capetta.
- Liz Bourke reviews Time's Children by D.B. Jackson.
- Aidan Moher reviews Children of the Nameless by Brandon Sanderson.
- Maureen Eichner reviews A Spark of White Fire by Sangu Mandanna.
- Lilah Garrott reviews City of Broken Magic by Mirah Bolender.
- Marion Deeds reviews City of Broken Magic by Mirah Bolender.
- Jana Nyman reviews Realm of Ruins by Hannah West.
- James Davis Nicoll reviews A Cathedral of Myth and Bone by Kat Howard.
- Mahvesh Murad reviews The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty.
- Jana Nyman reviews The Gutter Prayer by Gareth Hanrahan.
- Vicky Who Reads reviews Here and Now and Then by Mike Chen.
- Gary K. Wolfe reviews An Agent of Utopia by Andy Duncan.
- Jana Nyman reviews How Long 'Til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemisin.
- Gary K. Wolfe reviews Unholy Land by Lavie Tidhar.
- Marion Deeds and Bill Capossere review Vigilance by Robert Jackson Bennett.
- Martin Cahill reviews Vigilance by Robert Jackson Bennett.
- nerds of a feather review Vigilance by Robert Jackson Bennett.
- Ross Johnson reviews Vigilance by Robert Jackson Bennett.
- Ian Mond reviews By the Pricking of Her Thumb by Adam Roberts.
- Nathan Okerlund reviews Ball Lightning by Liu Cixin.
- Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Bleed Away the Sky by Brian Fatah Steele.
- Smart Bitches, Trashy Books reviews Crazy Cupid Love by Amanda Heger.
- James Davis Nicoll reviews An Excess Male by Maggie Shen King.
- Larry Clow reviews The Plotters by Un-su Kim.
- Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Limbs: A Love Story by Tim Meyer.
- Suzy Michaels reviews The Rust Maidens by Gwendolyn Kiste.
- Matt Brandenburg reviews Halloween Fiend by C.V. Hunt.
- Mark Yon reviews Scratchman by TomBaker and James Goss.
Classics reviews:
- Matthew Keeley revisits T.F. Powys' 1932 absurdist allegory Unclay.
- Sandy Ferber revisits E.E. Smith's 1948 science fiction novel Triplanetary.
- Gideon Marcus revisits Laurence M. Janifer's 1964 science fiction novel The Wonder War.
- Mark Yon revisits the February 1964 issue of New Worlds.
- Judith Tarr revisits Steel Magic, a 1965 children's fantasy novel by Andre Norton.
- Alan Brown revisits Robert A. Heinlein's 1966 science fiction novel The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits Larry Niven' 1976 science fiction mystery collection The Long ARM of Gil Hamilton.
- Too Much Horror revisits the 1977 horror novel Eat Them Alive by Pierce Neace.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1987 science fiction novel Venus Prime: Breaking Strain by Arthur C. Clakre and Paul Preuss.
- Sam Jordison revisits the 1990 satirical fantasy novel Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.
Crowdfunding:
Con and event reports:
- Mike Glyer reports about a scandal involving a controversial performance reading at BizarroCon in Troutland, Oregon.
- Mike Glyer also reports that changes are planned at BizarroCon in response to the scandal.
- Rob Hansen shares a report and several photos about Bullcon, the 1963 Eastercon in Peterborough, UK.
- Dan Gvozden reports about the memorial for Stan Lee in Hollywood, California.
- Jacob Olier reports that actress Rachel True, best known for her part in The Craft, claims that conventions are inviting her former castmates but excluding her because of racism.
- Lynzee Loveridge reports how anime voice actor Vic Mignogna harrassed female fans at conventions.
Science and technology:
- Ryan F. Mandelbaum reports that NASA's New Horizons probe has transmitted the clearest image of Ultima Thule yet.
- George Dvorsky reports that NASA's Parker Solar Probe is once more headed towards the sun.
- Allison P. Davis reports how the lingerie company Playtex won the contract to design the spacesuits used by the Apollo astronauts.
- Ryan F. Mandelbaum explains how scientists used a historical photo to locate the epicenter of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
Free online fiction:
- "Thirty-Three Percent Joe" by Suzanne Palmer in Clarkesworld.
- "Circus Girl, The Hunter, and Mirror Boy" by J.Y. Yang at Tor.com.
- "Deriving Life" by Elizabeth Bear at Tor.com.
- "St. Juju" by Rivers Solomon in The Verge.
- "Strange Waters" by Samantha Mills in Strange Horizons.
- "Thoughts and Prayers" by Ken Liu in Slate.
- "Burrowing Machines" by Sara Saab in The Dark.
- "I Close My Eyes and Dream Your Dream" by L. Chan in Empyreone.
- "To Stab With A Rose, To Love With A Knife" by Natalia Theodoridou in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
- "Do Not Look Back, My Lion" by Alix E. Harrow in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
- "Love and Justice" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
- "Trigger Snowflake and the Conference" by Ingvar in File 770.
Odds and ends:
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