It's time for the weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with more on uproar surrounding the 2018 Nebula Award finalists, Star Trek Discovery, The Orville, Captain Marvel, season 2 of American Gods and much more.
Speculative fiction in general:
- Mimi Mondal reminds us that all worldbuilding is political.
- Charlie Jane Anders notes that pop culture is no longer full of nightmarish depictions of nuclear war, even as an actual nuclear war becomes more likely than since the end of the Cold War.
- Sarah Mangiola shares thirteen must-read Hugo-winning books.
- Mike Glyer shares the best new and classic science fiction and fantasy audio book to listen to this spring, courtesy of AudioFile Magazine.
- K. Chess lists five fictional books inside real books.
- Emily Asher-Perrin explains why it is important to consider whether Dune is a white saviour narrative.
- Kate Heartfield discusses how Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennet blends science fiction and fantasy.
- Mark Brown reports that The Testaments, Margaret Atwood's long waited sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, will be launched with a live broadcast from London, UK.
- Gideon Marcus and Jason Sacks offer an overview about the state of Marvel and DC Comics in 1964.
- Julien Oeuillet reports about Nick Rodwell, alleged heir of the Hergé estate, whose handling of the estate has made him the most hated man in Belgium.
- Emma Kantor reports about yet another uproar in the YA world, which ended with the novel A Place for Wolves by Kosoko Jackson being cancelled before publication.
- Books Beyond Binaries reports about the uproar in a Book Riot Slack channel.
- Violet Blue discusses how censorship of sexual content is impacting the entire internet.
- Critic and horror anthologist Hugh Lamb has died.
- Paul Levinson remembers Janet Jeppson Asimov, who has died aged 92.
Film and TV:
- Keith R.A. DeCandido declares that The Umbrella Academy improves upon its source material.
- Inkoo Kang declares that the Chinese science fiction film The Wandering Earth may offer a glimpse into the future of the blockbuster.
- Peter Bradshaw calls Border a dark body horror romance.
- Peter Bradshaw revisits Alien for its 40th anniversary and calls it a lethally contemporary masterpiece.
- Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the 2016 superhero film Deadpool.
- Hannah Collins ranks all the superheroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe according to screentime.
- Ben Child points out that Marvel shouldn't rush to introduce the X-Men into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- Elsa Sjunneson-Henry explains what The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina needs to do to despict blindness realistically.
- Cheryl Eddy points out that she has some questions about the new military fantasy TV series Motherland: Fort Salem.
- Cheryl Eddy shares ten cult science fiction movies about environmental revenge.
- Mallory O'Meara traces the history of Hollywood concept artist Milicent Patrick and explains that the sexism that destroyed Milicent Patrick's career is still with us.
- Rich Pelley interviews the cast and crew of the British science fiction comedy series Red Dwarf.
- Luke Holland finds some clues in the trailer for season 8 of Game of Thrones.
- Scotto Moore lists five science fiction themed music videos.
- Andrew Pulver reports that the next James Bond film will not be called Shatterhand after all.
- Actress Katherine Helmond who appeared in Brazil, Time Bandits and True Blood, has died aged 89.
- Actor Luke Perry, best known for his parts in Beverly Hills 90210 and Riverdale, though he also appeared in The Fifth Element, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Oz, has died aged 52.
Comments on Star Trek Discovery and Star Trek in general (spoilers):
- Zack Handlen shares his thoughts on "Light and Shadows", the latest episode of Star Trek Discovery.
- James Whitbrook shares his thoughts on "Light and Shadow".
- Keith R.A. DeCandido shares his thoughts on "Light and Shadow".
- Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on "Light and Shadow".
- Gavia Baker-Whitelaw shares her thoughts on "Light and Shadow".
- Kayti Burt shares her thoughts on "Light and Shadow".
- Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts on "Light and Shadow".
- Joseph Baxter reports that Star Trek Discovery has been renewed for season 3.
- Josh Goldman shares a character breakdown for the upcoming Jean-Luc Picard series.
- Geoff Boucher reports that Hanelle Culpepper will direct the pilot episode of the upcoming Jean-Luc Picard series, making her the first woman to direct a Star Trek pilot episode.
Comments on The Orville:
- Nick Wanserski shares his thoughts on "Identity, Part 2", the latest episode of The Orville.
- Alejandro Rojas shares his thoughts on "Identity, Part 2".
- Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on "Identity, Part 2".
- Shana O'Neil declares that Captain Marvel meets some of the highest expectations yet for a Marvel movie.
- Yolanda Machado declares that Captain Marvel stands tall in her nostalgic cinema debut.
- Robbie Collin calls Captain Marvel thrillingly revolutionary in its own way.
- Helen O'Hara calls Captain Marvel an essential feminist fable.
- Larushka Ivan-Zadeh calls Captain Marvel a game-changing superhero movie.
- Peter Bradshaw calls Captain Marvel an engaging and pleasantly odd superhero movie.
- Matt Maytum declares that Captain Marvel starts a little slow, but eventually soars.
- Tim Grierson calls Captain Marvel fun and breezy, but also a tad familiar.
- Glen Weldon finds Captain Marvel well-made but predictable.
- Dana Stevens declares that with Captain Marvel, women finally have their own predictable Marvel movie.
- Brian Viner declares that Captain Marvel is not exactly marvellous, but that it doesn't disappoint either.
- A.O. Scott also finds Captain Marvel entertaining, if a bit predictable, and particularly praises the performances of Annette Bening and Goose, the cat.
- Ignatiy Vishnevetsky calls Captain Marvel underwhelming.
- Todd McCarthy calls Captain Marvel mundane and one of the less interesting superhero movies.
- Elise Ringo explains why she is counting on Captain Marvel.
- Sam Barsanti shares everything you need to know before watching Captain Marvel.
- Leah Schnelbach shares six questions she wants Captain Marvel to answer.
- Lauren O'Callaghan discusses the ending of Captain Marvel and what it means (spoilers).
- Lauren O'Callaghan also dissects the post-credits scenes of Captain Marvel (spoilers).
- Emily Asher-Perrin has found a Star Trek related Easter egg in Captain Marvel.
- Bradley Russell explains Captain Marvel's powers and where they came from.
- Sam Stone points out that Rotten Tomatoes disabling the "want to see" features which was used by trolls to sabotage Captain Marvel's rating, only delayed the troll problem, but does not prevent it.
- L.D. Nolan reports that the usual trolls are planning to review bomb Captain Marvel as soon as it opens.
- Sarah El-Mahmoud interviews Brie Larson who plays Carol Danvers in Captain Marvel.
- Newsround reports that Brie Larson is allergic against her co-star Reggie who plays Goose, the cat.
Comments on season 2 of American Gods:
- Charles Pulliam-Moore reports that showrunner Ricky Whittle believe that American Gods is the prestige SFF show everybody should be talking about.
- Louisa Mellor interviews Ian McShane, one of the stars of American Gods.
Awards:
- The shortlist for the 2019 Kitschies has been announced.
- The finalists for the 2019 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award have been announced.
- The finalists for the 2018 Ursa Major Awards have been announced.
- The nominees for the 2019 Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards have been announced.
- The finalists for the 2018 Sara Douglass Book Series Award have been announced.
- The finalists for the 2019 Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award have been announced.
- The finalists for the 2019 Lambda Literary Awards have been announced.
- The longlist for the 2019 Inky Awards has been announced.
- The winners of the 2019 Audie Awards have been announced.
- The results of the 2018 Clarkesworld Reader's Poll have been announced.
- The winner of the 2019 Margaret Mahy Medal has been announced.
- The winner of the Delaware Press Association Communication Prize has been announced and it is a genre-adjacent book.
- Cora Buhlert shares the latest developments regarding the 2018 Nebula Award finalists.
- Jonathan P. Brazee makes a statement with regard to the 2018 Nebula Award finalists.
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- Alan Hruska explains what sparks sequels.
- Jack Heckel discusses the challenges of writing a trilogy.
- Annie Ward explains how writing helped her to recover from a harrowing accident.
- Briana Lawrence explains how fan fiction reignited her love of writing.
- Lauren Layne shares five Pinterest tips for authors.
- Nora
Roberts offers a summary which publishing and promotion practices she
considers legit and which she considers cheating or scamming.
Interviews:
- The Qwillery interviews Jessie Mihalik.
- The Qwillery interviews Andrew Bannister.
- Ilana C. Myer interviws Kat Howard.
- Arifa Akbar interviews Helen Oyeyemi.
- Paul Weimer interviews David Mack.
Reviews:
- Lynne M. Thomas reviews A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine.
- Aidan Moher reviews Ancestral Night by Elizabeth Bear.
- Brit Mandelo reviews Ancestral Night by Elizabeth Bear.
- Russell Letson reviews Shadow Captain by Alastair Reynolds.
- Marion Deeds reviews The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders.
- Blue Book Balloon reviews The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie.
- Susan of Lady Business reviews In the Vanishers' Palace by Aliette de Bodard.
- Mark Chitty reviews Minimum Wage Magic by Rachel Aaron.
- James Davis Nicoll reviews The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark.
- Publishers Weekly reviews Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir.
- Liz Bourke reviews The Mortal Word by Genevieve Cogman.
- Adrienne Martini reviews The October Man by Ben Aaronovitch.
- Adrienne Martini reviews Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch.
- Corrina Lawson reviews The Women's War by Jenna Glass.
- Jana Nyman reviews Mahimata by Rahri Mehrotra.
- Rob Bedford reviews Binti: The Complete Trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor.
- Alex Brown reviews The Belles and The Everlasting Rose by Dhonielle Clayton.
- Sam Reader reviews Today I Am Carey by Martin L. Shoemaker.
- Liz Bourke reviews Through Fiery Trials by David Weber.
- Caitlyn Paxson reviews We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia.
- Camestros Felapton reviews Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller.
- Corrina Lawson reviews Where Oblivion Lives by T. Frohock.
- Jana Nyman reviews Wild Country by Anne Bishop.
- Ceridwen Christensen reviews Wild Country by Anne Bishop.
- Elizabeth Fitzgerald reviews Sherwood by Meagan Spooner.
- Mark Yon reviews Master of Sorrows by Justin Call.
- Richard Marpole reviews The Hod King by Josiah Bancroft.
- Camestros Felapton reviews "The Court Magician" by Sarah Pinsker.
- Camestros Felapton reviews "Going Dark" by Richard Fox.
- Camestros Felapton reviews "A Witch's Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies" by Alix E. Harrow.
- Camestros Felapton reviews "And Yet" by A.T. Greenblatt.
- Maria Haskins reviews Sal & Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez.
- Tobias Caroll reviews Tentacle by Rita Indiana.
- Doreen Sheridan reviews The Reign of the Kingfisher by T.J. Martinson.
- Janet Webb reviews The Woman in the Lake by Nicola Cornick.
- Carolyn Cushman reviews Let Sleeping Dragons Lie by Garth Nix and Sean Williams and Legion by Brandon Sanderson.
- Geoff Matthews reviews Out of Nowhere by Patrick LeClerc.
- Alec Nevala-Lee reviews The Wall by John Lanchester.
- The Real Book Spy reviews Double Exposure by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar.
- Andrew Liptak reviews Famous Men Who Never Lived by K. Chess.
- Paul Di Filippo reviews The Plotters by Un-su Kim.
- Jessica Juby reviews Mind Machines by Dima Zales and Anna Zaires.
- Adri Joy reviews The Vela by Yoon Ha Lee, Becky Chambers, Rivers Solomon and S.L. Huang.
- Logan Noble reviews The Very Best of Caitlin R. Kiernan.
- Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Will Haunt You by Brian Kirk.
- Brian Hubbard reviews Judges, Volume 1 by Michael Carroll, Charles J. Eskew and George Mann.
- Maria Haskins reviews The Very Best of the Best - 35 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction, edited by Gardner Dozois.
Classics reviews:
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1954 science fiction novel Trouble on Titan by Alan E. Nourse.
- Gideon Marcus revisits the March 1964 issue of Analog.
- Erica Frank revisits the 1964 novel I Never Promised You a Rose Garden by Hannah Green.
- Judith Tarr revisits Andre Norton's 1972 fantasy novel Dragon Magic.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1989 space opera Carpe Diem by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.
- Kat Hooper revisits the 1989 sword and sorcery novel Oathbreakers by Mercedes M. Lackey.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1999 space opera This Alien Shore by C.S. Friedman.
Crowdfunding:
- The Necronomicon table top game is looking for funding.
- Artist Gahan Wilson is suffering from dementia and his family needs some help and funding to find a facility where he can live after the death of his wife.
Con and event reports:
- Ethan Mills shares his experiences at Chattacon 44 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
- John Petcovic reports about cosplay at Wizard World comic con in Cleveland, Ohio.
- Rob Hansen looks back at Repetercon, the 1964 Eastercon in Peterborough, UK.
- Fran Wilde reports about a trip through China with other SFF authors and shares her notebooks from that trip.
- Mark L. Blackman reports about the latest installment of the NYRSF readings series in Brooklyn, New York, featuring Matthew Kressel and Mercurio D. Rivera.
- Martin Morse Wooster shares a report about a touring production of Finding Neverland, a musical based on the eponymous 2004 movie about the life of Peter Pan creator J.M. Barrie.
- Rich Johnston reports that DC World, a DC Comics themed restaurant will soon open in SoHo, London, UK.
Science and technology:
- Melissa Locker reports that Steve Adler, mayor of Austin, Texas, has sent a recipe for queso as well as an invitation to aliens to visit Austin and enjoy queso to the moon aboard a SpaceX rocket.
- Mike Wall reports that SpaceX will also send a spacesuit clad dummy to the ISS on a test mission of an otherwise unmanned Crew Dragon module.
- Jonathan Amos reports that the Dragon module has successfully docked with the ISS.
- Jonathan Amos also reports that NASA's Mars InSight probe has hit a barrier in its attempt to drill into the surface of Mars.
- Paul Rincon reports that Canada has joined a NASA project to build a space station orbiting the moon.
- Bradley Brownell reports that Elon Musk's orbiting space car has now racked up more miles than any other cars in history.
- Neel V. Patel reports that FarOut has been dethroned as the furthest out object in the solar system by an object nicknamed FarFarOut.
- Sarah Kaplan discusses the naming conventions and guidelines of the International Astronomical Union.
- Peter N. Miller discusses the impact of climate change during the so-called "little ice age" in the 17th century on Europe and the rest of the world.
- Adam Pockross reports that customs officials intercepted a shipment of smuggled mummy parts hidden in a loudspeaker at Cairo International Airport in Cairo, Egypt.
- Rhett Jones reports why ji32k7au4a83 is a remarkably common password.
Free online fiction:
- "The Dragon That Flew Out of the Sun" by Aliette de Bodard in Uncanny Magazine.
- "The Dead in Their Uncontrollable Power" by Karen Osborne in Uncanny Magazine.
- "A Sharp Breath of Birds" by Tina Connolly in Uncanny Magazine.
- "Self-Storage Starts with the Heart" by Maria Romasco-Moore in Lightspeed.
- "The Synapse Will Free Us From Ourselves" by Violet Allen in Lightspeed.
- "Knowledgeable Creatures by Christopher Rowe at Tor.com.
- "Mpendulo: The Answer" by Nosipho Dumisa in Slate.
- "Big Puffball" by Cora Buhlert
- "Trigger Snowflake and the Meltsygate" by Ingvar at File 770.
Odds and ends:
- Watch a trailer for season 8 of Game of Thrones.
- Watch a trailer for Good Omes.
- Watch a trailer for Shazam!
- Watch a trailer for Hellboy.
- Watch a trailer for Brightburn.
- Watch a trailer for Aniara.
- Watch a trailer for Midsommar.
- Watch a trailer for Ultraman.
- Watch a teaser for Motherland: Fort Salem.
- Watch a video of a talking gargoyle at Denver International Airport.
- Watch a video of J.K. Simmons repeating his role as J. Jonah Jameson to recreate the first Daily Bugle staff meeting after the Thanos snap.
- Jay
Kozlarz reports that the House of Tomorrow displayed at the 1933
Chicago World Fair is for sale, though in dire need of renovation.
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