It's time for the weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with tributes to Peter Mayhew, the final season of Game of Thrones, Avengers: Endgame, Detective Pikachu, High Life, Chernobyl, the new Twilight Zone, What We Do In The Shadows, the Tolkien biopic, a plagiarism scandal involving the Elder Scrolls Elseweyr game and much more.
Speculative fiction in general:
- Nicola Griffith shares five great SFF books by women.
- Jim Al-Khalili shares his top ten apocalyptic novels.
- Cora Buhlert discusses the somewhat premature death announcement of Steampunk.
- Lux Alptraum wonders why science fiction is so obsessed with robot sex.
- Ian McEwan wishes to make it known that he does not hate science fiction after all.
- Kelly Lagor talks about J.G. Ballard and the birth of biotech.
- Foz Meadows talks about problematic romance and relationship tropes in science fiction and fantasy.
- Timothy R.J. Eveland talks about the difference between heroism and chivalry in fantasy and medieval historical fiction.
- J.R.H. Lawless talks about logic and the limits thereof in Terry Pratchett's Discworld.
- Ceridwen Christensen shares six essential works by William Gibson.
- Tor.com shares nine recent Star Wars novels to fulfill specific fandom needs.
- Keith R.A. DeCandido shares some Star Trek Discovery tie-in novels and comics to tide us over until season 3.
- Amanda Quick talks about 1930s robot technology and how she incorporated it into her novel Tightrope.
- Alasdair Stuart talks about fandom, geek culture and emotional engagement.
- Charles Pulliam-Moore reports about the latest X-Men death and what makes it so problematic.
- Mike Glyer reports that the rightwing comic website Bounding Into Comics has had its Facebook page closed.
- Camestros Felapton offers an update of what the Sad and Rabid Puppies are up to these days.
- Artist and musician Mark Greyland, son and victim of Marion Zimmer Bradley and Walter Breen, has died unexpectedly.
Film and TV:
- LaToya Ferguson shares her thoughts on episodes 1 and 2 of season 4 of Lucifer.
- Josh Bell declares that The Society is plagued by whiny characters and doesn't live up to its potential.
- James Davis Nicoll shares his thoughts on the science fiction movie The Wandering Earth.
- Mark Jenkins declares that the Chinese historical epic Shadow gradually turns into fantasy.
- Vikram Murthi calls El Chicano a shoddy Batman imitation starring an all Latino cast.
- Benjamin Lee calls The Curse of La Llorona an unscary and formulaic horror movie.
- Tanarive Due talks about the rise of black horror.
- Steven Poole discusses how the spoiler became the most heinous sin in pop culture.
- James Whitbrook shares his thoughts on What We Left Behind, a documentary about the making of Star Trek Deep Space Nine.
- Alex Taylor explains the difference between US and UK TV productions.
- Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on the Best Dramatic Presentation Long Form finalists for the 2019 Hugo Awards.
- Germain Lussier reports that Star Wars will be taking a three year break and that there will be no new Star Wars movies until 2022.
Tributes to Peter Mayhew:
- Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca in the Star Wars movies, has died aged 74.
- Anthony Hayward shares an obbituary for Peter Mayhew.
- Peter Bradshaw shares a tribute to Peter Mayhew.
- Tor.com remembers Peter Mayhew.
- Lexy Perez and Trilby Beresford share tributes from various colleagues to Peter Mayhew.
- The Guardian shares several photos of Peter Mayhew in and out of costume.
- Anthony Breznican shares a 2015 interview with Peter Mayhew.
Comments on Avengers: Endgame (warning: possible spoilers):
- John Scalzi shares his spoiler-free thoughts on Avengers: Endgame.
- Abigail Nussbaum shares her spoilerish thoughts on Avengers: Endgame.
- Camestros Felapton shares his spoilerish thoughts on Avengers: Endgame.
- Arley Sorg and Josh Pearce share their thoughts on Avengers: Endgame.
- Nerds of a Feather hold a roundtable discussion about Avengers: Endgame.
- Manohla Dargis, A.O. Scott, Wesley Morris, Kyle Buchanan and Aisha Harris hold a roundtable discussion about Avengers Endgame.
- Josh Wigler lists the final fate of the various characters in Avengers: Endgame (spoilers, obviously).
- Ben Child wonders how the Black Widow movie will work after Avengers: Endgame.
- Jim C. Hines discusses Avengers: Endgame and particularly the portrayal of Thor.
- Inspired by Avengers: Endgame, Natalie Zutter muses about what rewards superheroes deserve.
- Rob Bricken declares that the Avengers messed up and ruined the world they meant to save.
- Emily Asher-Perrin declares that after Avengers: Endgame, the Marvel movie might be facing the same problem as the comics.
- Keith R.A. DeCandido attempts to list every reference to previous Marvel movies in Avengers: Endgame.
- Eric Francisco explains why the characters from the various Marvel Netflix TV series were not in Avengers: Endgame.
- Germain Lussier reveals a cameo appearance by actress Katharine Langford in Avengers: Endgame, which was cut from the final film.
- Tom Beasley shares several behind the scenes photographs and videos from Avengers: Endgame.
- Mark Savage explains how to make an Avengers film in eleven steps.
- Sarah Sloat discusses a new study regarding the attractiveness of various Marvel comics characters and their filmic counterparts.
- Daniele Palumbo and Jamie Robertson explains how Avengers: Endgame cements Disney's position as an entertainment juggernaut.
- Rebecca Rubin reports that Avengers: Endgame has passed the two billion US-dollar mark after only eleven day and is now the second highest grossing movie of all time.
Comments on the final season of Game of Thrones (spoilers):
- Sarah Hughes shares her thoughts on "The Last of the Starks", the latest episode of Game of Thrones.
- Theresa DeLucci shares her thoughts on "The Last of the Starks".
- Joe Brosnan shares his thoughts on "The Last of the Starks".
- Rob Bricken shares his thoughts on "The Last of the Starks".
- Laura Hudson shares her thoughts on "The Last of the Starks".
- Ben Van Iten shares his thoughts on "The Last of the Starks".
- Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on "The Last of the Starks".
- Danette Chavez shares her thoughts on "The Last of the Starks".
- Caitlin Penzey Moog shares her thoughts on "The Last of the Starks".
- Allison Shoemaker rates the food and drink choices of the characters in "The Last of the Starks".
- Michael Livingston points out that a certain event in "The Last of the Starks" is mathematically impossible.
- Tyler Dean discusses the shared trauma of the characters Sansa Stark and Theon Greyjoy in Game of Thrones.
- Amy Imhoff shares her appreciation for the character Brienne of Tarth in Game of Thrones.
- Abigail Chandler declares that Game of Thrones has betrayed many of its female characters.
- Gretchen Smail explains why the death of a specific character in Game of Thrones is tragic in more ways than one.
- Tyler Dean declares that Game of Thrones proves that rewriting history cannot change the past.
- Beth Elderkin and Germain Lussier discuss the mental state of Daenerys Targaryen.
- Shilpa Ganatra wonders about the mental health of some of the claimants to the Iron Throne in Game of Thrones.
- Charles Pulliam-Moore points out that the dragons of Game of Thrones are much weaker than they have been portrayed so far.
- James Hibberd interviews Gwendoline Christie who plays Brienne of Tarth in Game of Thrones.
- Kate Storey interviews Joe Dempsie who plays Gendry in Game of Thrones.
- Matt Nowak reports that a coffee-to-go cup accidentally left on a table in "The Last of the Starks" inspired dozens of jokes and memes.
- Mallory Hughes reports that several members of the Game of Thrones cast sent video greetings to an 88-year-old hospice patient from Rhode Island, whose final wish it was to watch the battle of Winterfell.
- Valeriya Safronova discusses the popularity of Game of Thrones inspired baby names.
- The BBC reports that Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones, got married to musician Joe Jonas in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Comments on Detective Pikachu:
- James Whitbrook calls Detective Pikachu almost too cute for its own good.
- Jesse Hassenger declares that Detective Pikachu offers tomorrow's nostalgia junk today.
- Michael Rechtshaffen declares that Detective Pikachu isn't half bad.
- Steve Rose declares that Ryan Reynolds' voice acting transforms Detective Pikachu from an average videogame movie to an enjoyable family film.
- Baraka Kaseko and Marah Eakin interview Ryan Reynolds, star of Detective Pikachu.
- Baraka Kaseko and Marah Eakin interview Rob Letterman, director of Detective Pikachu.
- Jennifer Ouellette discusses how neuroscientists have discovered a region in the brains of eager Pokémon players dedicated to identifying Pokémon.
Comments on High Life:
- Peter Bradshaw calls High Life a superbly eerie and mysterious space drama.
- Margot Harrison calls High Life an existential science fiction odyssey.
- Andrew Winter calls High Life one of the best films of the year.
- Daniel Vaughan calls High Life a look at the darker side of humanity.
- Alan Meban calls High Life a taboo-ridden and hellbound science fiction story.
- Ryan Gilbey has more problems connecting with High Life than with Claire Denis' other movies.
Comments on Chernobyl:
- Will Gompertz praises the mini-series Chernobyl for its harrowing realism.
- Amy Glynn calls Chernobyl brilliant, but almost too harrowing to watch.
- Tim Goodman calls Chernobyl solid, but very difficult to watch.
- Lorraine Ali calls Chernobyl haunting.
- Ben Travers calls Chernobyl a jarring appraisal of human nature.
- Mike Hale declares that Chernobyl feels too much like a conventional disaster movie.
- Lucy Mangan calls Chernobyl a confusing nuclear disaster epic.
- Joe Bendel shares his thoughts on Chernobyl.
- Elena Nicolaou explains which of the characters in the Chernobyl TV series are based on real people.
- Watch a trailer for Chernobyl.
Comments on the new Twilight Zone:
- Cheryl Eddy declares that the new Twilight Zone is hitting us over the head a little too hard.
- Noel Murray shares his thoughts on the latest episode of the new Twilight Zone.
Comments on What We Do In The Shadows:
- Katie Rife shares her thoughts on the latest episode of What We Do In The Shadows.
- Clark Collins interviews the creators of What We Do In The Shadows.
Comments on Tolkien:
- Peter Bradshaw calls Tolkien an affecting biopic.
- Jesse Hassenger compares Tolkien to Shakespeare in Love, only without the laughs.
- Jane Mulkerrins interviews Lily Collins, one of the stars of Tolkien.
Comments on the Elder Scrolls Elseweyr plagiarism scandal:
- Kyle Orland reports that an Elder Scrolls Elseweyr tie-in RPG has been taken down, when it was found to have been plagiarised from a 2016 Dungeons and Dragons game.
- Charlie Hall also reports about the Elder Scrolls Elseweyr plagiarism scandal.
- Camestros Felapton is bothered by how very clumsy the plagiarism was.
Awards:
- The shortlist for the 2019 Arthur C. Clarke Award has been announced.
- The fnalists for the 2019 Locus Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the 2018 Aurealis Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the 2019 Prix Aurora Boréal have been announced.
- The winner of the 2019 Tähtivaeltaja Award has been announced.
- The shortlist for the 2018 Còyotl Award has been announced.
- The shortlist for the 2019 Neukom Institute Literary Arts Awards has been announced.
- The finalists for the 2018 Australian Shadows Awards have been announced.
- The shortlist for the 2019 Robert E. Howard Foundation Awards has been announced.
- The recipients of the 2019 RWA Awards have been announced.
- The nominees for the 2019 Prism Awards have been announced.
- The finalists for the 2019 Chautauqua Prize have been announced with some love for genre novels.
- The winners of the 2019 FAAn Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the NASA Recycling in Space Awards have been announced.
- Mike Glyer asks which are the top five SFF awards.
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- Kath Middleton talks about genre and genre mashups.
- Shaunta Grimes shares her system for reaching the end of the draft.
- Seanan McGuire talks about the daily process of writing a novel.
- Scott D. Parker shares some writing lessons from pulp writer Frank Gruber.
- Elizabeth Vaughan explains why she writes.
- Chris Pavone talks about writing sequels and series.
- Juliet Grames explains what writing a novel taught her about being an editor.
- Charon Dunn talks about releasing the second editions of her Adventures of Sonny Knight series.
- Mary E. Roach talks about how the demand for #ownvoices stories can cause agents or editors to ask intrusive questions of authors.
- Edward Trimnell talks about digital sharecropping and social media.
- Kristine Kathryn Rusch talks about a problematic rights grab paragraph in the Patreon Terms of Use.
- The SFWA has announced the results of its 2019 officer elections.
Interviews:
- Tyler Cowan interviews Margaret Atwood.
- Brandon Crilly interviews Rebecca Roanhorse.
- Ilana C. Myer interviews Guy Gavriel Kay.
- Powell's Books Blog interviews Ted Chiang.
- Brigid Alverson interviews Cecil Castellucci
- Richard Lea interviews Ben Smith.
Reviews:
- Paul Weimer reviews The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley.
- Russell Letson reviews A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine.
- Paul Di Filippo reviews Finder by Suzanne Palmer.
- James Davis Nicoll reviews Velocity Weapon by Megan O'Keefe.
- Camestros Felapton reviews Revenant Gun by Yoon Ha Lee.
- Camestros Felapton reviews Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers.
- Runalong the Shelves reviews Walking to Aldebaran by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
- Gary K. Wolfe reviews The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders.
- Liz Bourke reviews Waste Tide by Chen Qiufan
- Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Field of Heroes by Craig Robert Saunders.
- Joyce Carol Oates reviews Exhalation by Ted Chiang.
- Adam Morgan reviews Exhalation by Ted Chiang.
- Skye Walker reviews Dread Nation by Justina Ireland.
- Jana Nyman reviews The True Queen by Zen Cho.
- Camestros Felapton reviews Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik.
- L.A. Young reviews Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse.
- Pippa of Fantasy Faction reviews The Poison Song by Jen Williams.
- Ross Johnson reviews Westside by W.M. Akers.
- Nicole Hill reviews Middlegame by Seanan McGuire.
- Shauna Morgan reviews Middlegame by Seanan McGuire.
- Colleen Mondor reviews The Dark Days Deceit by Alison Goodman.
- Carolyn Cushman reviews Wild Country by Anne Bishop and Soulbinder by Sebastien de Castell.
- Rob Bedford reviews Empire of Grass by Tad Williams.
- Bill Capossere reviews Empire of Grass by Tad Williams.
- Aidan Moher reviews Empire of Grass by Tad Williams.
- Katharine Coldiron reviews Tides of the Titans by Thoraiya Dyer.
- Kat Hooper reviews Peasprout Chen - Future Legend of Skate and Sword by Henry Lien.
- Rich Horton reviews Snow White Learns Witchcraft by Theodora Goss and Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea by Sarah Pinsker.
- Tobias Carroll reviews The Warm South by Paul Kerschen.
- Sam Reader reviews China Dream by Ma Jian.
- Emma Jane Unsworth reviews The Heavens by Sandra Newman.
- Ian Mond reviews Mouthful of Birds by Samantha Schweblin.
- Elizabeth Fitzgerald reviews Catching Teller Crow by Ambelin and Ezekiel Kwaymullina.
- James Davis Nicoll reviews Natural Selection by Malinda Lo.
- Adri Joy reviews The Half-God of Rainfall by Inua Ellams.
- Bill Capossere reviews The War Within by Stephen R. Donaldson
- Rachael McKenzie reviews Other Words for Smoke by Sarah Maria Griffin.
- Paul Di Filippo reviews The Man Who Walked Through Cracks: The Collected Short Fiction, Volume 5 by R.A. Lafferty
- Hannah Jane Parkinson reviews Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor.
- Michael Patrick Hicks reviews A Penny For Your Thoughts by Robert Ford and Matt Hayward.
- Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Master of Pain by James White and Kristopher Rufty.
Classics reviews:
- Paul Fraser revisits the October 1943 issue of Astounding Science Fiction.
- Sandy Ferber revisits the 1947 time travel novella Lands of the Earthquake by Henry Kuttner.
- Napoleon Doom revisits the 1959 science fiction novel A Matter of Proportion by Anne Walker.
- Gideon Marcus revisits the June 1964 issue of Galaxy.
- Victoria Lucas revisits the 1964 science fiction novel Transit by Edmund Cooper.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1966 comic science fiction novel Mindswap by Robert Sheckley.
- Paul Weimer revisits the 1966 science fiction novel Rocannon's World by Ursula K. LeGuin.
- Alan Brown revisits the 1970 sword and sorcery collection Swords and Deviltry by Fritz Leiber.
- Mari Ness revisits the 1971 science fantasy novel Dragonquest by Anne McCaffrey.
- Nisi Shawl revisits the 1977 literary fantasy novel Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison.
- The PorPor Books Blog revisits the 1977 sword and sorcery anthology Swords Against Darkness, edited by Andrew J. Offutt.
- The PorPor Books Blog revisits the 1980 science fantasy novel Lore of the Witch World by Andre Norton.
- Tamsyn Muir revisits the 1982 children's fantasy novel The Halfmen of O by Maurice Gee.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1987 superhero anthology Wild Cards, edited by George R.R. Martin.
- Mark Yon revisits the 1993 dystopian novel Random Acts of Senseless Violence by Jack Womack.
- Judith Tarr revisits Andre Norton's 1995 fantasy novel Mirror of Destiny.
Crowdfunding:
Con and event reports:
- Martin Morse Wooster reports about Corflu 36 FIAWOL in Rockville, Maryland.
- John Hertz announces three discussions about classics of science fiction to be held at Spikecon in Layton, Utah.
- Cat Sparks shares some photos from the Aurealis Awards ceremony in Melbourne, Australia.
- Summer H. Paulus reports about the Georgia Renaissance Festival in Atlanta, Georgia, and shares several photos.
- Ed Tahaney reports about the exhibition "Hollywood Dream Machines: Vehicles of Science Fiction and Fantasy" at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California, and shares several photos.
Science and technology:
- Elizabeth Rayne reports that the asteroid Apophis wil come extremely close to Earth in 2029.
- Buzz Aldrin declares that humans should go to Mars and establish a base there.
- The BBC reports about the hunt for gravitational waves.
- Christopher Joyce reports that the ancient human Homo Denisova has been traced to Tibet.
- Malia Wollan interviews astronaut Scott Kelly.
- Biologist Jack Cohen died aged 85.
Free online fiction:
- "This Way to Paradise" by Rati Mehrotra in Lightspeed.
- "The Portal" by Debbie Urbanski in Lightspeed.
- "Her Bones the Trees" by Georgina Bruce in The Dark.
- "The Thirty-Eight-Hundred Bone Coat" by R.K. Duncan in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
- "The Bone Flute Quartet" by K.J. Kabza in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
- "Dune Song" by Suyi Davies Okungbawa in Apex Magazine.
- "Your Inheritance Will Taste of Salt" by Karolina Fedyk in Fireside Magazine.
- "Nice Things" by Ellen Klages in Uncanny Magazine.
- "Probabilitea" by John Chu in Uncanny Magazine.
- "Perennials" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
- "Tea and Treachery" by Cora Buhlert.
- "The Deer Boy" by Micah Dean Hicks in Nightmare Magazine.
- "Into the Flames" by Jasmine Smith in Luna Station Quarterly.
- "The Mare of the Meuse" by Janna Layton in Luna Station Quarterly.
- "At Love's Heart" by Amanda J. McGee in Luna Station Quarterly.
Odds and ends:
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