Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for May 24, 2019

It's time for the weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with the 2018 Nebula Awards, the final episode of Game of Thrones, Avengers: Endgame,  Detective Pikachu, season 4 of Lucifer, Good Omens, Brightburn, Aladdin, What We Do In The Shadows, The Phantom Menace at twenty, Tim Burton's Batman at thirty, tributes to Judith Kerr and much more. 

Speculative fiction in general:

• Andrew Liptak shares thirteen new science fiction and fantasy books to check out.
• Oliver Morton explains how science fiction is powering a new moon rush.
• Sandra Newman wonders why there are so many dystopias and so few utopias these days. 
• Kristian Wilson shares fifteen finished fantasy series to read. 
• Jeff Somers shares fifteen epic fantasy series that nail the ending.
• Steven T. Wright shares six fantasy books to read after Game of Thrones.
• The Barnes & Noble bloggers share six books featuring killer sword fights.
• Nicole Hill shares seven fascinating science fiction and fantasy books about twins. 
• Tor.com shares nine pairs from science fiction and fantasy that bring out the best and worst in each other. 
• Christine Lynn Herman shares five SFF books with POV characters who don't see eye to eye.
• Kerstin Hall shares five books about monsters that tug on our heartstrings. 
• Tor.com lists eight SFF characters that embody the green man.
• Jeff Somers discusses some oddly normal character names in fantasy fiction. 
• Veronica Scott Esposito explains how reading science fiction and fantasy helped her with her transition from male to female.
• G.S. Denning discusses the surprising logic behind Sherlock Holmes and Lovecraft mash-ups.
• Steph Post finds some surprising parallels between fairytales and hardboiled crime fiction.  
• Alison Flood reports that several romance writers have pledged to address the subject of abortion in their novels following Alabama's new abortion ban law.
• Catherynne M. Valente shares her love for the Eurovision Song Contest.
  

Tributes to Judith Kerr:

• Children's book writer and illustrator Judith Kerr died aged 95.
• Nancy Banks-Smith remembers Judith Kerr.
• Readers of The Guardian remember Judith Kerr.
  

Film and TV:

• Peter Bradshaw calls the science fiction thriller Little Joe a wilting triffid horror. 
• Alex McLevy shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Noel Murray shares his thoughts on the latest episode of the new Twilight Zone. 
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on episode 3 of the Chernobyl miniseries. 
• John Squires shows how Godzilla's size has changed over the years.
  
• Katie Rife shares her appreciation for Hong Kong horror films.
• Anne Harrington remembers Chester Pierce, the black psychiatrist who helped to create Sesame Street. 
• Jessica Holmes revisits the 1964 Doctor Who serial "The Keys of Marinus".
• Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the 1966 and 2004 film versions of Modesty Blaise.
• Andrew Pulver reports that Daniel Craig injured his ankle while filming the upcoming 25th James Bond film.  
• Internet phenomenon Grumpy Cat has died aged 7.
  

Comments on the final season of Game of Thrones (spoilers):

• Sarah Hughes shares her thoughts on "The Iron Throne", the final episode of Game of Thrones.
• Lucy Mangan shares her thoughts on "The Iron Throne". 
• Alex McLevy shares his thoughts on "The Iron Throne".  
• Myles McNutt shares his thoughts on "The Iron Throne". 
• Rob Bricken shares his thoughts on "The Iron Throne".
• Beth Elderkin shares her thoughts on "The Iron Throne".
• Theresa DeLucci shares her thoughts on "The Iron Throne". 
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on "The Iron Throne".
• Joe Brosnan shares his thoughts on "The Iron Throne". 
• Ben Van Iten shares his thoughts on "The Iron Throne".
• Matthew Cantor shares his thoughts on "The Iron Throne" from the point-of-view of someone who has never seen the series. 
• Dean Smith-Richards also shares his thoughts on the Game of Thrones finale from the POV of someone who's read a few of the books and followed the discussion about the show on Twitter.
• Daniel d'Addario points out that the Game of Thrones finale couldn't satisfy anybody.  
• Cora Buhlert finds the Game of Thrones finale more satisfying than expected.
• Kelly Lawler calls the Game of Thrones finale a disaster that fans didn't deserve. 
• Rebecca Nicholson asks if the Game of Thrones finale was the cheesiest ending in TV history.
• Zeynep Tufekci claims to have found the real reason why so many fans are hating the final season of Game of Thrones. 
• Tyler Dean declares that Game of Thrones asks whose and which stories ultimately matter. 
• Sarah Hughes ranks every episode of Game of Thrones. 
• Beth Elderkin shares eight questions Game of Thrones will never answer. 
• Beth Elderkin shares her appreciation for the finale fate of Sansa Stark. 
• Lily shares her issues with the portrayal of Bran Stark. 
• Beth Elderkin discusses the rise and fall of Daenerys Targaryen.
• Nylah Burton points out that Daenerys Targaryen was always a power-hungry coloniser.
• Hannah Collins laments that Daenerys Targaryen could have been television fiercest antihero.
• Sarah Larson interviews Emilia Clarke who played Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones.
• Charles Pulliam-Moore shares the farewells of assorted Game of Thrones castmembers to the series. 
• George R.R. Martin himself weighs in on the Game of Thrones ending.
• Gabrielle Bruney takes a look at the development of Robin Arryn, a minor character in Game of Thrones.  
• Gabrielle Bruney also reports about the media ecosystem that has formed around Game of Thrones. 
• Theresa DeLucci looks back on eight years of writing Game of Thrones reviews.
  
• Stuart Heritage wonders what will fill the void left by Game of Thrones.
• The BBC analyses how much women speak in Game of Thrones.
  
• Gwilym Mumford has spotted an errant water bottle in the final episode of Game of Thrones, two weeks after an errant coffee-to-go cup was spotted in a previous episode.
• Wesley Morris explains what it's like to watch all of Game of Thrones in five weeks after ignoring the show for eight years.
• Meanwhile, Adrienne Lafrance proudly declares that she has never watched Game of Thrones and still feels compelled to give us her thoughts.
  

Comments on Avengers: Endgame and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (warning: spoilers):

• Clarkisha Kent is not happy with the portrayal of Black Widow in Avengers: Endgame. 
• L.D. Nolan explains why we should worry about Hulk after Avengers: Endgame.
• Dylan Blade shares Iron Man's most heroic moments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 
• L.D. Nolan points out some potential problems with reversing the Thanos snap in Avengers: Endgame.
• Sam Stone muses that it wasn't Thanos who tore a hole between dimensions in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, but that it was Loki.
• Watch a deleted scene from Captain Marvel.
  

Comments on Good Omens:

• Charles Pulliam-Moore calls Good Omens a delightful apocalypse we'd be lucky to live through.
• Josh Bell declares that Good Omens mostly delivers.
  

Comments on season 4 of Lucifer: 

• Narayan Liu declares that Eve is not the villain viewers expected in season 4 of Lucifer.
• Narayan Liu also asks where the season 4 finale of Lucifer leaves the show. 

Comments on Detective Pikachu:

• Leigh Monson declares that Detective Pikachu hits the sweet spot between fan service and neo noir nostalgia.
• David Sims declares that Detective Pikachu shouldn't work, but somehow manages to be delightful.
• David Fear declares that Detective Pikachu is strictly for the fans - in the best and the worst sense of the word.
• Reuben Baron calls Detective Pikachu the most Millennial blockbuster to date.
  

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace at twenty and Star Wars in general: 

• Germain Lussier discusses the best things that The Phantom Menace brought to Star Wars. 
• Ben Child asks if The Phantom Menace was really as bad as people claim.
• Ethan Alter blames the backlash against The Phantom Menace for the rise of toxic fandom.
• Ryan Britt explains what it felt like to watch The Phantom Menace for the first time.
• Lev Grossman reports about a visit to the set of The Rise of Skywalker with photos by Annie Leibovitz. 
• Meanwhile, Germain Lussier declares that the relative failure of Solo: A Star Wars Story means the death of the Star Wars tradition to release Star Wars movies during the summer (which was only ever a US thing anyway - in Europe we always got Star Wars movies around Christmas).
  

Tim Burton's Batman at thirty: 

• Peter Bradshaw revisits Tim Burton's 1989 Batman film and its three direct sequels.
• Alex Hess also revisits Tim Burton's 1989 Batman and its sequels and declares that they say a lot about 1990s Hollywood and also helped to pave the way for today's superhero boom.
  

Comments on Brightburn:

• Benjamin Lee calls Brightburn an effectively nasty horror movie that subverts the Superman narrative. 
• Germain Lussier calls Brightburn an entertaining superhero horror story told in a clunky way.
• Jesse Hassenger declares that Brightburn doesn't live up to its promise.
• Watch a trailer for Brightburn. 

Comments on the live action Aladdin:

• Steve Rose calls the live action Aladdin lively, colourful and genuinely funny.  
• Germain Lussier declares that the live action Aladdin makes him feel like a kid again.
• David Sims declares that the live action Aladdin is clumsy, half-hearted and impossible to take seriously.
• Ignatiy Vishnevetsky calls the live action Aladdin lifeless and declares that it does not live up to the original.
• Germain Lussier interviews Guy Ritchie, director of Aladdin.
  

Comments on What We Do In The Shadows:

• Katie Rife shares her thoughts on the latest episode of What We Do In The Shadows.
• Rebecca Nicholson calls What We Do in the Shadows silly, deadpan and full of killer gags.

Awards: 

• The winners of the 2019 Nebula Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the 2019 Asimov's Readers' Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the 2019 AnLab Readers' Awards have been announced.
• The winner of the 2018 Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off has been announced.
• The winners of the 2019 Colorado Book Awards have been announced.
• The shortlist for the 2019 Tähtifantasia Awards has been announced.
• Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts on the 2018 Nebula Award winners and the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest.
• Cora Buhlert shares some reactions to the 2018 Nebula Award winners. 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Tom Ashford shares the biggest mistakes writers make. 
• Karen DeGroot Carter asks if you should write what you don't know. 
• Gibril Kerefa explains why he stopped calling himself a pantser.
• M.H. Thaung explains how and why people make bad decisions. 
• Acemandese Nzondi Hall discusses how to write about mental health issues and suicide. 
• S.R. Algernon shares some tips for writing non-human protagonists. 
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch talks about the importance of your inventory.
• Cat Rambo shares some tips about how to build a successful internet presence for writers from Norwescon in Seattle, Washington.
  

Interviews:

• Randy Myers interviews Charlie Jane Anders.
• Kelly Gallucci interviews V.E. Schwab.
• The Qwillery interviews Cate Glass. 
• The Qwillery interviews Daniel Findlay. 
• Lisa Morton interviews Gabino Iglesias.
• Book Marks interviews Eugene Lim.
• Christian A. Coleman interviews Ashok K. Banker.
• Lisa Allardice interviews Jeannette Winterson.
  

Reviews:

• Blue Book Balloon reviews No Way by Simon Morden.
• Liz Bourke reviews Her Silhouette, Drawn in Water by Vylar Kaftan. 
• Paul Weimer reviews The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders. 
• Andrew Liptak reviews A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine.
• Camestros Felapton reviews Artificial Condition by Martha Wells.
• Liz Bourke reviews Permafrost by Alastair Reynolds.
• Russell Letson reviews Tiamat's Wrath by James S.A. Corey. 
• Camestros Felapton reviews The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard.
• Camestros Felapton reviews Binti: The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor. 
• Paul Di Filippo reviews Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
• For Winter Nights reviews Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky. 
• Kat Hooper reviews Exo by Fonda Lee. 
• Kat Hooper reviews Cross Fire by Fonda Lee.
• Tadiana Jones reviews Nyxia Uprising by Scott Reintgen. 
• Katharine Coldiron reviews Smoke and Summons by Charlie N. Holmberg.
• Camestros Felapton reviews The Black God's Drums by P. Djèlí Clark.
• Carolyn Cushman reviews That Ain't Witchcraft by Seanan McGuire.
• Camestros Felapton reviews Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire. 
• James Davis Nicoll reviews Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao. 
• Alex Brown reviews The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azad.
• Camestros Felapton reviews Gods, Monsters and the Lucky Peach by Kelly Robson. 
• Jo Niederhoff reviews European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman by Theodora Goss. 
• The Qwillery interviews Orconomics by J. Zachary Pike.
• Gary K. Wolfe and Ian Mond review The Rosewater Insurrection by Tade Thompson. 
• Sam Reader reviews Last Tango in Cyberspace by Steven Kotler.
• The Qwillery reviews The Gods of Men by Barbara Kloss.
• The Qwillery reviews Sworn to the Night by Craig Schaefer. 
• Brit Mandelo reviews Fire Logic by Laurie J. Marks.
• Karen Haber reviews The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling.
• Tobias Carroll reviews Triangulum by Masande Ntshanga.
• Kat Hooper reviews The Mere Wife by Maria Dahvana Headley.
• Johanna Thomas-Corr reviews Frankissstein by Jeanette Winterson. 
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Wanderers by Chuck Wendig.
• Sam Reader reviews Wounds by Nathan Ballingrud.
• Marion Deeds reviews Memento Mori: The Fathomless Shadows by Brian Hauser.
• Matt Brandenburg reviews Ashes and Entropy, edited by Robert S. Wilson.
• D.J. Taylor reviews The Ministry of Truth: A Biography of George Orwell’s 1984 by Dorian Lynskey.

Classics reviews:

• Alan Brown revisits the 1911 planetary romance A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
• Mark Yon revisits the 1941 science fiction novel Orphans of the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein.
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1954 science fiction novel Search the Sky by Frederick Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth. 
• Bitter Tea and Mystery revisits the 1957 post-apocalyptic novel On the Beach by Nevil Shute.
• Gideon Marcus revisits the June 1964 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
• Victoria Silverwolf revisits the June 1964 issue of Fantastic.
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1971 children's science fictio novel Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien.
• Frances Katz revisits the 1984 Cyberpunk classic Neuromancer by William Gibson.
• Judith Tarr revisits the 1998 fantasy novel The Scent of Magic by Andre Norton.
  

Crowdfunding:

• The Babylon 5 Preservation Project is looking for funding.
• Hearts of Wulin, a tabletop roleplaying game of Wuxia melodrama by Agatha Cheng and Lowell Francis, is looking for funding.
  

Con and event reports:

• Mike Glyer reports that Israeli fandom is exploring the possibility of a WorldCon bid. 
• Lynzee Loveridge reports about sexual harassment allegations against Eric Torgersen, former chairperson of AnimeNEXT in Atlantic City, New Jersey. 
• Martin Morse Wooster reports about a performance of the play The White Snake by Mary Zimmerman in Washington, DC.
• Patch O'Furr explains how furries resist the commericalisation of their fandom.
• Alysia Grey Painter reports about the fiftieth anniversary of the Haunted Mansion attraction in Disneyland in Anaheim, California.
  

Science and technology:

• Marina Koren talks about the loneliest stars in the galaxy.
• Nell Greenfieldboyce explains how Rich Isaacson helped to start a new field of physics. 
• The BBC reports about the so-called Astrobees, flying robots which are supposed to help the astronauts aboard the international space station. 
• Jane Wakefield reports that AIs and assistance systems with female voices reinforce gender bias.
• Matt McGrath reports that the recent rise of level of the banned ozone-layer harming substance trichlorofluoromethane has been traced to China, where the banned substance is used for home insulation.
• Rob Stein reports that scientists have modified viruses to combat antibiotics resistant infections.
• The BBC reports that a unique iron age shield has been discovered in Leicestershire, UK.
  

Free online fiction:

• "The Two-Bullet War" by Karen Osborne in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• "Abacus of Ether" by Stephen Case in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• "A Salt and Sterling Tongue" by Emma Osborne in Uncanny Magazine.
• "The Iron Man" by Max Gladstone in Lightspeed.
• "The Minor Superhero, at Home after His Series Ends" by Adam-Troy Castro in Lightspeed.
• "Fail-Safe" by Philip Fracassi in Nightmare Magazine.
• "Corzo" by Brenna Gomez in The Dark.
• "N-Coin" by Tobias Buckell in Apex Magazine.
• "Dancers Like Children" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
  

Odds and ends:

• Watch a trailer for Star Trek: Picard.
• Watch a trailer for Terminator: Dark Fate.
• Watch a trailer for season 3 of Westworld. 
• Watch a trailer for Black Mirror: Striking Vipers.
• Watch a trailer for Black Mirror: Smithereens.
• Watch a trailer for Black Mirror: Rachel, Jack and Ashley, Too.
• Watch a clip from Dark Phoenix.
• Watch a clip from season 3 of Stranger Things.
• Watch a trailer for Crawl.
• Watch a trailer for Toy Story 4.