It's time for another somewhat truncated weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with Carnival Row, Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Chapter 2 of It, Ad Astra, The Testaments by Margaret Atwood, Scooby Doo at fifty, Milo Yiannopoulos getting banned from Midwest FurFest, debates about the Campbell/Astounding Award and the Tiptree Award, a false piracy accusation and an indie author making a spectacle of himself and much more.
Speculative fiction in general:
- Andrew Liptak shares eight science fiction and fantasy novels he wishes weren't standalones.
- James Davis Nicoll shares five SFF stories about surviving the dangers of boarding school that aren't Harry Potter.
- Natalie Zutter shares eight examples of stories within stories and SFF hyper-worldbuilding.
- A.K Larkwood shares six stories about science fiction immortality.
- Jennifer Giesbrecht shares five fantasy books steeped in history.
- Leah Schnelbach discusses fantasy novels which focus on dealing with trauma.
- Howard Andrew Jones and Todd McAulty share five forgotten swordsmen and swordwomen of fantasy.
- Jeff Somers shares ten science fiction and fantasy novels inspired by roleplaying campaigns.
- Aidan Moher shares thirteen books for fans of Japanese RPGs.
- Michelle Goldberg compares the dystopian theocracy Gilead from Margaret Atwood's novels The Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments to our own world and finds The Testaments more hopeful.
- Stuart Parker explains why J.R.R. Tolkien continues to remain relevant in our time.
- Wojciech Orlinski reports about the altercation between Stanislaw Lem and Philip K. Dick, because Dick believed that Lem was a secret cabal of KGB agents out to infiltrate US science fiction.
- Michael Schulman wonders if fandom is becoming as toxic as politics.
- Cian Maher remembers when the X-Men were declared non-human in a US court as part of a lawsuit to reclassify the action figures in order to pay lower import tariffs.
- Bill Schelly who wrote several non-fiction books about comics has died.
- Canadian writer Graeme Gibson, partner of Margaret Atwood, has died aged 85.
Film and TV:
- Molly Horan declares that American Horror Story: 1984 has made the anthology series fun again.
- Benjamin Lee calls Ready or Not a scrappy horror comedy that is all bark and no bite.
- A.A. Dowd calls 3 From Hell a tedious sequel.
- Zack Handlen shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Preacher.
- Ben Gazur shares his appreciation for Babylon 5.
- Emily Asher-Perrin talks about Spock and the myth of emotion vs. logic in Star Trek.
- Ryan Britt shares ten ways Star Trek: The Motion Picture changed Star Trek forever.
- Jessica Holmes revisits the 1964 Doctor Who serial "The Reign of Terror".
- The BBC reports that former Doctor Who actor Christopher Eccleston has spoken out about his struggles with depression and anorexia.
- James Hibberd interviews Damon Lindelof, showrunner of the upcoming Watchmen series.
- Germain Lussier interviews Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix, director and star of Joker.
- Fatima Bhutto talks about the surprising global success of Turkish TV dramas.
- Pamela McClintock talks about the increasing length of movies and how this is testing the patience of audiences.
- Sara Century profiles 1930s genre star Fay Wray.
Comments on Carnival Row:
- Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on the steampunk fantasy crime series Carnival Row.
- Gavia Baker-Whitelaw calls Carnival Row a cliched, humourless disaster.
Comments on The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance:
- Gavia Baker-Whitelaw declares that The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is all about catastrophic climate change.
- Gavia Baker-Whitelaw also declares that using the Skeksis language from the original 1982 Dark Crystal would have made The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance even creepier.
- Zack Handlen talks about The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and the prequel paradox.
Comments on Chapter 2 of It:
- L.D. Nolan explains what audiences did not realise about the transformation of Pennywise in chapter 2 of It.
- Hannah Shaw-Williams explains that Stephen King made a cameo appearance in chapter 2 of It.
Comments on Ad Astra:
- Gavia Baker-Whitelaw calls Ad Astra half space thriller and half drama about repressed American masculinity.
- Peter Bradshaw calls Ad Astra a thrilling Freudian space odyssey.
- Ignatiy Vishnetvetsky calls Ad Astra a satisfying science fiction drama.
Scooby Doo at fifty:
- Olivia Rutigliano declares that Scooby Doo, Where Are You? was the weird and hopeful mystery series that 1969 needed.
- Eleni Theodoropoulos explains how Scooby Doo, Where Are You? revived gothic storytelling for generations of young viewers.
- Vance Kotrla explains how Scooby Doo and Vincent Price introduced him to the horror genre.
- K. Thor Jensen shares the eleven weirdest Scooby Doo guest stars.
Awards:
- The shortlist for the 2019 Deutscher Phantastik Preis has been announced.
- The winners of the 2019 Saturn Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the 2019 Creative Arts Emmy Awards have been announced.
- The 2019 National Toy Hall of Fame finalists have been announced.
- The winners of the 2019 American Tabletop Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the 2019 Ig Nobel Prize have been announced.
- The finalists for the 2019 John W. Campbell Literary Prize, former the Ribbit Award, have been announced. This award is not related to the Astounding Award for Best New Writer, formerly the John W. Campbell Award, or the John W. Campbell Memorial Award.
- Elsa Sjunneson-Henry reflects on her Hugo win for Uncanny.
- The Archive of Our Own clarifies that the Hugo Award for AO3 is for the archive itself and its functions, not for individual works of fan fiction, as some contributors evidently assumed.
- IP attorney Will James explains why AO3 users calling themselves Hugo Award winners is a potentially serious case of trademark infringement.
Debates about award name changes:
- James Tiptree Jr. biographer Julie Phillips sets the record straight regarding the relationship of Alice and Huntington Sheldon and their deaths.
- M.L. Clark shares his thoughts on the impending Tiptree Award name change.
- Jason McGregor shares his displeasure with the Campbell Award name change.
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- Matthew Pearl explains what writers today can learn from Dante Alighieri.
- Colleen Coble shares several ideas for how DNA tests can advance or inspire a story.
- Kristine Kathryn Rusch talks about contract negotiation.
- Mike Glyer responds to a false piracy accusation by Richard Fox against File 770.
- Camestros Felapton also responds to Richard Fox.
- Camestros Felapton shares an update on Richard Fox's false piracy accusations.
- Mike Glyer sets Richard Fox straight with regard to copyright law.
Interviews:
- The Qwillery interviews Sarah Pinsker.
- Lila Shapiro interviews Carmen Maria Machado.
- The Qwillery interviews Kassandra Montag.
- Runalong the Shelves interviews Edward Cox.
- The Qwillery interviews Shaun Hamill.
Reviews:
- Mahvesh Murad reviews The Testaments by Margaret Atwood.
- Julie Myerson reviews The Testaments by Margaret Atwood.
- Samantha Nelson reviews The Testaments by Maragret Atwood.
- Maria Haskins reviews Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes.
- Paul Weimer reviews This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar.
- James Davis Nicoll reviews The Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone.
- James Davis Nicoll reviews The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow.
- Maya Gittelman reviews Steel Tide by Natalie C. Parker.
- Blue Book Balloon reviews The Monster Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson.
- Katharine Coldiron reviews Upon a Burning Throne by Ashok K. Banker.
- Paul Weimer reviews A Choir of Lies by Alexandra Rowland.
- Ceridwen Christensen reviews A Choir of Lies by Alexandra Rowland.
- Jana Nyman reviews The Hills Have Spies by Mercedes Lackey.
- S. Qiouyi Lu reviews A Hero Born by Jin Yong, translated by Anna Holmwood.
- Outside of a Dog reviews Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss.
- Amy Goldschalger reviews The Fever King by Victoria Lee.
- James Davis Nicoll reviews Spirit Hunters by Ellen Oh.
- Rebecca Fisher reviews Grail of Stars by Katherine Roberts.
- Kelly Lasiter reviews The River South by Marta Randall.
- Kelly Lasiter reviews Mapping Winter by Marta Randall.
- Kelly Lasiter reviews Frostfire by Jamie Smith.
- Ross Johnson reviews Gamechanger by L.X. Beckett.
- Gary K. Wolfe reviews The Gameshouse by Claire North.
- Rob Bedford reviews A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie.
- Jared Shurin reviews A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie.
- Aidan Moher reviews A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie.
- L.A. Young reviews Grey Sister by Mark Lawrence.
- Bill Capossere reviews Blood of an Exile by Brian Naslund.
- The Qwillery reviews Knight and Shadow by Flint Maxwell.
- Ian Mond reviews Last Day by Domenica Ruta.
- Toni V. Sweeney reviews Cold Storage by David Koepp.
- Xan Brooks reviews The Institute by Stephen King.
- Michael Patrick Hicks reviews The Institute by Stephen King.
- Michael Patrick Hicks reviews If It Bleeds by Matthew M. Bartlett.
- Buttonholed Book Reviews reviews Blue Stars and Other Tales of Darkness by Tony Tremblay.
- Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Hex Life: Wicked New Tales of Witchery, edited by Christopher Golden and Rachel Autumn Deering.
Classics reviews:
- S.D. Sykes revisits the 1842 horror story "The Masque of Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe.
- Paul di Filippo revisits Flora Columbia, the forgotten 1901 collaborative novel between Jules Verne and H.G. Wells.
- Sandy Ferber revisits the 1914 fantasy novel Under the Andes by Rex Stout.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1960 science fiction novel Deathworld by Harry Harrison as well as its 1964 and 1968 sequels.
- Rich Horton revisits the 1961 science fiction novels Meeting at Infinity by John Brunner and Beyond the Silver Sky by Kenneth Bulmer.
- Gideon Marcus revisits the October 1964 issue of Worlds of If.
- Victoria Silverwolf revisits the November 1964 issue of Worlds of Tomorrow.
- Paperback Warrior revisits the 1969 spy thriller Red Heroin by Wade Curtis a.k.a. Jerry Pournelle.
- Jason McGregor revisits the 1978 science fiction fix-up novel Berserker by Fred Saberhagen.
- Fabio Fernandes revisits the 1980 fantasy novel The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe.
- Joe Sherry revisits the 1989 fantasy novel The Star Scroll by Melanie Rawn.
- Mark Yon revisits the 1998 science fiction novel Moonseed by Stephen Baxter.
Con and event reports:
- Ian Moore shares his experiences at WorldCon 77 in Dublin, Ireland.
- Arthur Chappell reports about Ytterbium, the 2019 Eastercon, in Heathrow, UK.
- Alan Robson reports about GeyserCon in Rotorua, New Zealand.
- Arisia 2020 in Boston, Massachusetts, shares its first progress report.
- Audrey McNamara reports that far right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos has been banned from Midwest FurFest in Rosemont, Illinois.
- Jack Crosbie also reports about Milo Yiannopoulos being banned from Midwest FurFest.
- Mike Glyer reports about the latest installment of the Speculative Literature Foundation Deep Dish Reading Series in Chicago, Illinois.
- Mike Roe shares a look at some Halloween attractions at Universal Studio Tours in Hollywood, California.
- CBS Los Angeles reports about the construction of the George Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, California.
- Vintage Everyday shares some photos of Wendy Pini cosplaying as Red Sonja in the 1970s.
Science and technology:
- Geoff Brumfiel reports about NASA's Dragonfly drone which is supposed to explore Titan.
- Vitaly Shevchenko reports about Russian robots and their problems.
- Becky Ferreira reports about Greater Adria, a lost continent underneath southern Europe.
- Popular Mechanics reports about some UFOs observed and recorded by US Navy submarines.
Free online fiction:
- "Witch's Road" by Christian K. Martinez in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
- "The Silent Flowers of the Magician's Garden" by Eleanna Castroianni in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
- "Advice For Your First Time at the Faerie Market" by Nibedita Sen in Fireside Magazine.
- "Sweet Dream Are Made of You" by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor in Nightmare Magazine.
- "A Ladder to the Moon" by Naoko Awa, translated by Toshiya Kamei in Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores.
- "When the Bough Breaks" by Jaymee Goh in Mythic Delirium.
- "Single Point of Failure" by Elizabeth Bonesteel.
- "Joyride" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
- "The Vetting" by Michael Cassutt at Tor.com.
- "Hello, Hello" by Seanan McGuire in Lightspeed.
- "All In" by Rajan Khanna in Lightspeed.
- "The Price of Our Knives" by Ruoxi Chen in The Dark.
- "Yellow" by Liliana Bodoc, translated by Toshiya Kamei in Bewildering Stories.
Odds and ends:
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