Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for September 27, 2019

It's time for another somewhat truncated weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Ad Astra, the backlash against Joker, Kevin Feige does Star Wars, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) at fifty, tributes to Aron Eisenberg and much more. 

Speculative fiction in general:

• Cloaked Creators shares 200 science fiction novels by women and non-binary authors.
• John DeNardo explains why too many genre labels are bad for science fiction and fantasy. 
• Tor.com shares nine science fiction and fantasy duos that bring out the best and the worst in each other.
• Andrew Liptak asks if science fiction has a moral obligation to address climate change.
• Joel Cunningham shares five metafictional SFF stories with heart.
• Julia Bergen lists six science fiction and fantasy restaurants she wants to visit.
• Gabriella Tutino shares five books that feature Area 51.
• James Davis Nicoll explains how superheroes and supervillains are symbiotically linked to each other.
• Leah Schnelbach shares five otherwise realistic children's and YA books whose teenage characters suddenly display supernatural abilities. 
• Kelly Chiu shares five SFF books that fans of Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir will appreciate.
• Jeff Somers takes a look at the science fiction and fantasy novels that appeared in Oprah's Book Club.
• Emily Asher-Perrin explores how robots in science fiction talk to each other.
• Jonathan Crowe explains where fantasy maps come from. 
• Emily Asher-Perrin talks about how readers visualise stories. 
• Miriam Alexander-Kumaradoss profiles Blaft Books, a small press specialising in translating Tamil pulp fiction. 
• Dana Schwartz talks about Rainbown Rowell's Simon Snow series and its relationship to fanfiction. 
• Mike Glyer shares the negative remarks of SFF writer Dan Simmons about environmental activist Greta Thunberg as well as various reactions to Simmons' remarks.
  

Film and TV:

• Alex Brown lists all the new and returning SFF TV shows for fall 2019. 
• Keith R.A. DeCandido shares his thoughts on Captain Marvel. 
• Paul Levinson declares that in spite of superficial simiarities to Lost, the dystopian prison thriller The I-Land is its own thing.
• Cath Clark calls Don't Let Go a very silly timewarp murder mystery. 
• Rob Hunter calls Synchronic a warm and suspenseful call for human connection. 
• Katie Rife calls In the Shadow of the Moon a science fiction misfire.
• Cath Clarke calls Phoenix a chilly Scandinavian horror drama. 
• Mike McCahill calls To Tokyo a thrilling, chilling horror in the wilderness.
• Hans Qu explains what modern science fiction movies can learn from the 1980 Flash Gordon movie.
• Cora Buhlert shares her appreciation for the 1964 German science fiction thrillers The Ringer and The Death Ray of Dr. Mabuse. 
• James Davis Nicoll shares five vintage atomic war films. 
• Lindsey King-Miller talks about the girls who die first in horror movies. 
• Thomas Hobbs interviews Robert Englund and Heather Langenkamp, the stars of Nightmare on Elm Street.
• Various Guardian writers share their favourite TV cliffhangers of all time. 
• Stuart Heritage asks if Netflix has killed off the cliffhanger.
• Ben Child is not quite happy that Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man will return to our screens very soon, even though his character is currently dead.
• Sara Century profiles actress Robin Wright and remembers her many genre roles.
• Steve Vertlieb shares his appreciation for 100-year-old character actor Nehemiah Persoff and reports about a recent meeting with Persoff.  
• Andrew Pulver reports that Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios has been asked to develop a new Star Wars film for Disney.
• Ben Child wonders whether Kevin Feige's Star Wars film will mean the end of the George Lucas era.
• Aron Eisenberg, best known for playing Nog in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, has died aged 50.
• Tor.com shares tributes to Aron Eisenberg.
  

Comments on The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance: 

• Hugh Montgomery declares that The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is weird and brilliant and even better than the 1982 original.
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw explains how to watch the original The Dark Crystal.
  

Comments on Joker:

• Kathleen Newman-Bremang declares that Joker is a dangerous film that brings out the worst of the internet.
• Sarah Hagi declares that Joker is the antihero that angry and alienated white men have been waiting for and that precisely is the problem.
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw declares that Joker is catnip for the toxic masculinity of parts of Batman fandom.
• Ryan Parker reports that the families of victims of a mass shooting during a screening of The Dark Knight in Auroro, Colorado, in 2012 are concerned that Joker will glorify violence.
• Brent Lang reports that Warner Bros has responded to the concerned families that Joker is not intended as an endorsement of real world violence.
• Dell Cameron reports that the US military has warned soldiers of the potential for shootings and violence at screenings of Joker. 
• Jim Vejvoda shares the responses of director Todd Phillips and star Joaquin Phoenix to criticisms of Joker.
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw reports that director Todd Phillips has blamed the backlash against Joker on the "far left".
• Omar Sanchez interviews Todd Phillips, director of Joker, about the backlash against the film. 
• Robbie Collin tried to interview Joaquin Phoenix, star of Joker, only for Phoenix to walk out of the interview, when faced with an uncomfortable question.
• Charles Pulliam-Moore reports that Joaquin Phoenix also stormed off the Joker set a lot.

Comments on Ad Astra:

• Chris Klimek calls Ad Astra a stirring science fiction epic.
• Leonard Maltin calls Ad Astra an intelligent space drama for grown-ups.
• Natalie Zutter calls Ad Astra an extended parable about absentee fathers and wonders what the point of it all is.
• Rob Hunter declares that in Ad Astra, Brad Pitt's daddy issues hold the key to the future of humanity.
• Matt Thrift interviews James Gray, director of Ad Astra.
  

Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) at fifty:

• Spy Vibe remembers the British supernatural detective show Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased).
• J. Kingston Pierce also remembers Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased).
  

Awards:

• Vox by Christina Dalcher has won the 2019 Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award.
• The winners of the 2019 Niels Klim Awards have been announced. 
• The winners of the 2019 Salam Award have been announced.
• The shortlist for the 2019 Prix Utopiales BD has been announced.
• The winner of the 2019 Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize has been announced.  
• The longlist for the 2019 National Book Awards has been announced with some love for genre fiction.
• The winners of the 2019 Primetime Emmy Awards have been announced. 
• The recipients of the 2019 MacArthur Genius Grants have been announced.
• Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts on the 2019 Hugo Award winners and the Hugo ceremony and Hugo Losers Party in general. 
• ErsatzCulture analyses the gender distribution of various SFF awards and shares several graphs.  
• Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on ErsatzCulture's gender analysis of SFF awards.
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Tor.com shares some writing advice by Neil Gaiman. 
• K.V. Johansen talks about the small details that create depth in worldbuilding. 
• Janice Hardy implores writers not to let the plot hijack the story. 
• Bonnie Randall explains how to effectively insert backstory.
• Katy Doherty shares Joanne Harris' remarks about ageism in publishing and the intense focus on debut novels.
• Chuck Wendig shares some financial advice for writers.
  

Interviews:

• Lisa Allardice interviews Margaret Atwood.
• John DeNardo interviews Ellen Datlow.
• The Qwillery interviews Alix E. Harrow. 
• The Qwillery interviews Sarah Pinsker. 
• Arkady Martine and Vivian Shaw interview each other.
• Locus interviews Cadwell Turnbull.
• Christian A. Coleman interviews Lisa M. Bradley.
• Paul Weimer interviews Elle Katharine White.
  

Reviews:

• Bill Capossere and Kat Hooper review The Testaments by Margaret Atwood.
• Paul Weimer reviews The Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone. 
• Lee Mandelo reviews The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz. 
• Ceridwen Christensen reviews The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz.
• Camestros Felapton revisits Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. 
• Blue Book Balloon reviews The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow. 
• Liz Bourke reviews The Outside by Ada Hoffman. 
• Tobias Carroll reviews A Song for a New Day by Sarah Pinsker. 
• James Davis Nicoll reviews Finna by Nino Cipri.
• Matt Brandenburg reviews Glitch Rain by Alex Livingston.
• Marion Deeds reviews The Toll by Cherie Priest.
• Blue Book Balloon reviws The Silver Wind by Nina Allan. 
• Paul Di Filippo reviews The Silver Wind by Nina Allan.
• Rachael McKenzie reviews The Last by Hanna Jameson.
• Jason Heller reviews The Divers' Game by Jesse Ball.
• Jason Heller reviews A Cosmology of Monsters by Shaun Hamill.
• Alex Brown reviews The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht.
• Meghan Ball reviews The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht.
• Kelly Lasiter reviews All the Bad Apples by Moira Fowley-Doyle. 
• Kat Hooper reviews The Wicked King by Holly Black. 
• Kelly Lasiter reviews Enchantée by Gita Trelease. 
• James Davis Nicoll reviews Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron.
• Bill Capossere reviews Line of Descent by Troy Carrol Bucher.
• The Qwillery reviews Blade's Edge by Virginia McClain.
• S. Qiouyi Lu reviews Steel Crow Saga by Paul Krueger.
• Mark Yon reviews Cold Storage by David Koepp.
• Sam Jordison reviews Skin by Liam Brown.
• Kat Hooper reviews Pawn by Timothy Zahn.
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews A City Made of Words by Paul Park. 
• Kelly Lasiter reviews The Wand That Rocks the Cradle: Magical Stories of Family, edited by Oren Litwin. 
• Fantasy Faction reviews The Spider by Leo Carew.
• Nicole Hill reviews Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky.
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews The Pale White by Chad Lutzke. 
• Tadiana Jones reviews Pines by Blake Crouch.

Classics reviews: 

• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1898 science fiction novel Edison's Conquest of Mars by Garrett P. Serviss.
• Judith Tarr revisits the 1957 science fiction novel Star Born by Andre Norton. 
• Alan Brown revisits the 1960 science fiction novel Deathworld by Harry Harrison.
• Jason Sacks revisits the 1964 science fiction novel The Penultimate Truth by Philip K. Dick, Gideon Marcus revisits the 1964 science fiction novel Tongues of the Moon by Philip José Farmer and Rosemary Benton revisits the 1964 science fiction novels The Million Year Hunt by Kenneth Bulmer and Ship to the Stars by Fritz Leiber.   
• Victoria Silverwolf revisits the October 1964 issue of Fantastic Stories of Imagination.
• Gideon Marcus revisits the October 1964 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
• Paul Fraser revisits the August 1965 issue of New Worlds. 
• Paul Fraser revisits the September 1965 issue of New Worlds.
• Paul Weimer revisits the 1966 science fiction novel Planet of Exile by Ursula K. Le Guin.
• Rich Horton revisits the 1966 science fiction novels The Beasts of Kohl by John Rackham a.k.a. John T. Phillifent and A Planet of Your Own by John Brunner.
• M. Porcius revisits the 1969 science fiction novel Deathstar Voyage by Ian Wallace. 
• Joe Kenney revisits the 1980 science fiction novel Logan's Search by William F. Nolan.
• Joachim Boaz revisits the 1984 science fiction novel Frontera by Lewis Shiner.
• Summer H. Paulus revisits the 1990 fantasy novel The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan.
  

Con and event reports:

• Edmund Schluessel shares his experiences at Fantasticon in Copenhagen, Denmark.
• Mike Glyer reports about yet more charges against Ed Kramer, co-founder of DragonCon in Atlanta, Georgia. 
• The latest issue of The Drink Tank is entirely dedicated to WorldCon 77 in Dublin, Ireland.
• Ted Daley shares some photos of the Rotsler Award Exhibition at WorldCon 77 in Dublin, Ireland. 
• Actor John G. Hertzler, who played Martok in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, shares his negative experiences at NE Trek Con in Albany, New York. 
• Cora Buhlert shares her experiences at Steamfest in Papenburg, Germany, as well as several photos.
• Patti Restivo reports about the Maryland Renaissance Festival in Crownsville, Maryland, and profiles cosplayer Kyle Wilhelm.
• Katie Rife reports about Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, in a two part post.
• J. Oliver Conroy shares his experiences at the attempted storming of Area 51 in Rachel, Nevada.
• Mike Roe reports about the Waterworld Stunt Show at Universal Studios Hollywood in Hollywood, California.
  

Crowdfunding:

• Glitter + Ashes: Queer Tales of a World That Wouldn't Die, an anthology of postapocalyptic stories edited by Dave Ring, is looking for funding.
• The magazine Anathema: Spec from the Margins is looking for funding for its fourth year.
  

Science and technology:

• Jonathan Amos reports about ESA's Euclid space telescope. 
• Jonathan Amos also reports about NASA's IceSat space laser.
• East German cosmonaut Sigmund Jähn, the first German person in space, has died aged 82.
• Heather Harper Ellett explains why feral hogs are a real problem in parts of the US.
  

Free online fiction:

• "The Witch of the Will" by Aaron Perry in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• "Portrait of the Artist" by K.J. Parker in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• "Elegy of a Lanthornist" by M.E. Bronstein in Beneath Ceaseless Skies. 
• "The Answer That You Are Seeking" by Jenny Rae Rappaport in Lightspeed.
• "The Second Nanny" by Djuna, translated by Sophie Bowman, in Clarkesworld.
• "Biologist Naming Privileges Removed" by Chloe Woods in Daily Science Fiction.
• "Compassionate Simulation" by Rachel Swirsky and P.H.Lee in Uncanny Magazine.
• "The Oldest Game" by Alberto Chimal, translated by Toshiya Kamei in Aether/Ichor.
• "Zeitgeber" by Greg Egan at Tor.com.
• "Desire" by Kini Ibua Salaam in Lightspeed. 
• "Wilderness" by Letitia Trent in Nightmare Magazine.
• "All My Relations" by Bryan Kamaoli Kuwada in The Dark.

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a trailer for Frozen 2.