It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with more about the uproar involving Martin Scorsese's derogatory remarks about superhero movies, The Mandalorian and the future of Star Wars in general, His Dark Materials, Watchmen, Terminator: Dark Fate, Doctor Sleep, season 4 of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Joker, Frozen II, problems at ChiZine Publications and much more.
Speculative fiction in general:
- Kirkus shares the best science fiction and fantasy novels of 2019.
- Sean Danker shares his five favourite military science fiction novels.
- James Davis Nicoll shares five SFF stories set in department stores.
- Andrew Liptak lists seven science fiction works that reimagine the space race.
- Rin Chupeco shares five SFF stories where nature does its best to kill you.
- Helen Brain talks about the problems of writing post-apocalyptic fiction in seemingly apocalyptic times.
- Howard Andrew Jones lists five fantasy novels that have both action and lyrical prose.
- Sarah Kozloff takes a look at mother and daughter relationships in fantasy.
- Camestros Felapton talks about the various science fictional and fantastic ways to fly.
- Bob Byrne takes a look at the villains of pulp fiction.
- Kristopher Jansma talks about Shirley Jackson, her troubled marriage and her unfinished final novel Come Along With Me.
- Melissa Ashley points out that the earliest French fairytales were feminist critiques of a patriarchical system.
- Camestros Felapton puts his theory whether science fiction and fantasy can be distinguished by the type of font used on the cover to the test by looking at the semifinalists for the 2019 Goodreads Choice Awards.
- David Dudley reports about the new central library in Helsinki, Finland.
- Tor.com lists science fiction and fantasy related cookbooks that already exist and those that fans would like to see.
- Steven H. Silver remembers fan artist Joan Hanke-Woods.
- Editor and critic Tom Johnson has died.
Film and TV:
- Lawrence Garcia calls the 2019 Palme d'Or winner Atlantics a richly imagine ghost story.
- Peter Bradshaw calls Little Monsters an enjoyably silly zombie comedy.
- Mike D'Angelo calls I Lost My Body an animated curiosity.
- Keith R.A. DeCandido shares his thoughts on Ant-Man and the Wasp.
- Aaron Couch shares his thoughts on the documentary Remembering Rod Serling.
- Ross Davies asks if Threads was the scariest TV program ever made.
- Anne Billson ranks severed hands with a mind of its own in movies.
- David Barnett asks if we are living in a Blade Runner world.
- Duncan Barrett collects the stories of fans whose lives were saved by Star Trek.
- Sara Century talks about the enduring importance of Nancy from A Nightmare on Elm Street.
- Natalie Devitt looks back on season 2 of The Outer Limits.
- William Meikle revisits the 1972 horror movie The Stone Tape.
- Emma Fraser takes a look at the best footwear in SFF movies.
- Ethan Alter shares everything that is known so far about WandaVision, an Avengers tie-in streaming video series starring Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany.
- Andrew Pulver reports that Disney+ is broadcasting warnings of outdated cultural stereotypes before classic Disney movies.
- Alex Boutilier reports that actress Lenore Zann, who voiced Rogue in the 1990s animated X-Men series, is now a member of the Canadian parliament.
- US radio personality Michael Hanson, who hosted the science fiction focussed show Mindwebs, has died aged 78.
Comments on The Mandalorian (warning: potential spoilers):
- Emily Asher-Perrin shares her thoughts on the first episode of The Mandalorian.
- Devindra Hardawar declares that The Mandalorian makes subscribing to the new Disney+ service worth it.
- Dave Trumbore declares that The Mandalorian is off to a solid start.
- Katie Rife declares that The Mandalorian brings a western touch to the Star Wars universe.
- Caryn James finds The Mandalorian difficult to care about.
- Charles Bramesco calls The Mandalorian a dusty disappointment.
- Andrew Liptak discusses the big reveal at the end of the first episode of The Mandalorian (spoilers).
- Caitlin Busch wonders how to handle spoilers, considering a certain reveal in The Mandalorian.
- Tom Reimann wonders whether The Mandalorian may be Boba Fett.
- Screen Slam interviews Pedro Pascal who plays the lead character in The Mandalorian.
- Will Thorne interviews Werner Herzog who plays a mysterious villain in The Mandalorian.
Comments on Martin Scorsese versus superhero movies:
- Aaron Couch interviews Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige, who responds to Martin Scorsese's derogatory comments about superhero movies.
- James Mangold, director of Logan, responds to Martin Scorsese.
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar declares that Martin Scorsese is both wrong and right about superhero movies.
Comments on His Dark Materials:
- Lisa Weidenfeld shares her thoughts on the latest episode of His Dark Materials.
- Myles McNutt shares his thoughts on the latest episode of His Dark Materials.
- Tyler Dean shares his thoughts on the latest episode of His Dark Materials.
- Tyler Dean discusses how the character of Mrs. Coulter illuminates the patriarchical world of His Dark Materials.
- Tyler Dean discusses what setting and costumes reveal about His Dark Materials.
Comments on the latest version of Watchmen:
- Chris M. Barkley shares his thoughts on Watchmen.
- Leah Schnelbach shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Watchmen.
- Joelle Monique shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Watchmen.
- Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Watchmen.
- Phoebe Wagner shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Watchmen.
- Gavia Baker-Whitelaw the character of Lady Trieu and her costuming choices in Watchmen.
Comments on Terminator: Dark Fate (potential spoilers):
- Eliana Dockterman attempts to untangle the complicated timeline of the Terminator series.
- Emma Fraser takes a look at the evolution of Sarah Connor's clothing and hairstyle in the Terminator series.
Comments on season 4 of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power:
- Emily Asher-Perrin declares that She-Ra and the Princesses of Power are growing up in season 4.
- Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.
- Beth Elderkin interviews showrunner Noelle Stevenson and Aimee Carrero who voices Adora/She-Ra in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.
- Julie Muncy reports that showrunner Noelle Stevenson has created playlists for all characters in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.
Comments on Doctor Sleep:
- Owen Gleiberman calls Doctor Sleep long and prosaic, but also creepy and scary.
- Scott Tobias declares that Doctor Sleep is haunted by the ghost of Stanley Kubrick.
- Richard Newbry declares that Doctor Sleep manages to integrate the differing conclusions that Stephen King and Stanley Kubrick drew from The Shining.
- Brandon Zachary shares the many references to The Shining in Doctor Sleep.
- Leah Schnelbach is pleased that Doctor Sleep bypasses typical horror tropes and asks if recovery is possible.
- Meanwhile, Grady Hendrix revisits Stephen King's 2013 novel Doctor Sleep, upon which the movie is based.
- Adam Chitwood reports that a sequel to Doctor Sleep called Halloran is already in development, but may not make it to the big screen.
Comments on the future of Star Wars:
- Andrew Liptak reports that Disney has confirmed that the Star Wars movies will go on hiatus following the release of The Rise of Skywalker, but that there are several series for Disney's new streaming service in the works.
- Tor.com sheds some light on what would have been Leia's role in the upcoming Star Wars movie The Rise of Skywalker.
- Billie Lourd, daughter of Carrie Fisher, remembers what it was like growing up with Princess Leia as a mother.
- Sheila Weller remembers when a young Carrie Fisher hung out with the cast and crew of Saturday Night Live in the late 1970s.
- Tom Lamont interviews Felicity Jones who played Jyn Erso in Star Wars: Rogue One.
- Joe Fingas reports that the version of the original Star Wars trilogy streaming on the new Disney+ service has made yet another change to the Han/Greedo scene.
- Ben Child wonders when George Lucas will ever stop tinkering with Star Wars.
Comments on Joker:
- Arley Sorg and Josh Pearce share their thoughts on Joker.
- Nicholas Barber discusses how the Joker has changed over time and what he says about the world he terrorises.
- Caspar Salmon reports that directors of gross out comedies, including Todd Phillips, director of Hangover and Joker, have suddenly recast themselves as arthouse directors.
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar declares that the protests against Joker's glorification of violence were misguided.
- The BBC reports that Joker is now the most profitable comic book movie of all time.
Comments on Frozen II:
- Peter Bradshaw calls Frozen II a charming sequel that doesn't measure up to the original.
- A.A. Dowd declares that Frozen II echoes the magic of the original, but does not expand it.
- Germain Lussier finds much to love in Frozen II.
- Marah Eakin interviews Becky Breese and Tony Smead, head animators for Frozen II.
Awards:
- The semifinalists for the 2019 Goodreads Choice Awards have been announced.
- The winner of the 2019 Endeavour Award has been announced.
- The winners of the 2019 E! People's Choice Awards have been announced.
- The shortlist for the 2019 Barnes & Noble Book of the Year Award has been announced with some love for gene fiction.
- The 2019 inductees into the Toy Hall of Fame have been announced.
- Camestros Felapton looks back at the 20Booksto50K Nebula uproar and compares it to the Sad Puppy uproar.
- Watch the SyFy Wire Two-Minute Award Show.
Victoria Strauss cautions about problematic terms for the The Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award.
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- Tonya Thompson shares 660 science fiction writing prompts.
- Lila Shapiro asks ten authors about writing characters who are very different from them.
- Lydia Davis shares ten recommendations for good writing habits.
- Kaila Hale-Sterne reports that Alan Moore has urged every new writer out there to self-publish, because publishing is broken.
- Patty Jansen discusses the state of indie publishing in 2019.
- Ruth Harris explains how to rejuvenate your backlist.
- Elizabeth Bonesteel looks back on her second novel Remnants of Trust and the problems of releasing a novel in November 2016.
- Patty Jansen explains how to restore a hacked Wordpress website.
- Jason Sanford discusses the issues with ChiZine Publications and declares that the main problem here is the wall of silence, which allows bad publishers to continue unabated.
- Michael Matheson discusses the financial mismanagement at ChiZine Publications.
- Bob Boyczuk weighs in on the ChiZine Publications situation.
- Mike Glyer reports about further developments regarding the ChiZine Publications situation.
- Mike Glyer reports that ChiZine Publications now has a new interim publisher.
- Mary Robinette Kowal, president of the SFWA, issues a warning regarding ChiZine Publications.
- Victoria Strauss explains how to request a rights reversion from your publisher.
- Mark Lawrence explains what it means when your book is optioned for a film or TV series.
- Steph Coelho discusses the current state and future of Goodreads.
Interviews:
- Jared Jackson interviews Daniel José Older.
- Adri Joy interviews Heather Rose Jones.
- Locus interviews Robert McCammon.
- Max Booth III interviews Paul Tremblay.
- Melanie Leivers interviews Charlotte Nicole Davis.
- Scott Montgomery interviews James Sallis.
- Emma Wenner interviews Harry Lee Poe.
- Mike Roe interviews Bill Sienkiewicz.
- Ross Johnson interviews Darcy Van Poelgeest and Ian Bertram
Reviews:
- Kirkus reviews Nightchaser by Amanda Bouchet.
- Adri Joy reviews Catfishing on CatNet by Naomi Kritzer.
- Alex Brown reviews Sisters of the Vast Black by Lina Rather.
- Mahvesh Murad reviews Sisters of Shadow and Light by Sara B. Larson.
- James Davis Nicoll reviews Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender.
- Alex Brown reviews Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender
- Sam Reader reviews The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern.
- Liz Bourke reviews Time's Demon by D.B. Jackson.
- Lesa Holstine reviews The October Man by Ben Aaronovitch.
- Tadiana Jones reviews The Line Between by Tosca Lee.
- Runalong the Shelves reviews The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz.
- Gary K. Wolfe reviews The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz.
- Steven Poole reviews The Supernova Era by Liu Cixin.
- Paul Weimer reviews Salvation Lost by Peter F. Hamilton.
- James Davis Nicoll reviews Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse.
- Martin Cahill reviews The Killing Light by Myke Cole.
- Alex Brown reviews The Light at the Bottom of the World by London Shah.
- L.A. Young reviews Smoke and Stone by Michael R. Fletcher.
- James Davis Nicoll reviews Stories of the Raksura, Volume 2 by Martha Wells.
- Blue Book Balloon reviews The Secret Chapter by Genevieve Cogman.
- Kat Hooper reviews Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw.
- Kat Hooper reviews Dreadful Company by Vivian Shaw.
- Catherine Coldiron reviews The Fox and Dr. Shimamura by Christine Wunnicke
- Alice Lesperance reviews In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado.
- Tom Whitmore reviews The Grand Dark by Richard Kadrey.
- Matthew Keeley reviews The Dollmaker by Nina Allen.
- Nicole Hill reviews Unnatural Magic by C.M. Waggoner.
- Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett reviews Oligarchy by Scarlett Thomas.
- Kat Hooper reviews A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie.
- Speculiction reviews The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman.
- Bitter Tea and Mystery reviews The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Barry.
- Toni V. Sweeney reviews Sherlock Holmes and the Christmas Demon by James Lovegrove.
- Camestros Felapton reviews Numbercaste by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne.
- Sandra Ruttan reviews Maxine Unleashes Doomsday by Nick Kolakowski.
- Paul Di Filippo reviews All Worlds Are Real by Susan Palwick.
- Bill Capossere reviews The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
- Tobias Carroll reviews They Will Drown in Their Mother's Tears by Johannes Anyuru.
- Matthew Keeley reviews And Go Like This by John Crowley.
- Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Walk the Darkness Down by John Boden.
- Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Beyond the Gate by Mary SanGiovanni.
- Colleen Mondor reviews Five Midnights by Ann Dávila Cardinal.
- Marion Deeds reviews Sabbath by Nick Mamatas.
- Katharine Coldiron reviews FCK USA by Reed King.
- Ross Johnson reviews The Andromeda Evolution by Michael Crichton and Daniel H. Wilson.
Classics reviews:
- Sandy Ferber revisits the 1923 science fiction novel The Moon Terror by A.G. Birch and the 1923 science fiction novelette Ooze by Anthony M. Rud.
- Adventures Fantastic revisits the 1938 story "He Hath Wings" by Edmond Hamilton.
- Joachim Boaz revisits the 1960 science fiction novel Rogue Moon by Algis Budrys and the 1973 science fiction novel Syzygy by Michael G. Coney.
- John Boston revisits the December 1964 issue of Amazing Stories.
- Victoria Silverwolf reviews the January 1965 issue of Worlds of Tomorrow.
- C.D. Covington revisits the 1966 science fiction novel Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany.
- M. Porcius revisits the 1966 science fiction novel Garbage World by Charles Platt.
- Joe Kenney revisits the 1969 science fiction novel The Cosmozoids by Robert Tralins.
- Joe Sherry revisits Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm, the winner of the 1977 Hugo Award for Best Novel.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1978 humorous fantasy novel Another Fine Myth by Robert Asprin.
- Paul Fraser revisits the 1978 anthology Nebula Winners Twelve, edited by Gordon R. Dickson.
- Alison Flood revisits the 1979 gothic suspense thriller Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews.
- Digital Bibliophila revisits the 1979 Star Wars novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye by Alan Dean Foster.
- Douglas A. Anderson revisits the 1979 fantasy novel Witherwing by David Jarrett.
- Speculiction revisits the 1981 science fiction novel Windhaven by George R.R. Martin and Lisa Tuttle.
- Fabio Fernandes revisits the 1981 science fantasy novel The Sword of the Lictor by Gene Wolfe.
- Matthew Knight revisits the 1982 sword and sorcery collection Nifft the Lean by Michael Shea.
- Ceridwen Christensen revisits the seminal 1984 cyberpunk novel Neuromancer by William Gibson.
- Brian Murphy revisits the 1988 sword and sorcery novel Prisoner of the Horned Helmet by James Silke.
- Joe Kenney revisits Shark Bait, a 1992 novel in the cyberpunky men's adventure series Cybernarc by Robert Cain a.k.a. William H. Keith.
- Kelly Lasiter revisits the 1992 fairytale novel Briar Rose by Jane Yolen.
- K.A. Doore revisits the 2006 lesbian fantasy romance Sword of the Guardian by Merry Shannon.
Con and event reports:
- Ellen Datlow shares several photos of World Fantasy Con in Los Angeles, California.
- Michelle Louring shares her experiences at KoyoCon in Grenaa, Denmark, as well as several photos.
- Mike Glyer shares some hotel booking information for CoNZealand, the 2020 WorldCon in Wellington, New Zealand.
- Craig Martelle and Michael Anderle share several videos of panels at the 2019 20Booksto50K Vegas conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.
- Chris M. Barkley reports about an author even featuring Anthony Daniels, who plays C-3PO in the Star Wars movies, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and shares several photos.
- John M. Hertz reports about an exhibition by Australian artist Amanda Parer in Los Angeles, California, and shares some photos.
Crowdfunding:
- The Gorvangin Rampages, an untold tale of the Dragon Precinct Universe by Keith R.A. DeCandido, is looking for funding.
- Volume 2 of The Power Company, a superhero comics by Coalition Comics, is looking for funding.
- The Speculative Literature Foundation is running a fundraiser.
Science and technology:
- The Japanese space probe Hayabusa-2 has left the asteroid Ryugu and started the long journey home.
- Andrew Griffin reports that NASA has detected unexpected oxygen fluctuations on Mars.
- Thor Benson reports that researchers at Harvard have developed a durable robot bee.
- Elizabeth Rayne reports about a nanomedicine device that may save lives in space and on Earth.
- Mark Piesing explains how airships could become a viable form of air travel again.
- The BBC reports that mammoth traps built by early humans have been found in Mexico.
Free online fiction:
- "With Graveyard Weeds and Wolfsbane Seeds" by Seanan McGuire in Nightmare Magazine.
- "Her Appetite, His Heart" by Dominica Phetteplace in Lightspeed.
- "A Country Called Winter" by Theodora Goss in Lightspeed.
- "Personal Rakshasi" by Suzan Palumbo in Fireside Magazine.
- "The Touches" by Brenda Peynado in Tor.com.
- "Fragile Masks" by Richard Gavin in The Dark.
- "Family Album" by Marissa Lingen in Nature.
- "Homecoming" by Jessica Hertz at Akashic Books.
- "Your Future is Pending" by Matthew Kressel in Clarkesworld.
- "From Her Mouth, the Ashes" by Jessica Jo Horowitz in Flash Fiction Online.
- "Bones" by Elliot Harper at Akashic Books.
Odds and ends:
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