Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for January 10, 2020

It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with the best SFF of 2019 and the decade, the suspension of Courtney Milan from RWA and the cancellation of the Rita Awards, tributes to Mike Resnick, Isaac Asimov at 100, The Mandalorian, The Rise of Skywalker and Star Wars in general, series 12 of Doctor Who, The Witcher, the latest version of Dracula, Cats, a troll problem at Goodreads and much more. 

Speculative fiction in general:

• James Davis Nicoll shares 12 excellent SFF books you may have missed in 2019.
• Harry Bruinius asks several science fiction writers what they believe that world will be like in 2050.
• Mike Chen shares five books about finding hope at the end of the world. 
• James Davis Nicoll shares five planetary catastrophes we will probably never experience. 
• The Hugo Book Club talks about trade and the movement of goods in science fiction. 
• Adam Hamdy discusses fiction's most manipulative masterminds. 
• Sterling Watson explains why writers love villains.
• Roberto Causo talks about science fiction in Brazil. 
• Andrea Gomez celebrates the work of Silvia Moreno-Garcia. 
• Meg Ellison talks about her experiences as a woman writing about fandom and geek culture.
• Alan Brown explains how the Ballantine paperback edition of Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien changed publishing forever. 
• Megan McArdle weighs in one the J.K. Rowling/Robert Galbraith transphobia controversy.
• Neil Genzlinger remembers the late science ficiton artist Syd Mead.
• Lester H. Cole, longterm fan and chair of the 1954 WorldCon, has died aged 93.
  

Best of 2019 and the decade:

• SF² Concatenation shares their favourite science fiction books of 2019. 
• Abigail Nussbaum shares her favourite books of the 2010s.
• Dan Persons shares ten standout SFF films of the 2010s.
  

Comments on the suspension of Courtney Milan from RWA and the cancellation of the 2020 Rita Awards:

• Mike Glyer offers a round-up of the latest developments regarding the RWA mess.
• Mikki Kendall reports about the suspension of Courtney Milan from RWA. 
• Karen Grigsby Bates reports about the suspension of Courtney Milan from RWA.
• Lois Beckett interviews Kathryn Lynn Davis, the writer whose complaint led to the suspension of Courtney Milan from RWA. 
• Lois Beckett also reports about an earlier racism row inside RWA. 
• The 2020 Rita Awards have been cancelled due to the racism row. 
• Maureen Lee Lenker reports about the cancellation of the Ritas and the racism controversy in the RWA. 
• Concepción de León reports that various publishers have stated that they will no longer sponsor or appear at the RWA conference because of the racism controversy.  
• Damon Suede, president of the RWA, has finally resigned due to overwhelming pressure.
• The inimitable Dr. Chuck Tingle responds to the RWA uproar and publishes Not Pounded By Romance Wranglers Of America Because Their New Leadership Is From The Depths Of The Endless Cosmic Void

Tributes to Mike Resnick:

• Science fiction writer Mike Resnick has died aged 77.
• Mike Glyer remembers Mike Resnick.
• Andrew Liptak remembers Mike Resnick.
• The family of  Mike Resnick needs some help with medical and funeral expenses.
  

Isaac Asimov at 100:

• James Gunn remembers Isaac Asimov on his 100th birthday. 
• Alec Nevala-Lee remembers Isaac Asimov in his 100th birthday, both his prolificness and his tendency to sexually harrass women. 

Film and TV:

• Tor.com lists science fiction and fantasy movies they are looking forward to in 2020. 
• Lauren Coates lists the most anticipated science fiction movies of 2020. 
• Jake Kleinman calls the science fiction comedy Avenue 5 the funniest thing on HBO.
  
• Scott Snowden declares that being cancelled by the SyFy Channel and picked up by Amazon Prime was probably the best thing that could happen to The Expanse. 
• Tyler Dean looks back on season 1 of His Dark Materials and discusses what worked and what didn't.
• Aaron Bady shares his thoughts on the Watchmen TV series. 
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Emergence. 
• Benjamin Lee calls Underwater a soggy, silly monster movie.
• Katie Rife calls the latest version of The Grudge a dull rehash. 
• Keith R.A. DeCandido shares his thoughts on Men in Black International. 
• Camestros Felapton also revisits season 2 of the Gargoyles cartoon. 
• James Wallace Harris shares his thoughts about the 2014 science fiction series Ascension.
• Peter Bradshaw shares his thoughts on the documentary Cleanin’ Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters.
• Charles Bramesco takes a look at how science fiction movies have depicted 2020.
• Mark Rozeman shares the twenty best end of the world movies.
• Ryan Britt recalls the moment when Picard became more important than Kirk in Star Trek history. 
• Mike Chen lists the Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes to rewatch to prepare for the coming Picard series. 
• Tara Bennett explains how the Thermians in Galaxy Quest came to be. 
• Amy Spencer interviews Robert Downey Jr, star of Iron Man, Sherlock Holmes and Doolittle.
• Alexandra Pollard interviews Terry Gilliam, director of Twelve Monkeys, Brazil and Time Bandits, who sadly reveals himself to be a jerk. 
• Stacy Perman profiles John Zabrucky, who provided props to dozens of movies and TV episodes, including several iconic science fiction movies and TV shows. 
• Rich Pelley interviews Brian Cosgrove, creator of the cartoon Danger Mouse, and David Jason, who provided the voice of the title character.
• Stuart Heritage reports that Kit Harrington, who plays Jon Snow in Game of Thrones, is the male actor with the highest probability of having his character killed off.  
• Gretchen Smail wonders what to expect from the X-Men spin-off New Mutants, when the movie finally comes out this year, three years after it was filmed.
• Ben Child muses about Christian Bale's role in Thor: Blood and Thunder.
• Maddie Myers talks about the costs of being a woman who covers video games. 
• Andrew Liptak reports that the Fox network is open to bringing back Firefly.
• Jamie Lovett reports that William Shatner, best known for playing Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek, surprised the LAPD on Christmas by playing Santa. 

Comments on The Rise of Skywalker and Star Wars in general (warning: spoilers):

• Leah Schnelbach declares that The Rise of Skywalker shows us the path of resistance.
• Emmet Asher-Perrin talks about consent in The Rise of Skywalker. 
• Natalie Zutter discusses the tendency of The Rise of Skywalker to seemingly kill and then resurrect characters. 
• James Whitbrook declares that the blink and you'll miss it LGBTQ moment in The Rise of Skywalker is undermined by the film's aggressive heteronormativity. 
• James Whitbrook muses about the sex life of Emperor Palpatine.
• Michael Cavna discusses the sidelining of the character of Rose Tico in The Rise of Skywalker. 
• Germain Lussier explains how he stopped worrying and accepted not liking The Rise of Skywalker.
• Abraham Riesman and Rabbi Jon Leener discuss The Rise of Skywalker.
• Lela E. Buis shares her thoughts on The Rise of Skywalker. 
• James Whitbrook talks about an Easter egg in The Rise of Skywalker involving Leia.
• Brian Davids interviews Chris Terrio, one of the screenwriters of The Rise of Skywalker.
• Brian Davids interviews Dominic Monaghan who plays Beaumont Kin in The Rise of Skywalker.
• J.K. Schmidt explains the final scene of The Rise of Skywalker.
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw wonders why the final scene of The Rise of Skywalker takes place on Tatooine of all places.
  

Comments on The Mandalorian (warning: spoilers):

• Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts on season 1 of The Mandalorian. 
• Shaun Duke and Jen Zink discuss the first three episodes of The Mandalorian. 
• Brady Langman reports that according to showrunner Jon Favreau and director Taika Waititi, Baby Yoda's name is not Baby Yoda, though they will not reveal what it is.
• Jonathan Bailey reports about the battle over unauthorised Baby Yoda merchandise, since authorised merchandise is not available. 
• Eric Ravenscraft also reports about the flood of unauthorised Baby Yoda merchandise.
  

Comments on series 12 of Doctor Who (spoilers):

• Emmet Asher-Perrin shares their thoughts on part 2 of "Spyfall", the latest episode of Doctor Who.
• Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on part 2 of "Spyfall".
• Caroline Siede shares her thoughts on part 2 of "Spyfall".
• Dan Martin shares his thoughts on part 2 of "Spyfall".
• Jack Hudson reports that rather than becoming "too woke", Doctor Who is downright offensive in parts.
  

Comments on the latest version of Dracula: 

• Christopher Stevens calls the latest version of Dracula positively blood-curdling.
• Carol Midgley declares that the new Dracula is an infusion of fresh blood into a tired concept.
• Anita Singh finds the new Dracula a lot of fun, even if it is a somewhat loose adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel.
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw declares that Dracula fails to live up to the legacy of Sherlock.
• Emmet Asher-Perrin calls Dracula profoundly awful. 
• Alasdair Wilkins offers episode by episode reviews of Dracula. 
• K.A. Laity is troubled by the attempt to make Dracula sexy in the latest BBC version.
• Shannon Lewis reports that an Easter egg suggests that Dracula is set in the same universe of Doctor Who.
• Watch a timelapse video of a clever BBC billboard for Dracula.
  

 Comments on The Witcher:

• Sonia Rao shares her thoughts on The Witcher. 
• Teo Bileta uses The Witcher as an example of the problems of adapting a beloved series.
• Samantha Nelson discusses the character of Jaskier in The Witcher and explains that he is part of a long tradition of fantasy bards.
• Hannah Collins declares that The Witcher shows that Henry Cavill would have made a great Batman, even if he wasn't a particularly good Superman.
• Tor.com shares everything they learned from showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich about season 2 of The Witcher.
  

Comments on Cats:

• Michael O'Sullivan declares that Cats is pretty crazy, but that those who actually watch the film don't care.
• Camestros Felapton, Timothy the Talking Cat and Susan Triceratops share their thoughts on Cats. 
• Maura Judkis interviews viewers who watched Cats while on drugs.

Awards:

• Nominations for the 2020 Hugos and 1945 Retro Hugos are open.
• The ballot for the 2020 FAAn Awards is online.
• The 2020 Hugo Spreadsheet of Doom is online.
• The 2020 Hugo Award Nominees Wiki is online.
• The 1945 Retro Hugo Awards Spreadsheet is online.
• The winners of the 2019 Stabby Awards have been announced. 
• The winner of the 2020 Heinlein Award has been announced.
• The longlist for the 2020 BSFA Awards has been announced. 
• Voting is open for the 34th Annual Asimov's Readers' Awards.  
• Voting is open for the Analytical Laboratory Readers' Awards.
• The WSFA Small Press Award is open for submissions.
• The winners of the 2020 Golden Globes have been announced with little love for genre works.
• The nominees for the 2020 BAFTA Awards have been announced.
• The finalists for the 2020 BBC Audio Drama Awards have been announced with little love for genre dramas.
• The finalists for the 2020 VES Awards have been announced.
• The finalists for the 2020 Producer's Guild of America Awards have been announced.
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Mark Coker shares his indie publishing predictions for 2020. 
• Regarding the many recent uproars in the writing world, David Gerrold reminds us that writers thrive when they support each other and that fights only take up valuable writing time. 
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch talks about publishing, challenges and fear. 
• Dean Wesley Smith also talks about publishing, challenges and fear.
• Clare Thorp reports about the rise of audiobooks.
• Cat Rambo talks about facilitating writing workshops.
• Camestros Felapton takes a deeper look at the Goodreads troll problem.
• Jason Sanford also talks about the Goodreads troll problem.
• Camestros Felapton points out that even after briefly cleaning up their platform, the Goodreads trolls are back in force and now they're doxxing people.
• Camestros Felapton also explains how to report an issue on Goodreads.
• Camestros Felapton offers another update on the Goodreads troll situation.
  

Interviews:

• Paul Weimer interviews Yoon Ha Lee.
• The Qwillery interviews Kacen Callender.
• The Qwillery interviews Sonya M. Black.
• Summer H. Paulus interviews Mark Lawrence.
• The Qwillery interview Edward M. Erdelac.
  

Reviews: 

• Marion Deeds and Kat Hooper reviews Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone. 
• Marion Deeds and Terry Weyna review Her Silhouette, Drawn in Water by Vylar Kaftan.
• Kat Hooper reviews How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse by K. Eason. 
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews The Return of the Incredible Exploding Man by Dave Hutchinson.
• James Davis Nicoll reviews Of Wars and Memories and Starlight by Aliette de Bodard.  
• Camestros Felapton reviews The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie.
• James Davis Nicoll reviews The Ninth Rain by Jen Williams. 
• Zoraida Córdova reviews Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibañez.
• Renay Williams reviews The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow.
• Maya Gittelman reviews Lady Hotspur by Tessa Gratton. 
• Adri Joy reviews Blood Heir by Amélie Wen Zhao. 
• Publishers Weekly reviews The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo.
• Adri Joy reviews Realm of Ash by Tasha Suri. 
• Blue Book Balloon reviews The Shadow Saint by Gareth Hanrahan.
• Carolyn Cushman reviews Laughter at the Academy by Seanan McGuire and Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson.
• Katharine Coldiron reviews Medusa in the Graveyard by Emily Devenport.
• Blue Book Balloon reviews The True Bastards by Jonathan French.
• Alex Brown reviews Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire. 
• Alex Brown reviews Shadowshaper Legacy by Daniel José Older.
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Case of the Spellbound Child by Mercedes Lackey.
• Colleen Mondor reviews Missing, Presumed Dead by Emma Berquist.
• Jason Heller reviews The Heap by Sean Adams. 
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Ness by Robert Macfarlane and Stanley Donwood. 
• Anthony Cummins reviews QualityLand by Marc-Uwe Kling. 
• Ian Mond reviews Homesick: Stories by Nino Cipri. 
• Raymond K. Rugg reviews Figures Unseen: Selected Stories by Steve Rasnic Tem. 
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Lullabies for Suffering: Tales of Addiction Horror, edited by Mark Matthews.
• Johanna Thomas-Corr reviews In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado.

Classics reviews: 

• Cora Buhlert revisits the 1944 planetary romance Terror Out of Space by Leigh Brackett. 
• Cora Buhlert revisits "The Wedge" a.k.a. "The Traders", a 1944 Foundation story by Isaac Asimov. 
• Rich Horton revisits the 1948 science fiction novel Dreadful Sanctuary and the 1955 science fiction mystery Three to Conquer by Eric Frank Russell.
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1963 science fiction novels The Search for Zei and The Hand of Zei by L. Sprague de Camp.
• Vintage Pop Fictions revisits the 1964 science fiction novel The Andromeda Breakthrough by Fred Hoyle and John Eliot. 
• Gideon Marcus shares his thoughts on the February 1965 issue of Galaxy.
• Victoria Silverwolf reviews the 1965 time travel novel The Ship That Sailed the Time Stream and the 1965 science fiction collection Stranger Than You Think by G.C. Edmondson and Jason Sacks reviews The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick.
• Judith Tarr revisits the 1978 portal fantasy novel Quag Keep by Andre Norton.
• Joachim Boaz revisits the 1978 science fiction novel The Night of Kadar by Gary Kilworth.
• Adri Joy, Joe Sherry and Paul Weimer revisits the 1983 Hugo finalists for best novelette.
• Tadiana Jones and Kat Hooper revisit the 1988 historical fantasy novel The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley. 
• Joe Sherry revisits the 1992 fantasy novel The Dragon Token by Melanie Rawn.
• Mark Yon revisits the 1993 science fiction novel The Hammer of God by Arthur C. Clarke.
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1996 fantasy novel The Dubious Hills by Pamela Dean.
  

Crowdfunding:

• Authors For Firey is a Twitter auction organised by various authors to support the Australian firefighters.
  

Con and event reports: 

• Jaymee Goh and Rafaela Yilum Fan report about the Chengdu International Science Fiction Conference in Chengdu, China, and share some photos. 
• Lavie Tidhar reports about the Beijing SF Summit Forum in Beijing, China, and shares some photos.
• John Hertz and Kenn Bates share some photos of the Rotsler Award exhibition at Loscon XLVI in Los Angeles, California.
• E.J. Dickson reports about Midwest FurFest in Rosemont, Illinois, and wonders whether furries will ever go mainstream.
• Jonathan Amos reports that there will be an exhibition of Fantastic Beasts from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter universe at the Natural History Museum in London, UK.
  

Science and technology: 

• Davide Castelvecchi looks aheads at the science events coming in 2020. 
• Brendan Hesse explains how to explore the solar system in Google Maps. 
• Paul Rincon reports that a vast "star nursery" has been found in our galaxy.
• The BBC reports that India is planning a third Chandrayaan moon mission.
• Nell Greenfieldboyce reports that India is also planning a manned space mission.
• The BBC discusses how to handle orbiting space junk.
• David Axe reports about ESA's garbage collecting satellite ClearSpace-1 and why it may be misused as a weapon.
• Kaye Dee reports about the Skylark sounding rocket, the first British rocket capable of reaching space. 
• Jimmy McCloskey reports about a police robot in Los Angeles, California, which completely failed at its job and told a woman trying to report a crime to go away, before breaking into song. 
• Rosalind Adams reports about robot dogs and other companion robots in Japan.
• Nell Greenfieldboyce explains how colour-changing fibres help scientists to analyse why different types of knots behave differently.
• Rachel E. Gross remembers Miriam Menkin, the first person to successfully fertilise a human egg in vitro.
  

Free online fiction:

• "Dear Parents, Your Child Is Not the Chosen One" by P.G. Galalis in Diabolical Plots. 
• "Badass Moms in the Zombie Apocalypse" by Rae Carson in Uncanny Magazine.
• "My Country Is A Ghost" by Eugenia Triantafyllou in Uncanny Magazine.
• "Actually Naneen" by Malka Older in Slate: Future Tense. 
• "No Good Deed" by Angela Slatter in The Dark. 
• "All Together, Now" by Jason Hough and Ramez Naam in Lightspeed.
• "Destinations of Joy" by Alexander Weinstein in Lightspeed.
• "Something Fishy" by Harry Turtledove at Tor.com.  
• "Always Something New" by Harry Turtledove at Tor.com.
• "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" by Harry Turtledove at Tor.com.
• "The Floor of the Basement Is the Roof of Hell" by Stephen Graham Jones in Nightmare Magazine.
• "Shelter" by Cora Buhlert
  

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a trailer for The New Mutants. 
• Watch a trailer for Locke & Key.
• Watch the first scene from Locke & Key.
• Watch a trailer for October Faction.
• Watch a trailer for Birds of Prey.
• Watch a trailer for Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet.
• Check out these vintage book covers published between 1820 and 1914.