Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for February 7, 2020

It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week Star Trek: Picard, The Mandalorian and Star Wars in general, series 12 of Doctor Who, The Witcher, Avenue 5, Birds of Prey, The Outsider and much more. 

Speculative fiction in general:

• The 2019 Locus Recommended Reading List has been announced.  
• Rocket Stack Rank have annotated the short fiction categories of the Locus Recommended Reading List.
• Andrew Liptak lists nineteen new science fiction and fantasy novels coming out in February. 
• Christina Orlando and Leah Schnelbach share twenty-three SFF retellings of classic stories.
• Adalyn Grace shares six SFF books about woman pirates. 
• Vanessa Armstrong shares five nautical SFF novels to read.
• Kelly Braffet discusses SFF novels about women at odds with each other.
• Linsey Miller shares five books featuring medicine and magic. 
• Kelly Lagor talks about putting the science in science fiction.
• Tor.com hosts a roundtable about artificial intelligence in fiction and fact.
• James Davis Nicoll shares five science fictional predecessors to Martha Wells' Murderbot.
• Yosef Lindell wonders whether the science fiction of Isaac Asimov is still relevant for our times.
• Carrie Sessarego talks about Jules Verne and the scientific romance genre. 
• Camestros Felapton discusses science fictional ways to make a force field.
• Inspired by the controversy surrounding American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins, Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez points out that Diana Gabaldon is a Latina author who gets advances higher than Jeanine Cummins for American Dirt and who is nonetheless never mentioned in discussions about Latino authors.  
• Non-fiction writer Paul Barnett a.k.a. John Grant has died aged 70.

Film and TV:

• Benjamin Lee calls Underwater a soggy, silly monster movie. 
• Sam Wollaston watches The Lighthouse with a real life lighthouse keeper who does not find the movie remotely realistic.
• Ruthanna Emrys and Anne M.. Pillworth share their thoughts on Color Out Of Space. 
• Cath Clarke calls Daniel Isn't Real a ludicrous horror film, undermined by hellish special effects.
• Allison Shoemaker shares her thoughts on the latest episode of The Outsider. 
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw declares that Ragnarok turns Norse mythology into a mediocre teen drama.
• C.D. Covington talks about the Belter creole in The Expanse.
• Stuart Heritage ranks the most disturbing talking animals in movies. 
• Ralph Jones discusses why the 1999 weird western movie The Wild, Wild West turned into a box office disaster. 
• Ben Child declares that a third Blade Runner movie is as inevitable as the robot revolution.
• Brian Davids interviews Linda Hamilton who plays Sarah Connor in the Terminator movies.
• Steve Rose interviews Bong Joon-Ho, director of Snowpiercer and Parasite.
• Dave Trumbore reports that the upcoming New Mutants movie was originally supposed to be set in the 1980s and was also supposed to tie in closer with the Fox X-Men movies. 
• Stuart Heritage reports that Danny Trejo is the most killed actor on screen. 
• Tom Nicholson reports that a fifth Indiana Jones movie is in the works.
• Andrew Liptak reports that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is coming to Disney Plus in August and that WandaVision is coming to Disney Plus in December.
• Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas died aged 103.
• Steve Vertlieb remembers Kirk Douglas.
  

Comments on Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek in general (warning, possible spoilers):

• Zack Handlen shares his thoughts on "Maps and Legends", the latest episode of Star Trek Picard.   
• Keith R.A. DeCandido shares his thoughts on "Maps and Legends". 
• Gavia Baker Whitelaw shares her thoughts on "Maps and Legends"
• Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts on "Maps and Legends".
• Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on "Maps and Legends".
• Font Folly shares his thoughts on "Maps and Legends".
• James Whitbrook shares his thoughts on "Maps and Legends".
• James Whitbrook discusses Star Trek's uneasy relationship with androids. 
• Ryan Britt wonders what role the mysterious Daystrom Institute may play in Star Trek Picard.
• Ryan Britt shares some theories regarding Romulan spy networks in Star Trek Picard.
• Ryan Britt also sheds some light on the characters of Lharis and Zaban in Star Trek: Picard. 
• Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the Star Trek Voyager episodes "Time and Again", "Phage" and "The Cloud".
• Murray Leder interviews actor Duncan Regehr, who played Dr. Crusher's ghost lover and Kira's rebel leader lover in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine respectively.
  

Comments on series 12 of Doctor Who (major spoilers):

• Dan Martin shares his thoughts on "Praxeus", the latest episode of Doctor Who.
• Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on "Praxeus".
• Sylas K. Barrett and Emmett Asher-Perrin share their thoughts on "Praxeus".
• Caroline Siede shares her thoughts on "Praxeus".
• Brian Silliman points out that Doctor Who has always been political.
• Matthew Jackson reports how Joe Hill's pitch for Doctor Who was rejected.
  

Comments on The Mandalorian and Star Wars in general (warning: spoilers):

• Rob Bricken declares that he never knew how much he needed a Star Wars TV series until The Mandalorian.
• James Whitbrook declares that the titular character in The Mandalorian is so compelling, because he is not perfect.
• Dan Snierson interviews comedian Adam Pally who plays the Stormtrooper who punched Baby Yoda in The Mandalorian.
• Carolyn Giardina interviews Star Wars sound editors David Acord and Matthew Wood.
• Riley Silverman explains how Baby Yoda, The Mandalorian and Star Wars helped her through grief.
• Shaun Duke and Alex Acks discuss The Rise of Skywalker.
• Ben Child wonders whether Disney has really given up on Star Wars films in favour of TV series like The Mandalorian
• Andrew Liptak reports that season 2 of The Mandalorian is coming in October.
• Scott Feinberg profiles Ashley Boone Jr., the 20th Century Fox executive who was one of the masterminds behind the success of the original Star Wars.
  

Comments on The Witcher:

• Carrie Vaughn enjoyed The Witcher and is pleased at the sneaky feminist subtext.
• Walter Jon Williams points out that the entire first season of The Witcher is basically one long prologue.
• Tor.com looks ahead at season 2 of The Witcher.
  

Comments on Avenue 5:

• Kate Kulzick shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Avenue 5.
• Valentina Valentini interviews Armando Iannucci, creator of Avenue 5.

Comments on Birds of Prey:

• Peter Bradshaw calls Bird of Prey a blitz of bad taste. 
• Katie Rife calls Birds of Prey wildly colourful and surprisingly gory. 
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw calls Birds of Prey a cross between Deadpool and a Lady Gaga video.
• Princess Weekes declares that Birds of Prey is everything she wants from a female led comic book movie. 
• Cheryl Eddy shares some early reactions to Birds of Prey.
• Brandon Zachary interviews Christina Hodson, screenwriter of Birds of Prey.
  

Comments on The Outsider:

• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of The Outsider.
• Allison Shoemaker shares her thoughts on the latest episode of The Outsider. 

Awards:

• The 2020 Locus Awards are open for voting. 
• The shortlist for the 2020 Romantic Novel Awards has been announced. 
• The finalists for the Subjective Chaos Kind of Awards have been announced.
• The 2020 Brave New Words Award is open for submissions.
• The finalists for the 2020 Darrell Awards have been announced. 
• The finalists for the 2020 Premio Robot have been announced.
• The first round nominations for the 2020 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire have been announced. 
• The Horror Writers Association has named the winners of its 2020 Lifetime Achievement Awards.
• The finalists for the 2019 Clarkesworld Reader Poll have been announced.
• The 2019 Uncanny Reader Poll is open for voting. 
• The finalists for the 25th annual Audie Awards have been announced. 
• The winners of the 2020 BBC Audio Drama Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the 2020 BAFTA Awards have been announced.
• Olivia Rutigliano talks about the Oscars that have been stolen or gone missing over the years and the hunt for them.
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Kameron Hurley tells writers to choose wisely what they pay attention to. 
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch talks about writers and optimism.
• Jodi Turchin tells writers how to persevere when the mountain seems unconquerable.
• Justin McCarthy reports that more people visited the library than went to the movies in the US in 2019
• The BBC reports that a well-meaning but insensitive attempt to publish classic books with diverse book covers has caused the books to be pulled.
  

Interviews:

• Locus interviews Arkady Martine. 
• Andrea Johnson interviews A.K. Larkwood.
• Paul Weimer interviews Juliette Wade.
• Veronica Scott interviews Honey Phillips. 
• Arley Sorg interviews Ken Liu.
• Arley Sorg interviews Tochi Onyebuchi.
• Isaac Butler interviews Kim Stanley Robinson.
  

Reviews: 

• Blue Book Balloon reviews Bone Silence by Alastair Reynolds.
• Adrienne Martine reviews The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern and To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers.
• Richard Marpole reviews The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern.
• Tadiana Jones and Kat Hooper review The Flowers of Vashnoi by Lois McMaster Bujold. 
• Lady Business reviews Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey. 
• Alex Brown reviews Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey.
• Dwight Garner reviews The Resisters by Gish Jen. 
• Blue Book Balloon reviews Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland. 
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold. 
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews The House of Sundering Flames by Aliette de Bodard.
• Bill Capossere reviews Rememberance by Rita Woods. 
• J.C. Kang reviews The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith.
• Molly Templeton reviews A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas.
• Colleen Mondor reviews All of Us With Wings by Michelle Ruiz Keil.
• Mary Retta reviews Things in Jars by Jess Kidd. 
• Kat Hooper reviews The Pursuit of William Abbey by Claire North.
• Clifford Thompson reviews Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
• James Davis Nicoll reviews Velveteen versus the Multiverse by Seanan McGuire.
• Rob Bedford reviews A Blight of Blackwings by Kevin Hearne.
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Seven Deadly Swords by Peter Sutton.
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie
• Brian Bandell reviews The Last Day by Andrew Hunter Murray.
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews The Roo by Alan Baxter.
• Matt Brandenburg reviews Snowball by Gregory Bastianelli.
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare.
  

Classics reviews: 

• Brian Keene revisits the 1796 gothic novel The Monk by Matthew Lewis.
• Judith Tarr revisits the 1938 gothic novel Ralestone Luck by Andre Norton.
• Cora Buhlert revisits the 1944 military science fiction story "Morgue Ship" by Ray Bradbury. 
• Cora Buhlert revisits the 1944 space opera adventure "The Monster Maker" by Ray Bradbury.
• Steve J. Wright revisits the 1944 science fiction novelette "The Day the World Stood Still" by Allison V. Harding.
• Steve J. Wright revisits the 1944 speculative fiction novel Worlds Beginning by Robert Ardrey
  
• Paul Fraser revisits the April 1944 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. 
• James Wallace Harris revisits the 1950 science fiction short story "What Have I Done?" by Mark Clifton.
• Cora Buhlert reviews the 1965 science fiction novel The Escape Orbit by James White and Rosemary Benton reviews the 1965 science fiction novel Space Opera by Jack Vance. 
• Gideon Marcus revisits the March 1965 issue of If: Worlds of Science Fiction.
• Sean Guynes revisits the 1969 science fiction novel The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin.
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1980 science fiction collection The Barbie Murders by John Varley.
• Runalong the Shelves revisits the 1986 space opera Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold.
  

Con and event reports:

• Mike Glyer reports that Jeddah in Saudi Arabia is bidding for the 2022 WorldCon. 
• The 2020 MediaWest*Con in Lansing, Michigan, has been cancelled due to lack of reservations. 
• The Hugo Losers Party at WorldCon 77 in Dublin, Ireland, is the subject of a Miss Manners column.
• Marcin Klak reports about the European Fan Fund initiative he started.
• Mark L. Blackman reports about the "Crime, Capers and Conan Doyle" themed installment of the New York Review of Science Fiction Readings Series in Brooklyn, New York, featuring Elizabeth Crowens and Teel James Glenn.
• Jamie Lovett reports about the Star Trek: Exploring New Worlds exhibition in Los Angeles, California. 
• Martin Morse Wooster reports about the exhibition Inspired! Jim Henson at Maryland in College Park, Maryland. 
• Melissa Block reports about the Mardi Gras parade of the Intergalactic Krewe of Chewbacchus in New Orleans, Louisiana, and shares several photos. 
• Dave Schwab reports about the opening of the new Mysterious Galaxy bookshop in Point Loma, California.
• Mike Glyer offers an update about the latest developments in the court case against Ed Kramer, co-founder of DragonCon in Atlanta, Georgia.
  

Crowdfunding:

• Dominion: An Anthology of Black Speculative Fiction by publisher Aurelia Leo is looking for funding.
• Augur Magazine - Stories for the Future We Need is looking for funding for its third and fourth year.
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith look for funding for The Year of the Cat, a project to publish one hundred stories about cats in a year.
  

Science and technology: 

• Elizabeth Rayne reports that the frozen core of Pluto might be causing the strange formations on its surface.
• Laurel Wamsley reports amateur astronomers in Finland have discovered a new tpe of northern lights. 
• Mary Robinette Kowal discusses the experience of trying on an A7-L spacesuit like the ones used by the Apollo astronauts.
• Laura Cole wonders whether it's possible to heat buildings without fossile fuel.
  

Free online fiction:

• "St. Valentine, St. Abiggail, St. Brigid" by C.L. Polk at Tor.com. 
• "Today's Question of the Day in Waverly, Ohio" by Adam-Troy Castro in Nightmare Magazine. 
• "Ark of Light" by Victor LaValle in Lightspeed.
• "Outer" by Hollis Joel Henry in Clarkesworld.
• "Eyes of the Crocodile" by Malena Salazar Maciá, translated by Toshiya Kamei, in Clarkesworld.
• "And All the Trees in the Forest Shall Clap Their Hands" by Sharon Hsu in Uncanny Magazine.
• "Slipping Through the Stars" by Laura J. Campbell in Luna Station Quarterly.
• "Emergent" by Rob Costello in The Dark.
• "Noah"s Raven" by Kij Johnson in Lightspeed.
• "Drones to Ploughshares" by Sarah Gailey in Terraform.
• "The Summonsing of Cthulhu" by Steve J. Wright.
• "Valentine's Day on Iago Prime" by Cora Buhlert
  

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a trailer for the Marvel related series coming soon to the Disney+ streaming service.
• Watch a trailer for Black Widow.
• Watch a trailer for Mulan. 
• Watch a trailer for Minions: The Rise of Gru.
• Watch a science fictional SodaStream commercial.