Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for August 28, 2020

It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with the debate about the SFF canon, the debate about the Retro Hugos, Ray Bradbury at 100, Star Trek: Lower Decks and the various other iterations of Star Trek, Lucifer, Lovecraft Country, The Boys, Tenet, She Dies Tomorrow and much more.

Speculative fiction in general:

• James Davis Nicoll shares SFF books that avoid violent solutions.
• James Davis Nicoll shares five SFF books that would make great musicals. 
• James Davis Nicoll shares five short and compact paperback novels you can easily read on the go. 
• Asia New Network explains what South Asian science fiction can tell us about the world.
• Nisi Shawl offers a crash course in the history of black science fiction.
• Lilliam Rivera shares Caribbean fiction that blurs genre boundaries. 
• Angela Maria Spring talks about horror by writers of colour. 
• Vanessa Armstrong shares five SFF books with dogs and doglike beings.
• Jenn Lyons talks about economy and ecology in SFF. 
• Chelsea Sedoti takes a look at speculative fiction from the Mojave Desert. 
• Vanessa Savage talks about fairytales retold as crime stories.  
• Em Nordling takes a look at gaming and strategy in This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. 
• Steve J. Wright takes a look at the shortlived fantasy magazine Unknown. 
• James Wallace Harris wonders when the 1909 dystopian story "The Machine Stops" by E.M. Foster became science fiction. 
• Stephen Harris takes a look at Harlan Ellison's 1969 post-apocalyptic novella "A Boy and His Dog" and the 1975 film version.
• Bobby Derie takes a look at the letter C.L. Moore wrote to H.P. Lovecraft.
• Angeline B. Adams takes a look at the female fans who appeared in the letter columns of Weird Tales and notes that women were always part of Weird Tales fandom.
• Suyi Davies Okungbowa reports about Captain Africa, the first African own voices superhero, and his legacy. 
• Brigid Alverson and Calvin Reid report about a new US edition of Asterix and some complaints about supposedly racist stereotypes. 
• S.M. Carriere explains that fans can be scary.
• Tracy Brown reports that George R.R. Martin has filed a lawsuit over the film rights to his werewolf novella "The Skin Trade".
• Australian fan and fanzine publisher John Bangsund has died aged 81.
  

The debate about the SFF canon:

• Nina Allan weighs in on the SFF canon debate and declares that there is no general SFF canon, but there are personal canons.  
• Aidan Moher agrees that there is no universal canon, there only are personal canons.
• John Scalzi responds to people who have criticised his take on the science fiction canon debate and blame him for the state of science fiction. 
• Inspired by the discussion about the science fiction canon, Doris V. Sutherland wonders whether there is a horror cannon.

Ray Bradbury at 100:

• John Scalzi remembers Ray Bradbury.
• Steve Vertlieb remembers Ray Bradbury. 
• Mike Chomko remembers Ray Bradbury.
• Deuce Richardson discusses Ray Bradbury and his friendship with Leigh Brackett. 
• The South Passadena Public Library remembers Ray Bradbury and offers a look at their Ray Bradbury collection.
• Colleen Abel remembers what it was like growing up in Ray Bradbury's hometown of Waukegan, Illinois, even though it no longer was anything like the place Bradbury had described.
• Mike Glyer reports about several events planned to celebrate the centennial of Ray Bradbury.
• John King Tarpinian reports about his personal celebration of Ray Bradbury's 100th birthday.
• Don Kaye lists the fourteen most notable adaptations of Ray Bradbury's fiction. 
• Listen to the Ray Bradbury Centennial Read-a-thon. 
• Grant Snider celebrates Ray Bradbury's 100th birthday with a cartoon.

Film and TV:

• Randall Colburn calls Host one of the best horror movies of the year.
• Cath Clarke calls the Senegalese ghost story movie Atlantics haunting and powerful. 
• Mike McCahill calls The Lost Prince a father daughter story full of heart.
• A.A. Dowd explains why he won't be reviewing New Mutants.
• Sean O'Hagan shares his thoughts on the documentary John Was Trying to Contact Aliens. 
• Lucy Mangan shares her thoughts on the documentary Peter: The Human Cyborg.
• Benjamin Lee revisits the 1990 horror movie The Witches and delcares that it continues to terrify.
• Tom Breihan revisits the 1993 dinosaur movie Jurassic Park. 
• Emma Fraser explains how horror movies weaponise the telephone.
• Peter Bradshaw looks back on Sean Connery's career for the actor's 90th birthday.
• Coco Khan interviews Maisie Williams who played Arya Stark in Game of Thrones.
• Jennifer Vineyard interviews Samira Wiley who plays Moira in The Handmaid's Tale. 
• Aisha Tyler interviews Matt Reeves, director of The Batman.
• Ben Child reports about the Chinese government's guidelines for science fiction films.
• Lesley Goldberg reports that Penny Dreadful: City of Angels has been cancelled.
• Alison Flood reports that the proposed TV series based on Iain Banks' Culture novels has been cancelled.
  

Comments on Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek in general:

• Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the Star Trek Voyager episodes "Rise" and "Favourite Son"
• Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits "Moist Vessel", the most recent episode of Star Trek Lower Decks
• Andrew Liptak reports that Star Trek Discovery will also air on regular US network television now to fill up gaps due to the corona pandemic. 

Comments on season 5 of Lucifer: 

• LaToya Ferguson offers episode by episode reviews of season 5 of Lucifer.
• Stuart Heritage interviews Tom Ellis, star of Lucifer.

Comments on Lovecraft Country:

• Alex Brown shares her thoughts on "Whitey's on the Moon", the latest episode of Lovecraft Country. 
• Ellen E. Jones shares her thoughts on "Whitey's on the Moon". 
• Joelle Monique shares her thoughts on "Whitey's on the Moon". 
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on "Sundown" and "Whitey's on the Moon".
• Spacefaring Kitten shares her thoughts on Lovecraft Country.
• Sam Stone discusses how Lovecraft Country reveals its characters' greatest fears. 
• Marah Eakin interviews Jonathan Majors who plays Atticus Freeman in Lovecraft Country. 
• Marah Eakin interviews Courtney B. Vance and Aunjanue Ellis, who play George and Hippolyta in Lovecraft Country.
• Danette Chavez interviews Tony Goldwyn who plays Samuel Braithwaite in Lovecraft Country.
• Angelique Jackson discusses how the marketing campaign for Lovecraft Country highlighted the so-called blerd community.
  

Comments on season 2 of The Boys:

• Alex McLevy calls season 2 of The Boys even better and more timely than season 1. 
• Charles Pulliam-Moore calls The Boys a scathing send-up of our superhero obsessed world.
• Charles Pulliam-Moore delves into the background of the character Stormfront in season 2 of The Boys.

Comments on Tenet: 

• Catherine Shoard calls the long awaited thriller Tenet a palindromic dud. 
• Mike McCahill calls Tenet a humourless disappointment. 
• Jessica Kiang declares that Tenet dazzles the sense but does not touch the heart.
• Ian Sandwell calls Tenet an original and mindbending take on a spy movie. 
• Alex Godfrey calls Tenet James Bond without the baggage.
• Guy Lodge calls Tenet grandly entertaining and a futuristic throwback.
• Peter Bradshaw calls Tenet supremely ambitious and superb cinema, 
• Jason Gorber calls Tenet the most Christopher Nolan-ish movie of all time, for better or for worse.
• Steve Rose offers a spoilerish review of Tenet.
• Luke Holland traces how Christopher Nolan became the king of the family friendly action film. 
• Beth Elderkin declares that watching Tenet and New Mutants in the theatre is not worth risking catching the corona virus
• Stuart Heritage reports that Tom Cruise actually went to see Tenet in a cinema and posted a video of himself doing so.
• Watch a trailer for Tenet.

Comments on She Dies Tomorrow:

• Peter Bradshaw calls She Dies Tomorrow an eerie horror movie. 
• Rachel Aroesti interviews Amy Seimetz, director of the horror film She Dies Tomorrow. 

Awards: 

• The winners of the 2020 Seiun Awards have been announced.
• The nominations for the 2020 Chesley Awards have been announced.
• The finalists for the 2020 Ringo Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the 2020 Silver Falchion Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the 2020 Prix Rosny Aîné have been announced.

The debate about the Retro Hugos:

• Mike Glyer reports that the Memphis Worldcon bid for 2023 won't hold the 1948 Retro Hugos, if they win.
• Camestros Felapton wonders what the point of the Retro Hugos is.
• Cora Buhlert explains why the Retro Hugos have value.
• Steve J. Wright shares his musing on the value of the Retro Hugos.
• Hampus Eckerman shares his thoughts about the Retro Hugos.
• David Wallace shares some ideas for reforming the Retro Hugos.
• Camestros Felapton shares some ideas for reforming the Retro Hugos.

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Spencer Quinn explains how he learned to write from his mother. 
• Ros Anderson discusses the difficulties of writing an AI protagonist.
• Charlie Jane Anders explains how revision is the process of turning fake emotion into real emotion.
• Scott Noel, editor of Dreamforge Magazine, explains why he rejects stories.
• Mimi Swartz profiles Vivian Stephens, RWA co-founder and pioneering romance editor.
• Ryan Gilbey asks why authors often get so little money for film rights.
• Alexandra Alter report about supply issues affecting the US book industry due to a printer shortage.
  

Interviews:

• Lulu Garcia-Navarro interviews Nnedi Okorafor. 
• Paul Weimer interviews Tessa Gratton. 
• Christian A. Coleman interviews Andrea Hairston.
• The Dream Foundry interviews Vajra Chandrasekera. 
• Gordon B. White interviews John Langan.
• The Qwillery interviews Carole Stivers.
• Jennie Ivins interviews A.A. Freeman. 
• Aaron Robertson interviews James E. Ransome.
• Matt Moen interviews Rebecca Sugar and Noelle Stevenson.
  

Reviews: 

• Kat Hooper reviews Peace Talks by Jim Butcher. 
• Lis Carey reviews Emerald Blaze by Ilona Andrews. 
• Liz Bourke reviews Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir.
• Liz Bourke reviews Seven of Infinities by Aliette de Bodard.
• Liz Bourke reviews The Worst of All Possible Worlds by Alex White. 
• Bill Capossere reviews The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson 
• For Winter Nights reviews The Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky. 
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
• James Davis Nicoll reviews Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor.
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin. 
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Shadow in the Empire of Light by Jane Routley.
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Flame and the Flood by Shona Kinsella. 
• Rob Bedford reviews Ink and Sigil by Kevin Hearne.
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Swordsman's Intent by G.M. White.
• Paul Weimer reviews Divine Heretic by Jaime Lee Moyer. 
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Divine Heretic by Jaime Lee Moyer.
• Liz Bourke reviews Silver in the Wood and Drowned Country by Emily Tesh and Ghosts of Sherwood and The Heirs of Loxley by Carrie Vaughn.
• Kelly Lasiter reviews Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins. 
• Alex Preston reviews Sisters by Daisy Johnson 
• Ian Mond reviews Mordew by Alex Pheby.
• Hephzibah Anderson reviews The New Wilderness by Diane Cook 
• Natasha Pulley reviews The Midnight Library by Matt Haig.
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel.
• Russell Letson reviews Dispersion by Greg Egan.
• Adri Joy reviews First Become Ashes by K.M. Szpara.
• Kelly Lasiter reviews The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi. 
• Blue Book Balloon reviews Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay.
• A.M. Justice reviews Psycho Killers in Love by C.T. Phipps. 
• Ian Mond reviews Sisters by Daisy Johnson. 
• Paul Guran reviews Malorie by Josh Malerman and Sleepers by Gerald Houarner. 
• Jared Shurin reviews The Living Dead by George A Romero and Daniel Kraus. 
• James Davis Nicoll reviews Mars: Stories by Asja Bakic, translated by Jennifer Zoble.
• Bill Capossere reviews Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars: Space, Exploration, and Life on Earth by Kate Greene

Classics reviews:

• Sandy Ferber revisits the 1931 science fiction novel Seeds of Life by John Taine.
• James Maliszewski revisits the 1941 Ffahrd and Gray Mouser sword and sorcery story "The Howling Tower" by Fritz Leiber.
• John Grant revisits the 1950 fix-up novel The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. 
• Mark Yon revisits the 1954 dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.
• James Davis Nicoll reviews the 1955 science fiction story "The Vilbar Party" by Evelyn E. Smith.
• Gideon Marcus revisits the September 1965 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
• Mark Yon revisits the September 1965 issues of Science Fantasy and New Worlds.
• Gideon Marcus reviews the September 1965 issue of Analog.
• Kris Vyas-Myall revisits the 1965 anthology 13 French Science Fiction Stories, edited by Damon Knight.
• M. Porcius revisits the 1969 science fiction novel Syn by Raymond E. Jones. 
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1970 time travel novel Monster From Out of Time by Frank Belknap Long.
• Alan Brown revisits the 1970 sword and sorcery anthology Swords Against Tomorrow, edited by Robert Hoskins. 
• Joachim Boaz revisits the 1970 anthology The Best SF Stories from New Worlds 6, edited by Michael Moorcock.
• Paul Fraser revisits the anthology Best SF: 1971, edited by Harry Harrison and Brian W. Aldiss.
  
• Sean Guynes revisits the 1975 science fiction collection The Wind's Twelve Quarters by Ursula K. Le Guin.
  
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1977 science fiction collection Callahan's Crosstime Saloon by Spider Robinson.
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1986 anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction, edited by Gardner Dozois. 
• Meghan Ball revisits the 1995 fantasy novel Sabriel by Garth Nix.
  

Con and event reports:

• Yunchtime shares their experience at the virtual reCONvene convention.
• Flemming Rasch reports that the Danish convention Fantasticon is going virtual as well.
• Tor.com shares the schedule for the virtual Book Your Summer Live festival.
• Mike Glyer reports about an event in San Marino, California, in which Lynell George discusses Octavia E. Butler, her works and her legacy.
• Patrick Gomez shares the highlights of the virtual DC FanDome event. 
• Matthew Jackson reports that the virtual DC FanDome event scored 22 million views worldwide. 
• Fanac.org offers an overview of Worldcon publications.
• Katie Rife reports about the virtual 2020 Fantasia Film Festival.
• Kelsie Foreman reports about the financial woes of the Evermore theme park in Pleasant Grove, Utah.
  

Crowdfunding:

• Joshua Palmatier is looking for funding for three new SFF anthologies.
• The Evermore theme park in Pleasant Grove, Utah, is looking for funding to help them survive the corona pandemic.
  

Science and technology:

• Jonti Horner reports about the approach of asteroid 2018 VP to Earth in November. 
• George Dvorsky declares that trillions of rogue planets could be careening through our galaxy. 
• Elizabeth Rayne wonders whether the Milky Way is evolving before our eyes.
• Drew Kann reports about the SlothBot, which monitors weather and climate changes.
• Maddie Capron reports that a collapsed cliff in the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, USA, has revealed 313 million year old footprints. 
• Alex Shipman reports that a 166 million year old dinosaur fossil has been found on a remote Scottish island. 
• Laura Griffin explains why going off the grid is extremely difficult in our digital era.
• The BBC explains how people still manage to disappear in Japan.
• Ellie Mae O'Hagan interviews ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti.
  

Free online fiction:

• "For Every Jack" by R.K. Duncan at Tor.com. 
• "Yours Is the Right to Begin" by Livia Llewellyn in Nightmare Magazine. 
• "The Huntsman and the Beast" by Carrie Vaughn in Lightspeed.
• "Sing in Me, Muse" by Katherine Crichton in Lightspeed
• "The Truth as Written" by J.S. Rogers in Luna Station Quarterly. 
• "The Past, Like a River in Flood" by Marissa Lingen in Beneath Ceaseless Skies. 
• "Doorway, Smile, Kiss, Fox" by Jeremy Packert Burke in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• "An Important Failure" by Rebecca Campbell in Clarkesworld. 
• "Results" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
• "An Elegy for Childhood Monsters" by Gwendolyn Kiste in The Dark. 
• "Alone" by Emma Törzs in Strange Horizons. 
• "Alex's Choice" by Barb Goffman in Crime Travel.
  
• "Arkham Board of Health Feedback on Miskatonic University's Draft Plan for Safe Campus Reopening" by Ron Fein in McSweeney's Internet Tendency.
  

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a trailer for Wonder Woman 1984.
• Watch a trailer for The Batman.
• Watch a sneak peak at The Suicide Squad.
• Watch a trailer for the so-called "Snyder cut" of Justice League.
• Watch a trailer for Enola Holmes.   
• Watch a trailer for Raised by Wolves.
• Watch a trailer for Dragon's Dogma.
• Watch a trailer for Noughts and Crosses.
• Watch a trailer for The Right Stuff. 
• Watch a trailer for Making of The Witcher.
• Watch Jaskier's Unauthorized and Unofficial Trailer for the Making of The Witcher. 
• Explore the Smithsonia National Air and Space Museum in Klingon.