Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for September 25, 2020

 

It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with the various iterations of Star Trek, Lovecraft Country, Enola Holmes, Raised by Wolves, season 11 of Archer, the 2020 Arthur C. Clarke Award and much more.


Speculative fiction in general:

• Damien Walter complains that science fiction sold out and became corporate trash culture.
  
• Damien Walter also claims that many science fiction books are badly written, because they lack characterisation.  
  
• Camestros Felapton responds to Damien Walter.
  
• James Davis Nicoll talks about reading SFF series in the wrong order.
  
• Keith Cooper shares four amazing fictional but plausible planets. 
• Karen Osborne shares five books about very alien aliens.
  
• James Davis Nicoll shares five unforgettable SFF books involving amnesia. 
• Latonya Pennington lists eight SFF books that deal with mental health.
  
• Chris Panatier discusses the challenges our dystopian present presents to the writers of dystopian fiction. 
• Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Lavie Tidhar take a look at Spanish language speculative fiction.
  
• Tom Doyle talks about avoiding the singularity in his science fiction.
  
• David Polfeldt shares his appreciation for the works of Iain M. Banks.
  
• Samuel Delany recalls how he lived in the same house as Tim Curry and got to see an early performance of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. 
• Alona Ferber interviews Judith Butler about the J.K. Rowling/Robert Galbraith transphobia controversy among other things. 
  
• Emmet Asher-Perrin wonders how much alcohol it takes to get a Hobbit drunk. 
• John Tattrie remembers Charles Saunders.
  
• Fantasy author Terry Goodkind has died aged 72.
  

Film and TV:

• Paul Levinson declares that the dystopian film The Platform should not be watched before dinner.
  
• Roxana Hadadi shares her thoughts on the latest episode of The Boys. 
• Monica Castillo shares her thoughts on the latest episode of The Third Day.
  
• Rebecca Nicholson calls series 2 of Ghosts another dose of high-spirited silliness.
  
• Alex McLevy calls The Babysitter: Killer Queen a silly horror movie that doesn't believe in itself.  
• Shannon Miller calls Magical Girl Friendship Squad dated but fun. 
• K.A. Laity revisits the 1939 supernatural noir film Miracles for Sale. 
  
• Lorelei Marcus revisits the 1951 science fiction movies The Day the Earth Stood Still and When Worlds Collide. 
• Raechal Shewfelt revisits the 1965 fantasy comedy I Dream of Jeannie for its 55th anniversary. 
• Victoria Silverwolf revisits the 1965 horror movie Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster.
  
• Germain Lussier revisits the 1977 movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind and wonders why it's not considered Steven Spielberg's masterpiece.
• David Smith interviews Alex Winter who plays Bill in Bill and Ted Face the Music.
  
• Rebecca Nicholson interviews Celia Imrie who played a fighter pilot in The Phantom Menace among many other things. 
• Ryan Gilbey interviews Matt Bomer, star of White Collar and Doom Patrol.
  
• The Radio Times reports that 50000 Doctor Who fans voted for David Tennant as their favourite Doctor.
  
• Priyanka Bose discusses the influence of Sailor Moon on modern American animation. 
• Jeremy Konrad shares Alejandro Jodorowsky's reaction to the trailer for Denis Villeneuve's upcoming Dune adaptation.
  
• Nicole Sterling and Brooke Barnes report that audiences are still not returning to movie theatres, even though there actually are new movies again.
• Nellie Andreeva reports about the proposed reality show called Space Hero, where the winner will be sent to the ISS.
• Stuart Heritage reports about rumours that Tom Hardy will be the next James Bond. 
• Ben Child wonders whether Nicholas Cage will finally get a chance to play Superman in the upcoming movie The Flash
  
• Andrew Liptak reports that Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance has been cancelled. 
• Andy Swift reports that Supergirl will end with season 6. 
• Mike Glyer reports that five Republican senators have penned an open letter to Netflix to protest the adaptation of The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin following the author's remarks about the internment of Uyghur Muslims in China.
  
• Actor and stuntman Ernie F. Orsatti, best known for falling through a skylight in The Poseidon Adventure, has died aged 80.
• Cartoonist and production designer Ron Cobb, who worked on Alien, E.T. the Extraterrestrial, Conan the Barbarian and Back to the Future, has died aged 83. 
• Elena Goodison offers an overview over the production design work of Ron Cobb.
  
• Actor Michael Lonsdale, best known for playing Hugo Drax in the James Bond movie Moonraker, has died age 89.
  

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

• Keith R.A. DeCandido shares his thoughts on "Veritas", the latest episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks.
  
• Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the Star Trek Voyager episode "Scorpion, Part 1" and offers an overview over the third season of the show
  
• H&I TV shares ten minor goofs no one ever noticed in Star Trek.
  

Comments on Lovecraft Country: 

• Joelle Monique shares her thoughts on "Meet Me in Daegu", the latest episode of Lovecraft Country. 
• Ellen E. Jones shares her thoughts on "Meet Me in Daegu".
  
• Alex Brown shares her thoughts on "Meet Me in Daegu".
  
• Marah Eakin interviews Misha Green, showrunner of Lovecraft Country.
• Jana Nyman reviews Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff, the novel the eponymous series is based upon

 
Comments on Raised by Wolves:  

• Arielle Bernstein shares her thoughts on "Lost Paradise" and  "Faces", the latest episodes of Raised by Wolves.
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on "Lost Paradise" and "Faces".
  

 

Comments on Enola Holmes:

• Steve Rose declares that Enola Holmes lives up to its feminist ideals. 
• Peter Bradshaw calls Enola Holmes an amiable, starstudded mystery.
  
• Jesse Hassenger calls Enola Holmes disappointing and dull. 
• Shannon Connellan reports about a free online game that ties in to Enola Holmes. 

Comments on season 11 of Archer: 

• William Hughes calls "Helping Hands", the latest episode of Archer, laugh out loud funny.
• Julie Muncy is thrilled that the "real" Archer is back.

Awards: 

• The winner of the 2020 Arthur C. Clarke Award has been announced.
  
• The winners of the 2020 Ditmar Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the 2020 Elgin Awards have been announced.
  
• The finalists for the 2020 Brave New Worlds and Starburst Hero Awards have been announced.
• The shortlist for the 2020 Royal Society Science Book Prize has been announced.
  
• The winners of the 2020 Emmy Awards have been announced with lots of love for Watchmen and The Mandalorian. 
• David Tennant has won the best actor award at the 2020 Scottish Comedy Awards for his performance in Good Omens.
  
• The Sixth Annual Roswell Award is open for submissions.
• The 2021 Tomorrow Prize is open for submissions. 
• Alison Flood discusses the winner of the 2020 Clarke Award.
  
• Nina Allan shares her thoughts on the 2020 Arthur C. Clarke Award shortlist.
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Charlie Jane Anders declares that the unexamined story is not worth writing.
  
• Suyi Davies Okungbowa talks about worldbuilding through extrapolation. 
• Judtih Tarr explains why it is important to write horses right. 
• Garth Nix shares his experiences working as a bookseller.
  
• Cory Doctorow wonders about the market dominance of Audible.
• Alex Green reports about bookseller unions.
  

Interviews:

• Kirsty Wark interviews Margaret Atwood and Claudia Rankine.
  
• Rob Latham interviews Robert Silverberg. 
• Jason Kehe interviews Susanna Clarke.
  
• Paul Weimer interviews Karen Osborne.
  
• Andrea Johnson interviews Jim C. Hines. 
• Andrea Johnson interviews Andrea Hairston. 
• Alison Flood interviews Rhianna Pratchett. 
• The Qwillery interviews Andrea Stewart.
  
• Paul Weimer interviews Kimberly Unger. 
• Christian A. Coleman interviews Mark Oshiro.
  
• The Qwillery interviews Signe Pike.
• Cat Luria interviews Morgan MacVaugh.
  

Reviews: 

• Blue Book Balloon reviews Prime Deceptions by Valerie Valdes. 
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews Seven of Infinities by Aliette de Bodard. 
• Russell Letson reviews Divergence by C.J. Cherryh. 
• Paul Weimer reviews In the Black by Patrick S. Tomlinson.
  
• Richard Marpole reviews Captain Moxley and the Embers of Empire by Dan Hanks.
  
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. 
• Bill Capossere and Tadiana Jones review Piranesi by Susanna Clarke.
  
• Molly Templeton reviews The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix.
  
• Adrienne Martini reviews How to Rule and Empire and Get Away With It by K.J. Parker.
• Kat Hooper reviews Ink and Sigil by Kevin Hearne. 
• Tadiana Jones and Rebecca Fisher review Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo.
  
• James Davis Nicoll reviews The Scapegracers by Hannah Abigail Clarke. 
• Alex Brown reviews The Scapegracers by Hannah Abigail Clarke.
  
• Colleen Mondor reviews A Wicked Magic by Sasha Laurens. 
• Mark Yon reviews Dead Man in a Ditch by Luke Arnold. 
• Alex Brown reviews Legendborn by Tracy Deonn. 
• Alex Brown reviews Miss Meteor by Tehlor Kay Mejia and Anna-Marie McLemore.
  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Sweet Harmony by Claire North.
  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Orfeia by Joanne M. Harris. 
  
• James Davis Nicoll reviews When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo.
• Vanessa Armstrong reviews Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots. 
• Paul Di Filippo reviews Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots.
  
• Blue Book Balloon reviews The Nobody People by Bob Proehl.
  
• Bill Capossere reviews In the Shadows of Men by Robert Jackson Bennett.
• Blue Book Balloon reviews The Trials of Koli by M.R. Carey.
  
• Kat Hooper reviews Space Station Down by Ben Bova and Doug Beason.
• Ian Mond reviews Red Dust by Yoss.
  

Classics reviews:

• Alan Brown revisits the 1932 planetary romance Pirates of Venus by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
  
• Jerry's House of Everything revisits the 1933 Spider novel Wings of the Black Death by Grant Stockbridge a.k.a. Norvell Page. 
  
• John Miller revisits the November 1934 issue of Weird Tales. 
• Cora Buhlert revisits the 1939 gothic horror story "Blue and Silver Brocade" by Dorothy Quick.
  
• Steve J. Wright revisits the November 1939 issue of Unknown. 
• Steve J. Wright revisits the December 1939 issue of Unknown. 
  
• James Maliszewski revisits the 1949 planetary romance novel Sea Kings of Mars a.k.a. The Sword of Rhiannon by Leigh Brackett. 
• Jerry's House of Everything revisits the 1949 Shadow novel The Magigals Mystery by Maxwell Grant a.k.a. Walter B. Gibson.
• Ruthanna Emrys and Anne M. Pillworth revisit the 1959 gothic horror novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.
  
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1964 science fiction novel The Universe Against Her by James H. Schmitz. 
• Gideon Marcus revisits the October 1965 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
• Jason Sacks reviews the 1965 science fiction novels We, the Venusians by John Rackham and The Water of Thought by Fred Saberhagen and Kris Vyas-Myall reviews the September 1965 issue of Gamma.   
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1975 postapocalyptic YA novel The Girl Who Owned a City by O.T. Nelson.
  
• Emmet Asher-Perrin revisits the 1987 Discworld fantasy novel Mort. 
• Will Errickson revisits the 1988 horror novel Raw Pain Max by Dean Andersson.
• Timothy the Talking Cat reviews the 1989 science fiction novel Hyperion by Dan Simmons.
  

Con and event reports:

• Katie Rife, Annie Zaleski and Shannon Miller discuss how the proliferation of virtual events and conventions has been a boon for disabled and marginalised fans.
• Ian McDonald reports about the Celsius 232 festival in Avilés, Asturias, Spain, one of the few in person events to happen this summer.
• Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts on the virtual Bloody Scotland crime fiction festival and discusses the differences between SFF and crime fiction cons.
• Merrick Lex Berman reports about the virtual FutureCon.
  
• Watch the panels of the virtual FutureCon online.
  
• Heidi MacDonald reports that New York Comic Con has gone virtual.
  
• Amy West reports that the cast of Smallville will reunite for the virtual 2020 New York Comic Con.
• Dale Knickerbocker announces that the 2021 International Association For The Fantastic In The Arts conference will be online as well.
• Andrew Tejada announces the Saga Salon, a one day event about the state of science fiction. 
  
• Mike Glyer reports that Noel Rosenberg, former president of Arisia in Boston, Massachussetts, is suing Chrystal Huff for alleged defamation. 
• Take a virtual tour of the planned Comic Con Museum in San Diego, California. 
• Trisha Gopal reports about a game of Dungeons and Dragons that has been going on for 38 years.
  

Crowdfunding:

• Vital: The Future of Healthcare, an anthology edited by R.M. Ambrose, is looking for funding.
  
• Cory Doctorow is looking for funding to produce the audiobook for Attack Surface, the third Little Brother book.
• Actor Michael Hogan, who appeared in the new Battlestar Galactica, Teen Wolf, Fargo, The Man in the High Castle and many others, suffered a serious brain injury due to an accident and needs help.
  

Science and technology:

• NASA shares some new photos of Jupiter's storms.
• Kate Summerscale reports about a poltergeist sighting in Croydon, UK, in 1938.
  

Free online fiction:

• "Useful Guinevere and the Bio-Mechanical Dragons of Neptunias" by Tina Connolly in Daily Science Fiction. 
• "The Cat Lady and the Petitioner" by Jennifer Hudak in Translunar Travelers Lounge
• "Intergalactic Negotiations" by Joshua Fagan in Daily Science Fiction. 
• "Tea with the Earl of Twilight" by Sonya Taaffe in Nightmare Magazine.
  
• "Second Generation" by Julie Nováková in Future Science Fiction Digest  
• "The Perfection of Theresa Watkins" by Justin C. Key at Tor.com. 
  
• "For God is in Sleep Also, and Dreams Advise" by D.L. Podlesni in Luna Station Quarterly. 
• "Many Mansions" by K.J. Parker in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• "A Minor Exorcism" by Richard Parks in Beneath Ceaseless Skies. 
  
• "The Quiet Forms of Belonging" by Kristi DeMeester in The Dark. 
• "Entanglement" by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam in Lightspeed.
  
• "Machine Learning" by Hugh Howey in Lightspeed.
  
• "Game Testing" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
  
• "Certainty" by Isabelle Lee in Clarkesworld. 
• "Loose Ends" by Tom Comitta in Wired.
  
• "The Creature" by Kristin Garth in Punk Noir Magazine
  

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a trailer for WandaVision.
• Watch a trailer for Code 404.
• Watch a trailer for Helstrom. 
• Watch a trailer for Books of Blood.
  
• Watch a trailer for The Haunting of Bly Manor.
  
• Watch a trailer for Over the Moon.
• Watch a trailer for The Croods 2: A New Age. 
• Watch a video of a full-size Gundam robot in Yokohama, Japan, moving for the first time.