It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with Loki, Black Widow, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general, the various DC Comics based TV shows,, Star Trek in general, The Bad Batch and Star Wars in general, the season 4 finale of The Handmaid's Tale, Werewolves Within, Katla, season 2 of Evil, False Positive, Luca, Lisey's Story, the return of Warren Ellis less than a year after multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, an uproar involving the 2021 Worldcon and much more.
Speculative fiction in general:
- NPR runs a poll asking people for their favourite SFF books of the last decade.
- James Davis Nicoll shares five classic science fiction stories about lost homeworlds.
- James Davis Nicoll shares five SFF characters to help you execute the perfect caper.
- Neil Sharpson shares his five favourite SFF detectives.
- Jenna Greene talks about the new golden age of dystopian fiction.
- Leah Schnelbach shares eight SFF books that reimagine literary classics.
- Anya Joseph talks about body positivity in YA SFF.
- T.L. Huchu shares five steps about monetarising your magical practice.
- Grady Hendrix shares some not entirely serious tips for surviving slashers, based on horror movies.
- Jessica Avery shares her five favourite horror novels about small towns.
- Matt Keeley wonders why speculative fiction is still grappling with H.P. Lovecraft, even though the man has been dead for 82 years now.
- Justin Bell profiles Premee Mohamed.
- Leigh Harber celebrates what would have been the 73rd birthday of Octavia E. Butler.
- C.D. Covington discusses some questions regarding C.J.Cherryh's Foreigner series.
- Bill Ward shares his appreciation for the Hyperborea stories of Clark Ashton Smith.
- Bill Ward shares his appreciation for the Dying Earth stories by Jack Vance.
- Alan Brown revisits the adventures of Arthur Conan Doyle's Professor Challenger.
Comics and Art:
- Paul S. Hirsch recounts the history of the US comic book industry with a particular focus on the crime comics of the 1940s and early 1950s.
- Eric Diaz discusses the tangled comic book history of Spider-Woman.
- Gideon Marcus reports about the first appearance of Black Panther in the pages of Fantastic Four in 1966.
- G.W. Thomas takes a look at Harry Harrison's career as a horror comic artist in the 1950s.
- G.W. Thomas takes a look at Crom the Barbarian by Gardner F. Fox and John Giunta, the first true sword and sorcery comic, which came out in 1950.
- Mike Apichella revisits the 1981 sword and sorcery comics Arak Son of Thunder by Roy Thomas and various artists.
- Eileen Gonzales revisits Toni Gayle, a female detective character who appeared as a backup feature in the Young King Cole comic in 1945.
- Rachel Cooke reviews the graphic novel Factory Summers by Guy Delisle.
- James Smart reviews the graphic novel In. by Will McPhail.
- James Whitbrook reports that Warren Ellis and Ben Templesmith will be reviving their series Fell at Image Comics, less than a year after more than sixty women accused Ellis of sexual misconduct.
- Christopher Chiu-Tabet reports about the backlash against Image Comics hiring Warren Ellis less than a year after the accusations against him.
- Tara Ferguson criticises how shortlived the damnation of Warren Ellis was.
- Gavia Baker-Whitelaw also criticises the return of Warren Ellis.
Film and TV:
- Abigail Nussbaum shares her appreciation for The Underground Railroad.
- Sue Granquist calls Army of the Dead flawed but fun.
- Phil Hoad calls Unearth an uneven ecological horror film.
- Leslie Felperin calls Tyger Tyger a listless postapocalyptic drama.
- Leslie Felperin calls Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds a delightfully retro animated movie.
- Steve Rose wonders whether Fast and Furious is the ultimate franchise for our times.
- Premee Mohamed discusses the Alien movies as cosmic horror.
- Germain Lussier lists the science fiction, fantasy and horror movies celebrating anniversaries this year.
- Martin Belam wonders who should be the next Doctor Who.
- Jessica Holmes revisits the 1966 Doctor Who serial "The Savages".
- The Hugo Book Club Blog revisits the 1963 apocalyptic movie The Day the Earth Caught Fire.
- James Whitbrook revisits the 1973 kaiju movie Godzilla vs. Megalon.
- Mychal Denzel Smith and Jason Diamond revisit the 1988 horror comedy Beetlejuice.
- Matt Schimkovitz revisits the 2003 science fiction movie Matrix Reloaded.
- Mike D'Angelo revisits the 2004 science fiction movie I, Robot and finds it better than its reputation.
- Phil Pirello recounts the story of Richard Donner's original cut of the 1980 superhero movie Superman II.
- Paul Levinson interviews Jay Kensinger, director of the short film The Chronology Protection Case.
- Nick Vivarelli reports that Dune will premiere at the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy.
- Peter Bradshaw reports that Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment has signed a multi-movie deal with Netflix, even though Spileberg supposedly hates streaming services.
- Vanessa Armstrong reports that several actors of genre interest will be receiving stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
- Sam Moore shares photos of several historical British cinemas under threat due to the covid pandemic.
- Actor, screenwriter and director John Paragon, who played Jambi the Genie in Pee-Wee's Playhouse and also wrote and directed the show, has died.
- Make-up artist Walter Schneiderman, who worked on The Elephant Man, Rollerball and Labyrinth among many others, has died aged 98.
Comments on Loki, Black Widow and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general (spoilers):
- Emmet Asher-Perrin shares their thoughts on "Lamentis", the latest episode of Loki.
- Andy Welch shates his thoughts on "Lamentis".
- Caroline Siede shares her thoughts on "Lamentis".
- James Whitbrook shares his thoughts on "Lamentis".
- Gavia Baker-Whitelaw shares her thoughts on "Lamentis".
- Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on "Lamentis".
- Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts on "Lamentis".
- Saloni Gajjar discusses some revelations regarding Loki's sexual orientation in "Lamentis".
- Sam Barsanti shares some speculation about the character Sylvie in Loki.
- Marah Eakin itnerviews Owen Wilson who plays Agent Mobius in Loki.
- Marah Eakin interviews Gugu Mbatha-Raw who plays Ravonna Renslyer in Loki.
- Adam B. Vary interviews Anthony Mackie who plays Sam Wilson a.k.a. Captain America in the Marvel movies.
- Germain Lussier interviews Cate Shortland, director of Black Widow.
- Valerie Complex reports that Black Widow could only be the first of many Marvel prequel movies.
Comments on the various DC Comics based movies and TV Shows:
- Joshua Rivera reports about some problems with the DC Comics TV universe.
- Caroline Siede shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Superman and Lois.
- Scott Von Doviak shares his thoughts on the latest episode of The Flash.
- Allison Shoemaker shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Legends of Tomorrow.
- Sam Barsanti and William Hughes share ten episodes which prove that Legends of Tomorrow is the best superhero show on TV.
- William Hughes interviews Nick Zano who plays Nate Heywood in Legends of Tomorrow.
Comments on the season 4 finale of The Handmaid's Tale (spoilers):
- Rebecca Nicholson declares that season 4 of The Handmaid's Tale offers some hope at last.
- Beth Elderkin shares ten things she liked about season 4 of The Handmaid's Tale and six things she didn't.
- Danette Chavez asks whether The Handmaid's Tale has improved in season 4.
- Elisabeth Moss, who plays June/Offred in The Handmaid's Tale, and Gillian Anderson, who played Dana Scully in The X-Files, interview each other.
Comments on The Bad Batch and Star Wars in general:
Comments on the many iterations of Star Trek:
- Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the Star Trek Voyager episodes "Ashes to Ashes" and "Child's Play".
- Adam Nimoy shares his memories of his father Leonard Nimoy, best known for playing Mr. Spock on the original Star Trek.
- Julie Nimoy shares a letter to her late father Leonard Nimoy.
- Actress Joanne Linville, best known for playing the Romulan Commander in the Star Trek episode "The Enterprise Incident" has died aged 93.
Comments on Werewolves Within:
Comments on season 2 of Evil:
Comments on Katla:
Comments on Lisey's Story:
Comments on False Positive:
Comments on Luca:
- Michelle Jaworski calls Luca a small-stakes animated film with a lot of heart.
- Leonard Maltin declares that Luca is not your typical Pixar film, but has a charm of its own.
- Rachel Leishman calls Luca a beautiful look at acceptance, adventure and love.
- Petrana Radulovic reports that according to director Enrico Casarosa, the lead characters of Luca are not gay, but just good friends.
- Emmet Asher-Perrin wishes that Luca had made its two lead characters explicitly gay.
- Cameron Scheetz declares that it's perfectly okay to view the lead characters from Luca as gay.
- Katie Rife and A.A. Dowd explain why they were not enchanted by Luca.
- Katie Rife and A.A. Dowd also wonder why Pixar movies aren't as good as they used to be.
- Marah Eakin interviews Enrico Casarosa, director of Luca.
- Marah Eakin interviews Jim Gaffigan, who plays Lorenzo in Luca.
Awards:
- The shortlist for the 2020 Kitschies has been announced.
- The winners of the 2020 Leo Literary Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the 2021 SFRA Awards have been announced.
- The finalists for the 2021 Munsey Awards have been announced.
- Deuce Richardson shares his thoughts on the winners of the 2020 and 2021 Robert E. Howard Foundation Awards.
- Robert McKee recommends ten things writers need to create convincing characters.
- Dean Wesley Smith talks about deadly problems for writers and shares a personal story.
- Lincoln Michel talks about Michael Moorcock's process to write a novel in three days.
- Fabian Nicieza explains what writing comics taught him about writing novels.
- LeVar Burton will teach a masterclass on the power of storytelling.
- John McMahon explains how the covid pandemic influenced his writing process.
- Kristine Kathryn Rusch explains why going exclusive with Amazon is not a good idea for writers.
- James Shackell reports that most of Australia's literary heritage is out of print.
- Alison Flood reports that the Samir Mansour bookstore in Gaza, Palestine, has received a flood of donations after it was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike.
- Samantha Barbas reports about the lawyer who got the ban of James Joyce's Ulysses overturned at the US Supreme Court.
Interviews:
- Suspense Magazine interviews Andy Weir.
- Publishers Weekly interviews Dean Koontz.
- Locus interviews A.C. Wise.
- The Horror Writers Association interviews Rin Chupeco.
- Scott Edelman interviews Meg Elison.
- Andrea Johnson interviews Neil Sharpson.
- The Qwillery interviews Justin Woolley.
- Jen Gheller interviews Nikoline Kaiser.
Reviews:
- Jana Nyman reviews Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott.
- Marion Deeds reviews Seven of Infinities by Aliette de Bodard.
- Paul Weimer reviews Questland by Carrie Vaughn.
- Kat Hooper reviews This Virtual Night by C.S. Friedman.
- Molly Templeton reviews Star Eater by Kerstin Hall.
- For Winter Nights reviews Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
- Runalong the Shelves reviews The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri.
- Gary K. Wolfe and Liz Bourke review A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark.
- Leah Schnelbach reviews The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison.
- Adri Joy reviews The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison, The Worst of All Possible Worlds by Alex White and The Liar of Red Valley by Walter Goodwater.
- Paul Weimer reviews The Godstone by Violette Malan.
- Blue Book Balloon reviews Black Water Sister by Zen Cho.
- James Davis Nicoll reviews Three Twins at the Crater School by Chaz Brenchley.
- The G reviews Binti by Nnedi Okorafor.
- James Davis Nicoll reviews The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo.
- Mark Yon reviews Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder by T.A. Willberg.
- James Davis Nicoll reviews And What Can We Offer You Tonight? by Premee Mohamed.
- Colleen Mondor reviews This Is Not the Jess Show by Anna Carey.
- Runalong the Shelves reviews Anna by Sammy H.K. Smith.
- Ian Mond reviews Defekt by Nino Cipri.
- Tadiana Jones and Bill Capossere review Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.
- Blue Book Balloon reviews Emergency Skin by N.K. Jemisin.
- Tobias Carroll reviews The Ninth Metal by Benjamin Percy.
- S.H. Paulus reviews Seven Deaths of an Empire by G.H. Matthews.
- Paula Guran reviews Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon.
- Joanna Z. Weston reviews A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson.
- Arturo Serrano reviews The Ruby's Curse by Alex Kingston.
- Paul Di Filippo reviews The Man Who Never Was by R.A. Lafferty.
- Katy Waldman reviews Last Comes the Raven by Italo Calvino.
- Arley Sorg reviews Sword Stone Table: Old Legends, New Voices, edited by Swapna Krishna and Jenn Northington.
- S.E. Lindberg reviews The Lost Empire of Sol, edited by Fletcher Vredenburgh and Jason M. Waltz.
- Ainissa Ramirez reviews My Remarkable Journey: A Memoir by Katherine Johnson.
- James Bacon reviews Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga - The Official Collector's Edition.
- Alvaro Zinos-Amaro reviews Vivid Tomorrows: On Science Fiction and Hollywood by David Brin.
- James Reasoner reviews Robert E. Howard Changed My Life, edited by Jason Waltz.
Classics reviews:
- Matthew J. Constantine revisits the 1914 lost world novel At the Earth's Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
- Sandy Ferber revisits the 1931 space opera The Stone from the Green Star by Jack Williamson.
- James Maliszewski revisits the 1953 Silver John story "One Other" by Manly Wade Wellman.
- Kat Hooper revisits the 1956 parallel universe novel The Crossroads of Time by Andre Norton.
- Sarah Light-Waller revisits the 1965 alternate history novel Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen by H. Beam Piper.
- Jim Moon revisits the 1969 post-apocalyptic novel Damnation Alley by Roger Zelazny and its 1977 film adaptation.
- Judith Tarr revisits the 1975 post-apocalyptic science fiction novel No Night Without Stars by Andre Norton.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1980 alternate history novel Ariosto by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1987 science fiction novel The Legacy of Heorot by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle and Steven Barnes.
Con and event reports:
- Several panels from the virtual 2021 4th Street Fantasy Convention are available to watch online.
- The Cromcast shares Roy Thomas' Guest of Honour speech at the 2021 Robert E. Howard Days in Cross Plains, Texas.
- Mike Glyer reports that DisCon III, the 2021 Worldcon in Washington DC, just had their second Hugo team resign on them.
- Mike Glyer reports that the conflict between DisCon III and the 2021 Hugo finalists is close to being resolved.
- Michael Swanwick shares his appreciation for the DisCon III team.
- Mike Glyer reports that Tempe, Arizona, has dropped its bid to host the 2023 Westercon.
- Bobby Derie traces how Jim Crow laws and segregation affected the 1951 and 1953 Worldcon.
- Mike Chomko reports about the 2021 ERBFest in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
- Gallifrey One, a Doctor Who convention in Los Angeles, California, shares its program for 2021 and announces that actress Jo Martin, who played a previously unknown incarnation of the Doctor, will be one of the guests.
- Mike Glyer reports that some people upset by the Tolkien Society's 2021 summer seminar on "Tolkien and Diversity" are planning virtual counterprogramming.
- Mike Glyer reports that CanSMOF is offering three scholarships for the 2021 SMOFCon in Lisbon, Portugal.
- James Bacon reports about a visit to the Pixel Bunker Retro Arcade in Milton Keynes, England.
Crowdfunding:
Science and technology:
- Ian Sample reports that scientists have identified 29 planets from which aliens might be observing Earth.
- Sam McNeil reports that a three person crew has arrived at the Chinese space station Xianhe.
- Marcia Dunn discusses the challenge of dealing with dirty laundry in space.
- Matt Davenport reports that entomologists have discovered several new types of beetles and named them after famous female science fiction characters.
- Kiona N. Smith reports that two Viking warriors, whose remains were buried in Denmark and England respectively, turn out to have been close relatives.
- The Guardian reports that antivirus software creator John McAfee has died in a Spanish prison aged 75, likely of suicide.
Free online fiction:
- "The Red Mother" by Elizabeth Bear in Tor.com.
- "A Moral Majority" by Nikoline Kaiser in Luna Station Quarterly.
- "The Port of Le Havre, Night Effect, 1873" by Christine Tyler in Fantasy Magazine.
- "Not the Brightest Starfish in the Sea" by Rod M. Santos in Mermaids Monthly.
- "Our Fate, Told in Photos" by K.W. Colyard in Clarkesworld.
- "Embracing the Movement" by Cristina Jurado, translated by Sue Burke, in Clarkesworld.
- "Papa's Gonna Buy You a Mockingbird" by Julian Stuart in Fireside Fiction.
- "Cake Between the Teeth" by Steph Kwiatkowski in Nightmare Magazine.
- "How to Become a Witch Queen" by Theodora Goss in Lightspeed.
- "Do Nothing" by Endria Isa Richardson in Lightspeed.
- "Witch is Another Word for Wild" by Donyae Coles in Anathema.
- "I was a girl once, but I slipped" by Rupsa Dey in The Dark.
- "The Last Abbot of Ashk'lan" by Brian Staveley in Tor.com.
- "The Centurion" by C.M.F. Wright in Daily Science Fiction.
- "Invasive Species" by G. Allen Wilbanks in Daily Science Fiction.
- "Stars" by Liam Hogan and "True Love" by Geoff Habiger in Simultaneous Times Podcast.
- "James Joyce's The Hobbit" by Sam Woods at McSweeney's Internet Tendency.
- "Elites" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
Trailers and videos:
- Watch a trailer for Suicide Squad.
- Watch a trailer for How I Became a Superhero.
- Watch a trailer for the new Candyman.
- Watch a trailer for The Harder They Fall.
- Watch a trailer for Settlers.
- Watch a trailer for Snake Eyes.
- Watch a trailer for Wellington Paranormal.
- Watch a trailer for Till Death.
- Watch a trailer for Strawberry Mansion.
- Watch Legends Never Die: An Oral History of the Green Knight.
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