It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with What If...? and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general, The Bad Batch and Star Wars in general, the many versions of Star Trek, Doctor Who past and present, the various DC Comics based TV shows, The Green Knight, The Suicide Squad, Free Guy, The Swarm, anti-vaccine activists mistaking I Am Legend for reality, the 2021 Dragon Award finalists, tributes to Markie Post, Jane Withers and Una Stubbs and much more.
Speculative fiction in general:
- Tor.com shares all the new horror and genre-bending books arriving in August.
- Jo Walton shares her July 2021 reading list.
- James Davis Nicoll shares five strategies for sneaking stealthy space hijinks into science fiction.
- James Davis Nicoll shares five science fiction stories featuring sympathetic bureaucrats.
- Angeline B. Adams and Remco van Straten wonder how sword and sorcery can be revived for the 21st century.
- Bill Ward shares his gateways to sword and sorcery.
- Lyndsie Manusos attempts to define silkpunk.
- James Davis Nicoll shares five fantasy books inspired by Mesoamerican history and folklore.
- Nafiza Asad shares five SFF books featuring fantastic cities.
- Veronica Bond shares six great gothic castles from literature.
- Danielle Binks discusses the profound influence female writers have had upon the horror genre.
- Sasha Peyton Smith shares six books about magical school we wish we could attend.
- Pat Barker talks about writing her Iliad rtelling The Silence of the Girls.
- Natalie Zutter shares her appreciation for the science fiction audiodrama Give Me Away.
- Rory Carroll profiles Randal Plunkett, the current Lord Dunsany and descendant of the fantasy author.
- Molly Templeton discusses what happens in the brain when we read.
- Katie Rife and A.A. Dowd discuss the art and ethics of writing bad reviews.
- Mike Glyer reports that the legendary anthology Last Dangerous Visions will finally be published after forty-seven years.
- Camestros Felapton and Mike Glyer report that Vox Popoli, the blog of controversial far right blogger and fantasy author Vox Day, has been suspended by Blogger for content violations.
- S.E. Lindberg shares a tribute to C. Dean Andersson a.k.a. Asa Drake.
Comics and Art:
- Sam Thielman reports that the creators of various Marvel and DC superheroes get little to no money for the movies based on their comics.
- George Gene Gustines explains how comic book creators are using Substack.
- Nick Romano reports that the Tim Drake version of Robin will come out as bisexual.
- Scott Edelman shares two comic scripts by Otto Binder and the respective pages.
- Brigid Alverson reports that South Korean comics are gaining popularity in the US.
- Otis Whitaker recounts the history of the comic Dracula Magazine.
- Benjamin Marra offers a gallery of Mike Mignola covers.
- Rogues in the House interviews Sara Frazetta, granddaughter of Frank Frazetta.
Film and TV:
- Jessica Jalali shares the ten best science fiction films according to the American Film Institute.
- Camestros Felapton calls Blood Red Sky a horror movie that's well worth watching.
- Peter Bradshaw calls I'm Your Man a laborious and unfunny android romance.
- Alex McLevy calls Brand New Cherry Flavor a David Lynch meets David Cronenberg horror noir.
- Cheryl Eddy calls Howling Village a familiar but unsettling horror movie from Japan.
- Cheryl Eddy shares her thoughts on the vampire horror film Jakob's Wife.
- Stuart Jeffries shares his thoughts on series 3 of the British supernatural comedy Ghosts.
- Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya shares her thoughts on the Stephen King adaptation Chapelwaite.
- Marion Deeds shares her thoughts on the science fiction TV show Debris.
- Juan Barquin shares his thoughts on the latest episode of American Horror Stories.
- Jordan Hoffman calls Wendy an overlong and excruciating update of the Peter Pan story.
- Cath Clarke calls Josee, the Tiger and the Fish a lush but overly sweet anime film.
- Jesse Hassenger declares that the animated children's movie Paw Patrol will have parents howling for release.
- Devin Forward discusses the language that Leeloo speaks in The Fifth Element.
- Dan Persons revisits the 1968 science fiction movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.
- Charles Pulliam-Moore revisits the 1972 blaxploitation vampire film Blacula.
- Archita Mittra compares the 1986 fantasy film Labyrinth and the 2010 version of Alice in Wonderland.
- Amber Troska revisits the 1986 animated steampunk film Castle in the Sky.
- Cat Eldridge revisits the 1999 anime movie The Iron Giant.
- Jason Ray Carney and Nicole Emmelhainz-Carney revisit the 2018 cosmic horror movie Mandy.
- Rich Pelley interviews Edgar Wright, director of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Paul, The World's End and others.
- Simon Thompson interviews John Davis and John Fox, producers of Jungle Cruise.
- Germain Lussier interviews Lisa Joy, director of Reminiscence.
- Alex Mistlin interviews voice actors and actors who mostly appear in unrecognisable costumes.
- Peter White shares an update on the status of season 3 of The Orville.
- Charles Fleming reports that Barris Kustom Industries, a car customiser in North Hollywood, California, which created the 1960s Batmobile and many other custom cars for movies and TV shows, is closing down.
- Stuntman Brad Allen, who worked on many Jackie Chan films, Wonder Woman and the Kingsman series, has died aged 48.
- Former child star and voice actress Jane Withers has died aged 95.
- Actress Markie Post, who appeared in The Fall Guy, Night Court, The Incredible Hulk and many other TV series, has died aged 70.
- Actress Una Stubbs who appeared in Worzel Gummidge, Till Death Do Us Part, The Worst Witch, Heartbeat and Sherlock, has died aged 84.
- Michael Coveney shares an obituary for the late Una Stubbs.
- Pejman Faratin remembers Una Stubbs' many roles.
Comments on What If...? and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general (spoilers):
- Gavia Baker-Whitelaw declares that What If...? offers fun, bite-sized detours from the standard Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- Leah Schnelbach calls What If..? sheer bloody fun.
- Jack Seale calls What If...? irresistible fun.
- Charles Pulliam-Moore calls What If...? the most ambitious project of Marvel's phase 4 yet.
- Gavia Baker-Whitelaw shares her thoughts on the first episode of What If...?
- Sam Barsanti shares his thoughts on the first episode of What If...?
- Charles Pulliam-Moore shares his thoughts on the first episode of What If...?
- Sam Barsanti feels that What If...? should have focussed more on Captain Peggy Carter.
- Gavia Baker-Whitelaw shares some background on the character of Uatu, the Watcher, in What If...?
- Charles Pulliam-Moore interviews Jeffrey Wright, who will voice The Watcher in What If...?
- Ben Child shares some speculations about Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Comments on Free Guy:
Comments on The Bad Batch and Star Wars in general:
- Jarrod Jones shares his thoughts on "Return to Kamino, Part 1", the first part of The Bad Batch season 1 finale.
- Germain Lussier shares his thoughts on "Return to Kamino, Part 1".
- Tom Breihan revisits the 2017 Star Wars film The Last Jedi.
- Daniel Kolitz explains if lightsabres are theoretically possible.
Comments on the many iterations of Star Trek:
- Keith R.A. DeCandido shares his thoughts on "Strange Energies", the latest episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks.
- James Whitbrook shares his thoughts on "Strange Energies".
- Zack Handlen calls Star Trek: Lower Decks a fun vehicle for clever writing and likeable characters.
- Brooke Gladstone shares her love for Star Trek.
- Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the Star Trek Voyager episodes "Repression" and "Critical Care".
- Chad Porto evaluates some possible ideas for a Star Trek series about Starfleet Academy.
- Emmet Asher-Perrin shares their favourite goofy Star Trek moments.
- H&I shares some strange pieces of vintage Star Trek merchandise.
Comments on the various DC Comics based TV shows:
Comments on Doctor Who past, present and future:
- James Whitbrook lists ten great Doctor Who moments involving Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor.
- Morgan Jeffery points out that picking the next Doctor Who showrunner is a lot more important than picking the next Doctor.
- Jessica Holmes revisits the 1966 Doctor Who movie Daleks' Invasion Earth: 2150 AD.
- Mick Joest reports that Peter Capaldi, who played the Twelfth Doctor, has been replaced in a Doctor Who audio drama he was supposed to appear in after making disparaging remarks about audio dramas.
Comments on The Green Knight:
- Elyse Martin and Sean Rubin talk about chivalry and medieval ambiguity in The Green Knight.
- S.E. Lindberg calls The Green Knight slow and meandering.
- Sean Poage compares The Green Knight with the original legend.
- Inspired by The Green Knight, Xan Brooks wonders about the timeless allure of Sir Gawain.
- Alex Moshakis interviews Dev Patel, star of The Green Knight.
Comments on The Suicide Squad:
- Emmet Asher-Perrin declares that The Suicide Squad is every bit as ridiculous as it should be.
- Arturo Serrano calls The Suicide Squad silly, morbid, gory, hilarious and surprisingly topical.
- Alex McLevy calls The Suicide Squad a useful corrective to the bloodless nature of superhero movies.
- Germain Lussier shares a spoilerish discussion of The Suicide Squad.
- Tatiana Tenreyro shares her thoughts on The Suicide Squad and compares it to the animated Harley Quinn series.
- Adam B. Vary interviews James Gunn, director of The Suicide Squad and the Guardians of the Galaxy films.
- Alex McLevy and William Hughes ranks the characters of The Suicide Squad.
- Tatiana Tenreyro reports that a Guardians of the Galaxy actress makes a cameo appearance in The Suicide Squad.
- Anthony D'Alessandro reports that The Suicide Squad has underperformed at the box office so far.
Comments on anti-vaccine activists mistaking I Am Legend for reality:
- Kevin Polowy reports that Akiva Goldsman, screenwriter of the 2007 zombie movie I Am Legend, was forced to point out that the movie is fiction in response to a conspiracy theory according to which the covid vaccine turns people into zombies.
- Stuart Heritage also discusses how I Am Legend is being used by conspiracy theorists as anti-vaccine propaganda.
Comments on The Swarm:
Awards:
- The finalists for the 2021 Dragon Awards have been announced.
- The finalists for the 2021 WSFA Small Press Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the 2021 Sir Julius Vogel Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the 2021 Clarke Awards (not the Arthur C. Clarke Award) have been announced.
- Camestros Felapton traces the history of the Dragon Awards.
- Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts on the 2021 Dragon Award finalists.
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- Charlie Jane Anders asks twelve fellow authors how to write during tough times.
- Jeffrey B. Burton shares the creative outlets that led to him becoming a writer.
- Lincoln Michel shares everything he learned about being a professional writer in one post.
- Joy Fielding declares that there is no secret to writing a bestseller.
- Eleanor Konik shares unusual forms of government that SFF writers can take inspiration from.
- Brian Murphy explains why reviewing is a big time commitment.
- Megan McCluskey reports about the Goodreads fake review, reviewbombing and extortion problem.
- Mike Glyer reports that the #DisneyMustPay task force has expanded its focus on comic book writers and artists.
- Lucy Wright reports about an uproar in the UK Society of Authors involving president Philip Pullman.
- Adrian Humphreys reports that Richard Robinson, CEO of Scholastic Publishing, has died aged 84 and has willed the company to a co-worker and lover rather than his family.
Interviews:
- Joshua Palmatier interviews Marshall Ryan Maresca.
- Andrea Johnson interviews John Wiswell.
- The Odyssey Writing Workshop interviews Arley Sorg.
- Drew Broussard interviews Nghi Vo, Shelley Parker-Chan and Stephanie Ybarra.
- Cat Luria interviews Mara Regan.
- Janna Miller interviews Elizabeth McEntee.
- Sophia June interviews Alexandra Kleeman.
Reviews:
- Kat Hooper reviews The Queen's Triumph by Jessie Mihalik.
- Liz Bourke reviews The Assassins of Thasalon by Lois McMaster Bujold.
- Bill Capossere reviews The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley.
- Lisa Wemakor reviews The Unbroken by C.L. Clark.
- Ron Fortier reviews Hour of the Robot by Paul A. McNamee.
- Arturo Serrano reviews A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers.
- James Davis Nicoll reviews For a Muse of Fire by Heidi Heilig.
- Maya C. James reviews Firebreak by Nicole Kornher-Stace.
- Kat Hooper reviews Synchronized Sorcery by Juliet Blackwell.
- The Fantasy Hive reviews Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell.
- Rob Bedford reviews The Maleficent Seven by Cameron Johnston.
- Blue Book Balloon reviews The Rookery by Deborah Hewitt.
- Runalong the Shelves reviews The Loop by Jeremy Robert Johnson.
- Runalong the Shelves reviews Wendy. Darling by A.C. Wise.
- Paul Weimer reviews The Justice in Revenge by Ryan Van Loan.
- Doris V. Sutherland reviews War of Dictates by John Baltisberger.
- Doreen Sheridan reviews The King of Infinite Space by Lyndsay Faye.
- Leah Schnelbach reviews The Gentleman by Forrest Leo.
- Jana Nyman reviews Even and Odd by Sarah Beth Durst.
- Gary K. Wolfe reviews Appleseed by Matt Bell.
- Daisy Hildyard reviews Something New Under the Sun by Alexandra Kleeman.
- LaShawn M. Wanak reviews Seasons Between Us: Tales of Identities and Memories, edited by Susan Forest and Lucas K. Law.
- S.E. Lindberg reviews Worlds Beyond Worlds by John R. Fultz.
- Every Day Should Be Tuesday reviews The Lost Empire of Sol, edited by Jason M. Waltz and Fletcher Vredenburgh.
- Brian Murphy reviews the latest issue of The Dark Man: Journal of Robert E. Howard and Pulp Studies.
- David Goudsward reviews The Weird Tales Story: Expanded and Enhanced by Robert Weinberg.
Classics reviews:
- Doris V. Sutherland revisits the 1890 horror story "The Were-Wolf" by Clemence Housman.
- James Maliszewski revisits the 1912 Professor Challenger novel The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle.
- Joachim Boaz revisits the 1940 generation ship story "Son of the Stars" by Otto Binder.
- Bitter Tea and Mystery revisits the 1952 science fiction novel Foundation by Isaac Asimov.
- Kat Hooper revisits the 1954 science fiction novel The Stars Are Ours by Andre Norton.
- Paperback Warrior revisits the 1959 gothic novel Moura by Virginia Coffman.
- John Boston revisits the 1966 science fiction detective novel Watchers of the Dark by Lloyd Biggle Jr.
- Victoria Silverwolf revisits the September 1966 issue of Fantastic.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1968 alternate history collection Pavane by Keith Roberts.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1969 science fiction anthology Orbit 5, edited by Damon Knight.
- Peat Long revisits the 1975 historical fantasy novel The Deep by John Crowley.
- The Appendix N Book Club revisits the 1981 sword and sorcery novel Imaro by Charles R. Saunders.
- J.W. Wright revisits the 1985 dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.
- Joe Kenney revisits Cutthroat Cannibals, a 1988 novel in The Last Ranger post-apocalyptic adventure series.
- J.W. Wright revisits the 1988 cyberpunk novel Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1993 planetary romance novel When True Night Falls by C.S. Friedman.
- Cat Eldridge revisits the 1996 fantasy novel A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin.
- Bobby Derie revisits the 1998 horror story "The Tale of Toad Loop" by Stanley C. Sargent.
Con and event reports:
- Doug Ellis looks ahead at the 2021 Windy City Pulp and Paperback Convention in Lombard, Illinois and shares some of the rare items going up for auction.
- Ty Johnston shares his experiences at GalaxyCon in Raleigh, North Carolina.
- The Tolkien Society shares the program for its virtual 2021 autumn seminar.
- Germain Lussier reports that Wizard World has sold off its convention business to Fan Expo.
- Mike Glyer reports that Dublin 2019 is offering scholarships for SMOFCon Europe in Lisbon, Portugal.
- Matthew David Surridge reports about the virtual Fantasia International Film Festival.
- Katie Rife reports about the 2021 virtual Fantasia International Film Festival.
- Andrew Liptak reports that the Dungeon Hobby Shop Museum, a museum dedicated to Dungeons & Dragons, has now opened in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
- Andrew Liptak reports about the interactive museum Mary Shelley's House of Frankenstein in Bath, England.
Science and technology:
- George Dvorsky reports that NASA is recruiting participants for its Mars Dune Alpha Mars mission simulation.
- Meaghan Day discusses the rumour that NASA astronauts went on strike in 1973.
- Wade Roush shares a history of speculation about aliens.
- NWG reports that a section of Hadrian's Wall was found during water mains work in Newcastle, UK.
- Kellie Doherty talks about mythological creatures of Alaska.
Free online fiction:
- "The Clock, Having Seen Its Face in the Mirror, Still Knows Not the Hour" by Adam Stemple in Clarkesworld.
- "Guidelines for Appeasing Kim of the Hundred Hands" by John Wiswell in Fireside Magazine.
- "What the Wind Saw" by Evey Brett in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
- "A Theatre" by Thomas M. Waldroon in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
- "Survival, After" by Nicole J. LeBoeuf in Apex Magazine.
- "Now You Feel It" by Andrea Chapela, translated by Emma Törzs in Lightspeed.
- "Ancestries" by Sheree Renée Thomas in Lightspeed.
- "Helix" by Britt Foster in Luna Station Quarterly.
- "The Screaming Tree" by Clara Madrigano in The Dark.
- "Where Things Fall From the Sky" by Ally Wilkes in Nightmare Magazine.
- "The Failing Name" by Eugen Bacon and Seb Doubinsky in Fantasy Magazine.
- "Upgraded Versions of a Masquerade" by Solomon Uhiura in Omenana.
- "Graal Tak Day" by Jennifer Linnaea in Daily Science Fiction.
- "The Surviving Twins" by Anastasia Kharlamova in Daily Science Fiction.
- "The First Step" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
Trailers and videos:
- Watch a trailer for season 6 of Lucifer.
- Watch a trailer for season 3 of Doom Patrol.
- Watch a trailer for Prisoners of the Ghostland.
- Watch a trailer for The Spine of Night.
- Watch a trailer for The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf.
- Watch a trailer for Y: The Last Man.
- Watch a trailer for Midnight Mass.
- Watch a trailer for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean.
- Watch a trailer for Gaia.
- Watch a teaser for season 4 of Stranger Things.
Odds and ends:
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