Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for January 14, 2022

It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with Spider-Man: No Way Home and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general, The Book of Boba Fett and Star Wars in general, the many iterations of Star Trek, season 6 of The Expanse, Doctor Who past and present, Station Eleven, Don't Look Up!, the latest version of Scream,  Hotel Transylvania: Transformania, tributes to Sidney Poitier and Willie Siros and much more.

Speculative fiction in general:

• Tor.com shares all the new science fiction books coming out in January.
  
• Tor.com shares all the new fantasy books coming out in January. 
• Tor.com shares all the new horror and genre-bending books coming out in January.
  
• Tor.com shares all the new YA SFF books coming out in January.
  
• Eve Taft takes a look at horror novels and movies coming out in 2022.
  
• Jo Walton shares her December 2021 reading list. 
• Eugen Bacon discusses trends in black speculative fiction. 
• James Davis Nicoll shares five obscure but interesting SFF publishing experiments. 
• Ajay Aravind shares the ten most overdone science fiction clichés.
  
• James Davis Nicoll lists five hypothetical reasons that aliens might bother visiting Earth. 
• James Davis Nicoll shares five more reasons why aliens might be avoiding Earth.
  
• J.R. Forasteros explains how the final girl has evolved in the horror genre. 
• Claire Holroyde shares her favourite climate disaster thrillers. 
  
• Liza Wemakor talks about the allegorical potential of mermaids. 
• G.W. Thomas takes a look at the popularity of giant ants in pulp SFF.
  
• Daniel Dern shares his thoughts on the conclusion of The Expanse novel series. 
• Mark Yon compares Frank Herbert's 1965 novel Dune to the 1984 and 2021 film adaptations. 
• Rachel Ayers shares a guide to the works of Juliet Marillier. 
• Lee Mandelo shares their appreciation for the works of Mo Xiang Tong Xiu 
  
• G.W. Thomas profiles Donald Wollheim. 
• Deuce Richardson profiles poet and folklorist Padraic Colum.
  
• Bill Ward takes a look at the various biographies and scholarly works about Robert E. Howard.
  
• Jordan Smith takes a look at fiction that features characters inspired by Karl Edward Wagner. 
• Molly Templeton explains that reading goals might be a good thing.
  
• DM David explains how Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Dave Arneson invented the dungeon crawl in 1971. 
• Alison Flood reports that Jacqueline Wilson will write a new book in Enid Blyton's Faraway Tree series.
  
• SFF and non-fiction author as well as baseball scholar John Joseph Miller has died aged 67. 
• Science fiction fan, fanzine editor and photographer Terry Whittier has died.
  
• Science fiction fan, musician and costumer Bill Mills has died aged 69.
  
• Science fiction author, fan and conrunner Jane E. Hawkins has died aged 70.
  
• Science fiction fan, bookseller and conrunner Willie Siros has died aged 69.
• Sara Felix remembers Willie Siros.
  

 

Comics and Art:

• James Whitbrook reports about the latest X-Men crossover event "Inferno", not to be confused with the eponymous 1989 crossover event. 
• Rob Bricken reports that fans are called to vote for the latest mutant to join the X-Men team.
  
• Brad Hawley reviews Resident Alien (Vol. 1): Welcome to Earth! by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse  
• Charles R. Rutledge shares his appreciation for John Buscema's work on Conan the Barbarian and Savage Sword of Conan.
  
• Deuce Richardson shares his appreciation for Victorian book illustrator and fantasy artist Gustave Doré.  
• Deuce Richardson remembers pulp cover artist P.J. Monahan, who illustrated many Edgar Rice Burroughs stories and was the first person to draw Zorro. 
• Timothy S. Brannan remembers the late Chris Achilleos.
  
• Deuce Richardson shares Stephen Fabian's artwork for Sword Woman by Robert E. Howard.  
  
• James Whitbrook reports that Comic Book Workers United, a union of Image Comics staff, has been officially certified, though not recognised by Image Comics.
  

 

Film and TV:

• Reuben Baron notes that the LGBTQ subtext of the original Matrix trilogy is text by the time of The Matrix: Resurrections. 
• Jack Seale believes that A Discovery of Witches should have more blood and sex scenes. 
• Leila Latif declares that Wolf Like Me starts a little slow, but praises the performances of Josh Gad and Isla Fisher. 
• Noel Murray calls The House a creepy animated anthology series. 
• Saloni Gajjar calls Archive 81 rewarding, slow-burn horror.
  
• Katie Rife calls The Pink Cloud an eerily prescient science fiction film.
  
• Rob Bricken wonders why Roland Emmerich keeps destroying the Earth in his movies. 
• Martin Edwards shares his thoughts on the science fiction horror film Elizabeth Harvest.
  
• Noel Murray calls Belle a dazzling anime film.
  
• Leslie Felperin calls The Legend of La Llorona a low budget holiday horror film from Mexico.
  
• Tracy Brown explains how the animated musical Encanto gets Colombia right. 
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on Needle in a Timestack. 
• Leila Latif shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Yellowjackets. 
  
• Dan Persons shares ten zombie comedies that won't rot your brain. 
• Joe George shares the best fifth installments in horror film series. 
  
• Rachel Pronger takes a look at the mainly SFF film career of David Bowie. 
• Darren Franich shares his appreciation for the 1965 TV version of Batman starring Adam West. 
• Keith Roysdon revisits the 1972 supernatural noir TV movie The Night Stalker.
  
• Cheryl Eddy revisits the 1979 eco-horror film Prophecy.
  
• Stan Wagenaar revisits the 1982 fantasy movie The Sword and the Sorcerer. 
• Reneysh Vittal revisits the 1985 fantasy cartoon series Dungeons and Dragons. 
• Camestros Felapton revisits the 2002 Firefly episode "Our Mrs. Reynolds".
  
• Leonard Maltin interviews Guillermo del Toro, director of Nightmare Alley, Pan's Labyrinth, Pacific Rim, The Shape of Water, Hellboy and many others.
  
• Mark Lawson interviews Martin Freeman, star of Sherlock, The Responder, The Hobbit trilogy and many more.   
• Rosy Cordero interviews Javier Bardem who plays Stilgar in the latest adaptation of Dune.
• Rich Pelley interviews action star Dolph Lundgren.  
• Catherine Shoard reports that Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armourer on the set of Rust when the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins occurred, is now sueing the company that supplied the weapons and ammunition for the film.
• Andrew Pulver reports that actress Hayley Mills has been given a new Oscar to replace the one she won at the age of fourteen in 1960 and which was stolen in the 1980s.
  
• Actor Dwayne Hickman, who is best remembered for The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, but who also appeared in Cat Ballou, Kolchak: The Night Stalker and Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, has died aged 87.
  

 

Tributes to Sidney Poitier:

• Pioneering black actor Sidney Poitier, star of In the Heat of the Night, The Defiant Ones, Blackboard Jungle and many others, has died aged 94.
• Peter Bradshaw remembers Sidney Poitier.
• Todd Boyd remembers Sidney Poitier. 
• Don Warrington remembers Sidney Poitier.
  
• Greg Whitmore shares photos from Sidney Poitier's lengthy career.
  

 

Comments on Spider-Man: No Way Home and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general (spoilers):

• Carolyn Giardina interviews Kelly Port, visual effects supervisor on Spider-Man: No Way Home.
  
• Matt Donnelly interviews Andrew Garfield, best known for playing Spider-Man. 
• David Betancourt declares that Andrew Garfield's take on Spider-Man deserves redmption. 
  
• Ben Child wonders if Sony has created a whole new universe of Spider-Man.
• Keith R.A. DeCandido shares his thoughts on Eternals.
  
• Galadriel Watson explains what we can learn from Marvel superheroes about aging while retaining our health. 
• Marnie Shure wonders why the cap on a bottle of sriracha sauce is the wrong colour in Hawkeye.
  
• Rebecca Rubin reports that Spider-Man: No Way Home is now the eighth highest grossing movie in history.
  
• Watch a Behind the Scenes clip from Hawkeye, featuring Lucky a.k.a. Pizza Dog. 
• Watch a featurette explaining how the special effects team created Alligator Loki.
  

 

Comments on The Book of Boba Fett and Star Wars in general: 

• Nick Wanserski shares his thoughts on "The Streets of Mos Espa", the latest episode of The Book of Boba Fett. 
• James Whitbrook shares his thoughts on "The Streets of Mos Espa". 
• Emmet Asher-Perrin shares their thoughts on "The Streets of Mos Espa". 
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw shares her thoughts on "The Streets of Mos Espa".
  
• Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts on "The Tribes of Tatooine", the second episode of The Book of Boba Fett.
• Dean E.S. Richards shares a non-review of The Book of Boba Fett.
  

 

Comments on the many iterations of Star Trek: 

• Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts on "...But To Connect", the latest episode of Star Trek Discovery.
  
• James Whitbrook declares that "Kobayashi", the latest episode of Star Trek Prodigy already blew his mind three times. 
• James Whitbrook also explains how an old nerd debate influenced "Kobayashi".
• Dylan Roth interviews Aaron J. Waltke, screenwriter of "Kobayashi".
• Galactic Journey revisits the 1967 Star Trek episode "The Galileo Seven"
  
• Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the Star Trek Enterprise episode "Breaking the Ice".
  
• Victoria Sepulveda explains how San Francisco came to be the headquarters of Starfleet in the Star Trek universe. 
• Alan Boyle reports that Mr. Spock is promoting covid vaccinations, calling them the logical thing to do.
  

 

Comments on Doctor Who past and present:

• Molly Moss declares that Yaz's gay awakening in Doctor Who is not too little too late.
• Rob Leane interviews Phil Ford, showrunner of the Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures.
• Jessica Holmes shares her thoughts on the 1966 Doctor Who serial "The Highlanders".
• Andrew Blair ranks the regenerations of the Doctor.
  

 

Comments on season 6 of The Expanse: 

• Molly Templeton shares her thoughts on "Why We Fight", the latest episode of The Expanse.
• Cheryl Eddy shares her thoughts on "Why We Fight".
  

 

Comments on the various DC Comics based movies and TV-shows:

• Jarrod Jones shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Legends of Tomorrow.
  
• Charles Bramesco calls Peacemaker a puerile superhero series, but praises the performance of John Cena. 
• Jarrod Jones calls Peacemaker vulgar counterprogramming to the usual superhero series.
  
• Josh Rottenberg interviews former Batman Ben Affleck.
  
• Molly Templeton reports that Ben Affleck will no longer appear as Batman after the upcoming The Flash movie.

 

Comments on Station Eleven:

• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Station Eleven.
• Sulagna Misra shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Station Eleven.
  

 

Comments on Don't Look Up!

• Peter Debruge calls Don't Look Up! a crank comedy. 
• David Fear calls Don't Look Up! a disaster in more ways than one.
  
• David Vetter notes that film critics, who actually know something about what makes for a good film, hate Don't Look Up!, while climate scientists love it, hoping for more attention.
  
• Climate scientists Ketan Joshi, Fiona Harvey, Nina Lakhani and Damian Carrington share their thoughts on Don't Look Up!
• Kate Cohen explains what Don't Look Up! gets wrong about climate change.
  
• George Monbiot feels that Don't Look Up! captures his experiences trying to warn of global warming and climate change.
  
• Dorian Lynskey reports that Don't Look Up! is only the latest example of a centuries old tradition of stories about comets and asteroids hitting Earth.
  

 

Comments on the latest version of Scream:

• Peter Bradshaw calls the latest version of Scream an irony laden sequel that's creaking with age. 
• Germain Lussier declares that the latest version of Scream manages to surprise and upends expectations.
  
• Katie Rife declares that the latest version of Scream proves that smartphones and smart homes did not kill off the slasher film.
• Germain Lussier interviews the directors and producer of the latest iteration of Scream.

 

Comments on Hotel Transylvania: Transformania: 

• Peter Bradshaw fervently hopes that Hotel Transylvania: Transformania will be the last installment in this animated film series. 
• Jesse Hassenger declares that Hotel Transylvania: Transformania manages to retain its energy, even if Adam Sandler has moved on from voice acting duties.
  

 

Awards:

• The finalists for the 2022 Philip K. Dick Awards have been announced. 
• The winner of the 2020 Dwayne McDuffie Awards for Diversity in Comics has been announced.
  
• The winners of the 2022 Golden Globes have been announced with a little love for genre film and TV. 
• The finalists for the 2022 SAG Awards have been announced with a little love for genre film and TV.
  
• The Bram Stoker Awards will be adding a new category for middle grade novels.
• The 2022 Robert E. Howard Foundation Awards are open for nominations.
• The 2022 Hugo nominations will open soon.
  

 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Tim Waggoner shares reasons to quit and not quit writing. 
• Becky Chambers and David Naimon share writing lessons from Ursula K. Le Guin.
  
• Paul Cocozza shares writing advice from Booker Prize winner George Saunders. 
• Joy Kluver talks about themes. 
• Lincoln Michel talks about worldbuilding, chaos and the whims of history. 
• Darcey Bell talks about having one of her novels adapted into a film.
  
• Jacqui Lipton talks about fair use. 
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch talks about digital growth and new trends in indie publishing.
  
• Mike Glyer reports that Amazon continues its banning spree and has banned Nigerian writer and editor Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki only a day before they were due to pay him royalties.
• Mike Glyer reports that Amazon has restored Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki's account and books, but that he still has issues getting paid.
  
• Alison Flood reports that UK book sales have risen by twenty percent in 2021 and that mystery writer Richard Osman is the most popular author of the year.
  
• Alison Flood reports that indie bookstores are booming in the UK in spite of various difficulties.
• Fox 9 reports that Dreamhaven Books in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has been vandalised and robbed for the fourth time since May 2020.
  

Interviews:

• Locus interviews Simon Jimenez.
  
• Scott Edelman interviews Fonda Lee. 
• David Marchese interviews Neal Stephenson.
  
• Runalong the Shelves interviews C.A. Yates. 
• Christie Yant interviews Shalini Srinivasan.
  
• Cat Luria interviews Katrina Carruth. 
• The Odyssey Writing Workshop interviews Larry Hodges.
  

Reviews:

• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Cruel Stars by John Birmingham. 
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Shattered Skies by John Birmingham.
  
• Aigner Loren Wilson reviews Far From the Light of Heaven by Tade Thompson.
  
• Kat Hooper reviews Last Dragon Standing by Rachel Aaron. 
  
• James Davis Nicoll reviews Gunpowder Alchemy by Jeannie Lin. 
• Nathaniel Webb reviews The Desert of Souls by Howard Andrew Jones.
  
• Bill Capossere reviews The Amber Crown by Jacey Bedford.
• Paul Weimer reviews Sounding Dark by Jo Graham.
• Elizabeth Fitzgerald reviews Dark Rise by C.S. Pacat.
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Stranger Times by C.K. McDonnell.
• Kat Hooper reviews Scarlet by Marissa Meyer.
  
• Maya C. James reviews After the Dragons by Cynthia Zhang.
  
• Mike Glyer reviews Lost Solace by Karl Drinkwater. 
• Marion Deeds reviews The Sentence by Louise Erdrich.
  
• Mark Yon reviews The Anomaly by Herve Le Tellier. 
• Lee Mandelo reviews The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu 
• Lee Mandelo reviews Heaven's Official Blessings by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu 
• Lee Mandelo reviews Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Murders of Molly Southbourne and The Survival of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson.
• Colleen Mondor reviews Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood. 
• Ian Mond reviews Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith. 
• Leah Schnellbach reviews Outside the Gates by Molly Gloss. 
• George Jacobs reviews The Empress of Dreams by Tanith Lee.
  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Alias Space and Other Stories by Kelly Robson.
  
• Paul Di Filippo reviews The Best of Lucius Shepard, Volume 2 by Lucius Shepard. 
• Elliott Ackerman reviews The Writer’s Crusade: Kurt Vonnegut And The Many Lives Of Slaughterhouse-Five by Tom Roston. 
• Ron Jacobs reviews Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction 1950-1985 by Andrew Nette and Iain McIntyre.
  

 
Classics reviews:

• Matthew Pungitore revisits the 1839 ghost story "Schalken the Painter" by J. Sheridan Le Fanu. 
• The Cryptofictional Records Wing revisits the 1905 planetary romance Lieutenant Gullivar Jones: His Vacation a.k.a. Gullivar of Mars by Edwin L. Arnold. 
• Sandy Ferber revisits the 1912 dark fantasy collection Pan's Garden by Algernon Blackwood.
  
• James Maliszewski revisits the 1933 planetary romance "Vulthoom" by Clark Ashton Smith.
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1966 gothic novel Heritage of Fear by Evelyn Bond a.k.a. Morris Hershman.
  
• Gideon Marcus revisits the February 1967 issue of Galaxy. 
• Micah Mattix revisits the 1972 science fiction novella The Fifth Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe. 
• The Appendix N Book Club revisits the 1973 science fantasy novel Changeling Earth by Fred Saberhagen.
  
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1975 science fiction anthology Orbit 16, edited by Damon Knight.  
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1976 alternate history novel The Alteration by Kingsley Amis.
  
• Brian Murphy revisits the 1977 Corum sword and sorcery trilogy The Knight of the Swords, The Queen of the Swords and The King of the Swords by Michael Moorcock. 
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1978 Dungeons and Dragons tie-in novel Quag Keep by Andre Norton.
  
• Margaret Fortune revisits the 1979 portal fantasy The Neverending Story by Michael Ende.
• James Maliszweski revisits the December/January 1981 issue of White Dwarf.
• James Maliszewski revisits the February/March 1981 issue of White Dwarf.
• Sean Guynes revisits the 1990 science fiction novel Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton.
  

 

Crowdfunding:

• Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith are looking for funding for Crimes Collide, a five volume collection of 500 of their crime and mystery short stories.
• Nigerian author and editor Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki needs some help after Amazon banned him, taking more than 2000 US-dollars in royalties with them.

 

Con and event reports:

• The 2022 World Fantasy Convention in New Orleans has announced its Guests of Honour.
  
• Lithie Dubois reports that ConFusion 2022 in Novi, Michigan, is going ahead in person in spite of the current covid surge, because their contract with the hotel requires it. 
• Ahrvid Engholm reports about Fantastika, the 2020/2021 Swecon in Stockholm, Sweden.
  
• Crystal Huff discusses how Worldcon 75 in Helsinki, Finland, handled accessibility issues.  
• Darrell Buxton reports about the 31st Festival of Fantastic Films in Manchester, UK.
• Philip Kennicott reports about the exhibition “Inspiring Walt Disney: The Animation of French Decorative Arts” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
• Only in Your State visits the Star Wars themed Scum and Villainy Cantina in Los Angeles, California.
  

 

Science and technology:

• Kenneth Chang reports that the mysterious cubical object spotted by the Chinese rover Yutu-2 on the surface of the Moon turned out to be just a rock.
• Courtland Milloy profiles Gregory Robinson, program administrator for the James Webb Space Telescope. 
• Michelle Starr reports that astronomers have finally figured out why our solar system sits in a large peculiarly empty bubble of space. 
  
• Alyse Stanley reports that the self-heating satellite dishes of Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet services are very popular with cats.
• Jonah Fisher reports that a giant ichtyosaur fossil has been found in Rutland, UK.
  

Free online fiction:

• "The Five Rules of Supernova Surfing or A For Real Solution to the Fermi Paradox, Bro" by Geoffrey W. Cole in Clarkesworld. 
• "Bishop's Opening" by R.S.A. Garcia in Clarkesworld. 
• "The Slayers of Casova" by Jeffery Scott Sims in Sword and Sorcery Magazine. 
• "In the Cold Dark Sea" by Jenny Rae Rappaport in Lightspeed.
• "Up Falling" by Jendayi Brooks-Flemister in Lightspeed.
  
• "Worm Man" by Trevor Newton in Starward Shadows. 
• "Song of the Balsa Wood Bird" by Katherine Quevedo in Fireside Magazine. 
• "If the ghosts haunt you, bind them in ink" by Susan Cavillo in Nightmare Magazine. 
  
• "Intrusions" by Margot McGovern in The Dark. 
• "Fruiting Bodies" by Kemi Ashing-Giwa in Tor.com.
  
• "Ife's Ride" by Tracy Ramey in Mermaids Monthly. 
• "The Groupies (1974)" by Meghan Louise Wagner in Luna Station Quarterly. 
• "City Lights" by Yilun Fan, translated by S. Qiouyi Lu in Apex Magazine.
  
• "Markets: A Beginner's Guide" by Shalini Srinivasan in Fantasy Magazine.
  
• "Dearest" by Ada Nnadi in Anathema. 
• "Leader of the Pack" by Alter S. Reiss in Daily Science Fiction. 
• "Help Her Fit In" by Tamlyn Dreaver in Daily Science Fiction.
  
• "Shattered Pearls of Celadon" by M.K. Hutchins in Daily Science Fiction.
  
• "Cures for Hiccups" by Rachel Rodman in Daily Science Fiction.
• "Petra and the Blue Goo" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

 

Trailers and videos:

• Watch the first ten minutes of Ghostbusters: Afterlife. 
• Watch a trailer for The Legend of Vox Machina.
  
• Watch a trailer for season 2 of Resident Alien. 
• Watch a trailer for season 2 of Raised by Wolves.
  
• Watch a teaser for season 3 of The Boys.
• Watch a trailer for All of Us Are Dead.
  
• Watch a trailer for Studio 666.
• Watch a trailer for Bigbug.