Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for February 25, 2022

It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with Star Trek Discovery and the many iterations of Star Trek,  the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general, Peacemaker, The Batman and the various DC Comics based movies and TV shows, Our Flag Means Death, Severance, Hellbender, Uncharted, the latest version of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, season 11 of The Walking Dead, trouble on the set of Mad Max Fury Road and much more.

Speculative fiction in general:

• Amal El-Mohtar shares some noteworthy recent science fiction and fantasy novels. 
• Adri Joy and Joe Sherry discuss the 2021 Locus Recommended Reading List.
  
• Kyle Galindez airs his ignorance and wonders why science fiction and fantasy cannot envision any alternatives to capitalism.  
• Lincoln Michel responds to Kyle Galindez by sharing several SFF works that do imagine alternatives to capitalism. 
  
• Richard Thomas offers introductions to neo-noir, the New Weird and hopepunk.
  
• Jason Ray Carney talks about sword and sorcery and the value of escapism.
  
• James Davis Nicoll shares five fantasy worlds that aren't just magical versions of Earth. 
• John Scalzi points out that yes, there are still plenty of men writing science fiction. 
  
• Annalee Newitz shares seven SFF stories about remaking the world. 
• Liza Monroy shares new novels about climate change.
  
• Edward Ashton shares eight SFF books about what it means to be human.
  
• Isaac Fellman shares five SFF books that feel like a trippy haunted house.
  
• Alix E. Harrow shares seven speculative stories about stories.
  
• M.A. Kuzniar shares fairy tale retellings with a bite of darkness. 
• Jason Sanford explains why he doesn't like the term fix-up novel. 
• Arley Sorg hosts a roundtable of SFF short fiction writers. 
• Ryka Aoki pairs instant ramen noodle flavours with SFF books, films and TV shows. 
• Molly Templeton talks about remembering and forgetting what we have read.
  
• Rob Hart recounts how he came to write The Paradox Hotel.
  
• Sarah Blake explains how her severe allergies inspired her dystopian novel Clean Air. 
• Michael Curtis shares his appreciation for the work of Margaret St. Clair and traces her influence on Dungeons & Dragons.
  
• Jim Wampler shares his appreciation for the work of Andre Norton. 
• Steve Vertlieb remembers Robert Bloch.
  
• J. Kingston Pierce shares a largely imaginary tale from the 1950s men's adventure magazine about an 18th century female pirate.  
• Cole Rush explains what he learned from breaking up with Dungeons & Dragons. 
• Camestros Felapton attempts to solve the mystery of the identity of the far right SFF writer Rod Walker.
  
• Cara Dehnert shares her negative experiences with Ray Bradbury biographer Sam Weller. 
• Camryn Cutinello and Noah Jennings report that Sam Weller will step away from teaching, while the allegations against him are investigated. 
• In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Michael Swanwick has resigned as honourary president of the International Union of Writers, an orgnisation headquartered in Moscow, Russia.
  
• Science fiction writer Sally Gwylan has died aged 67.

Comics and Art:

• Locus interviews SFF artist Marcela Bolívar.
  
• Deuce Richardson shares his appreciation for the comic art of Tom Severin. 
• Evan Lewis shares a Sherlock Holmes comic from approx. 1960.
• Jamie Lovett reports that a Doctor Who comic featuring the Fugitive Doctor, written by Jody Houser and drawn by Roberta Ingranata, is coming out soon.
  
• Leon Miller reports that a recent update of Amazon's digital comics platform Comixology has made it more difficult to read comics on the platform.  
• Children's book illusttrator Jan Pienkowski has died aged 85. 
• The Guardian shares images from Jan Pienkowski's work.
  
• Tom Veitch, who wrote several Star Wars comics for Dark Horse in the early 1990s, has died aged 80.
  

 

Film and TV:

• Jennifer Bisset calls Archive an overlooked horror gem.
  
• Katie Rife calls The Cursed an old-fashioned werewolf movie. 
• Phuong Le calls The Long Walk an inventive horror film about ghosts and time travel from Laos.
• Peter Bradshaw praises Peter Dinklage's performance in Cyrano.
  
• Peter Bradshaw calls Studio 666 an insufferable vanity project for the Foo Fighters. 
• Maxwell Raab shares his thoughts on Jóhann Jóhansson's film adpatation of Olaf Stapledon's First and Last Men.
  
• Stuart Jeffries calls Cat Burglar the perfect nostalgia trip for cartoon fans.
  
• Stuart Heritage calls The Cuphead Show a fast and funny animated adventure. 
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Raised by Wolves. 
• Joe George shares ten science fiction noir films with their own unique style. 
• Cole Rush shares five tearjerker episodes of SFF TV shows that never fail to make him cry.
  
• Nicholas Barber revisits the 1957 science fiction B-movie Plan 9 From Outer Space and wonders whether it is really as terrible as its reputation. 
• Cheryl Eddy revisits the 1984 adpation of Stephen King's Firestarter.
  
• Camestros Felapton revisits the 2002 Firefly episode "Trash". 
• Camestros Felapton revisits the 2002 Firefly episode "The Message".
  
• Martin Edwards revisits the 2004 horror movie The Village.
  
• Samara Breger revisits the 2004 animated fantasy movie Shrek 2. 
• Martin Edwards revisits the 2018 horror movie Hereditary.
  
• Ben Travis interviews Michael Bay, director of countless action movies. 
• Brian Davids interviews Charlie Day, best known for his appearance in Pacific Rim and its sequel. 
• Zoe Williams interviews Charlie Brooker, creator and showrunner of Black Mirror. 
• Sam Thielman reports about the annoyance among the usual suspects that there are actors of colour in Amazon Prime's The Rings of Power series. 
• Molly Templeton notes that Palpatine could theoretically appear in the upcoming Obi-Wan series, but that he probably shouldn't.  
• Barbara Ellen wonders whether there is too much sex on British TV.
  
• Thomas Parker remembers the late actor William Smith, who appeared in many crime and action films in the 1970s and 1980s and played Conan's father in the 1982 Conan the Barbarian.
  
• Film editor David Brenner, who worked on Independence Day, Avatar, Justice League, Man of Steel and many other SFF films, has died aged 59.
  

 

Comments on Star Trek Discovery and the many iterations of Star Trek: 

• Keith R.A. DeCandido shares his thoughts on "Rubicon", the latest episode of Star Trek Discovery.
• James Whitbrook shares his thoughts on "Rubicon".
• Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts on "Rubicon". 
• James Whitbrook points out some links between season 4 of Star Trek Discovery and an abandoned Star Trek Voyager plotline.
  
• Galactic Journey revisits the 1967 Star Trek episode "Space Seed".
  
• Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the Star Trek Enterprise episode "Sleeping Dogs".
  
• Zack Sharf shares some details about the cancelled Quentin Tarantino Star Trek film.
• Ben Child wonders whether Star Trek may eventually eclipse Star Wars, now that a new Star Trek movie is in the works.
  

 

Comments on the Marvel Cinematic Universe:

• Ben Child declares that Spider-Man: No Way Home did fan service right.
  
• Justin Carter discusses the potential future of Venom in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 
• Germain Lussier shares ten facts about Eternals revealed during the Making of documentary. 
• Molly Templeton shares some thoughts from showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker about Luke Cage. 
• Rob Bricken reports that the Netflix Marvel series are leaving Netflix, but are not coming to Disney Plus for now.
  

 

Comments on The Batman, Peacemaker and the various DC Comics based movies and TV-shows:

• Jarrod Jones shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Legends of Tomorrow.
  
• Richard Newby reports how James Gunn and John Cena made people care about D-list superhero Peacemaker. 
• Adam B. Vary interviews James Gunn, showrunner of Peacemaker. 
• Eric Goldman interviews John Cena, star of Peacemaker.
  
• Chancellor Agard interviews Paul Dano who plays Edward Nygma a.k.a. the Riddler in The Batman.
• Mike Ryan interviews Matt Reeves, director of The Batman.
  
• The Guardian reports that Robert Pattinson was told to change his voice for The Batman.   
• Watch a gag reel from Peacemaker.

 

Comments on Our Flag Means Death: 

• Jesse Hassenger calls Our Flag Means Death a mix of amusing and tediously earnest. 
• Cheryl Eddy interviews David Jenkins and Rhys Darby, showrunner and star of Our Flag Means Death. 
  

 

Comments on Severance: 

• Lucy Mangan calls Severance a dystopian workplace drama that will make your mind explode. 
• Cheryl Eddy calls Severance a mind-warping mystery. 
• Paul Levinson calls Severance Erving Goffman meets The Prisoner.
  

 

Comments on Uncharted: 

• David Fear calls Uncharted a second rate adventure movie. 
• David Sims calls Uncharted disappointingly derivative.
  
• Joe Morgenstern calls Uncharted a shambles of a movie. 
• Richard Roeper declares that Uncharted tries to be everything, but succeeds at very little.
  
• Manohla Dargis calls Uncharted a nitwit treasure hunt movie.
  
• Bilge Ebiri reports that Uncharted offers lots of dimly lit secret passages, but little else.

 

Comments on problems on the set of Mad Max: Fury Road: 

• Catherine Shoard reports about various on set altercations between Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron and the rest of the Mad Max: Fury Road cast.  
• Kyle Buchanan also reports about the many problems on the set of Mad Max: Fury Road. 
• Linda Codega also reports about the many issues on the set of Mad Max: Fury Road.
  
• Ryan Gilbey points out that Hollywood indulges bad behaviour like Tom Hardy's on the set of Mad Max: Fury Road.
  

 

Comments on Hellbender:

• Katie Rife calls Hellbender a unique coming of age horror.
• Leslie Felperin calls Hellbender an impressive low-budget folk horror film. 

 

Comments on season 11 of The Walking Dead: 

• Alex McLevy shares his thoughts on "No Other Way", the latest episode of The Walking Dead.
• Rob Bricken shares his thoughts on "No Other Way".
  

 

Comments on the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre:

• Benjamin Lee calls the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre a nasty sequel in which Leatherface takes on gentrifiers.  
• A.A. Dowd declares that Netflix massacres The Texas Chainsaw Massacre with this lousy sequel.
• Cheryl Eddy declares that the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre is completely unnecessary. 
• Richard Newby interviews David Blue Garcia, director of the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

 

Awards:

• The finalists for the 2021 Bram Stoker Awards have been announced.
  
• The winner of the 2022 Skylark Award has been announced. 
• The finalists for the 2022 Ray Bradbury Prize have been announced.
  
• The finalists for the 2022 Subjective Chaos Kind of Awards have been announced. 
• The candidates for the 2022 Rhysling Awards have been announced.
  
• The first round nominations for the 2022 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire have been announed. 
• The shortlist for the 2022 Hans Christian Andersen Award has been announced.
  
• The finalists for the 2021 Asimov's 36th Annual Readers' Awards have been announced.
• The finalists for the 2021 Analog AnLab Readers' Award have been announced.
  
• The winner of the 2021 Future Worlds Prize has been announced. 
• The finalists for the 2022 Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards have been announced.
• The longlists for the 2022 Yoto Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals have been announced.
• The winners of the 2021 International Film Music Critics Association Awards have been announced with lots of love for SFF movies and TV.
• The winners of the 2022 Michael Collins Trophy have been announced.
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw reports that the telecast of the 2022 Oscars will exclude several categories deemed less interesting, which has led to a massive outcry and backlash. 
• Linda Codega notes that the proposed changes to the Oscar telecast will disproportionately affect SFF films.
  

 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Stephen J. Golds shares some writing advice. 
• Rio Youers talks about creating villains.
  
• Sarah Gailey talks about trauma-informed writing. 
• Reavis Wortham talks about pacing. 
• Rob Parker talks about research.
  
• Vivian Shaw explains how writing fanfiction can make your writing stronger.
  
• Jason Sanford shares the results of his survey of readers of SFF magazines. 
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch talks about exclusivity. 
• Elizabeth A. Harris demonstrates how a print book is made.
  
• Andrew Albanese reports that a US Federal Court has blocked Maryland's library e-book law.
  

Interviews:

• Runalong the Shelves interviews Gareth L. Powell.
  
• Oliver Brackenbury interviews Dariel Quiogue. 
• The Stars End podcast interviews Paul Levinson. 
• Tammy Le Gorce interviews Marlon James. 
• Marion Deeds interviews M.A. Carrick a.k.a. Marie Brennan and Alyc Helms.
  
• Tor.com interviews Grace P. Fong. 
• Tor.com interviews AnaMaria Curtis. 
• Tor.com interviews Vivianni Glass
  
• The HWA interviews Linda D. Addison. 
• The HWA interviews Steven Van Patten.
  
• The HWA interviews Sumiko Saulson. 
• Daneet Steffens interviews Rob Hart.
  
• Elizabeth Tabler interviews Scott Drakeford.
  
• Janna Miller interviews Kristina T. Saccone.
  
• Gary Oswald interviews Steven H. Silver.
• Scott Edelman interviews Natalie Luhrs.
• Cora Buhlert interviews Todd B. Vick.
  

Reviews: 

• Runalong the Shelves reviews Stars and Bones by Gareth L. Powell. 
• Gabino Iglesias reviews Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes. 
• James Davis Nicoll reviews A Prayer for the Crown-shy by Becky Chambers. 
• Mark Chitty reviews The Captain's Daughter by Peter F. Hamilton.
  
• Paul Di Filippo reviews Lord Quillifer by Walter Jon Williams.
  
• Blue Book Balloon reviews This Charming Man by C.K. McDonnell. 
• Paul Burke reviews This Charming Man by C.K. McDonnell.
  
• Amy Goldschlager reviews Not Your Average Hot Guy by Gwenda Bond and You Feel It Just Below the Ribs by Jeffrey Cranor and Janina Matthewson.
• Elizabeth Tabler reviews Dead Things by Stephen Blackmoore.
  
• Arturo Serrano reviews Battle of the Linguist Mages by Scotto Moore. 
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews The Long Game by K.J. Parker. 
• Shellie Horst reviews The Amber Crown by Jacey Bedford.
• Paul Weimer reviews The Seventh Queen by Greta Kelly.  
• Adri Joy reviews The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan. 
  
• Vanessa Armstrong reviews A Lullaby for Witches by Hester Fox. 
• Luna Station Quarterly reviews A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow.  
• L.A. Young reviews The Unbroken by C.L. Clark.
  
• Paul Weimer reviews The Green Man's Silence by Juliet E. McKenna. 
• In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel reviews The Red Death Murders by Jim Noy.  
• Tobias Carroll reviews The Paradox Murders by Rob Hart.
  
• Fiona Denton reviews Valour by John Gwynne. 
• Colleen Mondor reviews Terciel and Elinor by Garth Nix. 
• Amy Goldschlager reviews Terciel and Elinor by Garth Nix and Fan Fiction: A Mem-Noir Inspired by True Events by Brent Spiner.
  
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews Moon Witch, Spider King by Marlon James. 
• J. Thomas Howard reviews Frolic on the Amaranthyn by Chase A. Folmar.
  
• Molly Templeton reviews In the Serpent's Wake by Rachel Hartman. 
• Alex Brown reviews A Snake Falls To Earth by Darcie Little Badger. 
• Fiona Denton reviews Age of Ash by Daniel Abraham. 
• Alex Brown reviews Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi.
  
• Blue Book Balloon reviews Ghosts by G.X. Todd. 
• Terrence Taylor reviews The Night Lady by Debra Castaneda and The Fervor by Alma Katsu.
  
• Paul Di Filippo reviews The This by Adam Roberts. 
• Rob Bedford reviews The Violence by Delilah S. Dawson.
  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Goliath by Tochi Onyebuchi.
  
• James Davis Nicoll reviews The Tangleroot Palace by Marjorie Liu. 
• Elizabeth Fitzgerald reviews The Art of Broken Things by Joanne Anderton. 
• Arley Sorg reviews Lesser Known Monsters of the 21^st Century by Kim Fu.
• Marion Deeds reviews Mestiza Blood by V. Castro. 
• Ian Mond reviews The Best of Lucius Shepard Volume 2 by Lucius Shepard.
  
• Mark Yon reviews Ghost: 100 Stories to read with the Lights On, edited by Louise Welsh.
• Dwight Garner reviews Burning Questions: Essays and Occasional Pieces, 2004-2021 by Margaret Atwood.
• Publishers Weekly reviews Cosplay: A History by Andrew Liptak. 
• Alvaro Zinos-Amaro reviews The Young H.G. Wells: Changing the World by Claire Tomalin.

 
Classics reviews:

• Erin Morgenstern revisits the 1865 children's fantasy Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. 
• M. Porcius revisits the 1916 adventure novel Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar by Edgar Rice Burroughs. 
• Mark Valentine revisits the 1922 Arthurian fantasy novel The Secret Glory by Arthur Machen.
  
• James Maliszewski revisits the 1932 Conan sword and sorcery story "The Phoenix on the Sword" by Robert E. Howard.
  
• D.M. Ritzlin revisits the 1953 shared world fantasy anthology Shanadu, edited by Robert E. Briney. 
• Gideon Marcus revisits the March 1967 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. 
• Mark Yon revisits the March 1967 issue of New Worlds and SF Impulse.
  
• Gideon Marcus revisits the 1967 science fiction novels Twin Planets by Philip E. High, Envoy to the Dog Star by Frederick L. Shaw Jr and Shockwave by Walt and Leigh Richmond, Kris Vyas-Myall revisits the 1967 science fiction novels The Revolving Boy by Gertrude Feinberg and The Einstein Intersection by Samuel R. Delany and Jason Sacks revisits the 1967 science fiction novel Counter-Clock World by Philip K. Dick.   
• Joe Kenney revisits the 1967 tie-in novel The Invaders by Keith Laumer.
  
• The Appendix N Book Club revisits the 1967 post-apocalyptic fantasy novel The Jewel in the Skull by Michael Moorcock. 
  
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1969 historical fantasy novel The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs. 
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1974 gothic novel Macabre Manor by Elizabeth Grayson. 
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1977 science fiction anthology Orbit 19, edited by Damon Knight.
  
• James Maliszewski revisits the October/November 1981 issue of White Dwarf. 
• Trash Fiction Champion revisits the 1984 sword and soul novel Imaro II: The Quest for Cush by Charles R. Saunders. 
• Sam Reader revisits the 1986 cyberpunk novel When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger.
  
• Trash Fiction Champion revisits the 1987 Silverglass sword and sorcery novel Web of Wind by J.F. Rivkin. 
• Alissa Burger revisits the 1989 teen horror novel The Fog and its 1990 sequels The Snow and The Fire by Caroline B. Cooney.
  
• Brian Murphy revisits the 1997 historical fantasy novel War of the Gods by Poul Anderson.
  

 

Crowdfunding:

• Sherlock Holmes and the Occult Detectives Volume 3 and Volume 4 as well as The Book of Carnacki, the Ghost Finder, all edited by John Linwood Grant, are looking for funding.
• The Dead Work Anthology, a comic anthology by the Dead Work Collective, is looking for funding.
  

 

Con and event reports:

• Joel Zakem shares his issues with explicitly religious Christmas carols performed at the opening ceremonies of DisCon III, the 2021 Worldcon in Washington DC.
  
• Mary Kekatos shares an update about the omicron outbreak at the Anime NYC convention in New York City. 
• John King Tarpinian reports about an exhibition celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange in Glendale, California.
  
• Zack Zwiezen reports that actor Henry Cavill visited Warhammer World, the Games Workshop UK headquarters in Nottingham, UK.
• James Vincent reports that Disney is planning to build themed residential communities.
  

 

Science and technology:

• Isaac Schulz reports that the exo-planet WASP-121b has metal clouds and very extreme weather.
• Davide Castelvecchi reports that astronomers are watching the Milky Way in case a supernova decides to appear.  
• John K. Strickland shares his thoughts on Elon Musk's plans to go to Mars.
  
• Kyle Mizokami reports about a robotic yak that is supposed to support the Chinese army. 
• Will Dunham reports that a giant pterosaur fossile has been found in Scotland.
• Samantha Greene Woodruff reports about Walter Freeman II, the doctor who popularised lobotomy in the US in the 1940s and 1950s and maimed hundreds of patients.
• Elizabeth Gamillo reports that Legos are still washing up on British beaches twenty-five years after the freighter Tokio Express lost sixty containers in a storm. 
• John Murphy reports that the largest rogue wave ever recorded has been detected off the coast of British Columbia, Canada.
  
• Jennifer Fawcett talks about the fascination with abandoned places.
  
• James Pethokoukis interviews NASA's chief economist Alex MacDonald.
  

Free online fiction:

• "At the Foot of the Dragon Stair" by Aliette de Bodard in Beneath Ceaseless Skies. 
• "Empty Appendages" by William Broom in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
  
• "The Great Hunt" by Francesco Meriano in Heroic Fantasy Quarterly. 
• "A Murder of Crows" by Heather Del Piano in Luna Station Quarterly.
  
• "The Dogs Save the Day" by Fagbamiye Wuraola in Omenana. 
• "The Honest Fox, or A Truth Shares Is Not a Truth Lost" by P.H. Lee in Lightspeed.
  
• "Lyceum" by Karin Lowachee in Lightspeed.
  
• "Mermaid's Hook" by Liz Argall in Mermaids Monthly. 
• "The Last Truth" by AnaMaria Curtis in Tor.com.  
• "Girl Oil" by Grace P. Fong in Tor.com.
• "Synthetic Perennial" by Vivianni Glass in Tor.com.
  
• "Oversharing" by R.J. Theodore in Fireside Magazine.
• "Cousins Season" by S. Fambul in Fantasy Magazine.
• "The Snickersnacks" by Tony Richards in The Dark.
• "Barbirusa" by Arula Ratnakar in Clarkesworld.
• "Nineveh" by Belicia Rhea in Nightmare Magazine.
• "Chance" by Jordan Legg in Starward Shadows.
  
• "Infinite Ripples in a Single Pool" by Priya Chand in Daily Science Fiction.
• "When It Pours" by Carol Scheina in Daily Science Fiction. 
• "Fairest World" by Chris Bailey in Daily Science Fiction.
  
• "Last Teen Standing" by Samara Lo in Daily Science Fiction.
• "The Cube" by Jonathan Wordle in Daily Science Fiction.
  

 

Trailers and videos:

• Watch a trailer for the new The Man Who Fell to Earth.
• Watch a trailer for Sissy (not a new movie about Elisabeth of Austria).
• Watch a trailer for Ghost in the Shell: SAC 2045.
  
• Watch a trailer for The Bad Guys.
• Watch a trailer for The Fairly Odd Parents: Fairly Odder.