Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for August 12, 2022

 

It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with tributes to Raymond Briggs and Olivia Newton-John, the many iterations of Star Trek, The Sandman, season 3 of The Orville, season 4 of Westworld, season 4 of What We Do in the Shadows, season 3 of Locke and Key, Prey, Nope, the cancellation of the almost finished Batgirl movie and other movies by Warner Bros and much more.

Speculative fiction in general:

• Natalie Zutter shares ten new science fiction and fantasy books to read this August.
• Tor.com shares all the new science fiction novels coming out in August.
  
• Tor.com shares all the new fantasy novels arriving in August. 
• Tor.com shares all the new YA SFF books coming out in August.
  
• Linda Codega shares fifteen SFF related non-fiction books to enjoy.
  
• Lyndsie Manusos reports about the rise of the speculative novella. 
• Kerstin Hall shares six SFF novels that paint a picture with words.
  
• Randee Dawn shares five SFF takes on reality TV. 
• Cyla Panin shares five dark YA fantasies about the fae.
  
• Jo Walton shares her reading list for July 2022. 
• Molly Templeton discusses what to do when only the most heartbreaking book will do.
  
• Fiona Moore takes a look at the British science fiction publisher Badger Books and its star author Lionel Fanthorpe.
  
• G.W. Thomas takes a look at science fiction writers who also wrote westerns.
  
• Will Oliver takes a look at the golden age of sword and sorcery from 1929 to 1949. 
• Joe Bonadonna shares his personal history with sword and sorcery and how the genre withered and nearly died in the 1980s.
  
• Travis Miller wonders whether sword and sorcery is making a comeback.
  
• Thomas Pluck revisits the epic of Gilgamesh in the new English translation by Stephen Mitchell and finds that the oldest story in the world still holds up. 
• Graeme Virtue reports how Marvel's and DC's superhero audiodramas and podcasts are changing superhero stories.
  
• Publisher and showman Robert Self has died aged 56. 
• Locus remembers Robert Self.
  
• SFF writer Roland J. Green died aged 76.
  

 

Tributes to Raymond Briggs:

• Children's book author and illustrator Raymond Briggs, author of The Snowman, Fungus the Bogeyman, When the Wind Blows and many others, had died aged 88.
• Martin Salisbury shares an obituary for Raymond Briggs.
• Stuart Heritage recounts how Raymond Briggs' The Snowman changed Christmas.
• The Guardian shares photos of Raymond Briggs and his books.
• The Guardian shares various tributes to Raymond Briggs.
  

 

Comics and Art:

• Justin Carter celebrates the sixtieth anniversary of Spider-Man. 
• Sabina Graves interviews Rachel Smythe, creator of Lore Olympus. 
• James Whitbrook interviews Brandon Easton and Hendry Prasetya, writer and artist of Kamen Rider Zero-One.
• Jeff LaSala interviews Tolkien illustrator Ted Nasmith. 
• Sam Leith interviews comic writer and artist Nick Drnaso. 
• Brad Hawley reviews My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies: A Criminal Novella by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
• Jim Fitzpatrick recounts how he created the logo for the band Thin Lizzy.
  
• David Apatoff remembers Saturday Evening Post illustrator Fred Ludekens who illustrated Robert A. Heinlein's "The Green Hills of Earth" among many others.
  

 

Film and TV:

• Keith R.A. DeCandido shares his thoughts on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
  
• Marion Deeds shares her thoughts on Morbius. 
• Tomris Laffly calls Secret Headquarters an uninspiring hero's journey. 
  
• David Cote shares his thoughts on the latest episode of For All Mankind. 
• Courtney Howard calls Mack & Rita a thirty going on seventy body swap comedy.
  
• Justin Carter notes that the newly revealed plans for Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles make him sad that the cartoon ended so soon. 
• Phuong Le calls Fortune Favours Lady Nikuko an inflinching anime tale about puberty.
  
• Stuart Heritage wonders whether anybody really needed more Beavis and Butthead. 
• Ryan Britt revisits the 1987 science fantasy movie Masters of the Universe for its 35th anniversary. 
• Germain Lussier revisits the 2007 fantasy movie Stardust for its 15th anniversary.
  
• For Eternia interviews Tim Sheridan, co-writer of Masters of the Universe: Revelation.
  
• Kate Kellaway interviews director and actor Werner Herzog. 
• Olivia Pym interviews Jason Momoa, star of Aquaman, Dune, Game of Thrones, Conan and many others. 
• Jack Seale interviews Paul and Michael Clarkson, creators of the horror series Red Rose.
  
• Brian Davids interviews Zazie Beets, star of Bullet Train, Deadpool and Joker.
• Artem Golub and Sabina Graves interview the cast of Paper Girls. 
• Catherine Ryan Howard shares horror movies about writers. 
• Linda Codega reports about the movie industry is exploiting visual effects artists. 
  
• NextShark reports that the Chinese science fiction movie Moon Man is the most popular film of the weekend worldwide, even though it is only playing in China so far. 
• Stuart Heritage responds to Peter Jackson's wish to erase his memories of the Lord of Rings and Hobbit films via hypnosis by telling Jackson to snap out of it.
  
• Jordan Moreau reports that Ezra Miller, star of the upcoming movie The Flash, has been charged with burglary in Vermont. 
• Actress Anne Heche, star of Volcano, Donnie Brasco and I Know What You Did Last Summer, is in a coma following a car crash in Los Angeles, California. 
  
• Jane Clinton reports that actress June Spencer has retired from the British radio soap opera The Archers after more than seventy years, aged 103.
  
• Steve O'Brien remembers Bernard Cribbins and Wilf Mott, the character he played in Doctor Who.
• Stuntman Gene LeBell has died aged 89.
  
• Actor Clu Gulager, star of The Virginia, The Return of the Living Dead, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 and many others, has died aged 93.

 

Tributes to Olivia Newton-John:

• Actress and singer Olivia Newton-John, star of Grease, Xanadu and A Mom for Christmas, has died aged 73.
• Peter Bradshaw shares a tribute to Olivia Newton-John.
• Angelica Frey shares a tribute to Olvia Newton-John.
  
• Zack Sharf shares John Travolta's tribute to his Grease co-star Olivia Newton-John. 
• Kelley Burke takes a look at Olivia Newton-John's activism for cancer research.
  
• Greg Whitmore shares photos from Olivia Newton-John's lengthy career.

 

Comments on the many iterations of Star Trek: 

• Emmet Asher-Perrin explains how Star Trek: Strange New Worlds reimagines the hero's journey for the better.
  
• Entertainment Weekly interviews the cast of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
• Scott Mantz interviews Jonathan Lee, production designer on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
  
• Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the Star Trek Enterprise episode "Singularity".
  
• Amanda Reimer reports that the Original Series Enterprise model will return to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC, where it has been on display since 1974.
• Celia Rose Gooding, who plays a young Nyota Uhura in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, shares a tribute to Nichelle Nichols. 

 

Comments on season 3 of The Orville:

• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the season 3 finale of The Orville. 
• Loree Seitz shares a tribute by The Orville cast and crew to the late Norm Macdonald, who played Lieutenant Yaphit.
  

 

 Comments on The Sandman:

• Joel Golby declares that The Sandman is an ingenious TV show that will inspire a generation of goths. 
• Leah Schnelbach calls The Sandman damn near perfect. 
• Glen Weldon calls The Sandman a dream come true.
  
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw declares that The Sandman struggles to recreate the creepy and immersive atmosphere of the comics. 
• Sam Barsanti declares that The Sandman ticks off boxes, but fails to capture the magic of the original.  
• Camestros Felapton quite liked The Sandman. 
• Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on the second half of The Sandman.
  
• Rebecca Nicholson shares her thoughts on the first episode of The Sandman.
  
• Nick Joy shares his thoughts on the first episode of The Sandman.
• Linda Codega shares six things she liked about The Sandman and three things she didn't.
  
• Jenni Miller explains what the Sandman comics meant to her.
  

 

Comments on season 4 of Westworld: 

• Manuel Betancourt shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Westworld.
• Rob Bricken shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Westworld.
  

 

Comments on Prey: 

• Wendy Ide calls Prey a stylish Predator prequel rooted in Native American history. 
• Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on Prey.
  
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw reports that the usual suspects are already accusing Prey's female Comanche protagonist of being a Mary Sue. 
  
• Mia Galuppo profiles Amber Midthunder, star of Prey. 
• Germain Lussier reports about an Easter egg in Prey. 
  
• Germain Lussier ranks all Predator movies.
  

 

Comments on season 4 of What We Do in the Shadows: 

• William Hughes shares his thoughts on the latest episode of What We Do in the Shadows.
• Linda Codega shares her appreciation for the character Guillermo de la Cruz and actor Harvey Guillén in What We Do in the Shadows.
  

 

Comments on season 3 of Locke and Key: 

• Tariq Raouf notes that Locke and Key loses a bit of its magic in its final season. 
• Cheryl Eddy shares everything you need to remember before season 3 of Locke and Key.
  

 

Comments on Nope: 

• Peter Bradshaw finds Nope a bit meh.
• Tshepo Mokoena interviews Keke Palmer, star of Nope. 
  

 

Comments on the cancellation of Batgirl and other movies and TV shows due to the Warner Bros Discovery merger:

• Clayton Davis reports how the cancellation of Batgirl, starring Leslie Grace, and the casting of James Franco as Fidel Castro highlights Hollywood's persisent erasure of Latinos. 
• Catherine Shoard reports that according to director Kevin Smith, Warner Bros cancelling Batgirl, a movie with a Latina star and a pair of Moroccan born directors, looks incredibly bad.
  
• Using Batgirl as an example, Guy Lodge explains why some films disappear forever and are never released. 
  
• Sabina Graves reports that Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige reached out to Batgirl and Ms. Marvel directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah after the cancellation of the almost finished Batgirl movie. 
• Dan Lawrence reports that the Supergirl movie has been cancelled as well. 
• Matt McGloin reports that Kevin Smith's Bizarro Superman episode of Strange Adventures, which would have starred Nicholas Cage, has been cancelled as well. 
• Matt McGloin also reports that according to Kevin Smith, the Green Lantern TV series will likely be cancelled as well, because the new Warner Bros CEO only wants DC Comics characters in high profile movies.
  
• Richard Newby notes that the Batgirl cancellation is another setback for Warner Bros' plans for a DC cinematic universe. 
• Justin Carter notes that Warner Bros and their lack of direction is the greatest problem the DC Comics movies have at the moment.  
• Kim Masters and Pamela McClintock muse about the fate of The Flash, following star Ezra Miller's increasingly erratic and criminal behaviour.
  
• Thania Garcia reports that the producer of the also cancelled animated movie Scoob: Holiday Haunt said that they had already hired the studio and an orchestra to record the score, when the cancellation news came.
  
• Sabina Graves takes a look at what other genre TV shows and movies airing on HBO Max might be at risk following the Warner Bros and Discovery merger.
  
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw reports that the new owners of Warner Bros will combine the HBO Max and Discovery+ streaming services and axe even more TV shows and movies.
  

 

Awards:

• The winner of the 2022 Munsey Award has been announced.
• The finalists for the 2022 WSFA Small Press Award have been announced. 
• Nicholas Whyte shares his thoughts on the report of the Hugo Award Study Committee. 
• Joe Sherry shares his thoughts on the proposed changes to the Best Series Hugo Award. 
  
• Mike Glyer reports about an uproar regarding the 2022 Hugo finalists for Best Editor Short Form.
  
• Rich Horton takes a look at the potential Hugo finalists of 1959.
  

 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Laura Childs shares tips for opening your novel with a bang.
  
• Ada Palmer notes that the plotter versus pantser debate has been exaggerated. 
• Robert Pobi explains that there is only one real plot. 
• Kayla Maiuri explains what writing fiction can reveal about those we love.
  
• Leslie Karst explains what writers can learn from cooking school. 
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch talks about writing and publishing in times of economic uncertainty.
  
• Dean Wesley Smith shares some tips for writers hoping to use Kickstarter or other crowdfunding platforms. 
• David Barnett reports that the British bookstore chain Waterstones has been hit by restocking and supply issues after upgrading the computer system of its warehouses. 
• Mike Glyer reports that Don Blyly is planning to reopen the Uncle Hugo's and Uncle Edgar's bookstores in their new location on August 14, after the original stores burned down during the riots in Minneapolis, Minnesota, following the death of George Floyd due to police violence. 
  
• Molly Templeton reports that Tom Doherty Associates has been renamed the Tor Publishing Group.
  
• Shira Ovide explains that the contested merger of Penguin Random House and Simon and Schuster is all about Amazon.
• Andrew Albanese reports about the obscenity lawsuit in Virginia against Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe and A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas. 
  
• Matthew Cantor reports that some residents of Jamestown, Michigan, would rather close down their local library than have it - gasp - carry LGBTQ+ books.
  

Interviews:

• Locus interviews Suzanne Palmer. 
• Peter Wood interviews David Gerrold.
  
• Scott Edelman interviews Sam J. Miller. 
• D.M. Ritzlin interviews Milton J. Davis. 
• Elizabeth Tabler interviews Wesley Chu. 
• Elizabeth Tabler interviews Foz Meadows.
  
• Locus interviews Victoria Aveyard.
  
• If This Goes On, Don't Panic interviews Tobias Buckell.
  
• Phil Christman interviews Adam Roberts. 
• Oliver Brackenbury interviews Kirk A. Johnson. 
• Runalong the Shelves interviews Lorraine Wilson.
  
• Paul Weimer interviews R.B. Lemberg.
  
• Cat Luria interviews Altaire Gural.
• Mayookh Barua interviews Eliza Chan.
• Cora Buhlert interviews Andrew Liptak.
  

Reviews:

• Arturo Serrano reviews The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Our Child of Two Worlds by Stephen Cox. 
• The Hugo Book Club Blog reviews Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki. 
  
• Imogen Dewey reviews Every Version Of You by Grace Chan.
  
• Paul Weimer reviews A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys.
• James Davis Nicoll reviews Violet Made of Thorns by Gina Chen. 
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Green Man's Foe by Juliet E. McKenna. 
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Priest of Bones by Peter McLean.
  
• Joe Sherry reviews Be the Serpent by Seanan McGuire.
  
• Jodie Crump reviews Strange Cargo by Patrick Samphire. 
• Paul Di Filippo reviews Hokuloa Road by Elizabeth Hand. 
  
• Linda Codega reviews The Art of Prophecy by Wesley Chu.
• Stephanie Merritt reviews The Night Ship by Jess Kidd.
  
• Colleen Mondor reviews Gallant by V.E. Schwab.
  
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews The Embroidered Book by Kate Heartfield.
  
• Marion Deeds reviews The Entropy of Bones by Ayize Jama-Everett
• Jenny Hamilton reviews Big Bad Wolf and Pretty Little Lion by Suleikha Snyder.
  
• C.T. Phipps reviews Fire and Blood by George R.R. Martin. 
• Jodie Crump reviews Dragons of Deceit by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. 
• Roseanna Pendlebury reviews Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson.
  
• Blue Book Balloon reviews The Book of Gothel by Mary McMyne. 
• Tomiwa Owolade reviews The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka
• Aigner Loren Wilson reviews The All-Consuming World by Cassandra Khaw.. 
• Maya C. James reviews The Merciless Ones by Namina Forna.
  
• Sukhdev Sandhu reviews Eden by Jim Crace. 
• Gabino Iglesias reviews Echo by Thomas Olde Heuvelt. 
• Becky LeJeune reviews We Will Rise by Tim Waggoner. 
• Caren Gussoff Sumption reviews The Girl Who Outgrew the World by Zoje Stage.
  
• John Mauro reviews The Memory Librarian by Janelle Monáe. 
• James Reasoner reviews Tragon and the Scorpion Woman... and Other Tales by John M. Whalen. 
• C.T. Phipps reviews Slaying the Dragon: A Secret History of Dungeons and Dragons by C.T. Phipps.
  
• Pradeep Niroula reviews Inventor of the Future: The Visionary Life of Buckminster Fuller by Alec Nevala-Lee.
  

Classics reviews:

• Sandy Ferber revisits the 1919 science fiction thriller The Green Rust by Edgar Wallace.
  
• James Maliszewski revisits the 1934 horror novel Creep, Shadow! by A. Merritt.
• MarzAat revisits the 1942 horror story "Black Bargain" by Robert Bloch.
• Joachim Boaz revisits the 1952 science fiction novella "The Lovers" by Philip José Farmer.
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1960 post-apocalyptic novel Dark December by Alfred Coppel.
• Alan Brown revisits the 1961 alternate history novel Worlds of the Imperium and its 1965 sequel The Other Side of Time by Keith Laumer.
  
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1962 near future thriller In High Places by Arthur Hailey. 
• Victoria Silverwolf revisits the September 1967 issue of Fantastic.
  
• James Maliszewski revisits the August 1983 issue of White Dwarf. 
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1985 post-apocalyptic novel In the Drift by Michael Swanwick.
  
• Kat Hooper revisits the 1986 military science fiction novel The Ecologic Envoy by L.E. Modesitt Jr. 
• John Mauro revisits the 2005 epic fantasy novel A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin. 
• Judith Tarr revisits the 2009 YA fantasy novel Rampant and its 2010 sequel Ascendant by Diana Peterfreund. 
• Bill Capossere, Robert Thompson and Justin Blazier revisit the 2011 Expanse novel Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey.
  

 

Crowdfunding:

• The anthology The Art of Being Human, edited by Tehani Croft and Stephanie Lai, is looking for funding.
  

 

Con and event reports:

• Justin Davis shares a report about the virtual 2022 Locus Awards ceremony.
• William Lampkin shares photos from PulpFest 50 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in a multi-part post.  
• Rogues in the House share various interviews from GenCon in Indianapolis, Indiana. 
• Geek Dad Life reports about the 2022 Power-Con in Columbus, Ohio.
  
• Chicon 8, the 2022 Worldcon in Chicago, Illinois, has posted an updated agenda for the Business Meeting.
  
• Tommy Ferguson reports about a proposed Eastercon bid for Belfast in Northern Ireland.
• There is a new bid to host the 2028 Worldcon in Kampala, Uganda.
  
• Mike Glyer reports that the 2023 NASFIC bid for Orlando, Florida, has folded. 
• The Texas Center shares a video of the "Adapting REH to Gaming" panel at the 2022 Robert E. Howard Days in Cross Plains, Texas. 
• The Guardian reports about a dispute between the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, UK, and Natural History Museum in Los Angeles, California, over the ownership of a seven foot tall Frankenstein's monster prop.
  

 

Science and technology:

• Becky Ferreira reports that China is planning to build a telescope array on the dark side of the Moon.
  
• Steven Poole asks if we are living in a simulation. 
  
• Jeanne Timmons reports that 12000-year-old human footprints have been discovered in Utah.
• Artem Golub and Kevin Hurler report that the Great Barrier Reef may be healing.
  

Free online fiction:

• "So You Married Your Arch Nemesis... Again" by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor in Lightspeed. 
• "Among the Marithei" by Mary Anne Mohanraj in Lightspeed.
  
• "Polly and (Not) Charles Conquer the Solar System" by Carrie Vaughn in Clarkesworld. 
• "Pollatomish" by Finnbar O'Reilly in Clarkesworld. 
• "Matrimonial Quest at Luna Prime and Other Existential Dread" by Deka Omar in Fireside Magazine.
• "A Tree with Rotting Roots" by Jamie Lackey in Swords and Sorcery Magazine.
  
• "Shapeshifter" by Frances Ogamba in The Dark.
• "The Tails That Make You" by Eliza Chan in Fantasy Magazine. 
• "Porgee's Boar" by Jonathan Carroll in Tor.com.
  
• "Skitterdead" by Mel Kassel in Nightmare Magazine. 
  
• "The Warm Equations" by Michael Swanwick in The Saturday Morning Transport.
  
• "Other Lives" by Elizabeth Guilt in Luna Station Quarterly. 
• "The Most Recent Madame Fortuna" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
  
• "Agu Uno" by Chibueze Ngeneagu in Omenana.
• "Rocking Chair" by Mary Soon Lee in Daily Science Fiction.
  
• "The Missionary" by Tygan Shelton in Daily Science Fiction. 
• "The Gang Assembles" by Bo Balder in Daily Science Fiction. 
  
•  "Helpful Truths For the Chosen One Who Has Returned Home" by Cislyn Smith in Daily Science Fiction.
   

Trailers and videos:

• Watch a trailer for Red Rose.
  
• Watch a trailer for Orbital. 
• Watch a trailer for season 3 of Pennyworth.
  
• Watch a trailer for Vesper. 
• Watch a trailer for The Menu.
  
• Watch a trailer for Chainsaw Man.
• Watch a opening of Mob Psycho 100 III.
• Watch a trailer for season 6 of Rick and Morty.