Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for March 8, 2024

 

It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with Masters of the Universe: Revolution, Star Wars in general, Dune: Part 2, Star Trek in general, the new Avatar the Last Airbender, Resident Alien, The Completely Made Up Adventures of Duick Turpin, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, Shogun, tributes to Jaime Lee Moyer and much more.

Speculative fiction in general:

• Cheryl Eddy shares forty science fiction, fantasy and horror novels coming out in March. 
• Reactor shares all the new science fiction books coming out in March. 
  
• Reactor shares all the new fantasy books coming out in March. 
• Reactor shares all the new romantasy, horror and SFF crossover books coming out in March.  
• Reactor shares all the new young adult SFF crossover books coming out in March.   
• Charles Payseur shares his favourite SFF works of 2023. 
• Holly Black shares ten iconic SFF novels deserving of rediscovery. 
• James Davis Nicoll shares ten SFF books he read as a teenager that still hold up.
  
• James Wallace Harris talks about dystopian science fiction as a warning of things to come. 
• ErsatzCulture shares recommendations for Chinese science fiction. 
• Gwendolyn Kiste talks about the enduring appeal of suburban horror. 
• Paulette Kennedy shares seven gothic novels with a feminist perspective.
  
• Elizabeth Brooks talks about cloaks and coats in fantasy, horror and gothic fiction.
  
• Moses Ose Utomi shares his five favourite fantasy deserts.
  
• Steve J. Wright discusses the fascist tendencies in E.E. Smith's Lensman series and golden age science fiction in general. 
• Jim Wampler shares his appreciation for the works of Andre Norton. 
• John Mauro shares his appreciation for the works of Anna Smith Spark.
  
• Phil Sawyer shares his appreciation for the Zotique stories by Clark Ashton Smith.  
• Bradley K. McDewitt profiles August Derleth.
  
• Rivka Galchen revisits the works of Stanislaw Lem and finds them remarkably prescient with regard to AI.
• Robin Anne Reid talks about the Murderbot series by Martha Wells and why it resonated with her. 
• Eugenia Triantafyllou explains why Locus is a lifeline for SFF writers living outside North America. 
  
• Jessica Grose discusses how fandom could influence the US elections. 
• Uncanny Magazine shares tributes to Richard Bowes.
  
• Dave Haden remembers Brian Stableford's work as an editor and scholar. 
• Longtime SFF fan Michael Langford has died aged 69.
  
• Australian fan, awards organiser and meteorologist Dick "Ditmar" Jenssen has died aged 88.
  
• Fantasy author Jaime Lee Moyer has died unexpectedly. 
• Vanessa Armstrong remembers Jaime Lee Moyer.
  

Comics and Art:

• Brian Murphy looks back on fifty years of The Savage Sword of Conan. 
• Brad Hawley reviews The Magic Order Volume One by Mark Millar and Oliver Coipel
• Issue 79 of Journey Planet is dedicated to V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd.
  
• Justin Carter reports that comic publisher Scout Comics is not paying creators.
  
• Tom Gauld shares a cartoon about self-help books for dogs.
  

 

Film and TV:

• Charlie Jane Anders calls Extraordinary the funniest SFF TV show not enough people are watching. 
• Manuel Betancourt calls The Regime an absurd political satire. 
• Diana Keng shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Halo.
  
• Melody McCune shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Constellation.
  
• Arturo Serrano shares his thoughts on The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy 
  
• Ann Michelle Harris shares her thoughts on season 2 of Jujutsu Kaisen.
  
• Adrian Collins shares his thoughts on the South Korean TV show Gyeongseong Creature
• James Whitbrook shares his thoughts on the Japanese TV show Bakuage Sentai Boonboomger 
• Courtney Howard calls Kung Fu Panda 4 a weak belated sequel.
  
• Kali Wallace revisits the 1956 science fiction film Forbidden Planet.
  
• Jessica Holmes revisits the 1969 Doctor Who serial "The Seeds of Death".
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1978 horror thriller The Eyes of Laura Mars. 
  
• Keith Roysdon revisits the 1984 adventure film Romancing the Stone. 
  
• Germain Lussier revisits the 2010 science fiction film Tron Legacy.
• Chris Willman interviews legendary film composer John Williams.
• Zoe Williams interviews Jon Bernthal, star of The Punisher and The Walking Dead. 
• Rich Pelley interviews Sir Ben Kingsley, who appeared in Sexy Beast, Jules, Iron Man 3 and many others. 
• Adam Davidson interviews Paul Dano who plays a giant talking spider in Spaceman.
  
• Charlotte Owens interviews Dakota Johnson, star of Madame Web.
• James Whitbrook interviews Walton Goggins who plays The Ghoul in Fallout.
  
• Sabina Graves interviews DeWanda Wise, star of Imaginary and Jurassic World: Dominion.
  
• Steve Vertlieb profiles Meriam C. Cooper, director of the original King Kong. 
• Mark Kermode profiles horror director Wes Craven.
• Anthony Tringali and Stephen Cox report that the 1939 song "Over the Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz may have been plagiarised from the 1910 piece “Concert Étude, Opus 38” by Norwegian composer Signe Lund.  
• Jonathan Alexandratos talks about the cancellation of She-Hulk: Attorney-at-Law.
  
• Ben Child wonders why some fans are lobbying for a streaming release of the infamously terrible 1994 Fantastic Four movie. 
• James Whitbrook reports that director Zack Snyder considers a Batman who won't kill irrelevant.
  
• Todd Spangler reports that Warner Bros is shutting down the animation studio Rooster Teeth after 21 years.  
• David Bauder reports that many US TV networks have becomes ghost stations, which are steadily losing viewers to streaming services.
  
• Gary Baum and Katie Kilkenny report that the film crew union IATSE is threatening to go on strike only months after the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes shut down film and TV productions.
  
• Actress Ann Whitfield who appeared in White Christmas, The Thin Man, Perry Mason, 77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye, Kolchak - The Night Stalker and many others has died aged 85. 
• Actor Charles Dierkop, who appeared in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, The St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Police Woman, Star Trek and many others, has died aged 87. 
  
• Voice actor Mark Dodson, who voiced Salacious Crumb in Star Wars and several of the titular creatures in Gremlins, has died aged 64.  
• British actress Pamela Salem, who appeared in Doctor Who, Blake's 7, Never Say Never Again and The Great Train Robbery, has died aged 80.
  

 

Comments on Masters of the Universe: Revolution (spoilers) and Masters of the Universe in general: 

• Cheryl Morgan shares her thoughts on Masters of the Universe: Revolution.
  
• Alexander Valentino shares nine reasons he prefers Masters of the Universe: Revolution over Revelation. 
• Alexander Valentino also shares ten changes Masters of the Universe: Revolution makes to established Masters of the Universe lore. 
  
• Kate Bove praises the inclusion of the iconic Battle Armour He-Man toy in Masters of the Universe: Revolution. 
• For Eternia shares some background on the Cosmic Enforcer Zanthor, who makes a cameo appearance in Masters of the Universe: Revolution.
  
• For Eternia attempts to analyse the ratings performance of Masters of the Universe: Revolution.
  

 

Comments on Dune, Part 2: 

• Arturo Serrano declares that the hero's journey takes a dark turn in Dune, Part 2. 
• Emmet Asher-Perrin declares that Dune: Part 2 asks questions that the original never dared
  
• David Sexton calls Dune, Part 2 pure spectacle devoid of self-consciousness or humour.
• Maya St. Clair notes that she actually prefer David Lynch's 1984 adaptation of Dune to Denis Villeneuve's, because it captures the weirdness of the noves much better. 
• Camestros Felpaton feels that Denis Villeneuve's Dune does a good job capturing the weird messiness of the novel. 
• Ben Child notes that the various Dune sequels get even weirder and may be very difficult to film indeed.
  
• Adrian Horton shares a spoilerish review of Dune, Part 2. 
• Chris M. Barkley shares his thoughts on Dune: Part 2.
• Geek the F Out share their thoughts on Dune: Part 2.
  
• P.Z. Myers shares his thoughts on Dune: Part 2. 
  
• Ethan Shanfeld talks about watching a 3:15 am screening of Dune, Part 2.
  
• Germain Lussier interviews Denis Villeneuve, director of Dune. 
• Brian Davids interviews Denis Villeneuve. 
• Britta Devore interviews Denis Villeneuve. 
• Anne Thompson interviews Denis Villeneuve. 
• Christian Holub interviews Denis Villeneuve.
  
• Josh Rottenberg interviews Denis Villenueve and Austin Butler, who plays Feyd Rautha Harkonnen in Dune, Part 2. 
• Anthony Breznican interviews Christopher Walken who plays Emperor Shaddam IV in Dune, Part 2.
  
• Jazz Tangcay explains how the arena fight scene in Dune: Part 2 was made.
  
• Alex Acks talks about Arrakis, Tatooine and the science of desert planets 
• Lincoln Michel points out that Dune's linguistic worldbuilding is actually pretty good. 
• Adrienne Westenfeld explains how to read the Dune novels in order.
  
• Rebecca Rubin reports that Dune: Part 2 has achieved the biggest box office opening weekend of 2024 to date. 
  

 

Comments on Star Wars in general:

• Matthew Ilseman shares his appreciation for The Mandalorian, particularly its space western aesthetics.
  
• Amon Warmann interviews Hayden Christensen who played Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka.
  

 

Comments on the new Avatar: The Last Airbender in animation and live action:

• Vanessa Armstrong reports that the live action Avatar: The Last Airbender has been renewed for two more seasons.
• Emma Keates notes that Avatar: The Last Airbender will also definitely end after season 3.
  

 

Comments on Star Trek in general:

•  Keith R.A. DeCamdido looks back on his Star Trek rewatch series. 
• Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on season 4 of Star Trek Discovery.
  
• Galactic Journey share their thoughts on the 1969 Star Trek episode "The Cloud Minders".
  
• James Bacon revisits the 1990 Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The High Ground". 
• Michael Shiels McNamee also revisits "The High Ground".
• James Whitbrook reports that season 3 of Star Trek Picard almost had even more cameos by former Deep Space Nine and Voyager castmembers.
  
• Avery Kaplan shares her five favourite Star Trek homages. 
  

 

Comments on Resident Alien:

• Saloni Gajjar begs people to watch Resident Alien. 
• Melody McCune shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Resident Alien. 
• Melody McCune shares her appreciation for the character of Asta Twelvetrees in Resident Alien.
  

Comments on The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin: 

• Jenna Scherer calls The Completely Made-Up Adventures Of Dick Turpin the long-lost twin of Our Flag Means Death.  
• Lucy Mangan calls The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin a comedy that feels like daylight robbery
  

 

Comments on The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live:

•  Noetta Harjo shares her thoughts on the latest episode of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live.
• Cheryl Eddy notes that The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live is a ratings success. 
  

 

Comments on Shogun: 

• Meredith Hobbs Coons shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Shogun.
• Saloni Gajjar interviews Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai, two of the stars of Shōgun
  

 

Awards:

• The shortlist for the 2023 BSFA Awards has been announced.
• The winner of the 2024 Crawford Award has been announced.
  
• The shortlist for the 2024 Robert E. Howard Awards has been announced. 
• The semifinalists for the 2023 Self-Published Science Fiction Competition have been announced.
  
• The winners of the 2023 Clarkesworld Reader’s Poll have been announced.
• The finalists for the 2023 Ursa Major Awards have been announced.
  
• The shortlist for the 2024 Leo Literary Awards has been announced. 
• The finalists for the 2024 Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award have been announced.
  
• The winner of the 2024 Robert A. Heinlein Award has been announced. 
• The longlist for the 2024 Women's Prize for Fiction has been announced. 
• The winners of the 2024 Audie Awards have been announced. 
• The winners of the 2023 ACE Eddie Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the 2023 Golden Reel Awards have been announced. 
  
• Doctor Science shares a proposal to have a permanent Hugo tech working group in order to unify the software that is used to count Hugo votes and nominations.
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Jaq Evans talks about writing settings that crawl under the skin.
  
• Elizabeth Minkel notes that quite a few people actually do make money from fan fiction, just not the authors. 
• Elizabeth Minkel reports about the emerging art of fanbinding, i.e. fan fiction being bound as hardcover books. 
• Brandon Sanderson reports about how he is trying to persuade Audible to offer terms more favourable to authors.
  
• Jim Milliot reports about the results of the latest Lee & Low study about diversity in the publishing industry.
• Ella Creamer reports that a recent study in the UK has found that many children feel judges for the reading choices and are put off reading for pleasure.
  
• Colby Sharp wonders if author visits to schools are worth it.
  

 

Interviews:

•  Tom Hunter interviews Patience Agbabi.
• Arley Sorg interviews Izzy Wasserstein. 
• Arley Sorg interviews Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay  
• The HWA interviews Kate Maruyama.
  

 

Reviews:

• Paul Weimer reviews The City of Marble and Blood by Howard Andrew Jones 
• Paul Haggerty reviews Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree 
• Adrienne Martini reviews Paladin’s Faith by T. Kingfisher
  
• Adrian Collins reviews River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey 
  
• Kevin Tipple reviews Calculated in Death by J.D. Robb. 
• Cheryl Morgan reviews The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older.
  
• Paul Di Filippo reviews Beggar’s Sky by Wil McCarthy  
• Jen Lucas reviews The Collapsing Wave by Doug Johnstone 
  
• Adrian Collins reviews The Storm Beneath the World by Michael R. Fletcher
  
• Martin Cahill reviews The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett. 
• Fabienne Schwizer reviews Venom & Vow by Anna-Marie and Elliot McLemore
  
• Blue Book Balloon reviews Pillar of Ash by H.M. Long
  
• James Davis Nicoll reviews Fathomfolk by Eliza Chan 
• Bill Capossere reviews The Truth of the Aleke by Moses Ose Utomi 
  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Djinn's Apple by Djamila Morani, translated by Sawad Hussain  
• Alex Brown reviews The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years by Shubnum Khan
  
• Paul Di Filippo reviews Equimedian by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro 
• Sharon Richardson reviews The Descent by Paul E. Hardisty
  
• Tobias Carroll reviews The Invisible Hotel by Yeji Y. Han.
  
• Jake Casella Brookins reviews Same Bed Different Dreams by Ed Park 
• John Mauro reviews Through Dreams So Dark by Angela Boord
  
• Marion Deeds reviews What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher
• Marlene Harris reviews Feed Them Silence by Lee Mandelo 
• Charles Bonkowsky reviews The Warm Hands Of Ghosts by Katherine Arden 
  
• Mahvesh Murad reviews My Throat an Open Grave by Tori Bovalino.
• Rob Bedford reviews The Haunting of Velkwood by Gwendoline Kiste.
• Molly Templeton reviews Projections by S.E. Porter. 
  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Charlie Says by Neil Williamson
  
• Richard Fisher reviews Sinbad and the Great Old Ones by Gavin Chappell  
• Daniel Haeusser reviews Covergence Problems by Wole Talabi
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews Convergence Problems by Wole Talabi
  
• Judith Tarr reviews The Secret History of Bigfoot by John O'Connor.
   
  

 Classics reviews:

• The Cromcast revisits the 1936 Conan sword and sorcery story "Red Nails" by Robert E. Howard. 
• Alan Brown revisits the 1941 science fiction novels The Sun Destroyers by Ross Rocklynne and A Yank at Valhalla by Edmond Hamilton
  
• Sandy Ferber revisits the 1956 science fiction novel The Cosmic Puppets by Philip K. Dick
  
• Brian Collins revisits the 1967 science fiction story “Reduction in Arms” by Tom Purdom
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1968 science fiction novel The Last Starship From Earth by John Boyd. 
• David Levinson revisits the April 1969 issue of If - Worlds of Science Fiction.
  
• C.T. Phipps revisits the 1979 vampire novel Prince of the City by Keith Herber 
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1981 military science fiction novel In the Hands of Glory by Phyllis Eisenstein 
• Joe Kenney revisits the 1990 Doomsday Warrior post-apocalyptic novel American Dream Machine by Ryder Stacy a.k.a. Ryder Syvertsen.
  
• Alissa Burger revisits the 1990 YA horror novel The Stepsister and its 1995 sequel The Stepsister 2 by R.L. Stine.
  
• Emmet Asher-Perrin revisits the 2008 fantasy novel Nation by Terry Pratchett.
  
  

Con and event reports:

• Ian Hunter reports about the 2023 Fantasycon in Birmingham, UK. 
• Simina Mistreanu reports about the 2023 Worldcon in Chengdu, China, and Chinese SFF fandom in general.
  
• The Los Angeles Science Fiction Society shares photos of its first in-person meeting in years. 
• Matthew Jackson looks ahead at the SFF movies debuting at the 2024 South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.
  
• BBC Outlook interviews puppeteer Basil Twist who created the puppets for a stage adaptation of My Neighbour Totoro at the Royal Shakespeare Company in London, UK. 
• Amelia Tait points out that the so-called Disney adults are a deliberate creation of the Walt Disney Company to market its products. 
• Sabina Graves shares a guide to all the Star Wars locations featured in the Star Tours ride at various Disney Parks around the world.
  
• Chris Nichols reports about the new Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, California.
  
• Steven Morris reports about a controversy regarding plans to set up a statue of Jane Austen outside Winchester cathedral in Winchester, UK, where Jane Austen lies buried.  
• Ella Creamer reports that British schools have stopped asking kids to dress up as favourite characters for World Book Day, because of costumes can be a huge expense for many families.
  

 

Crowdfunding:

• Locus Magazine is running its annual fundraiser for 2024.
  
• The Flip-Or action figure by Hatter Toys is looking for funding.
  

 

Science and technology:

• Elisha Sauers shares some photos taken by the Odysseus Moon Lander as it touched down on the Moon.
  
• Kathryn Schulz explains what a major solar storm could do to Earth.
• Lisa Black talks about the remarkable number of deaths that occurred around Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defence Initiative SDI, incorrectly referred to as the Star Wars program. 
• Mark J. Price compares the actual 2024 to predictions made in 1924.
  
  

Gaming: 

• Cole Rush shares five SFF board games with excellent lore.
• Joe DelFranco reviews the video game God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla by Santa Monica Studios 
  

 

Toys and collectibles:

• Pixel Dan reviews the Mattel Masters of the Universe Origins Rokkon action figure.
• Pixel Dan reviews wave 1 of the Mega Man action figures by Jada Toys.
  
• MotU Origins Cork shares an open letter to Mattel regarding distribution problems and the limited availability of many Masters of the Universe toys. 
• Sabina Graves shares a look at the Hot Toys Shin Hati and Baylan Skoll figures based on characters from Ahsoka. 
• James Whitbrook shares a look at a new Batman: The Animated Series themed Lego set.
  
• Brick Technology explains how to build a cat-sized Lego train.
  
• Miles Klee reports about collectors of movie tie-in popcorn buckets.
• Emma Beddington and Sarah Gilbert share pictures of vintage dolls they find scary. 
• Sabina Graves also shares pictures of toys that either scare her or have inspired horror movies.
  
• Cheryl Eddy reports about an auction of rare vintage collectible toys.
  

 

Free online fiction: 

• "A Magician Did It" by Rich Larson in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• "The Throw, The Catch, The Swap" by Michael Evans in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
  
• "A Game of Vlet" by Joanna Russ in Library of America. 
• "Rude Litterbox Space" by Mary Robinette Kowal in The Sunday Morning Transport.
• "Let the Star Explode" by Shingai Njeri Kagunda in Lightspeed. 
• "Fragments of a Symbiotic Life" by Will McMahon in Lightspeed. 
  
• "The Iron Serpent" by H.R. Laurence in Heroic Fantasy Quarterly.
• "Threnody in Dark Wood" by Avra Margariti in The Deadlands.
• "The River Judge" by S.L. Huang in Reactor.
  
• "The Fate of the Fair" by Gustavo Bondoni in Swords and Sorcery Magazine.
• "The Ghost Tenders of Chernobyl" by Nika Murphy in Apex Magazine.
  
• "My Flesh, Your Blood" by David Contara in Wyldblood.
• "Second Deaths" by Keith Rosson in Nightmare Magazine.
  
• "Phosphorescence" by Ben Berman Ghan in Clarkesworld.
• "Hello! Hello! Hello!" by Fiona Jones in Clarkesworld.
  
• "Rare Bindings" by Matthew Cheney in The Dark.
• "Skin Deep" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch,
  

 

Trailers and videos:

• Watch a trailer for The Wild Robot. 
• Watch a trailer for Fallout. 
• Watch a trailer for Late Night With the Devil.
  
• Watch a trailer for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
• Watch a trailer for 3 Body Problem. 
• Watch a trailer for Parasyte: The Grey. 
• Watch a trailer for Arcadian. 
• Watch a trailer for Inside Out 2.