Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for April 26, 2024

 

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 Star Trek in general, Fallout, Masters of the Universe in general, Doctor Who past, present and future, Civil War, Dead Boy Detectives, Spy x Family: Code White, Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver, Humane, Knuckles, Abigail, Bluey, tributes to Terry Carter and much more.

Speculative fiction in general:

• Jennifer Wilson talks about the recent popularity of stories about humans and robots in sexual and romantic relationships. 
• Cole Rush shares five SFF mysteries he couldn't put down.
  
• Ratika Deshpande shares eight fantasy stories with happy endings. 
• James Davis Nicoll shares five SFF books featuring professional assassins.
  
• Nina Munteanu shares ten works of ecological SFF.
• Keith Roysdon talks about the heyday of pulp fiction. 
• Andrew DeYoung hosts a roundtable with the finalists in the genre fiction section of the 2024 Minnesota Book Awards.
  
• Kim Sherwood shares her appreciation for the many formidable women in the James Bond novels and movies. 
  
• Brian Collins shares his appreciation for the works of M.R. James. 
• Adventures Fantastic shares his appreciation for the works of Henry Kuttner.
  
• Alison Scott shares an overview of Australian SFF fandom in the 1960s. 
• Deuce Richardson shares another health update about Robert E. Howard scholar Rusty Burke. 
• Shealagh Sullivan remembers the late SFF fan, conruunner and scholar Deborah Geisler.
  
• SFF fan and conrunner Leane M. Verhulst has died aged 54. 
• Horror writer Ray Garton has died aged 61.
  
• SFF fan John G. Trimble, who co-founded the Society for Creative Anachronism and initiated the campaign to save the original Star Trek with his wife Bjo Trimble, has died.aged 87.
  

Comics and Art:

• Rachel Cooke reviews the graphic novel Self-Esteem and the End of the World by Luke Healy
• James Whitbrook share some background about the character of Cassandra Nova from the X-Men comics.
  
• Tom Gauld shares a cartoon about Bluebeard the writer.
  

 

Film and TV:

• James Whitbrook shates his thoughts on "Bright Eyes", the latest episode of X-Men '97.
  
• C.T. Phipps shares his thoughts on Castlevania: Nocturne. 
• Graeme Virtue calls The Red King a wickedly playful new spin on The Wicker Man
  
• Tom Philip calls season 2 of The Big Door Prize a messy, intriguing improvement
• Phil Hoad calls Malum/Hunt Her, Kill Her a double bill of low-budget, single-location horror films. 
• Melody McCune shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Beacon 23. 
• Meredith Hobbs Coons shares her thoughts on the season 1 finale of Shogun.
  
• Anthony Breznican shares a look behind the scenes of Dark Matter.
  
• Ben Child wonders whether Edgar Wright will manage to make a decent remake of The Running Man. 
• Lorelei Marcus revisits the 1969 movie Head starring The Monkees. 
• Kali Wallace revisits the 1977 science fiction film Close Encounters of the Third Kind
  
• Judith Tarr revisits the 1987 fantasy film Harry and the Hendersons 
  
• Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the 1994 Babylon 5 episode “Infection” 
• Paul Morton revisits the 1995 Sliders episode "Eggheads".
  
• Cheryl Eddy revisits the horror movies of 1999. 
• Germain Lussie revisits the 2001 fantasy romance Amélie.
  
• Germain Lussier revisits the 2011 science fiction film Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
• io9 interviews Marlo Kelly who plays Tatiana in 3 Body Problem. 
• Rich Pelley interviews actress and director Bryce Dallas Howard, who starred in Argylle and Jurassic World and directed multiple episode of The Mandalorian. 
• Lindsey Bahr interviews Shawn Levy, director of Deadpool and Wolverine. 
• Cheryl Eddy interviews Don Coscarelli, director of Phantasm I-IV, Bubba Ho-Tep, The Beastmaster, and John Dies at the End
  
• Germain Lussier remembers that Disney declared the Star Wars expanded universe non-canon exactly ten years ago.
  
• Craig Wexler and Darci Heikkinen share their ten favourite engineers in filmic science fiction. 
• Charlie Jane Anders shares gender-flipping comedies.
  
• Olivia Rutigliano shares the ten best sunglass wearers in films and TV shows. 
• Daniel Bessner talks about the threats facing film and TV writers. 
• Amelia Tait reports how tax breaks and grants have fuelled a boom of international film and TV productions in rural parts of the UK. 
• Chike Nwaenie reports that animation work on the upcoming anime Dahlia in Bloom may have been outsourced to North Korea in spite of economic sanctions against that country.
  
• Michael Sun reports that actors  Rei Hance, Joshua Leonard and Michael Williams, the original cast of The Blair Witch Project, have demanded retroactive residuals, since they did not have proper union representation, when making the film.
• The Guardian reports that multiple crewmembers were injured and hospitalised after an accident on the set of the film The Pickup.
  
• Dalya Alberge reports that The Magic Eye: The Cinema of Stanley Kubrick by Neil Hornick, a non-fiction book whose publication Kubrick blocked for decades, will finally be published.
• Dani Anguino reports that actor Chris Pratt, best known for playing Star Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy, and his wife Katherine Schwarzenegger, daughter of Arnold, have demolished a historic mid century house in Los Angeles, California, to build yet another McMansion.  
• Gloria Oladipo reports that the rape conviction of film producer Harvey Weinstein has been overturned by a court in New York, though his rape conviction in Los Angeles still stands. 
• Benjamin Lee shares responses from various of Weinstein's accusers to the overturning of his rape conviction.
  

 

Tributes to Terry Carter:

• Actor Terry Carter, who played Colonel Tigh in the original Battlestar Galactica and also appeared in McCloud, Foxy Brown, Sergeant Bilko and many others, has died aged 95.
• Mike Barnes remembers Terry Carter.

 

Comments on Star Trek Discovery and Star Trek in general:

• Keith R.A. DeCandido shares his thoughts on "Mirrors", the latest episode of Star Trek Discovery.
• Avery Kaplan shares her thoughts on "Mirrors" 
• James Whitbrook shares his thoughts on "Mirrors".
  
• TrekCore interviews Sonequa Martin-Green who plays Michael Burnham in Star Trek Discovery.
  
• James Whitbrook looks on the impact that the Dominion War from Deep Space Nine had on the usually utopian Star Trek universe.
  

Comments on Fallout: 

• Joe DelFranco shares his thoughts on season 1 of Fallout.
  
• William Hughes shares his thoughts on the season 1 finale of Fallout.
  
• Cassie Holguin shares her appreciation for the character of Lucy MacLean in Fallout. 
• Jack King interviews Ella Purnell who plays Lucy MacLean in Fallout.
  
• Germain Lussier interviews Ramin Djawadi, who composed the score for Fallout.
  
• Cheryl Eddy shares ten post-apocalyptic movies to watch after finishing Fallout,. 
  

 

Comments on Doctor Who past, present and future: 

•  Cliff Joannou interviews Ncuti Gatwa, who plays the Fifteenth Doctor in Doctor Who.
• James Whitbrook reports that showrunner Russel T. Davis has defended Doctor Who's new controversial midnight release schedule.
  

 

Comments on Masters of the Universe in general:

• Kate Bove lists the classic Masters of the Universe characters killed off in Masters of the Universe Revelation/Revolution.
• Alexander Valentino lists ten classic Masters of the Universe characters who have yet to put in an appearance in Masters of the Unvierse Revelation/Revolution. 
• Mega Jay Retro discusses history of Keldor from Masters of the Universe.
  
• Dad-at-Arms interviews Stage McNulty, production manager at Powerhouse Animation who worked on Masters of the Unvierse Revelation and Revolution.
  

 

Comments on Dead Boy Detectives: 

• Joel Golby calls Dead Boy Detectives silly, spooky and wicked fun
• Lucy Mangan calls Dead Boy Detectives a fun paranormal romp that will make you feel young again
• Saloni Gajjar calls Dead Boy Detectives a sweet and silly supernatural drama
  
• Melody McCune shares episode by episode reviews of Dead Boy Detectives.

 

Comments on Civil War: 

• Haley Zapal calls Civil War an absolutely brutal depiction of photojournalism in the midst of an underexplored conflict
  
•  io9 interviews Wagner Moura, one of the stars of Civil War.
  

 

Comments on Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver: 

• Jesse Hassenger calls Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver a bombastically fun sequel
• Jarrod Jones calls Rebel Moon—Part Two: The Scargiver an improved follow up and a messy but daring star war
• Germain Lussier calls Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver, without a doubt, better than its predecessor, yet still slow, unbalanced and emotionally vapid.  
• Arturo Serrano calls Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver a forgettable boogaloo.
  
• Germain Lussier reports that Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver is currently topping the Netflix charts, but still had fewer views than Part One,
  

 

Comments on Spy x Family: Code White:

• Phuong Le declares that the anime Spy x Family Code: White features ingenious espionage antics with a super-powered family 
• Ann Michelle Harris declares that Spy x Family: Code White is lighter in tone than the regular anime.
  

 

Comments on Humane: 

• Brent Simon calls Humane a dystopian film that mostly hits the right social satire notes
  
• Brent Simon interviews Caitlin Cronenberg and Jay Baruchel, director and star of Humane.

 

Comments on Abigail:

• Luke Y. Thompson calls Abigail a frequently funny dance of death
• Sabina Graves interviews Melissa Barrera and Alisha Weir, two of the stars of Abigail.
• Sabina Graves interviews Kathryn Newton, one of the stars of Abigail.
  

 

Comments on Knuckles: 

• Meredith Hobbs Coons shares her thoughts on the Sonic the Hedghog spin-off Knuckles. 
• Kenneth Shephard notes that Knuckles is barely in his own show.
  

 

Comments on Bluey:

• Sian Cain reports that a secret, previously unannounced secret episode of Bluey entitled "The Surprise" just dropped.
• Stuart Heritage explains how an experience he had playing with his kids inspired an episode of Bluey. 
• Sabina Graves reports that Bluey will be taking a break after the surprise secret episode.
  

 

Awards:

• The winners of the 2024 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes have been announced.
• The shortlist for the 2024 Australasian Shadows Awards has been announced.
  
• The winners of the 2024 Zsoldos Péter Award have been announced.
• The shortlist for the 2023 Coyotl Awards has been announced. 
• The winners of the 2024 Ursa Major Awards have been announced.
  
• George R.R. Martin has received the 2024 Courageous Communicator Award from the New Mexico Press Women.
  
• The Society of Illustrators has announced its 2024 Hall of Fame inductees.
  
• Tom Hunter shares a list of all the books submitted for the 2024 Arthur C. Clarke Award.
  
• Submissions are open for the 2024 Faber/Observer/Comica Graphic Short Story Prize
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Sasha Vasilyuk talks about writing in English as a second language.
  
• Charlie Jane Anders explains how to build your online brand without burning out. 
• Ellen Datlow, Joe Monti and Deanna Hoak discuss the role of editors in publishing in a two-part post.
  
• Elle Griffin claims that no one buys books. 
• Lincoln Michel counters Elle Griffin and points out that yes, people do buy books.
  
• Claire Kirch and Nathalie op de Beeck report about a new generation of independent bookstores.
  
• Constance Grady chronicles how Amazon became flooded with scammy trash e-books.
• Charlie Jane Anders, Annalee Newitz and Maggie Tokuda-Hall discuss book bans and fascism.
  
• Jonathan Hamilt, organiser of the controversial Drag Queen Story Hours in libraries, talks about receiving threats and shares safety tips.
  

 

Interviews:

• AudioFile Magazine interviews Martha Wells.
  
• Paul Weimer interviews Eliza Chan. 
• Runalong the Shelves interviews Oliver K. Langmead. 
• Runalong the Shelves interviews Shona Kinsella. 
• John Mauro interviews Lavanya Lakshminarayan
• Fabienne Schwizer interviews Taran Matharu.
  
• Arturo Serrano interviews Cheryl Ntumy.

 

Reviews:

• Runalong the Shelves reviews Light of Impossible Stars by Gareth L Powell
  
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain by Sofia Samatar 
  
• Marlene Harris reviews The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain by Sofia Samatar 
• Alexandra Pierce reviews Triangulum: An Epic of the Nine Worlds of Surya by Subodhana Wijeyeratne 
  
• Marlene Harris reviews Mal Goes to War by Edward Ashton
• Niall Harrison reviews The Mars House by Natasha Pulley
  
• Blue Book Balloon reviews Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky
• Liz Bourke reviews Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell
  
• Marion Deeds reviews Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell 
• Matthew Keeley reviews Saevus Corax Gets Away With Murder by K.J. Parker. 
• Aaron Cummings reviews The Doom of Odin by Scott Oden. 
• Esmay Rosalyne reviews Thorns of War by João F. Silva
  
• James Davis Nicoll reviews Witch of Wild Things by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The House On The Old Cliffs by Adrian Tchaikovsky
  
• Esmay Rosalyne reviews The Crimson Court by Brendan Noble
• Liz Bourke reviews Sunbringer by Hannah Kaner. 
• Chris Kluwe reviews Of Jade and Dragons by Amber Chen
  
• Fantasy Faction reviews The Last Ranger by J.D.L. Rosell
• Fantasy Faction reviews The Last Fang of God by Ryan Kirk
  
• Maya Gittelman reviews Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo.
  
• Julia Kitvaria Sarene reviews Gates of Sorrow by J. E. Hannaford 
• Marion Deeds reviews Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett 
  
• Colleen Mondor reviews The Fair Folk by Su Bristow and The Bad Ones by Melissa Albert 
• Alex Brown reviews Otherworldly by F.T. Lukens
  
• James Davis Nicoll reviews One Hundred Shadows by Hwang Jungeun, translated by Jung Yewon
  
• Blue Book Balloon reviews Simul by Andrew Caldecott 
• Gabino Iglesias reviews Clever Creatures of the Night by Samantha Mabry
  
• John Mauro reviews Night’s Reign by Daan Katz
  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Hunting By The River by Daniel Carpenter 
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Convergence Problems by Wole Talabi
     
  

Classics reviews:

• John O'Neill revisits the 1947 horror collection Night’s Black Agents by Fritz Leiber
  
• James Wallace Harris revisits the 1950 time travel story “Flight to Forever” by Poul Anderson
• Sam Reader revisits the 1955 horror story “Bright Segment” by Theodore Sturgeon
  
• James Wallace Harris revisits the 1957 science fiction story “Small World” by William F. Nolan 
• Mark Yon revisits the May 1969 issue of New Worlds.
  
• Brian Collins revisits the 1976 Kane sword and sorcery story “Two Suns Setting” by Karl Edward Wagner 
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1978 YA science fiction novel The Tomorrow City by Monica Hughes 
  
• Brian Collins revisits the 1979 time travel novella “Palely Loitering” by Christopher Priest
• The Por Por Books Blog revisits the 1985 cyberpunk novel Eclipse by John Shirley. 
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1990 science fiction novel The Race For God by Brian Herbert 
   
  

Con and event reports:

• Octothorpe discusses the Levitation, the 2024 Eastercon in Telford, UK.
  
• John Maher reports that PEN America has cancelled its 2024 Literary Awards ceremony due to yet more uproar about the war in Gaza.
• Coral Murphy Marcos also reports about the cancellation of the 2024 PEN America Literary Awards. 
• Sabina Graves reports about Pixar Fest at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, California.
  

 

Science and technology:

• Harry Baker reports that NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter has sent its final message to Earth, but will continue collecting data.  
• NASA reports that the Voyager 1 space probe has resumed sending updates to Earth.
  
• Rafael Henrique reports that the AI company Stable Diffusion is facing mass lay-offs. 
• Peter O'Dowd, Chris Bentley and Catherine Welch report that Detroit, Michigan, has introduced a road which allows for wirelessly charging electrical vehicles while driving.
  
• Emma Beddington and Sarah Gilbert share eleven vintage transport concepts that never came to be.
• Rahul Jandial wonders whether dreaming is actually the point of sleep.
  

 

Gaming: 

• Nathan Rott reports about the Catan: New Energies boardgame, a spin-off of the popular Settlers of Catan series of boardgames.
  

 

Toys and collectibles:

• For Eternia reviews the Masterverse Princess of Power Leech action figure by Mattel. 
• Ethan Wilson reviews the Marvel Legends Angel figure by Hasbro.
  
• Cat Eldridge reviews the Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy 2 Body Knocker Groot by Neca. 
  
• Still a Big Kid reviews the Ultra Street Fighter II Ken action figure from Jada Toys.
• Sir Dork reviews the Casket of Cruelty and Ultimate Weapons Rack action figure accessories from Super Action Stuff. 
• Sir Dork reviews the Boss Fight Studios skeleton action figures.
  
• Germain Lussier shares a look at the Voltron 40th Anniversary Set by Playmates Toys.
• James Whitbrook shares some new space-themed Lego sets. 
  
• Dad-at-Arms interviews Ethan Wilson about his ongoing copyright battle with Scott Neitlich of Spector Creative.
• Scott Neitlich shares his side of the story.
  

 

Free online fiction: 

• "Lesser Demons of the North Shore" by Juan Martinez in The Sunday Morning Transport. 
• "The Little Monster" by Léopold Chauveau, translated by Nat Paterson, in Samovar. 
• "Travelers’ Tales from the Ends of the World" by Vandana Singh in Lightspeed.
• "Limping Toward Sunrise" by Rich Larson in Lightspeed.
  
• "Occurrence at O1339" by Kelly Jennings in Clarkesworld.
• "The Rambler" by Shen Dacheng, translated by Cara Healey, in Clarkesworld.
• "The Slave Boy" by Denzel Xavier Scott in The Deadlands.
• "Sleeping Arrangements" by R.T. Ester in Interzone Digital. 
  
• "Dead But Dreaming Still" by Michael Kelly in The Dark.
• "Reading Lies" by Gabby Gilliam in Wyldblood.
  
• "The Injustice Collector" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
  

 

Trailers and videos:

• Watch a trailer for Deadpool & Wolverine.
• Watch a trailer for Robot Dreams
• Watch a trailer for The Watchers.
  
• Watch a trailer for Blink Twice. 
• Watch a trailer for Atlas. 
• Watch a trailer for The Exorcism.
  
• Watch a trailer for Jim Henson Idea Man