Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for June 14, 2024

 

It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with the 2024 Nebula Award winners, Star Trek in general, Masters of the Universe in general, Doctor Who past, present and future, Star Wars: The Acolyte and Star Wars in general,, Furiosa, I Saw the TV Glow, Dark Matter, season 2 of House of the Dragon, season 4 of The Boys, season 2 of Interview with the Vampire, Inside Out 2, the bankruptcy of the RWA, the 2024 Robert E. Howard Days, the investment firm Baillie Gifford cancelling sponsorships of several UK literary festivals in response to protests and pressure groups and much more.

Speculative fiction in general:

• Lisa Tuttle shares recent science fiction, fantasy and horror novels.
  
• Reactor lists all the new horror, romantasy and SFF crossover books coming out in June. 
• James Wallace Harris wonders if he is falling out of love with science fiction. 
  
• Alec Worley wonders whether sword and sorcery can evolve and innovate or whether the genre will die.  
  
• Matt John explains how SFF helped him deal with trauma and loss. 
• Lincoln Michel explains why the realism versus science fiction and fantasy debate is a false dichotomy.
  
• Elaina Ellis explains why poets should read and write romance fiction. 
• James Davis Nicoll shares five classic SFF works set in shared universes.
  
• James Davis Nicoll shares five science fictional Earths with more than one indigenous intelligent species. 
• Rowdy Geirsson lists five legendary warriors from Norse mythology, sagas and epics.
  
• Olviai Rutigliano shares her favourite recent horror novels about horror movies. 
• Jo Walton shares her reading list for May 2024.
  
• Tenacity Plys has assembled playlists for sad fictional robots.
  
• Mailing No. 10 of TRIAPA is available.
• John Maddox Roberts, author of science fiction, fantasy and historical mysteries, has died aged 76.
  

 

Comics and Art:

• Alex Puncekar reviews When the Blood Has Dried #3 by Gary Moloney and Daniel Romero 
• Damien Cavallo reviews Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli
  
• Locus interviews comic artist and writer Raya Golden.
  
• Keith Roysdon shares his appreciation for vintage horror illustrations.
  
• Tom Gauld shares a cartoon about bookstore rebrandings.
  

 

Film and TV:

• Paul Levinson finds Part 2 of Dune not as good as Part 1.
• Judith Tarr calls Sasquatch Sunset the greatest bigfoot story ever told.  
• Phil Hoad calls The Moor a haunting folk horror tale of a father searching for his long-missing son
  
• Peter Bradshaw calls the animated movie Memoir of a Snail a charming, poignant tale of troubled twins 
• Cheryl Eddy declares that Longlegs will subvert all your serial-killer movie expectations 
• Steve Rose calls Arcadian a tense post-apocalyptic thriller
  
• Phil Hoad calls Sorcery an unsettling Indigenous horror film. 
• Benjamin Lee calls The Watchers a silly horror story.
  
• Avery Kaplan shares episode by episode reviews of the final season of Sweet Tooth. 
• Melody McCune shares her thoughts on the season 2 premiere of The Lazarus Project.
  
• Paul Hirons shares his thoughts on Eric.  
• Arturo Serrano shares his thoughts on Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person
  
• Melody McCune shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Reginald the Vampire.
  
• Ben Child wonders whether Venom: The Last Dance will be connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe or not.
  
• Andrew Borre lists ten ways the Hobbit trilogy has aged poorly. 
• Lorna Wallace lists five fantasy movies with fairy tale vibes.
  
• Steve Vertlieb talks about his love for vintage monster movies. 
• Ted Goia talks about what the decline of the western genre can tell us about Hollywood's current troubles. 
• Michael Hogan shares his favourite all time villains from children's TV.
  
• Stuart Heritage discusses the bizarre trend to make horror movies out of characters that newly entered the public domain such as Winnie the Pooh and the Steamboat Willie incarnation of Mickey Mouse.
  
• Angelica Jade Bastien praises the hot boys of anime. 
• Jacob Oller revisits the 1949 musical comedy Neptune's Daughter.  
• Kali Wallace revisits the 1965 dystopian noir film Alphaville.
  
• Arturo Serrano revisits the 1973 science fiction film Westworld. 
• Peter Bradshaw revisits the 1974 horror film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
  
• Scott Tobias revisits the 1984 horror comedy Gremlins for its fortieth anniversary. 
• Jesse Pasternack revisits the 1993 animated film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and declares it the best of all the many Batman films.
  
• Dan Larsen revisits the 1994 animated series Phantom 2040. 
• Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the 1994 Babylon Five episode "Believers".
  
• Justin Carter revisits the 2014 science fiction movie Edge of Tomorrow. 
• io9 interviews Michael Emerson, star of Lost, Evil and Fallout.
• Catherine Shoard reports that actor Matt Bomer lost the role of Superman due to being gay.
  
• David Brancaccio and Nic Perez report about the growth of the film industry in Georgia.
  
• Matt Schimkowitz reports that Disney will cease distributing DVDs in Australia and New Zealand. 
• Crystalyn Hodgkins reports that Gainax, the anime studio behind Neon Genesis Evangelion, has filed for bankruptcy.
  
• Francisco Garcia remembers Dennis Potter, writer of Pennies From Heaven, The Singing Detective and many others. 
  
• Actor Alan Scarfe, who appeared in Seven Days, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, Lethal Weapon III, Double Impact and many others, has died aged 77.
  

 

Comments on Star Trek in general:

• Galactic Journey revisits "Turnabout Intruder", the 1969 series finale of the original Star Trek. 
• James Whitbrook revisits the 1994 Star Trek Deep Space Nine episode “The Jem’Hadar”
• Listen to Alex Kurtzman accepting a Peabody Award for the Star Trek franchise.
  

 

Comments on Doctor Who past, present and future: 

• Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on "Rogue", the latest episode of Doctor Who. 
• Melody McCune shares her thoughts on "Rogue".
• Martin Belam shares his thoughts on "Rogue". 
• Emmet Asher-Perrin shares their thoughts on "Rogue". 
• James Whitbrook shares his thoughts on "Rogue".
  
• Charlie Jane Anders shares eleven hot takes about Doctor Who. 
• James Whitbrook notes that he misses the quieter moments in Doctor Who.
  
• Jessica Holmes revisits the 1969 Doctor Who serial "The War Games".
  

 

Comments on Masters of the Universe in general:

• Ben Sherlock explains why Nicholas Galitzine would actually make a perfect He-Man in the planned live action Masters of the Universe movie. 
• Brennan Klein lists all the actors who have been cast as He-Man in the various proposed Masters of the Universe live action movies.  
• Mary Kassel lists ten actors who would make a great Skeletor in the planned Masters of the Universe live action movie. 
• Stephen Rosenberg lists ten Masters of the Universe characters he would love to see in a proposed live action movie.
  
• Cora Buhlert reviews the Masters of the Universe Revolution Prequel comic #1 by Ted Biaselli, Rob David, Tim Sheridan and Daniel HDR
  

 

Comments on Star Wars: The Acolyte and Star Wars in general: 

• Roxana Hadadi and Jackson McHenry declare that The Acolyte opens up exciting new possibilities for the Star Wars Universe and will make a certain kind of fanboy mad.
• Haley Zapal shares her thoughts on the first two episodes of The Acolyte. 
• Emmet Asher-Perrin shares their thoughts on "Destiny", the latest episode of The Acolyte. 
• James Whitbrook shares his thoughts on "Destiny". 
• James Whitbrook notes that the coven seen in the latest episode of The Acolyte puts a completely new spin on the Force. 
• Josh Horowitz interviews Dave Filoni, Lucasfilm chief creative officer, as well as actors Rosario Dawson and Hayden Christensen, who play Ahsoka Tano and Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars universe. 
  
• Katie Campione reports that The Acolyte is a massive hit for Disney+.
  

 

Comments on Furiosa:

• Abigail Nussbaum declares that Furiosa is a movie that shouldn't work, but does. 
• Elsa Sjunneson discusses the portrayal of disability in Furiosa.
  

 

Comments on I Saw the TV Glow: 

• Emily St. James points out that the ending of I Saw the TV Glow is full of hope, if you want it to be.
• William Hughes takes a look at one of the inspirations for the fictional TV show The Pink Opaque in I Saw the TV Glow.
  

 

Comments on season 2 of House of the Dragon: 

• Jenna Scherer shares seven way to fix House of the Dragon.
  
• Cheryl Eddy interviews Ryan Condal, showrunner of House of the Dragon.
• Cheryl Eddy interviews Matthew Needham who plays Lord Larys Strong in House of the Dragon.
  
• Saloni Gajjar lists things to remember before season 2 of House of the Dragon. 
• Vanessa Armstrong reports that House of the Dragon has already been renewed for a third season.
  

 

Comments on Dark Matter:

• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Dark Matter. 
• Betty Bugle shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Dark Matter. 
  

 

Comments on season 2 of Interview with the Vampire:

• Manuel Betancourt shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Interview with the Vampire.
• Sabina Graves shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Interview with the Vampire. 
• Noetta Harjo shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Interview with the Vampire.

 

Comments on season 4 of The Boys:

• Saloni Gajjar shares her thoughts on the season 4 premiere of The Boys. 
• Melody McCune shares her thoughts on the season 4 premiere of The Boys. 
  
• Mikey O'Connell interviews Eric Kripke, showrunner of The Boys and Supernatural.

 

Comments on Inside Out 2: 

• Peter Bradshaw calls Inside Out 2 a little bit convoluted and repetitive and sanitised 
• Germain Lussier declares that Inside Out 2 is Pixar doing what Pixar does best 
• Cindy White calls Inside Out 2 an emotional support movie for those who still have faith in Pixar
  
• Eliana Dockterman interviews Peter Docter, chief creative officer of Pixar. 
  

 

Awards:

• The winners of the 2023 Nebula Awards have been announced.
  
• The finalists for the 2023 Shirley Jackson Awards have been announced. 
• The winners of the 2023 Analog Analytical Laboratory Awards have been announced.
• The shortlist for the 2024 Nommo Awards has been announced.
  
• The winners of the 2024 Future Worlds Prize have been announced. 
• The winners of the 2024 Lambda Literary Awards have been announced
  
• The finalists for the 2024 Frank R. Paul Awards have been announced. 
  
• The winner of the 2024 Balticon Short Film Festival has been announced. 
• The winner of the 2024 PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story has been announced.
  
• Octothorpe share their thoughts on the finalists for the 2024 Hugo Award for Best Novel.
• Rich Horton shares his thoughts on the 2024 Hugo finalists for Best Novel. 
• Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts on the 2023 Nebula winners.
  
• Mike Glyer reports that the Worldcon Heritage Organisation has succeeded in purchasing the very first Hugo Award ever awarded to Forrest J. Ackerman.  
• Chris M. Barkley points out that none of the 2023 Hugo winners have received their trophies yet.
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Literary Hub asks six writers how they tackle writers block.
• Rob Hart explains why humor is one of the sharpest tools in a writer’s arsenal
  
• Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka talk about co-writing as a married couple. 
• Kellie Doherty explains how to make travel in fantasy more interesting. 
• Claire Pooley talks about the perils of writing dogs in fiction, particularly when they die.
  
• Victoria Strauss reports about a new scam targeting writers. 
• Neil Clarke explains how to stop the AI bots from scraping your website as "training data".
  
• Hillel Italie reports that Ursula K. Le Guin's former home in Portland, Oregon, will become a writers retreat. 
• Claire Moses and Elizabeth A. Harris report that sales of English language books are growing in Europe, which they try to frame as a bad thing. 
• Erum Salam reports that Ban This Book by Alan Gratz, a book about book bans, has indeed been banned in Indian River, Florida.
  
• Darren Lautsen reports how a father in Pennridge, Pennsylvania, discovered how a school board was secretly banning books and removing them from circulation.
  

 

Comments on the bankruptcy of the RWA:

• Brittany Allen discusses the bankruptcy of the RWA and what's next for romance writers.
• The Authors Guild shares a statement on the bankruptcy of the Romance Writers of America.

 

Interviews:

• Kate Elliott and John Scalzi interview each other.
• Runalong the Shelves interviews Fiona Moore.
  
• Scott Edelman interviews Alex Jennings.
• Jane Ciabattari interviews Robin Sloan.
  
• Runalong the Shelves interviews S.J. Groenewegen
• Runalong the Shelves interviews Gigi Ganguly. 
• Runalong the Shelves interviews Amal Singh. 
• Leah Schnelbach interviews Mac Crane, Aubrey Wood and Chana Porter 
• Xin Ran interviews Lai Wen.
  

 

Reviews:

• C.T. Phipps reviews The Tigress by Anna Mocikat
• Marlene Harris reviews Fiasco by Constance Fay 
• Lis Carey reviews The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older   
• Camestros Felapton reviews The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older   
  
• Colleen Mondor reviews The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older  
• Jake Casella Brookins reviews Ocean’s Godori by Elaine U. Cho 
  
• Marlene Harris reviews Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky 
• Lis Carey reviews Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher
  
• Marlene Harris reviews The Fireborne Blade by Charlotte Bond  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Fire Within Them by Matthew Ward 
• Fabienne Schwizer reviews Daughter of Calamity by Rosalie M. Lin
• Liz Bourke reviews Necrobane by Daniel M. Ford 
• Molly Templeton reviews Parasol Against the Axe by Helen Oyeyemi.
  
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle
  
• Paul Weimer reviews Seven Against Thebes by Stephen Dando-Collins  
• Lis Carey reviews Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo.
  
• Marlene Harris reviews On the Fox Roads by Nghi Vo 
• Bill Capossere reviews The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo
  
• Paul Weimer reviews The Unfinished Land by Greg Bear  
• Adrian Collins reviews Deathworlder by Victoria Hayward 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews The Die by Jude Berman
  
• C.T. Phipps reviews Shadows of Pnath by Josh Reynolds 
• Tobias Carroll reviews Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay.
  
• Fabienne Schwizer reviews Monstrum by Lottie Mills 
• Alexis Ong reviews Mouth by Puloma Ghosh 
  
• Paul Weimer reviews New Adventures in Space Opera edited by Jonathan Strahan.
  
• Harbinger of D.O.O.M reviews Neither Beg Nor Yield, edited by Jason M. Waltz. 
• Arley Sorg reviews We Mostly Come Out at Night, edited by Rob Costello
  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Utopia of Us: An Anthology Inspired by Yevgeny Zamyatin's We, edited by Teika Marijia Smits
     
  

Classics reviews:

• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1928 horror story "Sea Curse" by Robert E. Howard.
  
• Joachim Boaz revisits the 1955 science fiction story "Single Combat" by Robert Abernathy. 
• Dave Bradley revisits the 1962 gothic suspense novel We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson.
  
• Joachim Boaz revisits the 1962 science fiction novel They Walked Like Men by Clifford D. Simak and the 1965 science fiction novel Sexualis '95 by Jacques Sternberg. 
  
• Brian Collins revisits the 1963 science fiction story “Drunkboat” by Cordwainer Smith
  
• James Wallace Harris revisits the 1967 science fiction story “The Malley System” by Miriam Allen deFord
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1968 science fiction novel Report on Probability A by Brian W. Aldiss 
• Gideon Marcus revisits the July 1969 issue of Galaxy.
  
• Brian Collins revisits the 1984 science fiction story “Friend” by James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel 
• Alan Brown revisits the 1984 alternate history novel Circumpolar! by Richard A. Lupoff 
• Alissa Burger revisits the 1991 YA horror novel Lights Out by R.L. Stine.
  
• C.T. Phipps revisits the 2003 vampire novel Slave Ring by Tim Dedopulos
   
  

Crowdfunding:

• Hasbro Pulse HasLab is looking for funding for a Star Wars Mos Eisley cantina playset in 3.75 inch scale.
  

 

Con and event reports:

• Lavie Tidhar reports about the 2024 LuxCon in Luxembourg.
  
• Mike Glyer reports that the 2024 Worldcon in Glasgow, Scotland, has added voice actress Samatha Béart as a special guest. 
• Watch a video of the "Robert E. Howard in 1934" panel at the 2024 Robert E. Howard Days in Cross Plains, Texas. 
• Watch a video of the panel "Novelyne Price and her influence on Robert E. Howard"at the 2024 Robert E. Howard Days. 
• Watch a video of the panel "Robert E. Howard as a Southwestern writer"at the 2024 Robert E. Howard Days.  
• Watch a video of the panel "Travels with Robert E. Howard"at the 2024 Robert E. Howard Days.  
• Watch a video of the "Heroic and Hilarious" panel at the 2024 Robert E. Howard Days  
• Watch a video of the "Robert E, Howard in pop culture" panel at the 2024 Robert E. Howard Days   
• Scott H. Andrews shares a photo of the 2024 Hexagon Retreat in Crozet, Virgninia.
• Lucy Knight reports that the pressure group Fossil Free Books, which pressured several UK literary festivals into rejecting sponsoring by the investment firm Baillie Gifford, claims that this is not the outcome they wanted. 
• The Observer notes that British literary festivals will have more difficulties finding sponsors, after pressure groups forced festvals to reject sponsoring by the investment firm Baillie Gifford.
  
• Meredith G. White reports about the Poozeum, a museum devoted to fossilized excrements in Williams, Arizona. 
• Esther Zuckerman reviews Jenny Nicholson's documentary The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel.   
• Gordon Jackson reports that Disney has come to an agreement in their conflict with Florida governor Ron DeSantis, allowing them to build a fifth theme park in Orlando, Florida.
  

 

Science and technology:

• Marcia Dunn reports that Boeing's Starliner capsule has made it to the International Space Station.
• Roberto Molar Candanosa reports that the James Webb Space Telescope has revealed an asteroid collision in a neighbouring star system. 
  
• Philip Ball reports that scientists wonder if the universe is shaped like a doughnut. 
• Jamie Grierson reports that Brighton political candidate Steve Endacott has created an AI avatar of himself to answer constituents' questions.
• Lee Weinstein talks about the legend of the Glamis monster. 
• Ed Simon profiles Charles Fort.
  
• Bill Anders, the NASA astronaut who took the iconic "Earthrise" photo, has died in a plane crash aged 90.
  

 

Gaming: 

• Alasdair Stuart reviews the video game Life Eater by Strange Scaffold.
• James Whitbrook reviews the video game Destiny: The Final Shape. 
• Roseanna Pendlebury reviews the video game Mass Effect Andromeda 
  
• Casey Crowhart reviews the boardgame Catan: New Energies. 
• Ryan Britt explains that the video game Indiana Jones and the Great Circle may be the best Indiana Jones adventure in 35 years.
  

 

Toys and collectibles:

• Pixel Dan reviews the Mattel Masters of the Universe Origins Extendar and the Cartoon Collection Teela, Trap-Jaw, Mer-Man and Stratos.
  
• James Whitbrook shares a detailed look at the crowdfunded Hasbro Pulse HasLab Star Wars Mos Eisley cantina playset
• Germain Lussier shares a look at some upcoming Hasbro Star Wars figures based on The Acolyte. 
• Cheryl Eddy shares a look at the new Hot Toys Wolverine action figure. 
• James Whitbrook shares a look at an upcoming Lego Transformers Bumblebee set,
  

 

Free online fiction: 

• "Udo Gehler and the Virgin Bitch of the Resistance" by Andrea Kriz in Lightspeed.  
• "An Otherworldly Cat Tells You the Secrets of the Universe" by Megan Chee in Lightspeed. 
• "Under the Reaching Tree" by Jonathan Louis Duckworth in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
  
• "An Uncanny Patch and Uncanny Hole: The Final Account from the Records of Ptaten, Imperial Surveyor" by Cara Masten DiGirolamo in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
  
• "Death Upon the Turquoise Road" by Gregory Mele in Heroic Fantasy Quarterly. 
• "Away with the Fairies" by Rick Danforth in Swords and Sorcery Magazine.
  
• "The Dark Devices" by Bruce McAllister in Nightmare Magazine. 
• "Reduce! Reuse! Recycle!" by T.J. Klune in Reactor.
  
• "Rivergrace" by E. Catherine Tobler in The Dark.
• "Things We See Under Water" by Prosper C. Ìféányí in Omenana.
  
• "The Clockmaker" by Marc Joan in The Deadlands.
• "Markets of the Otherworld" by Rati Mehrotra in Uncanny Magazine
  
• "Artistic Encounters of a Monumental Nature" by S.B. Divya in Clarkesworld. 
• "The Reflection of Sand" by Tan Gang, translated by Emily Jin in Clarkesworld.
• "The Clown Watches the Clown" by Sara S. Messenger in Apex Magazine.
• "Amber Alert" by Alex Souza in Interzone Digital. 

 

Trailers and videos:

•  Watch a trailer for Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles  
• Watch a trailer for season 2 of Arcane. 
• Watch a trailer for The Wild Robot. 
• Watch a trailer for Paddington in Peru. 
• Watch a trailer for Sausage Party: Foodtopia.