Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for September 6, 2024

 

It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with season 2 of House of the Dragon, the cancellation of The Acolyte and Star Wars in general, Masters of the Universe in general, Star Trek in general, Alien Romulus, season 2 of The Rings of Power, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Terminator Zero, Joker: Folie à Deux, AfrAId, The Deliverance, the debate about AI generated writing and art and much more.

Speculative fiction in general:

• Cheryl Eddy shares new science fiction, fantasy and horror books coming out in September. 
• Aaron Jones talks about science fiction and the dark side of the future. 
• Tobias Carroll talks about speculative fiction and the horrors of capitalism.
  
• James Wallace Harris wonders whether women and men write different kinds of science fiction. 
• Olesya Salnikova Gilmore talks about the gothic fiction revival. 
• Vincent Tirado talks about horror as social commentary.
  
• Cheryl Isaacs talks about complicated final girls in horror and why they're important.
  
• Carly Silver shares eight summery SFF books. 
• Sam Reader shares six Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books for infinite reading possibilities
  
• Lorna Wallace shares five science fiction stories about body hopping. 
• Jo Walton shares her reading list for August 2024. 
  
• Lizzie Cernik reports about a lesbian couple that met via fan fiction
• Elizabeth Minkel explains how making and sharing fictional recipes from their favourite media brings fans together. 
• Rich Lynch talks about the David Mitchell hoax, the invention of a fake teenaged fanzine publisher in 1964.
  
• Jeff Rouner reports that writer and fan Paul Riddell was once investigated by the FBI for allegedly selling military secrets to the Daleks due to misunderstood joke.
  
• Jason Sanford shares an update on the sexual abuse allegations against Neil Gaiman and why Gaiman blaming his transgressions on autism is wrong. 
• Katcy Stephan and Ethan Shanfeld report that Disney has halted production on an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book in response to the allegations against Gaiman.    
• SFF writer and teacher Holly Lisle has died aged 64.
  

 

Comics and Art:

• Blue Book Balloon reviews Houses of the Unholy by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips 
• Locus interviews SFF artist Chris McGrath. 
• Thom Dunn reports that The Legendary Lynx, a fictional 1970s superhero comic from Secret Identity by Alex Segura, will now be published for real.
  

 

Film and TV:

• Brian Collins is upset that Godzilla Minus One was not nominated for a Hugo Award. 
• Aamir Mehar declares that heartbreak and the troubled bond between sisters is what fuels Arcane.
  
• Leah Schnelbach calls Cuckoo not a perfect horror film, but gripping and surprising
  
• Cheryl Eddy declares that the Australian horror movie The Demon Disorder offers a visceral view of a family in crisis  
• Haley Zapal shares her thoughts on season 1 of Kaos.
  
• Melody McCune shares her thoughts on the latest episode of The Ark.
  
• Ann Michelle Harris shares her thoughts on season 7 of the anime My Hero Academia.
  
• Jazz Tancay interviews actor and science fiction fan Laurence Fishburn.
• Hasbro Pulse interviews voice actor Frank Todaro who voices Starscream in the various Transformers shows.
  
• Xan Brooks interviews animators Stephen and Timothy Quay.
  
• Stuart Heritage talks about backlashes against TV shows. 
• Sarah Pinsker finds unexpected parallels between home renovation and ghosthunting shows on TV.
  
• Victoria Silverwolf revisits the 1960 horror comedy Little Shop of Horrors and the 1960 gothic horror film The Fall of the House of Usher.
• Kali Wallace revisits the 1968 science fiction novel 2001: A Space Odyssey  
• Leah Thomas revisits the 1998 space opera anime series Cowboy Bebop and wonders why it is so much more popular in the West than in its native Japan.
  
• Olivia Rutigliano recounts a meeting with Adam West who played Batman and Bruce Wayne in the 1966 Batman series. 
• Dominic Patten shares Beau DeMayo's response to Marvel firing him as showrunner of X-Men '97. 
  
• William Hughes reports that Dead Boy Detectives has been cancelled. 
• Max Goldbart reports that Kemi Badenoch, who hopes to be elected leader of the British Conservative Party, is focussing on her public disagreement with actor David Tennant over trans rights in her campaign.
  
• Brian Trueman, writer of Danger Mouse and Count Duckula, has died aged 92.  
• James Darren, who appeared in The Time Tunnel, Star Trek Deep Space Nine, T.J. Hooker, Gidget and many others, has died aged 88.
  

  

Comments on season 2 of House of the Dragon: 

• George R.R. Martin shares his issues with some of the changes the TV show House of the Dragon made to his story. 
• Lynette Rice shares HBO's response to George R.R. Martin's criticism of House of the Dragon.

 

Comments on Masters of the Universe in general: 

• Borys Kit reports that actress Alison Brie has been cast as Evil-Lyn in the proposed Masters of the Universe movie. 
• Anthony D'Alessandro reports that actress Camila Mendes has left the I Know What You Did Last Summer reboot to play Teela in the proposed Masters of the Universe live action movie.
  
• James Eatock discusses the development of the Collector vehicle in the Filmation He-Man cartoon.
  

 

 Comments on Star Wars in general:

• Isaiah Colbert reports that actor Manny Jacinto, who plays Quimir in The Acolyte has stated that he is still hoping for the series to be renewed for a second season. 
  
• Melissa Olson interviews some of the voice actors who dubbed Star Wars: A New Hope into the Ojibwe language.
  
• James Whitbrook looks back on the reset of Star Wars continuity after the Disney purchase ten years ago
  

 

Comments on Alien: Romulus: 

• Alasdair Stuart shares his thoughts on Alien Romulus.
• Chris Napier shares his thoughts on Alien Romulus.
  

 

Comments on Star Trek in general:

• James Whitbrook revisits the 1995 Star Trek Deep Space Nine two-parter "Past Tense", which is set in late August/early September 2024, and notes many parallels to our current situation.
  
• Avery Kaplan also notes that the Bell Riots of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fame are supposed to happen this week.

 

Comments on The Rings of Power: 

• Sylas K. Barrett declares that the season 2 premiere of The Rings of Power doesn’t inspire confidence 
• Melody McCune shares her thoughts on the first three episodes of season 2 of The Rings of Power. 
• Matt Schimkowitz shares his thoughts on "Eldest", the latest episode of The Rings of Power. 
• James Whitbrook shares his thoughts on "Eldest".
• Melody McCune shares her thoughts on "Eldest".
  
• James Whitbrook interviews Ismael Cruz Cordova who plays Arondir in The Rings of Power.
• James Whitbrook interviews Patrick McKay, showrunner of The Rings of Power, as well as Charlie Vickers who plays Sauron and Charles Edwards who plays Celimbor. 
• Melody McCune shares her appreciation for the character of Princess Disa in The Rings of Power.
  

 

Comments on Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice:

• Owen Gleiberman calls Beetlejuice Beetlejuice a lightweight sequel and ghostly fan service
• Cheryl Eddy calls Beetlejuice Beetlejuice fun but forgettable  
• Trace Sauveur declares that Tim Burton is back in his element of amusingly macabre whimsy with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
• Adriano Contreras and Cheryl Eddy interview Justin Theroux and Monica Bellucci, two of the stars of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
  
• Pamela McClintock reports that Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice has a near record-breaking opening weekend for September.
  

 

Comments on Terminator Zero: 

• Lyvie Scott calls Terminator Zero exactly the reboot the franchise needed.
• Arturo Serrano calls Terminator Zero finally a Terminator sequel that makes a good case for its existence 
• Jenna Schere declares that Terminator Zero is more interested in brains than brawn
• Elijah Gonzalez declares that Terminator Zero starts strong before breaking down 
  
• Ryan Britt discusses the mechanics of time travel in the Terminator movies and TV series.
  

 

Comments on Joker: Folie à Deux: 

• Nicholas Barber calls Joker: Folie à Deux a dreary, underwhelming, unnecessary slog
  
• Peter Bradshaw calls Joker: Folie à Deux claustrophobic and repetitive  
• David Ehrlich declares that Joker: Folie à Deux feels like it’s bad on purpose
• David Rooney calls Joker: Folie à Deux a frustrating sequel 
  
• William Bibbiani calls Joker: Folie à Deux an impressively odd sequel  
• Siddhant Adlakha finds Joker: Folie à Deux a little too obsessed with Joker 
• Bill Bria calls Joker: Folie à Deux the year's boldest comic book movie and a compelling musical deconstruction
  
• Pete Hammond calls Joker: Folie À Deux a brilliant musical return to a world of madness
  
• Brent Lang interviews Todd Phillips, director of Joker: Folie à Deux.
  
• Catherine Shoard interviews Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, stars of Joker: Folie à Deux.
• Isaiah Colbert reports that Todd Phillips and Lady Gaga inists that Joker: Folie à Deux is not a musical, even though it obviously is.
  

 

Comments on AfrAIdl: 

• Benjamin Lee calls AfrAId a throwaway AI-themed horror film devoid of suspense
• Leigh Monson calls AfrAId an illogical mess.
  

 

Comments on The Deliverance: 

• Jacob Oller calls The Deliverance a completely inept horror movie.
• William Earl interviews Lee Daniels, director of The Deliverance.
  

 

Awards:

• The winners of the 2024 Dragon Awards have been announced.  
  
• The winners of the 2024 Eugie Foster Memorial Award has been announced. 
• The winner of the 2024 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award has been announced.
  
• The winner of the 2024 Mike Resnick Memorial Award has been announced. 
• The finalists for the 2024 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards have been announced. 
• The shortlist for the 2024 Royal Society Science Book Prize has been announced. 
• The winner of the 2024 Halldór Laxness Prize has been announced.  
• The winners of the 2024 Reuben Awards have been announced.
  
• Colin Harris discusses the tangled history of the art Hugos.
• The World Science Fiction Society apologises the finalists unfairly disqualified from the 2023 Hugo Awards.
  

Writing, publishing and promotion: 

• Andrew Coletti talks about food and worldbuilding.
• Rob Starr explains why he tends to write female main characters. 
• Mike Glyer reports that the Internet Archive has lost its appeal in its copyright ingringement lawsuit.
  
• Andrew Albanese shares an update about a wrongful termination lawsuit brought by a librarian against Llano County, Texas, for firing her over LGBTQ books.
  
• Ella Creamer reports that more than 180 public libraries in the UK have closed or been handed to volunteers since 2016.  
• Cara Giaimo reports that the historic Joanine Library at the University of Coimbra in Coimbra, Portugal, is inhabited by bats who protect the books from insects.  

 

Comments on the debate about AI generated writing and art: 

• Ted Chiang explains why AI is not going to make art. 
• Lincoln Michel responds to Ted Chiang.
  
• Alasdair Stuart criticises the NaNoWriMo organisation for calling criticisms of generative AI use classist and ableist. 
• Cam Wilson reports that trials in Australia have revealed that AI is worse than humans at summarising information in every way.

 

Interviews:

• Arley Sorg interviews Aliette de Bodard. 
• Arley Sorg interviews A.C. Wise. 
  
• Emma Davis interviews Steven McKinnon.
• Jane Ciabattari interviews Rachel Kushner.
  
• Stephen J. Golds interviews Grant Wamack.
  
• The HWA interviews Pete Kelly.
  

 

Reviews:

• Lesa Holstine reviews Passions in Death by J.D. Robb
• Liz Bourke reviews The Stars Too Fondly by Emily Hamilton 
  
• Marlene Harris reviews Out of the Drowning Deep by A.C. Wise 
• Adrian Collins reviews A Tide of Black Steel by Anthony Ryan 
• Runalong the Shelves reviews One of Us by Craig DiLouie
  
• Marlene Harris reviews Junkyard Roadhouse by Faith Hunter 
  
• Paul Weimer reviews House of Open Wounds by Adrian Tchaikovsky  
  
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews Blackheart Man by Nalo Hopkinson
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Grey by Ian Rogers 
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Seeker by Samuel Griffin 
  
• Jake Casella Brookins reviews The Jaguar Mask by Michael J. DeLuca
• Colleen Mondor reviews A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal  
  
• Paul Di Filippo reviews To Turn the Tide by S. M. Stirling 
• M. John Harrison reviews Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner  
  
• Ian Mond reviews Gogmagog by Jeff Noon and Steve Beard  
• Rob Bedford reviews Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman,
  
• James Davis Nicoll reviews The Melancholy of Untold History by Minsoo Kang 
• Jen Lucas reviews The Murmurs by Michael J Malone
• Joseph B. Hoyos reviews After Oz by Gordon McAlpine 
  
• Marlene Harris reviews The Ghost Cat by Alex Howard
  
• Aunt Agatha's reviews A Fatal Feast at Bramsford Manor by Darci Hannah.
• Helen Rhee reviews The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim
  
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews Tomorrowing by Terry Bisson and The Book Blinders by John Clute  
  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Vega Incident and Other Stories by Joseph Elliott-Coleman 
• Nina Allan reviews Dogs and Monsters by Mark Haddon  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Mad Butterfly's Ball edited by Preston Grassman and Chris Kelso 
• Alex Brown reviews The Black Girl Survives in This One, edited by Desiree S. Evans and Saraciea J. Fennell
  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews issue 31 of FIYAH.
     
  

Classics reviews:

• Tim Major revisits the 1886 horror novella The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.
• Brian Collins revisits the 1908 religious fantasy novel The Man Who Was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton
  
• Brian Collins revisits the 1954 science fiction story “Dusty Zebra” by Clifford D. Simak
  
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1959 hard science fiction fix-up novel The Outward Urge by Lucas Parkes a.k.a. John Wyndham 
• Brian Collins revisits the 1959 science fiction novella “No Life of Their Own” by Clifford D. Simak 
• Gideon Marcus revisits the 1960 post-apocalyptic novel A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller.
  
• Brian Collins revisits the 1960 science fiction story “The Voices of Time” by J. G. Ballard
  
• James Wallace Harris revisits the 1966 science fiction novel Farewell, Earth’s Bliss by D. G. Compton
  
• Gideon Marcus revisits the September 1969 issue of Analog.
• Victoria Silverwolf revisits the October 1969 issue of Fantastic. 
• David Levinson revisits the October 1969 issue of If: Worlds of Science Fiction.
  
• Brian Collins revisits the 1975 science fiction story “Retrograde Summer” by John Varley
• Joe Kenney revisits the 1977 Richard Blade sword and sorcery novel The Torian Pearls by Jeffrey Lord 
• Mark Yon revisits the 1983 horror novel Blackwater by Michael McDowell. 
  
• Brian Collins revisits the 1987 science fiction story “The Evening and the Morning and the Night” by Octavia E. Butler
  
• Brian Collins revisits the 1988 science fiction novella “Surfacing” by Walter Jon Williams 
• Rebecca Fisher revisits the 2000 dark fantasy novel Darkwater Hall by Catherine Fisher
  
• Joe Sherry revisits the 2005 Wheel of Time fantasy novel Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan. 
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 2010 historical YA fantasy novel A Most Improper Magick by Stephanie Burgis
   
  

 Con and event reports:

• Marcin Klak shares his experiences at the 2024 Worldcon in Glasgow, Scotland.
• Tim Atkinson shares his experiences at the 2024 Worldcon in Glasgow, Scotland.
  
• The Guardian reports that an announcement of the departure of the Hogwarts train at King's Cross station in London, UK, did not happen this year, much to the annoyance of fans of the franchise.
  
• Gregory Wakeman lists museums cinephiles should visit.
  

 

Science and technology:

• Ian Sample reports that Jupiter’s moon Ganymede was struck by asteroid bigger than the one that killed the dinosaurs. 
• Victor Tangerman shares more about Boeing's trouble Starliner spacecraft.
  
• Lucas Ropek reports that the beluga whale Hvaldimir, who has been suspected of being used for espionage purposes by Russia, was found dead off the Norwegian coast, apparently murdered.
• Tony Milligan reports that belief in aliens and UFOs is rising. 
  
• Vincent Ralph talks about the enduring fascination with urban legends.
• Judith Tarr discusses the repeated sightings of large black cats in the UK.
  

 

Gaming: 

• John Dale Beety shares an introduction to game writing and playtesting.
  
• Shannon Liao reports that Black Myth: Wukong isn't even particularly good, but that won’t stop Chinese nationalists and Gamergaters from buying the game.
• Keza MacDonald explains how Black Myth: Wukong put China’s games industry under the microscope
  
• Adrian Collins calls Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine 2 the ultimate hack and slash science fiction game 
• James Whitbrook calls Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine 2 more Space Marine and not much else 
  
• Keza MacDonald declares that the strategy game Age of Mythology is still great twenty-two years after it was first released.
  

 

Toys and collectibles:

• Fanboys Forever ranks all the Mattel Masters of the Universe Masterverse figures that have been released so far. 
• James Whitbrook shares a look at the Lego 1966 Batmobile set.
  
• James Whitbrooks lists new Lego sets coming out in September.
  

 

Free online fiction: 

• "Set in Stone" by K.J. Parker in Reactor.
  
• "What Happened to the Crooners" by Russell Nichols in Nightmare Magazine.
  
• "The Music Must Always Play" by Marissa Lingen in Clarkesworld.
• "Fish Fear Me, You Need Me" by Tiffany Xue in Clarkesworld. 
  
• "The Scarecrow of Terryk Head" by Rab Foster in Swords and Sorcery Magazine.
  
• "Wiremother" by Laura Mauro in The Dark.
• "Reconstructing “The Goldenrod Conspiracy,” Edina Room, Saturday 2:30-3:30" by Gabriela Santiago in Lightspeed.
• "The Terrible Secret of the Immortal Bards" by Adam-Troy Castro in Lightspeed.
  
• "The Memorial Tree" by Alaya Dawn Johnson in The Sunday Morning Transport.  
• "Joy, or A Humble Orbit Through the Celestial City" by Will McMahon in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• "From Each One, the Strength-of-All" by Timothy Mudie in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
  
• "The Rerebirth of Slick" by Stephen Kearse in The Deadlands.
  
• "Kizimbani" by Eugen Bacon and Clare E. Rhoden in Apex Magazine. 
• "September At Wall And Broad" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
  

 

Trailers and videos:

• Watch a trailer for season 2 of Arcane.
  
• Watch a trailer for Subterranea. 
• Watch a trailer for Megalopolis.
  
• Watch a trailer for Nightbitch.
• Watch a trailer for Wicked.
  
• Watch a trailer for Smile 2. 
• Watch a trailer for A Minecraft Movie.