Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for September 20, 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, Star Wars in general, Masters of the Universe in general, Star Trek in general, Agatha All Along and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general, Transformers One, season 2 of The Rings of Power, Twilight of the Gods, The Penguin, Wynonna Earp: Vengeance, Speak No Evil, Uglies, Never Let Go and much more.

Speculative fiction in general:

• Lisa Tuttle shares her favourite recent science fiction, fantasy and horror books.
  
• Alex Brown shares their most anticipated young adult speculative fiction for September and October 2024.
• Christina Orlando asks eighteen SFF writers what they enjoy most about speculative fiction right now and what they want to see more of. 
• Krystle Matar declares that grimdark is a state of mind. 
• Chloe Gong shares five excellent middle books in SFF trilogies
  
• Alex Brown shares five underrated young adult SFF books. 
• James Davis Nicoll shares five vintage science fiction books set in the far off future of 2020.
  
• Lois Melbourne shares six science fiction thrillers about AI. 
• Ratika Deshpande shares eight engaging SFF short stories told through letters
  
• Lamar Giles shares six cursed object novels, 
• Maureen Kilmer discusses how family roadtrips make great fodder for horror fiction.
  
• Steph Post talks about the missing and absent women in nineteenth and early twentieth century adventure fiction and SFF. 
• Renan Bernardo talks about growing up as a science fiction reader in Brazil. 
• Alex Faccibene shares six horror novels fans of the TV series From will enjoy.
  
• Nadia Khomani reports that an early manuscript of The Lord of the Flies by William Golding has resurfaced which has an alternate beginning. 
• Issue 84 of Journey Planet about labour and workers' right in SFF is now available.
  

 

Comics and Art:

• Robin Marx reviews issue 4 of The Savage Sword of Conan
• Blue Book Balloon reviews The Witches of World War II by Paul Cornell, Valeria Burzo and Jordie Bellaire.
  
• Steven Heller interviews graphic novelist John Hendrix.
• Joseph Antoniello interviews Grant Geissman, EC Comics and Mad Magazine scholar and editor.
  
• Cameron Bonomolo reports that Batman will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California.
  
• Tom Gauld shares a cartoon about reading distractions.
• George Gene Gustines shares an obituary for John Cassaday.
  

 

Film and TV:

• Brent Simon calls Omni Loop a mediocre science fiction film.
  
• Catherine Bray calls Last Straw a promising low budget horror film. 
  
• Isaiah Colbert calls Dan Da Dan: First Encounter as close to a slam dunk as a new anime premiere can get 
• Peter Bradshaw calls Strange Darling a grisly but audacious serial-killer horror thriller outside the comfort zone
  
• Leslie Felperin calls Clawfoot a horror-comedy bathed in gore
  
• Arturo Serrano shares his thoughts on  Dracula's Ex-Girlfriend
• Leah Thomas shares her thoughts on the anime Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
• Cath Clake shares her thoughts on the animated film 200% Wolf. 
• Melody McCune shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Snowpiercer. 
  
• Melody McCune shares her thoughts on the latest episode of The Ark.
  
• Peter Bradshaw calls Cyborg: A Documentary and engaging, amusing and sometimes preposterous documentary
  
• Jude Rogers interviews Mike Jackson director of the infamous nuclear war drama Threads. 
• Sian Cain interviews Giancarlo Esposito, who appeared in The Mandalorian, The Boys, Megalopolis, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul and many others. 
• Mickey O'Connell interviews Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, writers of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
  
• Charlotte Edwardes interviews Demi Moore, star of The Substance. 
• James Hibberd interviws Jon Brown, Armando Iannucci and Sam Mendes, creators of The Franchise. 
  
• Caroline Siede declares that Sarah Connor redefined the female action heroine in the Terminator movies.
• Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits season 1 of Babylon 5, which aired in 1994. 
• Kali Wallace revisits the 1997 science fiction film Contact. 
• Diana Keng lists five spin-off series which surpassed their parent shows.
  
• Ross Burlingame shares the response of actor Stephen Amell, who played Oliver Queen in Arrow, to the disrespect the DC Comics TV shows in general and Arrow in particular get from the DC movie division.
  
• Shawn Van Horn reports that actor Michael Keaton got his start working behind the scenes of the children's show Mr. Rogers' Neighbourhood.  
• Nellie Andreeva reports that the new Time Bandits has been cancelled after a single season. 
• William Hughes reports that Orphan Black: Echoes has been cancelled after a single season.
  
• Ella Creamer reports that three screen adaptations of works by Neil Gaiman have either been cancelled or halted in response to the sexual abuse allegations against the author. 
  

  

Comments on season 2 of House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones in general: 

• Dan Selcke shares a timeline of George R.R. Martin's issues with House of the Dragon.
• Bradley Russell reports that HBO head Casey Bloys dismissed George R.R. Martin's criticisms of season 2 of House of the Dragon by pointing out that everybody else enjoys the show. 
• Kristian Nairn, who played Hodor in Game of Thrones recounts being fitted with a prosthetic penis during filming,
  

 

Comments on Masters of the Universe in general: 

• Todd Luck reviews Masters of the Universe Revolution prequel comic by Ted Biaselli, Rob David, Tim Sheridan and Daniel HDR.
• Dad-at-Arms interviews Ted Biaselli, Rob David and Tim Sheridan, producers and writers of the Masters of the Universe Revolution TV show and the prequel comic.  
  

 

 Comments on Star Wars in general:

• Gordon Jackson declares that Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy has a good time questioning the morality of creation 
• Dalton Ross interviews Jon Watts and Christopher Ford, creators of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.
• Ross Waldron reports that the UK Home Office refuses to issue a passport for a seven-year-old boy named Loki Skywalker, citing that Skywalker is a copyrighted and trademarked term and that they need to request permission from the Walt Disney Company to use it.
  

 

Comments on Agatha All Along and the Marvel Cinematic and TV Universe in general: 

• Lucy Mangan calls Agatha All Along the perfect show for the Halloween season
• Emmet Asher-Perrin declares that Agatha All Along rings in the spooky season with an absolute blast of a premiere
  
• Jen Lennon calls Agatha All Along a fun, refreshingly brisk Marvel show 
• Angie Han calls Agatha All Along an uneven Marvel spin-off and praises the performance of Kathryn Hahn. 
• Gordon Jackson declares that Agatha All Along kicks off with mysteries to solve and a team to build 
  
• Gordon Jackson shares early reactions to Agatha All Along.
  

 

Comments on Transformers One:  

• Radheyan Simonpillai calls Transformers One a fun fan service origin story.
  
• Germain Lussier interviews Josh Cooley, director of Transformers One.
• Watch a trailer for Transformers One.
  

 

Comments on Twilight of the Gods:

• Kaiya Shunyata calls Twilight Of The Gods a mesmerizing, brutal epic 
• Watch the opening of Twilight of the Gods. 
  

 

Comments on The Rings of Power: 

• Melody McCune shares her thoughts on "Where Is He?", the latest episode of The Rings of Power. 
• Matt Schimkowitz shares his thoughts on "Where Is He?", the latest episode of The Rings of Power.  
• James Whitbrook shares his thoughts on "Where Is He?", the latest episode of The Rings of Power.  
  
• Sylas K. Barrett shares his thoughts on "Halls of Stone", the previous episode of The Rings of Power.
• James Whitbrook discusses some Lord of the Rings references in "Halls of Stone".
• Robin Anne Reid discusses The Rings of Power and the discourse surrounding it. 
• Melody McCune interviews Markella Kavenagh and Megan Richards who play Nori and Poppy in The Rings of Power.   
  

 

Comments on Wynonna Earp: Vengeance: 

• Lisa Weidenfeld declares that Wynonna Earp: Vengeance demonstrates the pleasures and pitfalls of a continuation movie
• Melody McCune shares eight things she wants to see in Wynonna Earp: Vengeance. 
• Melody McCune shares her fifteen favourite moments from Wynonna Earp and Wynonna Earp: Vengeance.
  
• Melody McCune shares 36 Easter eggs in Wynonna Earp: Vengeance. 
• Zoe Keller shares her favourite queer things about Wynonna Earp.
  

 

Comments on Speak No Evil: 

• Natalia Keogan calls Speak No Evil a tongue-tied American remake of a Danish horror gem
  
• Catherine Bray calls Speak No Evil a red-blooded holiday horror film and praises the performance of James McAvoy. 
• Selena Kuznikov interviews James Watkins, director of Speak No Evil.
  
• Brian Davids interviews James McAvoy, star of Speak No Evil.
  

 

Comments on Uglies: 

• Adrian Horton calls Uglies a drab and dated YA dystopian mess 
  
• Jacob Oller calls Uglies an uninspired, dull and confused adaptation.
• Ann Michelle Harris declares that Uglies combines meaningful messaging with predictable plotting.
  
• Inspired by Uglies, Kayleigh Donaldson traces the brief rise and fall of YA dystopias in film. 
• Alex Faccibene shares six YA dystopian series fans of Uglies will enjoy.
  

 

Comments on Never Let Go:

• Benjamin Lee calls Never Let Go an intriguing post-apocalyptic puzzle that can’t quite find all of the pieces
• Jesse Hassenger calls Never Let Go an unreliable horror folktale 
• Natalia Keogan calls Never Let Go a tense post-apocalyptic horror film.
  

 

Comments on The Penguin: 

• William Hughes calls The Penguin a comic-book show with no interest in comic books
  
• Vanessa Armstrong interviews Lauren LeFranc, showrunner of The Penguin. 
  
• Vanessa Armstrong interviews Cristin Milioti, who plays Sofia Falcone in The Penguin.
  

 

Awards:

• The finalists for the 2024 National Toy Hall of Fame have been announced.
  
• The winners of the 2024 Ignatz Awards have been announced.
  
• The shortlist for the 2024 Booker Prize has been announced. 
• The finalists for the 2024 Dayton Literary Peace Prize have been announced.
  
• The winners of the 2024 Emmy Awards have been announced.
• SFF writer and composer Somtow Sucharitkul has won Thailand’s Public Diplomacy Award
  

Writing, publishing and promotion: 

• Katie Ward shares the writing advice she received from the late Hilary Mantel.
  
• Charlie Jane Anders shares ten literary novels that made her a better science fiction writer.
• Maya Kaathryn Bonhoff shares tips for hiring an editor.
• Draft2Digital shares the results of a survey where they asked their users about licensing their books for AI training purposes.
  
• Victoria Strauss warns that the controversial publishing Shawline Publishing has rebranded as New Found Books, but continues to be problematic.
• Brittany Hobson reports about the crime fiction specialty bookstore Whodunnit in Winnipeg, Canada.
  

 

Interviews:

• Emily Hockaday interviews David Gerrold.
• Scott Edelman interviews Sarah Pinsker.
  
• Locus interviews Sarah Langan.
• Locus interviews Justin C. Key. 
  
• Kevin Beckett interviews Bryn Hammond. 
• Runalong the Shelves interviews Steve Toase.
  

 

Reviews:

• Chris Kluwe reviews The Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey
  
• Rob Bedford reviews Road to Ruin by Hana Lee 
• Molly Templeton reviews Time Agent by Brenda Peynado.
• Esmay Rosalyne reviews Falling Into Oblivion by Aaron M. Payne 
  
• John Mauro reviews Artifact Space by Miles Cameron
  
• Paul Weimer reviews The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso.
• Marlene Harris reviews This World is Not Yours by Kemi Ashing-Giwa 
  
• James Davis Nicoll reviews The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older 
• Bill Capossere reviews The Naming Song by Jedediah Berry
  
• Adrian Collins reviews The Escher Man by T.R. Napper 
• Alex Brown reviews Blackheart Man by Nalo Hopkinson
  
• Clara Cohen reviews Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon by Wole Talabi.
  
• Esmay Rosalyne reviews The Light of Kasaban by Thomas Howard Riley 
• Bill Capossere reviews The Wind That Sweeps the Stars by Greg Keyes
• Liz Bourke reviews A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher
  
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews She Who Knows by Nnedi Okorafor 
• Eugen Bacon reviews Children of Anguish and Anarchy by Tomi Adeyemi
  
• Alex Brown reviews Daughter of the Merciful Deep by Leslye Penelope 
• Marlene Harris reviews A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft
• Shellie Horst reviews Dive Beyond Eternity by Valeriya Salt.
  
• Marion Deeds reviews Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott 
• Paul Weimer reviews The Salt-Black Tree by Lilith Saintcrow
  
• Alasdair Stuart reviews The Apple-Tree Throne by Premee Mohamed. 
• Sasha Bonhowsky reviews The Failures by Benjamin Liar. 
• Mahvesh Murad reviews So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison
  
• David Agranoff revisits Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle 
• James Davis Nicoll revisits Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami, translated by Asa Yoneda.
• Mark Yon reviews Space 1999: The Armageddon Engine by James Swallow. 
• Mark Yon reviews UFO: Shadow Play by James Swallow
  
• Marlene Harris reviews Chasing New Suns by Lance Robinson
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Preaching to the Perverted by James Bennett
  
• Ian Mond reviews Mouth by Puloma Ghosh
  
• Alex Brown reviews We Mostly Come Out at Night, edited by Rob Costello 
• Avery Kaplan reviews Star Trek: The Art of Glenn Hetrick’s Alchemy Studios: Revealing the Magic of Prosthetic Makeup by Joe Nazzaro
     
  

Classics reviews:

• Alan Brown revisits the 1916 Barsoom sword and planet novel Thuvia, Maid of Mars and the 1922 Barsoom novel The Chessmen of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs 
• Brian Collins revisits the 1956 science fiction story "Steel" by Richard Matheson.
  
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1960 non-fiction collection Who Killed Science Fiction?, edited by Earl Kemp.  
  
• Gideon Marcus revisits the October 1969 issue of Galaxy.
• Cora Buhlert revisits the 1969 sword and sorcery collections Bran Mak Morn by Robert E. Howard and Jirel of Joiry by C.L. Moore. 
• Victoria Silverwolf revisits the 1969 religious fantasy novel Fourth Mansions by R. A. Lafferty and the 1969 science fantasy novel Creatures of Light and Darkness by Roger Zelazny, Fiona Moore revisits the 1969 post-apocalyptic novel Damnation Alley by Roger Zelazny, Brian Collins revisits the 1969 science fiction novels Across a Billion Years and To Live Again by Robert Silverberg and George Pritchard reviews the 1969 science fiction novel The Glass Cage by Kenneth W. Hassler  
• James Wallace Harris revisits the 1977 science fiction novel A Heritage of Stars by Clifford D. Simak 
  
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1978 historical horror novel Hôtel Transylvania by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
• Bogi Takács revisits the 1981 science fiction novel The Pride of Chanur by C.J. Cherryh 
• Brian Collins revisits the 1985 hard science fiction novella “Green Mars” by Kim Stanley Robinson
  
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1985 dystopian novel Night of Power by Spider Robinson  
• Brian Collins revisits the 1998 science fiction story “Craphound” by Cory Doctorow 
  
• Emmet Asher-Perrin revisits the 2015 Discworld fantasy novel The Shepherd’s Crown by Terry Pratchett.
   
  

Crowdfunding:

• Brackenbury Books is looking for funding for Double-Edge Sword and Sorcery, i.e. the novellas Walls of Shira Yulun by Daniel R.A. Quiogue and Waste Flowers by Bryn Hammond bound in one book.
  

 

 Con and event reports:

• Runalong the Shelves reports about the 2024 Edge Lit convention in Derby, UK.
• Octothorpe shares their experiences at the 2024 Worldcon in Glasgow, Scotland.
  
• John Hertz reports about the masquerade at the 2024 Worldcon in Glasgow, Scotland.
  
• Planet Eternia shares a video of the 2024 Grayskull Con in Lennestadt, Germany. 
• Germain Lussier looks ahead at the line-up of the 2024 Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas. 
• Watch a video of the dedication and unveiling of a statue of Rod Serling in Binghampton, New York.
  

 

Science and technology:

• Denise Chow reports that the SpaceX capsule has safely returned from the "Polaris Dawn" mission.  
• Georgina Torbet wonders what the Polaris Dawn mission could reveal about human health in space. 
• Georgina Rannard reports what life is like aboard the International Space Station. 
• Victor Tangermann reports that Axiom Space, the company hired by NASA to built the successor to the International Space Station, is in trouble.
  
• Ashley Strickland reports that the Voyager 1 spacecraft has just fired up its thrusters which it hasn't used in decades.
  
• Monash University reports that Earth may have had a ring system 466 million years ago.
  
• Brian Krebs talks about "The Com", an online forum for cybercriminals.
• Maya Yang reports that an entire ecosystem of fossils has been found underneath a high school in Los Angeles, California.
  
• Judith Tarr discusses the mystery of the Tasmanian tiger.
  

 

Gaming: 

• Keza MacDonald calls UFO 50 an anthology of pure nostalgia – and the games are good, too
• Justin Carter reviews Dragon Age: The Veilguard
  
• Justin Carter interviews the team behind Dragon Age: The Veilguard
• Garrick Webster shares ten of the best crime and mystery board games
  
• Luke Plunkett reports that video game developers are leaving the industry in droves to do something, anything else.
• Todd Spangler reports that the entire staff of the gaming company Annapurna Interactive has quit.
  

 

Toys and collectibles:

• Cat Eldridge reviews the Kotobukiya ARTFX+ Spider-Man Miles Morales statue.
• James Whitbrook shares a look at the new Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy Barbies from Mattel. 
  
• James Whitbrook shares a look at the Funko Jumbo Chan Ultraman figure.
  
• Tony Bacala takes a look at all of the upcoming Star Wars figures revealed at Hasbro Pulse Con.
  

 

Free online fiction: 

• "The Thirteenth Dancer" by Leah Cypess in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• "After We Kill Our Father and Before We Reach the Mainland" by Max Franciscovich in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
  
• "Two Motes in the Zeugma Dark" by Sagan Yee in Lightspeed. 
  
• "A Superior Knot" by Ash Huang in Lightspeed.
  
• "The Children I Gave You, Oxalaia" by Cirilo Lemos, translated by Thamirys Gênova, in Clarkesworld.
• "Those Who Remember the World" by Ben Berman Ghan in Clarkesworld. 
• "The Unwanted Guest" by Tamsyn Muir in Reactor.
• "House of the Hidden Moon" by Sam W. Pisciotta in Nightmare Magazine.
  
• "A Simple Job" by Josh Howard in Swords and Sorcery Magazine. 
• "There Is Music After This" by Martin Cahill in The Sunday Morning Transport.
• "Three Things That Happen the Night My Dad Dies" by Isabel Cañas in The Deadlands. 
  
• "The 6% Squeeze" by Eddie Robson in Uncanny Magazine
  
• "The Ribbon Rule" by Mae Jimenez in The Dark.
• "Destiny" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
  

 

Trailers and videos:

• Watch a clip from The Witcher: Sirens of The Deep 
• Watch a clip from season 2 of Arcane.
  
• Watch a trailer for Mickey 17. 
• Watch a trailer for season 2 of Squid Game.
  
• Watch a trailer for Mr. Crocket's World. 
• Watch a trailer for Sweetpea.
  
• Watch a trailer for Your Monster.
• Watch a trailer for The Forest Hills. 
• Watch a trailer for Darla in Space.