It's
time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting
links
about speculative
fiction from
around the web, this week with the problem of toxic fans, Masters of the Universe in general, Agatha All Along and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general, Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft, Star Wars in general, season 2 of The Rings of Power, Timestalker, Megalopolis, The
Penguin, Joker: Folie a Deux, Terrifier 3, The Platform 2, The Franchise, Teacup and much
more.
Speculative fiction in general:
- Reactor shares all the new horror, romantasy and SFF crossover books coming out in October.
- James Davis Nicoll shares five SFF stories with a refreshing lack of violence
- Margot Harrison shares six books about the perils of memory manipulation.
- Camestros Felapton shares a map of robots and related concepts in SFF.
- Ryan Berger talks about augmented intelligence in science fiction from "Flowers for Algernon" onward
- James Davis Nicoll wonders why there is comparatively little YA science fiction being published these days.
- Farah Mendlesohn responds to James Davis Nicoll and notes that the amount of YA science fiction published has increased a lot since the early 2000s.
- Krystle Matar argues that grimdark fiction is the home of the other.
- Lish McBride shares her favourite weird westerns.
- Clayton Purdom talks about weird nonfiction.
- Ryan Britt lists seven James Bond novel better than any of the movies.
- James Davis Nicoll shares five science fiction novels where the US presidential line of succession plays an important role.
- Drew Broussard shares horror books for people new to the genre.
- Mark Yon lists five books to read for Halloween.
- Jeremy Dauber shares a brief history of the rise of horror in nineteenth century America.
- Lorna Wallace shares five horror books about obsession.
- Victory Witherkeigh lists five dark academia fantasy novels.
- Rachel Ayers shares six retellings of the fairy tale "Diamonds and Toads"
- Alex Brown shares five SFF books set during World War II.
- Jo Walton shares her reading list for September 2024.
- Brad East shares his appreciation for the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn epic fantasy series by Tad Williams.
- Dennis Wilson Wise profiles legendary SFF editor Judy-Lynn Del Rey.
- Bill DeMain discusses how Jimi Hendrix's love for science fiction influenced his music.
- Molly Templeton reports that the golden owl from the 1993 French puzzle mystery On the Trail of the Golden Owl by Max Valentin and Michel Becker, has finally been found after 31 years.
- SFF scholar and editor H. Bruce Franklin has died aged 90.
- Canadian fan, writer and librarian Fran Skene has died aged 86.
- Mystery, western and fantasy writer Robert R. Randisi has died aged 73.
Comics and Art:
Film and TV:
- Adam B. Vary talks about toxic fans and how Hollywood studios respond and give in to the worst elements of fandom.
- Rachel Leishman points out that the problem aren't toxic fans, but a handful of YouTubers who exploit YouTube's algorithm to attack anything they don't like and who often aren't even actual fans of the properties they attack.
- Anna Miller calls The Wild Robot an instant, heartwarming classic
- Cath Clarke calls Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person an offbeat coming-of-age horror comedy
- Nathan Rabin calls Borderlands a generic space adventure that brought video game movies back to their basics: crashing and burning.
- Kevin Beckett declares that Megalopolis may or may not be the best movie of the year, but it is undeniably the most movie movie of the year.
- Phil Hoad calls Daddy’s Head in clever British psychological horror film.
- Cath Clarke calls Haunted Ulster Live a mock Halloween broadcast that evokes the spectre of Ghostwatch
- Jim Vorel declares that House of Spoils resents its horror film assignment
- Joel Golby notes that Disclaimer is either beautiful … or a schlocky nightmare
- Robert P. Crease talks about how the science fiction shows Constellation and Dark Matter handle quantum mechanics.
- Isaiah Colbert explains that the advice Dan Da Dan creator Yukinobu Tatsu got from his editor to read more shojo romance manga is the reason why Dan Da Dan has more depth than most action-oriented shonen anime.
- Isaiah Colbert shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Uzumaki.
- Cheryl Eddy calls the Solar Opposites Halloween Special a surprisingly sweet treat
- John Scalzi shares what he considers the most important science fiction films of the 20th century.
- Blake Stilwell shares his ten favourite military horror movies.
- Justin Dealey and Danny Fullbrook interview Carole Ann Ford, who played the Doctor's granddaughter Susan in the first two series of Doctor Who and who is the last surviving original castmember.
- Steve Rose interviews Lennie James, best known for his appearances in The Walking Dead and its spin-offs, Line of Duty, Jericho, Human Target and others.
- Eva Wiseman interviews Stanley Tucci, best known for his appearances in the Hunger Games movies, Captain America: The First Avenger, Prizzi's Honor, Road to Perdition, The Devil Wears Prada and many others.
- Rich Pelley interviews Matthew Modine, who appeared in Married to the Mob, Pacific Heights, Cutthroat Island, Full Metal Jacket, Stranger Things and many others.
- Chris Broughton interviews Robert Harmon and C. Thomas Howell, director and one of the stars of the 1986 horror thriller The Hitcher.
- Germain Lussier interviews Greg Jardin, director of It's What's Inside.
- William Earl interviews Kate Siegel who directed one of the segments of V/H/S/ Beyond.
- Mark Sweney interviews Amazon MGM Studios head Jennifer Salke about the state of the search for the next James Bond.
- Steve Dow interviews animator Adam Elliot.
- Sandy Ferber revisits the 1958 horror film Womaneater and the 1973 horror sex comedy Don't Eat My Mother!
- Sandy Ferber revisits the 1963 horror thriller Violent Midnight and the 1966 horror thriller Theatre of Death.
- Sandy Ferber revisits the 1965 horror movie Die, Monster, Die and the 1971 horror movie I, Monster.
- Sandy Ferber revisits the 1972 slasher movie The Gore Gore Girls and the 1982 slasher movie The Slumber Party Massacre.
- Tim Ford revisits the 1974 science fiction comedy Dark Star.
- Phil Nichols and Colin Kuskie revisit the 1974 Planet of the Apes TV series.
- Sandy Ferber revisits the 1976 horror movie Eaten Alive and the 1978 horror movie Night Creature.
- Kali Wallace revisits the 1982 science fiction horror movie The Thing.
- Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the 1994 Babylon 5 episode“The Geometry of Shadows”
- Judith Tarr revisits the 2010 children's fantasy movie Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster
- Ben Child notes that the proposed Deathstroke and Bane movie can't possibly be worse than Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (or Joker: Folie à Deux).
- Daisy Stephens reports that never before seen footage from the classic Supermarionation science fiction show Thunderbirds has been discovered in a garden shed in Buckinghamshire, UK.
- Jordan Moreau and Joe Otterson report that Kaos has been cancelled by Netflix after a single season in spite of excellent reviews.
Comments on Masters of the Universe and She-Ra: Princess of Power:
- Joe Otterson reports that playwright and screenwriter Heidi Schreck will write the proposed live-action She-Ra movie.
- Molly Templeton weighs in on the selection of Heidi Schreck as the screenwriter for the proposed live action She-Ra movie.
- Germain Lussier is skeptical whether a He-Man or She-Ra live-action film will ever happen.
- James Eatock notes that a mistake crept into the transformation sequence in the title sequence of the Filmation She-Ra: Princess of Power cartoon.
Comments on Agatha All Along and the Marvel Cinematic and TV Universe in general:
- Emmet Asher-Perrin shares their thoughts on “Darkest Hour, Wake Thy Power”, the latest episode of Agatha All Along.
- Jen Lennon shares her thoughts on “Darkest Hour, Wake Thy Power”, the latest episode of Agatha All Along.
- Gordon Jackson shares his thoughts on “Darkest Hour, Wake Thy Power”, the latest episode of Agatha All Along.
- Brian Davids interviews Jac Schaeffer, showrunner of Agatha All Along.
- Zoe Williams interviews Joe Locke who plays the Teen in Agatha All Along.
- Ben Allen interviews Sebastian Stan, who plays Bucky Barnes a.k.a. The Winter Soldier in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- Rachel Ulatowski discusses concerns that the new young heroes and heroines of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, who seem to be primed for a Young Avengers movie, are all written the same.
- Watch a deleted scene from Deadpool and Wolverine.
Comments on Star Wars in general:
- James Hibberd asks if Disney is bad at making Star Wars.
- Iana Murray interviews Jodie Turner-Smith who plays Aniseya in The Acolyte.
- Liza Esquibias and Scott Huver interviews Giancarlo Esposito, who plays Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian.
- Rachel Leishman reports about Star Wars fans fighting back against toxic fandom YouTube channels.
Comments on Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft:
- Kayleigh Dray declares that Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft is a feminist reinvention of the classic video game heroine.
- Ryan Gaur calls Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft a vibrant, globetrotting Saturday morning cartoon
- Manuel Betancourt calls Tomb Raider: The Legend Of Lara Croft a delightfully straightforward binge
Comments on The Rings of Power:
- Sylas K. Barrett shares his thoughts on "Shadow and Flame", the season 2 finale of The Rings of Power.
- Orb Muse shares their thoughts on The Rings of Power so far.
- James Whitbrook interviews Charlie Vickers who plays Sauron in The Rings of Power.
- James Whitbrook interviews Cynthia Addai-Robinson who plays Miriel in The Rings of Power.
- James Whitbrook interviews Markella Kavenagh, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Benjamin Walker and Robert Aramayo, several of the stars of The Rings of Power.
- Melody McCune shares her appreciation for the character of Galadriel in The Rings of Power.
- Christopher Gates explains why the Elvish languages used in Lord of the Rings and The Rings of Power is not necessarily Elvish as created by J.R.R. Tolkien.
- James Hibberd reports that The Rings of Power is on the verge of being renewed for season 3.
Comments on Timestalker:
Comments on the new Salem's Lot:
- Haley Zapal declares that the new Salem's Lot rushes through its vampire-infested, small Maine town, eschewing exposition in favor of trying desperately to come off as a Mike Flanagan project
- Jacob Oller declares that even Stephen King’s afterword to Salem’s Lot is better than the new movie
- Bill Bria calls the new Salem’s Lot a vampiric romp that’s more layered than expected
Comments on Teacup:
Comments on The Platform 2:
Comments on Terrifier 3:
Comments on Joker: Folie à Deux:
- Jesse Hassenger calls Joker: Folie à Deux a perverse joke aiming to dissatisfy everyone and more of an affectionless slog than anything else.
- Emmet Asher-Perrin declares that it’s hard to talk about Joker: Folie à Deux without skewing into hyperbole about how patently awful it is.
- Johnny Oleksinski calls Joker: Folie à Deux a pointless sequel.
- Richard Lawson calls Joker: Folie à Deux a grim sequel that gives the middle finger to everybody who liked the first Joker.
- Erin Underwood calls Joker: Folie á Deux a prime example of why studios need to rethink their current approach to filmmaking when a film that should have been a slam dunk is just getting slammed
- Jesse Hassenger discusses Joker: Folie a Deux's unwillingness to commit to the fact that it is a musical.
- Inspired by Joker: Folie à Deux, James Mottram notes that musicals have been getting darker in recent times.
- Germain Lussier discusses the ending of Joker: Folie à Deux
- Jim Vejvoda interviews director Todd Phillips and star Joaquin Phoenix to explain the ending of Joker: Folie à Deux.
- James Whitbrook reports that the ending of Joker: Folie à Deux was actually an idea for the ending of Joker that was scrapped.
- Richard Newby argues that the ending of Joker: Folie à Deux, which most people hated, was actually its finest moment.
- Joel Nolfi reports that a scene of Harley Quinn kissing a woman was cut from Joker: Folie à Deux, supposedly because it got in the way of a musical number.
- William Hughes reports that moviegoers dislike Joker: Folie À Deux and gave it the worst ever exit poll score for a comicbook movie.
- Tatiana Siegel reports about attending an opening day screening of Joker: Folie á Deux, where the moviegoers were mostly uninterested in the movie and more interested in themselves.
- The Guardian wonders whether Joker: Folie à Deux could have possibly been worse than it is.
- Rebecca Rubin reports that Joker: Folie à Deux flopped even worse than expected and grossed less on its opening weekend than what the first Joker grossed in a single day.
- Gordon Jackson wonders what went wrong to make Joker: Folie à Deux bomb so spectacularly.
- Tatiana Siegel reports that Joker: Folie à Deux director Todd Phillips rejected all feedback and wanted nothing to do with DC Studios, even though Joker is a DC character.
- Mary Kate Carr notes that Warner Bros and DC Studios knew exactly what they were getting when they hired Todd Phillips.
- Pamela McClintock and Aaron Couch explain why no one will get fired over Joker: Folie à Deux, even though the movie was a complete disaster.
- Pamela McClintock reports that Francis Ford Coppola has praised Joker director Todd Phillips, from the director of one megaflop to another.
- Rachel Leishman declares that people should rather be watching the 2020 movie Birds of Prey, which also features Harley Quinn dumping Joker, than Joker: Folie à Deux.
Comments on The Penguin:
Comments on The Franchise:
Awards:
- The finalists for the 2023 Endeavour Award have been announced.
- The winners of the 2024 Ditmar Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the 2024 Elgin Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the 2023 Australasian Shadows Awards have been announced.
- The finalists for the 2024 Wonderland Book Awards have been announced.
- The shortlist for the 2024 Utopiales Comic Prize has been announced.
- The winners of the 2023 Emeka Walter Dinjos Memorial Award For Disability In Speculative Fiction have been announced.
- The shortlist for the 2024 Giller Prize has been announced.
- The winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize for Literature has been announced.
- The finalists for the 2024 Golden Joystick Awards have been announced.
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- Steve Wasserman talks about the environmental and philosophical factors behind literary creation
- M.L. Rio talks about the connection between writing and dreams.
- Lincoln Michel shares tips for writing horror.
- Mike Glyer reports about an uproar inside the HWA about the organisation's proposed AI policy
- Mary SanGiovanni shares some suggestions for reforming the HWA.
- Alexandra Alter reports about a start-up which plans to legally licence authors' works in order to train AI large language models.
- John Yang and Laura Baldwin explain why typewriters are experiencing a renaissance.
- Locus reports that Sarah Guan is leaving Erewhon Books.
- Laura Miller interviews Rosalie Stewart who has been hired by Penguin Random House to combat book bannings.
- Andrew Albanese reports that a federal judge has ordered the Crawford County Public Library in Arkansas to stop segregating books deemed inappropriate by some local residents into special “social sections,” and to return the books to general circulation.
Interviews:
- Locus interviews Lev Grossman.
- Runalong the Shelves interviews R.J. Barker.
- Anthony Cummins interviews Olga Tokarczuk
- John Mauro interviews Graham McNeill, Richard Swann and Essa Hansen.
- Katie Fraser interviews Makana Yamamoto
- Terry J. Benton-Walker and Sarah Henning interview each other.
- Runalong the Shelves interviews James Bennett.
- Dag Rambraut interviews Kerry Nietz and Randall Ritnour
Reviews:
- James Davis Nicoll reviews In the Shadow of the Ship by Aliette de Bodard
- Tzer Island reviews Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Marlene Harris reviews Darkside by Michael Mammay
- Gary K. Wolfe reviews Lake of Darkness by Adam Roberts
- Runalong the Shelves reviews Out of the Drowning Deep by A.C. Wise
- Clara Cohen reviews The Principle of Moments by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson
- John Mauro reviews Absolution by Jeff VanderMeer
- Lacy Baugher Milas reviews Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan.
- Alana Joli Abbott reviews Vilest Things by Chloe Gong.
- Melissa A. Watkins reviews Heir by Sabaa Tahir
- Paul di Filippo reviews Rebel by David Weber and Richard Fox
- Paul Weimer reviews The Runes of Engagement by Tobias Buckell and Dave Klecha
- Alex Brown reviews The City in Glass by Nghi Vo.
- Krystle Matar reviews New York Minute by Stephen Aryan
- Bill Capossere reviews Sargassa by Sophie Burnham
- Runalong the Shelves reviews The Company of the Wolf by David Wragg
- Paul Weimer reviews A Hunger with No Name by Lauren C. Teffeau
- Bill Capossere reviews Blood of the Old Kings by Sung-il Kim, translated by Anton Hur
- Colleen Mondor reviews Merciless Saviors by H.E. Edgmon
- Alexis Ong reviews The West Passage by Jared Pechaček
- Sam Leith reviews Odyssey by Stephen Fry
- Paul Di Filippo reviews No/Mad/Land by Francisco Verso
- Ian Mond reviews Hum by Helen Phillips
- Alexis Ong reviews The Silence Factory by Bridget Collins
- Esmay Rosalyne reviews Lullaby by Daniel Barnett
- Colleen Mondor reviews Cinderwich by Cherie Priest
- Mike Parker reviews House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias
- Runalong the Shelves reviews Crypt of the Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud.
- Matthew Jackson reviews Crypt of the Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud.
- Rob Bedford reviews Murder Road by Simone St. James.
- Esmay Rosalyne reviews Nightfall by Daniel Barnett
- Rob Bedford reviews Children of the Dark 2: The Night Flyers by Jonathan Janz.
- Randy Money reviews The Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahon.
- Paperback Warrior reviews Oasis of the Damned and Heretics by Greg F. Gifune.
- James Davis Nicoll reviews Jade Shards by Fonda Lee
- Jake Casella Brookins reviews Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil by Ananda Lima
- Runalong the Shelves reviews Come Sing For The Harrowing: Stories by Dan Coxon
- Vance Kotrla reviews Glamour Ghoul: The Passions and Pain of the Real Vampira by Sandra Niemi.
Classics reviews:
- Ruthanna Emrys and Anne M. Pillsworth revisit the 1922 horror story "The Outcast" by E.F. Benson.
- Sam Reader revisits the 1926 horror story “The Rocking-Horse Winner” by D.H. Lawrence
- James Wallace Harris revisits the 1941 humorous science fiction story “Earth for Inspiration” by Clifford D. Simak
- John Boston revisits the November 1969 issue of Amazing Stories.
- Kris Vyas-Myall revisits the November 1969 issue of Visions of Tomorrow.
- Brian Collins revisits the 1970 horror story “Longtooth” by Edgar Pangborn
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1975 feminist science fiction novel The Female Man by Joanna Russ
- James Wallace Harris revisits the 1984 post-apocalyptic novel The Wild Shore by Kim Stanley Robinson.
- Alissa Burger revisits the 1989 YA horror novel The Surprise Party and the 1997 YA horror novel All-Night Party by R.L. Stine.
- NPR revisits the 1993 dystopian novel The Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 2001 science fiction adventure novel Crossover by Joel Shepherd
Con and event reports:
- Locus shares a report about the 2024 Worldcon in Glasgow, Scotland.
- The 2029 Worldcon bid for Dublin, Ireland, shares a look at their proposed venues.
- Jeannette Boner reports that the Teton County Library in Jackson, Wyoming, has been forced to cancel its regular Harry Potter related events after eight years, following a cease and desist letter from Warner Bros who hold the movie and TV rights to the character.
- Mike Glyer shares the line-up for the 2024 Brooklyn SciFi Film Festival in Brooklyn, New York.
- Keza MacDonald reports about a new Nintendo gaming museum that is set to open in Kyoto, Japan.
- Chris Nichols reports that the Space Shuttle mock-up Inspiration will go on display at the Columbia Memorial Science Center in Los Angeles, California.
- Philip Oltermann reports that eighteen theatregoers became sick and required medical treatment after watching an intensely graphic performance of Florentina Holzinger's take on the Paul Hindemith opera Sancta Susanna in Stuttgart, Germany.
- Germain Lussier reports that the Walt Disney World and Universal Studios theme parks in Orlando, Florida, will close due to Hurricane Milton.
Science and technology:
- Andrew Griffin reports that scientists have found an exoplanet orbiting Barnard's Star.
- Isaac Schultz reports that NASA's Europa Clipper mission to Jupiter has been delayed by Hurricane Milton.
- James Davis Nicoll points out that completely destroying the Earth or any other planet is not as easy as it seems.
- Angela Watercutter and Gabriel Leão report about the impact that the banning of Twitter in Brazil had on many online fandoms, because many fan accounts are run by Brazilian users.
- Stephen Lyth celebrates the twentieth anniversary of the discovery of graphene and chronicles how the material quietly revolutionised many fields.
- Olivia Rutigliano shares some background on the phrase "shouting fire in a crowded theater" and explains where it comes from.
Gaming:
- Adrian Collins takes a look at Hatred, the first expansion for Diablo 4.
- Holly Nielsen celebrates thed 25th anniversary of Age of Empires II.
- Avery Kaplan reviews Star Trek: Lower Decks: Buffer Time: The Card Game
- Charlie Theel reviews the science fiction boardgame Arcs.
- Cass Marshall reviews the horror videogame Mouthwashing.
- Dom Peppiatt interviews Cody Matthew Johnson who composed the music for Star Wars: Outlaws.
- Aidan Moher reports that video game creators are looking at new ways to remake older games.
- Cheryl Eddy reports that Hasbro is offering a The Exorcist themed ouija board.
Toys and collectibles:
- Jonathan Alexandratos expplains what the McFarlane Toys Clive Barker's Tortured Souls toyline taught him about fear.
- Germain Lussier reviews the Lego Star Wars Luke Skywalker's Lightsaber.
- James Whitbrook shares a look at the Character Options Doctor Who action figures of the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby Sunday.
- Abe Apfel shares photos of a massive Game of Thrones Wall made from Lego.
Free online fiction:
- "To Hunt the Grey Lady" by Chris Willrich in Beneath Ceaseless Skies
- "The Mausoleum" by Inderjeet Mani in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
- "The Children of Flame" by Fiona Moore in Clarkesworld.
- "Fractal Karma" by Arula Ratnakar in Clarkesworld.
- "The Snow Child" by Alison Littlewood in The Dark.
- "What Good Daughters Do" by Tia Tashiro in Apex Magazine.
- "The Life You’ve Given Me, Rusty" by P.A. Cornell in Lightspeed.
- "A Stranger Knocks" by Tananarive Due in Uncanny Magazine
- "Everybody Is in the Place" by Emma J. Gibbons in Reactor.
- "After Stasis" by R.T. Ester in Interzone Digital.
- "Little Horn" by Gemma Files in Nightmare Magazine.
- "Homecoming" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
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