Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for November 22, 2024

 

It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with the winner of the 2024 Booker Prize, Orbital by Samatha Harvey, Masters of the Universe in general, the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general, Star Trek Lower Decks and Star Trek in general, Star Wars in general, season 2 of Arcane, season 2 of Silo, Dune Prophecy and Dune in general, What We Do in the Shadows, Red One, Heretic, Wicked, The Penguin, The Franchise and much more.

Speculative fiction in general:

• Readers of Reactor share their most iconic SFF books of the twenty-first century.
  
• Amazon share their favourite science fiction and fantasy books of 2024.
  
• Molly Odintz shares her favourite gothic novels of 2024.
• Sarah Jost talks about the link between Arthurian legends and the gothic.
  
• Sarah Hawley shares five romantasy novels that balance worldbuilding with relationships and romance. 
  
• James Davis Nicoll shares five science fiction works about dealing with helpful or indifferent aliens.  
• Lorna Wallace shares five SFF books about the dangers of messing with science. 
• Jeremy Zentner talks about the many alt-histories of World War II.
  
• Bill Capossere wonders what a modern SF Hall of Fame anthology might look like.
  
• Lindy Ryan talks about the Victorian tradition of telling ghost stories for Christmas. 
• Olesya Salnikova Gilmore shares five books about haunted houses that crumble. 
  
• J.K. Markert talks about dissociative identity disorder in fiction.  
• Molly Templeton shares some ideas how readers can support books and the literary community.
  
• Curtis A. Weyant talks about canon and gatekeeping in Tolkien fandom.  
• Sylas K. Barrett talks about Gandalf and the search for one's true name.
  
• Evan I. Schwartz reports that Frank L. Baum was inspired by his mother-in-law Matilda Gage, early feminist and expert in the history of witch hunts, to create the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
• Christina Spens shares her appreciation for Tova Jannson's Moomins. 
  
• Long-time science fiction fan Howard Brazee has died aged 73.
  

 

Comments on Orbital by Samantha Harvey winning the 2024 Booker Prize:

• The Guardian shares their thoughts on Orbital by Samantha Harvey winning the 2024 Booker Prize. 
• Muse from the Orb is thrilled that Orbital by Samantha Harvey won the 2024 Booker Prize.  
• Nicholas Harris interviews Samatha Harvey.
  
• Mike Glyer reports that the 2024 Booker Prize winner Orbital by Samatha Harvey has become the victim of a review bombing campaign by pro-Ukraine trolls for having a sympthetic Russian character.  
• Ella Creamer reports that Orbital tops the UK bestseller list.
  

 

Comics and Art:

• Robin Marx reviews Conan the Barbarian: Battle of the Black Stone #2 by Jim Zub and Jonas Scharf
  

 

Film and TV:

• Saloni Gajjar calls Interior Chinatown campy and charming. 
• Ann Michelle Harris calls Time Cut a weirdly addictive slasher, murder mystery, time travel homage to old-school Disney Channel movie storytelling
  
• Jason Struss calls Meanwhile on Earth the best science fiction movie of 2024. 
• Ann Michelle Harris calls the anime Frieren: Beyond Journey's End a gorgeous, slow-burn, adventure story that takes a unique approach to building unforgettable characters  
• Jacob Oller calls Flow an engrossing survival fable
  
• Catherine Bray calls The Magic Reindeer: Saving Santa’s Sleigh a well-meaning cartoon for kids.
• Isaiah Colbert shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Dan Da Dan. 
  
• Paul Mescal interviews Ridley Scott, director of Alien, Blade Runner and many others.
• Isaiah Colbert interviews Dean Lorey and Sean Gunn, showrunner and star of Creature Commandos. 
• James Whitbrook interviews Merlin Crossingham, co-director of Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.
  
• Cheryl Eddy interviews Ryan Kruger, director and writer of Street Trash.
  
• Gideon Marcus revisits the 1959 science fiction anthology series The Twilight Zone. 
• Dan Persons revisits the 1963 horror film The Birds.
  
• Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the 1995 Babylon 5 episode “The Coming of Shadows”
• Kali Wallace revisits the 2011 alien invasion film Attack the Block.
  
• Caroline Siede revisits the 2017 superhero movie Wonder Woman. 
  
• Steve Vertlieb profiles legendary horror star Bela Lugosi. 
• Joe George explains how the movies The People's Joker and I Saw the TV Glow show the positive and connecting power of fandom. 
  
• Natalie Zutter wonders what a Station Eleven TV universe might look like. 
• Saloni Gajjar shares The Walking Dead’s best character-driven episodes
  
• Bradley Russell shares Ryan Reynolds' plan to prevent spoilers from Deadpool and Wolverine leaking during filming. 
• Katherine Ann notes that horror director Mike Flanagan keeps inserting Easter eggs referring to his 2013 debut film Oculus into his later films. 
  
• Kelsey Berish shares twenty things that don't make sense about The Flintstones. 
• Adam B. Vary reports that Warner Bros Discovery still wants to produce a Harry Potter TV series no one wants and asked for and will retain J.K. Rowling as a consultant, in spite of her being a transphobe.
  
• Matt Schimkowitz reports that PBS writers in several US cities have voted to authorise a strike. 
• Ryan Gilbey shares an obituary for Tony Todd. 
  

 

Comments on Masters of the Universe in general: 

• James Eatock shares some Easter Eggs found on a map briefly seen in an episode of the Filmation He-Man cartoon.
• James Eatock explains why the character of Tung Lashor in the Filmation She-Ra cartoon looks so different from the toy version.
  

 

Comments on the Marvel Cinematic and TV Universe in general: 

• James Whitbrook reports that an episode of the Marvel animated series Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur was pulled because it featured a trans character.
• Sara Merican reports about Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige's comments about the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
  

 

Comments on Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek in general: 

• Keith R.A. DeCandido shares his thoughts on “Of Gods and Angles”, the latest episode of Star Trek Lower Decks.
• James Whitbrook shares his thoughts on “Of Gods and Angles”, the latest episode of Star Trek Lower Decks.
  
• Avery Kaplan shares her thoughts on “Of Gods and Angles”, the latest episode of Star Trek Lower Decks.
  
• Watch Unification, a short film intended to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of Star Trek: Generations.
  

 

Comments on Star Wars in general: 

• Ben Child wonders why Rey is being positioned as the future of Star Wars and if Lucasfilm has any plan at all.
• James Whitbrook interviews the cast and crew of Skeleton Crew.
  
• James Whitbrook shares a brief history of Grand Admiral Thrawn trying to go beyond the known galaxy.
  

 

Comments on season 2 of Arcane: 

• Diana Keng shares her thoughts on act 2 of season 2 of Arcane.
  
• Diana Keng reviews "Paint the Town Blue", the fourth episode of season 2 of Arcane.
• Diana Keng reviews "Blisters and Bedrock", the fifth episode of season 2 of Arcane.
• Diana Keng reviews "The Message Hidden Within the Pattern", the sixth episode of season 2 of Arcane.
• Isaiah Colbert shares Ella Purnell's comments about her character Jinx in season 2 of Arcane.
  
• Wesley Yin-Poole reports that Marc Merrill, co-founder of Riot Games, has defended Arcane's huge budget. 
  

 

Comments on season 2 of Silo:

• Leila Latif calls season 2 of Silo bigger and better than before
• Jay Snow calls season 2 of Silo even stronger than the first
  
• Saloni Gajjar declares that season 2 of Silo is off to a slow but steady start 
• Melody McCune shares her thoughts on the season 2 premiere of Silo. 
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the season 2 premiere of Silo. 
  
• Germain Lussier interviews Graham Yost, showrunner of Silo.

 

Comments on What We Do in the Shadows: 

• William Hughes shares his thoughts on the latest episode of What We Do In the Shadows.
• Melody McCune shares her thoughts on the latest episode of What We Do In the Shadows.

 

 Comments on Red One:

• Jarrod Jones declares that Red One stuffs its stocking with hot air and little else 
• Leah Schnelbach declares that there’s not enough coal in the world for Red One
  
• Jordan Moreau interviews Kristofer Hivju, who plays Krampus in Red One.  
• Rebecca Rubin reports that Red One underperformed at the box office.
  

 

 Comments on Dune Prophecy and Dune in general:

• Elijah Gonzales calls Dune Prophecy intricate and weird in a very Dune way 
• Jack Seale calls Dune: Prophecy a bracingly different science-fiction drama dominated by women at every level
  
• Emmet Asher-Perrin shares their thoughts on the first episode of Dune Prophecy. 
• Cheryl Eddy shares her thoughts on the first episode of Dune Prophecy. 
  
• Brian Tallerico shares his thoughts on the first episode of Dune Prophecy.  
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the first episode of Dune Prophecy.  
  
• Joshua Harris interviews the cast and crew of Dune Prophecy.
• Mike Fleming Jr. interviews Denis Villeneuve, director of the Dune movies.
  

 

Comments on The Penguin: 

• Chris Jenkins shares his thoughts on season 1 of The Penguin. 
• C.T. Phipps shares his thoughts on season 1 of The Penguin. 
  
• Elijah Gonzales declares that The Penguin’s populist rhetoric hits a little too close to home
• Nadira Goffe explains why Joker: Folie à Deux bombed, while The Penguin was a massive hit. 
• Sam Adams interviews Lauren LeFranc, showrunner of The Penguin. 
  

 

Comments on Heretic: 

• Lorinda Donovan shares a spoilerish review of Heretic.
• Kimberly Pierce calls Heretic an intimate and tense horror thriller

 

Comments on Wicked: 

•  Peter Bradshaw calls Wicked a sugar-rush Wizard of Oz fantasy 
• Jesse Hassenger wonders why Wicked looks so drab compared to the 1939 Wizard of Oz. 
• Jason Gorber declares that Wicked soars higher than expected
• Germain Lussier calls Wicked a rousing, gorgeous, slightly drawn out musical adventure 
• Germain Lussier interviews Jon M. Chu, director of Wicked. 
• Cheryl B. Jackson reports that AMC movie theaters have banned patrons from singing along to Wicked.
  

 

Comments on The Franchise: 

• Jarrod Jones shares his thoughts on the latest episode of The Franchise.
• Melody McCune shares her thoughts about the latest episode of The Franchise.
  

 

Awards:

• The winner of the 2024 Salam Award for Imaginative Fiction has been announced. 
• The finalists for the 2024 Game Awards have been announced. 
• The winner of the 2024 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction has been announced and promptly rejects the prize money to protest against the prize's sponsor.
  
• David L. Clink and Rachel A. Rosen interview Diane Lacey, member of the Chengdu Hugo team, about the 2023 Hugo controversy.
  

Writing, publishing and promotion: 

• Adrian Tomine talks about building a creative career.
  
• Victoria Strauss notes that scammers are impersonating Writer Beware.
• Ella Creamer reports that Harper Collins will allow some books published by them to be used to train AI systems, though they at least ask the authors for permission and compensate them.
  
• Ella Creamer reports that lay people preferred poems written by AI to poems written by humans in a recent study.
  

 

Interviews:

• Locus interviews Suzan Palumbo. 
• Suspense Magazine interviews Olivia Blacke.
• Locus interviews M.M. Olivas. 
• David Agranoff interviews Brian Asman.
  
• Lucy Powell interviews Jasmine Mas. 
• Joseph Brant interviews Xueting Ci Ni,  Chu Xidao and Hong Niangzi 
  

 

Reviews:

• Gayle Surrette reviews Passions in Death by J.D. Robb   
• Colleen Mondor reviews Full Speed to a Crash Landing by Beth Revis
  
• Marlene Harris reviews The President’s Brain is Missing by John Scalzi 
• Russell Letson reviews Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky
  
• Marlene Harris reviews The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong 
• Warner Holme reviews An Inheritance of Magic by Benedict Jacka.
  
• Marlene Harris reviews Crazy as a Loon by Hailey Edwards 
• Julia Kitvaria Sarene reviews Between Dragons and Their Wrath by Devin Madson
  
• Paul Weimer reviews To Turn the Tide by S. M. Stirling
• Mark Yon reviews The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke.
  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Green Man's War by Juliet E. McKenna
• James Davis Nicoll reviews The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar 
• Liz Bourke reviews The City in Glass by Nghi Vo 
• Marlene Harris reviews The Bloodless Princes by Charlotte Bond
  
• Bill Capossere reviews The Navigator’s Children by Tad Williams 
• Lesa Holstine reviews The Ghost Cat by Alex Howard 
• Bill Capossere reviews Absolution by Jeff VanderMeer
  
• Julia Kitvaria Sarene reviews Herald by Rob J. Hayes 
• Ian Mond reviews The Repeat Room by Jesse Ball
  
• Blue Book Balloon reviews The Legacy of Arniston House by T.L. Huchu  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Night House by Jo Nesbo.
  
• Lesa Holstine reviews The Mirror by Nora Roberts 
  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Hotel by Daisy Johnson 
• Gabino Iglesias reviews Hampton Heights by Dan Kois
  
• Gabino Iglesias reviews Crypt of the Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud
• Jake Casella Brookins reviews The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister 
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Out of the Window, Into The Dark by Marian Womack 
• Arley Sorg reviews Faeries Never Lie, edited by Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker
  

 

Classics reviews:

• Sam Reader revisits the 1955 Southern Gothic story “Good Country People” by Flannery O’Connor
  
• Brian Collins revisits the 1961 post-apocalyptic story “Nomansland” by Brian W. Aldiss
• Sandy Ferber revisits the 1961 haunted house novel The Scarlet Boy by Arthur Calder-Marshall
  
• Victoria Silverwolf revisits the 1969 dystopian novels 98.4 by Christopher Hodder-Williams and The Weisman Experiment by John Rankine, Brian Collins revisits the 1969 science fiction novel Grimm's World by Vernor Vinge and the 1969 Dominic Flandry space opera novel The Rebel Worlds by Poul Anderson and Cora Buhlert revisits the 1969 science fiction novel The Unicorn Girl by Michael Kurland. 
• Brian Collins revisits the 1969 horror story “The Scar” by Ramsey Campbell 
• Gideon Marcus revisits the December 1969 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. 
  
• Brian Collins and George Pritchard revisit the 1969 cosmic horror anthology Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, edited by August Derleth. 
• Runalong the Shelves revisits the 1971 Earthsea fantasy novel The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K Le Guin
  
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1972 science fiction novel A Choice of Gods by Clifford D. Simak 
• Judith Tarr revisits the 2005 science fiction thriller The Loch by Steve Alten. 
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 2006 science fiction novel Catalyst by Nina Kiriki Hoffman 
  
• Joe Sherry revisits the 2018 October Daye urban fantasy novel Night and Silence by Seanan McGuire.
   
  

Con and event reports:

• Dan Larson shares his experiences at LegionsCon in Whippany, New Jersey.
• The website of the Worldcon bid for Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, for 2030 is now live. 
• Jon Soza reports about the Empire City Garrison of the 501st Legion in New York City.
• DC Comics reports that a bronze statue of John Stewart as the Green Lantern has been unveiled in Burbank, California. 
  

 

Science and technology:

• Brett Tingley reports that a small asteroid hit Earth just hours after being detected.
• Ingrid Vasquez reports that NASA is concerned about an air leak aboard the International Space Station. 
• Victor Tangermann reports that China has show up its reusable Haolong space shuttle.
  
• Victoria Corless wonders if NASA's Viking Mars landers might have accidentally killed lifeforms on the red planet. 
• Hannah Devlin shares her experiences on a zero gravity parabolic flight. 
• Eric Lipton reports that the sonic boom from SpaceX's Starship engine is so loud that it risks causing structural damage 
• Harri Weber explains why we can’t we just launch all of Earth’s garbage into the sun.
  
• Nicole Acevedo explains why the radio telescope of the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico collapsed. 
• Jijo Malayil reports about the Centrifugal Hypergravity and Interdisciplinary Experiment Facility  in Hangzhou, China.
  
• Todd Feathers reports that the new El Capitan super computer will be used to simulate nuclear tests.
  
• Jowi Morales reports that the Gemini AI chatbot has told a user to die after being bothered with answering homework questions. 
• Hannah Peart reports that a rare oarfish, believed to be a harbinger for disaster, has washed up on a beach in Encinas, California, for the second time in a year. 
  
• Hannah Devlin profiles British ESA astronaut Rosemary Coogan.
  
• James Dacey interviews NASA astronaut Eileen Collins
  

 

Gaming: 

• Alasdair Stuart shares his thoughts on the narrative game Interstate 35
• Ian Stokes calls Codenames the ultimate pick-up-and-play party game 
• C.T. Phipps reviews the remake of Silent Hill 2.
  
• Graeme Mason shares the story behind the Ravenholm level of Half-Life 2. 
• Nicole Carpenter reports that Hasbro has been sued by investors for supposedly misrepresenting an excessive inventory of games.
  

 

Toys and collectibles:

• Pixel Dan reviews the latest Turtles of Grayskull action figures from Mattel.
• Toy Habits shares a look at some unused concept art for the packaging of the Masters of the Universe Origins Modulok action figure.
  

 

Free online fiction: 

• "Star of the Sea" by Christina Rosso in The Sunday Morning Transport.
  
• "A Fallen Flare" by Jamey Toner in Swords and Sorcery Magazine.
• "A City at Twilight" by Mike Lewis in Trollbreath Magazine. 
• "Birds of a Feather" by Rachal Severino in Apex Magazine.
• "Moon Rabbit Song" by Caroline Hung in Nightmare Magazine.  
• "Antyesti For a Dead Ganesa, Part 2" by Ashok K. Banker in Lightspeed. 
• "The Last Word" by Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe in Lightspeed. 
  
• "I’m Not Disappointed Just Mad AKA The Heaviest Couch in the Known Universe" by Daryl Gregory in Reactor.
  
• "Catalogue of the Exofaithful Practices on Exoplanet SSR24-∞" by Marisca Pichette in The Deadlands.
• "Duty of Care" by E.N. Auslender in Clarkesworld.
• "The Slide" by Oliver Stifel in Clarkesworld. 
• "There Is Love in São Paulo" by H. Pueyo in Interzone Digital.
  
• "Robert, We Can Cry Now" by Françoise Harvey in The Dark.
  

Trailers and videos:

• Watch a clip from "Joy to the World", the 2024 Doctor Who Christmas Special.
• Watch a trailer for season 7 of The Dragon Prince. 
  
• Watch a trailer for the live action How To Train Your Dragon 
• Watch a trailer for Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl 
  
• Watch a trailer for Dream Productions. 
• Watch a trailer for Elio.
  
• Watch a trailer for A Minecraft Movie.