Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for May 9, 2025

 

It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with Andor and Star Wars in general, Thunderbolts* and the Marvel Cinematic and TV Universe in general, news from the upcoming Masters of the Universe live action film and Masters of the Universe in general, season 2 of  The Last of Us, Sinners, Doctor Who past, present and future, Murderbot, season 6 of The Handmaid's Tale, Star Trek in general, Clown in a Cornfield, an uproar involving the 2025 Worldcon in Seattle, Washington, Donald Trump's war on foreign films and much more.

Speculative fiction in general:

• Natalie Zutter shares the best new science fiction and fantasy books for May.
• Reactor shares all the new science fiction books arriving in May 2025 
  
• Reactor shares all the new fantasy books arriving in May 2025 
• Reactor shares all the new horror, romantasy and genre crossover books arriving in May 2025   
• Reactor shares all the new young adult SFF books arriving in May 2025
  
• Sam Leith discusses the current popularity of time loop, time travel and alternate reality novels in mainstream fiction.  
• Paulette Kennedy talks about the magic of cross-genre gothic fiction 
• Maxym M. Martineau shares five romantasies with brooding romantic heroes.
• Lorna Wallace shares five frightening books about fiction bleeding into reality 
• James Davis Nicoll shares five science fiction books about duplicating human beings
  
• James Davis Nicoll shares five SFF stories about saying to Hell with rules and regulations 
• Carlyn Greenwald talks about finding herself in queer-coded horror 
• Alex Brown shares five underrated books about black vampires
  
• Lara Elena Donnelly talks about alternate history.
  
• Ella Creamer wonders whether the world really needs more male novelists. 
• Spencer Kornhaber worries about the decline of western culture.
  
• Tobi Ogundiran shares his appreciation for the magazine Locus.
  

Comics and Art:

• Robin Marx reviews Conan the Barbarian #19 by Jim Zub and Doug Braithwaite 
• Adam Rutherford reviews Ginseng Roots by Craig Thompson 
  
• Germain Lussier interviews Brad Hill who creates pop culture sculptures from Play-Doh.
  
• Tom Gauld shares a cartoon about the comprehensive bookshop.
  
• Science fiction artist George Barr died aged 88.
• Comic artist and writer Jake Katz has died aged 97.
  

 

 Film and TV: 

• Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on I Saw the TV Glow. 
• Jim Vorel calls Watch the Skies a heartfelt nordic ode to Spielbergian science fiction.
  
• Lucy Mangan calls Families Like Ours a dull dystopian drama and wonders why it is such a hit in Denmark 
  
• Z.B. Steele calls season 1 of Attack on Titan not only a grimdark masterpiece, but also the finest written TV-show he has ever seen.
• James Whitbrook declares that Gundam GQuuuuuuX is clearly made by people who love the 1979 classic—but that love isn't getting in the way of the story it wants to tell.
• Arturo Serrano shares his thoughts on The Eternaut.
  
• Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on Flow.
  
• Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on The Wild Robot.
  
• Catherine Bray calls It Feeds a neatly-realised, if somewhat familiar horror film. 
• Phil Hoad calls Ride the Snake a low-budget home-invasion horror film that offers a transgressive free-for-all
  
• Melody McCune shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Surrealestate. 
• A.J. Landau shares six movies and one TV show featuring biological threats.
• Dan Persons shares his appreciation for Lady Eboshi, the antagonist of Hayao Miyasaki's anime classic Princess Monokoke. 
  
• Mona Chalabi discusses how she created the first animated hijab wearing character in a US cartoon.
  
• Joanna Margaret revisits the 1973 folk horror film The Wicker Man. 
• Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the 1996  Babylon 5 episode “Messages from Earth”
• Connie Chang reports about "fix it" fanfics which fix traumatic endings and scenes in movies and TV shows. 
• Matt Stevens reports about the prop company History for Hire in Hollywood, California.
  
• Ben Blatt wonders whether New York offering tax credits to film and TV productions is a good use of taxpayers' money.
  

 

Comments on Thunderbolts* and the Marvel Cinematic and TV Universe in general:

• Leah Schnelbach calls Thunderbolts* an unexpectedly a poignant action film about depression
• Clarisse Loughrey calls Thunderbolts* the best Marvel movie in years 
• Lorinda Donovan shares a spoilerish review of Thunderbolts*
  
• Ben Child wonders whether Sentry appearing in Thunderbolts* isn't too deep a cut for mainstream audiences. 
• Justin Carter declares that Thunderbolts*' big death is both obvious and pointless.
  
• Germain Lussier discusses the Thunderbolts* post-credits scenes. 
• Justin Carter shares some background on the comics that inspired Thunderbolts*. 
• William Hughes explains Thunderbolts*' big twist's deep connections to its comic book roots
• Adam B. Vary interviews Jake Schreier, director of Thunderbolts*. 
• Tasha Robinson interviews Eric Pearson, one of the writers of Thunderbolts*. 
• Nicholas Ayala also interviews Eric Pearson.
• Ben Travis interviews Matt Shakman, director Fantastic Four: First Steps.
  
• Jacob Stolworthy reports that the title of Thunderbolts* has been changed in spoilerish way after a week in cinemas.
  
• Justin Carter reminds us that Avengers: The Kang Dynasty was supposed to release this weekend instead of Thunderbolts*. 
• Caroline Siede declares that the Black Widow movie was too little, too late
• Pamela McClintock reports that Thunderbolts* had a good opening weekend. 
• Rebecca Rubin reports that Disney CEO Bob Iger is pleased that Thunderbolts* is doing well.
  

 

Comments on Masters of the Universe in general:

• Taylor Gates interviews Sasheer Zamata about her role as Suzy in the Masters of the Universe live action film.
  
• James Eatock notes which of Trap Jaw's attachments was the least used in the Filmation He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon.
  

 

Comments on Andor and Star Wars in general: 

• William Hughes shares his thoughts on the seventh episode of Andor. 
• William Hughes shares his thoughts on the eighth episode of season 2 of Andor. 
• William Hughes shares his thoughts on the ninth episode of season 2 of Andor. 
  
• Sabina Graves shares her thoughts on the third three episodes of season 2 of Andor. 
• Emmet Asher-Perrin shares their thoughts on the third three episodes of season 2 of Andor.  
• Phoebe Wagner shares her thoughts on episode 2 of season 2 of Andor.
  
• James Whitbrook notes that Andor lets Saw Gerrera be right again
• James Whitbrook declates that Andor walked a delicate line with its latest tragic death. 
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw praises the worldbuilding and design choices in the depiction of the planet Ghorman in Andor. 
• James Whitbrook praises how Andor uses references to the Ghorman massacre in the pre-Disney Star Wars novels. 
• Joshua M. Patton believes that the fact that Andor completely ignores the Force was a good decision.
• Tara Bennett interviews Andor’s executive producer Sanne Wohlenberg and Genevieve O’Reilly, who plays Mon Mothma. 
• Dalton Ross interviews Tony Gilroy, showrunner of Andor.
  
• Maureen Lee Lenker interviews Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy and Genevieve O'Reilly.
  
• Sabina Graves interviews Varada Sethu who plays Cinta in Andor and Belinda Chandra in Doctor Who. 
• Jordan Moreau interviews Kyle Soller who plays Syril Karn in Andor.
  
• Elijah Gonzales calls Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld a step back for this animated anthology series.
• Camestros Felapton wonders why we never see human-looking robots in the Star Wars universe.
• Maggie Plummer lists ten Star Wars characters who deserve more attention. 
• Becca Stalnaker lists four planets in the Star Wars universe that she'd love to visit.  
• Jamie Grierson reports that an NHS employee has won 30000 GBP of compensation after a co-worker compared her to Darth Vader. 
• Stuart Heritages points out that the real Darth Vader would slice hurtful colleagues in half – not take them to an employment tribunal

 

 Comments on Murderbot:  

• Cheryl Eddy interviews Chris and Paul Weitz, showrunners of Murderbot. 
• Matthew Razak also interviews Chris and Paul Weitz.
• Vanessa Armstrong interviews Chris and Paul Weitz.
  

 

 Comments on season 2 of The Last of Us (spoilers):

• Caroline Siede shares her thoughts on “Day One”, the latest episode of The Last of Us.
• Molly Templeton shares her thoughts on “Day One” , the latest episode of The Last of Us.
• Graeme Virtue shares his thoughts “Day One”, the latest episode of The Last of Us.   
• Germain Lussier shares his thoughts “Day One”, the latest episode of The Last of Us.   
• Saloni Gajjar interviews Isabela Merced who plays Dina in The Last of Us.
• Kate Aurthur also interviews Isabela Merced. 
• Zack Sharf reports that Bella Ramsey, who plays Ellie in The Last of Us and is non-binary, has defended gendered acting categories in movie and TV awards. 
• Matthew Pearce also discusses Bella Ramsey's comments on gendered awards categories. 
• Inspired by The Last of Us, Molly Templeton notes that sometimes, it's okay to know where the story is going.
  

 

Comments on Doctor Who past, present and future: 

• Emmet Asher-Perrin shares their thoughts on “Lucky Day”, the fourth episode of series 15 of Doctor Who. 
• James Whitbrook shares his thoughts on “Lucky Day”, the fourth episode of series 15 of Doctor Who. 
  
• Martin Belam shares his thoughts on “Lucky Day”, the fourth episode of series 15 of Doctor Who. 
• Isobel Lewis shares her thoughts on “Lucky Day”, the fourth episode of series 15 of Doctor Who. 
  
• Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on “Lucky Day”, the fourth episode of series 15 of Doctor Who. 
• Melody McCune shares her thoughts on “Lucky Day”, the fourth episode of series 15 of Doctor Who. 
• Mary Kate Carr declares that Doctor Who has gotten too clever for its own good 
• Sabrina Graves declares that the vibes Ncuti Gatwa brings to Doctor Who deserve to be celebrated
  
• Matthew Pearce reports that Fifteenth Doctor Ncuti Gatwa will deliver the British jury verdicts at the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest after playing the Doctor in a Eurovision themed episode of Doctor Who.
• Jessica Holmes revisits the 1970 Doctor Who serial "The Ambassadors of Death".
  

 

Comments on Sinners:

• Andrew Lawrence explains that Sinners shows the importance of juke joints for black culture in the US. 
• Alex Brown shares books to read after watching Sinners.
  

 

Comments on season 6 of The Handmaid's Tale:

• Rebecca Nicholson calls The Handmaid’s Tale the most frustrating show on TV.
  
• Salamisha Tillet interviews Bruce Miller, showrunner of The Handmaid's Tale, as well as stars Elizabeth Moss and Yvonne Strahowski.
  

 

 Comments on Star Trek in general:

• James Whitbrook revisits the 1995 Star Trek Voyager episode "Faces".
  
• Avery Kaplan shares her appreciation for the character of T'Pol from Star Trek Enterprise.
  
• Avery Kaplan lists some characters from other Star Trek shows that appeared in Star Trek: Lower Decks.
  

 

Comments on Clown in a Cornfield: 

• Cheryl Eddy declares that Clown in a Cornfield lives up to that tremendous title 
  
• Jim Vorel declares that Clown in a Cornfield delivers on its title, but little else

 

Comments on Donald Trump's war on foreign films:

• The Guardian reports that Donald Trump has announces 100% tariffs on movies ‘produced in foreign lands in a bid to "save" Hollywood.
• Jesse Hassenger declares that  Trump’s attack on the film industry is a sign of xenophobic contempt
• Peter Bradshaw declares that Trump’s talk of film tariffs makes no sense, but is already doing damage – to Hollywood
• Andrew Pulver declares that  Trump’s movie tariffs are designed to destroy the international film industry
• Michael Savage and Edward Helmore report that various film industry officials warn that Trump’s foreign film tariffs could ‘wipe out’ the UK movie industry.
• Andrew Pulver shares reactions from the British film industry to Donald Trump's latest tariff plans.
  
• Steven Zeitchik wonders whether Donald Trump wants to save or screw Hollywood. 
• Andrew Pulver reports that Donald Trump has allegedly softened his stance on tariffs.
  
• Katie Kilkenny and Alex Weprin share Jon Voight's plan to "save" Hollywood.    
• Jesse Hassenger chronicles how Jon Voigt went from counterculture star and Oscar winning actor to rightwing Trump supporter.
   

 Awards:

• The finalists for the 2025 Locus Award have been announced.
• The finalists for the 2025 Rhysling Award have been announced. 
• The finalists for the 2025 Prix Imaginales have been announced. 
• The winners of the 2024 Otherwise Award have been announced. 
• The nominations for the 2025 Tony Awards have been announced.
  

 

Writing, publishing and promotion: 

• Nicole Jarvis explains how chronic pain made her a better writer.
• Mattea Kramer talks about crafting nested tales
  

 

Interviews:

• BBC Outlook interviews Nnedi Okorafor.
• Elizabeth Tabler interviews Joe Abercrombie. 
• Lenny Picker interviews Antonia Hodgson. 
  
• Arley Sorg interviews Jane Espenson.
  
• Arley Sorg interviews David Barr Kirtley.
  

 

Reviews:

• James Davis Nicoll reviews The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky  
• Ian Mond reviews Sleeper Beach by Nick Harkaway
• Paul Di Filippo reviews Where the Axe Is Buried by Ray Naylor 
• Rai Furniss-Greasley reviews Rose/House by Arkady Martine 
  
• Marion Deeds reviews Rose of Jericho by Alex Grecian 
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Land of the Living and the Dead by Shauna Lawless
  
• Esmay Rosalyne reviews Cold Silver for Souls by Tori Tecken 
• Z.B. Steele reviews Tyrant’s Throne by Sebastien de Castell 
• Sasha Bonkowsky reviews Notes From a Regicide by Isaac Fellman.
• Runalong the Shelves reviews A Palace Near the Wind by Ai Jiang
  
• Marlene Harris reviews The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner 
  
• Ed Crocker reviews The Sins of Steel and Shadow by Steve Pannett 
• Julia Kitvaria Sarene reviews The Price of Faith by Rob J. Hayes
  
• Archita Mittra reviews Immortal by Sue Lynn Tan 
• Marion Deeds reviews Aunt Tigress by Emily Yu-Xuan Qin 
• Molly Templeton reviews The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson.
• Paul Weimer reviews Kitemaster by Jim C. Hines
• Mahvesh Murad reviews Gifted & Talented by Olivie Blake
  
• Colleen Mondor reviews Needy Little Things by Channelle Desamours 
• Rob Bedford reviews Overgrowth by Mira Grant.
  
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews The Deep Forest by Sofía Rhei 
• Crime Book Girl reviews The Cure by Eve Smith.
  
• Mark Yon reviews The Devils by Joe Abercrombie. 
• Alex Brown reviews One Message Remains by Premee Mohamed
  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Magic Can’t Save Us: Eighteen Tales of Likely Failure by Josh Denslow
  
• Paul Weimer reviews Humans: A Monstrous History by Surekha Davies.
   
  

 Classics reviews:

• Sam Reader revisits the 1911 horror story “The Beckoning Fair One” by Oliver Onions
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1953 science fiction collection The Continent Makers by L. Sprague de Camp  
• Gideon Marcus revisits the June 1970 issue of Galaxy.
  
• David Levinson revisits the 1970 Arthurian novel The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart, Jason Sacks revisits the 1970 science fiction mystery The Gaudy Shadows by John Brunner and Amber Dubin revisits the 1970 science fiction novels Gallagher's Glacier and Positive Charge by Walt and Leigh Richmond
• Brian Collins revisits the 1970 anthology The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, edited by Robert Silverberg
  
• Sandy Ferber revisits the 1978 sword and sorcery novel Quest for the White Witch by Tanith Lee
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1981 science fiction novel Wave Without a Shore by C J Cherryh 
• Alissa Burger revisits the 1994 YA horror trilogy The Forbidden Game by L.J. Smith.
  
• Clara Cohen revisits the 1999 epic fantasy novel Mad Ship by Robin Hobb.
  
  

Comments on the Seattle Worldcon ChatGPT controversy:

• Mike Glyer shares a round-up of reactions to the Seattle Worldcon using ChatGPT to vet potential panelists. 
• Jason Sanford offers an overview of the Seattle Worldcon ChatGPT controversy
  
• Kathy Bond, chair of the 2025 Worldcon in Seattle, Washington, apaologises for the use of ChatGPT to vet potential program participants.
• Kathy Bond and programming division head SunnyJim Morgan issue another apology for the use of ChatGPT to vet potential programming participatns and also share the prompt they used. 
• Cora Buhlert used the Seattle ChatGPT prompt with her name and shares the inaccurate results she got. 
• Locus shares a summary of the Seattle ChatGPT controversy.
  
• Cheryl Eddy shares a summary of the Seattle ChatGPT controvery. 
• Cheryl Eddy shares an updated summary of the Seattle ChatGPT controversy.
  
• Mike Glyer reports that the Seattle Worldcon has cancelled the first virtual Business Meeting town hall. 
• The Hugo administrator and WSFS division head of the 2025 Seattle Worldcon have resigned in protest over the use of ChatGPT to vet program participants. 

 

Crowdfunding:

• Comic artist Afua Richardson needs help with medical expenses.

 

 Con and event reports:

• Locus shares photos of the 2025 Rainforest Writers Village Retreats in Quinault, Washington.
• Lesley Gray Streeter reports about the A Million Lives Book Festival in Baltimore, Maryland, which turned out to be an unmitigated disaster.
•  Bill Koenig reports about Gatherall at Goldeneye, a James Bond event at Ian Fleming's former home in Jamaica.
• Raphael Boyd reports that the inhabitants of the village of Kempston Hardwick in Bedfordshire, UK, are worried about the impact that the planned Universal Studios theme park in their neighbourhood will have on them and also feel left out of the planning process. 
• Germain Lussier reports that Disney has announced that it is building a new Disneyland theme park in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
  

 

Science and technology:

• Passant Rabie reports that NASA’s Psyche mission has suffered a strange glitch on its way to the asteroid belt. 
• Victor Tangerman reports that the Trump government has announced massive cuts to NASA's budget, which will endanger its Artemis Moon program.
  
• Mark Kaufman recalls how controversial the so-called "deep field" observations of the Hubble space telescope as well as the telescope initially were. 
• Celeste Biever reports that AI is being used in the search of extraterrstrial life. 
• Cy Neff reports that an AI generated video of a murder victim from Arizona has appeared in court to address his killer.
  

 

Gaming: 

• Keith Stuart explains why independent videogame journalism is important.

 

Toys and collectibles:

• Pixel Dan reviews the Mattel Masters of the Universe Cartoon Collection Faker, Leech, Catra, Frosta, Buzz-Off and Invisible Skeletor.  
• Toy Habits reviews the Jada Toys Tony the Tiger action figure.
  
• James Whitbrook shares a look at the Hot Toys Star Wars Jar Jar Binks action figure, 
• Justin Carter shares a look at some new Lego sets based on Spider-Man 2 and Batman Forever.
• James Whitbrook reports that even Pixar's desk lamp mascot is getting its own Lego set. 
• Germain Lussier reports about collecible mini-versions of Disney ride vehicles made by Tomica and sold at Disneyland Tokyo.
• For Eternia reports that Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz has stated that toy manufacturing will not return to the US, but that Donald Trump's tariffs will make toys more expensive for everybody.
  
• Cheryl Eddy reports about a record-breaking Pokemon card sold at auction.  
  

 

Free online fiction: 

• "The Tale of How You Were Born" by Eleanor Elizabeth Fog in Beneath Ceaseless Skies. 
• "The Messengers of Despair" by Jordan Kurella in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
  
• "Shadows on the Pavement" by R. P. Sand in Lightspeed.  
• "Rthing It Up: An Oral History" by Gene Doucette in Lightspeed.  
• "Brainstem Disco, 2191" by Angela Liu in Clarkesworld.
• "I Remember a One-Sided Die" by Francis Bass in Apex Magazine.
• "There Be Monsters" by Suzan Palumbo in The Sunday Morning Transport.
• "Squid Teeth" by Sarah Langan in Reactor. 
• "Blunt Teeth" by Margaret Ronald in The Dark.
• "Beak" by Ian Muneshwar in Nightmare Magazine.
  
  

Trailers and videos:

• Watch a trailer for season 3 of Foundation. 
• Watch a trailer for The Old Guard 2.
• Watch a trailer for How To Train Your Dragon
  
• Watch a trailer for season 3 of Squid Game.
• Watch a trailer for The Long Walk.
  
• Watch a trailer for Together.
  
• Watch a trailer for Revival. 
• Watch a trailer for The Conjuring: Last Rites.