It's
time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting
links
about speculative
fiction from
around the web, this week with the best SFF books of 2025, Star Trek in general, Masters of the Universe in general, season 4 of The Witcher, the final season of Stranger Things, Wicked for Good, the latest version of Frankenstein, the new The Running Man, It: Welcome to Derry and Stephen King adaptations in general, Keeper, Pluribus and much
more.
Speculative fiction in general:
- Emily C. Hughes shares her favourite horror books coming out in November.
- Sam Reader shares six SFF book featuring terrifying dragons.
- Gilly Macmillan shares nine novels featuring secret societies.
- Lev Grossman shares his appreciation for the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories of Fritz Leiber, whom he calls "the American Tolkien".
- Dave Hook shares his thoughts about the short fiction of J..G. Ballard.
- Brian Campbell reports about the emergence of Canadian comic and science fiction fandom after WWII.
- Orlando Reade discusses his interaction with writers of erotic Harry Potter fanfiction.
- Fu Ting reports that the Chinese government is cracking down on the popular Danmei gay romances, leaving the genre's many fans, usually young women, depressed.
- Matthew Petti reports that science fiction author Vernor Vinge was put under surveillance by the FBI for alleged socialist tendencies.
- Canadian science fiction fan Kenneth Morton Smookler has died aged 96.
Best of 2025:
Comics and Art:
- Brad Hawley reviews Tokyo Babylon by CLAMP
- Adam Rutherford reviews The Once and Future Riot by Joe Sacco
- Germain Lussier reports that a near perfect copy of Superman #1 from 1939 just sold for over nine million dollars, making it the most expensive comic book of all time.
- Tom Gauld shares a cartoon about two pigeons missing out on the Booker prize
Film and TV:
- Camestros Felapton calls Guillermo del Toro's take on Frankenstein a compelling and visually appealing film with some great performances.
- Keith R.A. DeCandido declares that Kraven the Hunter answers the question, "What is Kraven without Spider-Man?"
- Justin Carter declares that The Mighty Nein still brings the fun of Critical Role to animation
- Justin Carter declares that the animated series Dispatch is better at superheroic redemption than romance
- Ann Michelle Harris calls 7th Time Loop a compact time loop/romance/action/adventure anime.
- Saloni Gajjar declares that Mayfair Witches and Talamasca: The Secret Order pale in comparison to Interview With the Vampire.
- Ben Child wonders whether Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die won't be yet another ponderous parable about robot souls, digital enlightenment or the hubris of man
- Peter Bradshaw calls The Ice Tower a death-wish fairytale about obsession and idolisation.
- Catherine Bray calls Bone Lake a smart and witty horror film about a romantic weekend break going gruesomely wrong
- Isaiah Colbert calls The Wailing a South Korean horror masterpiece you can’t brace yourself for
- Marion Deeds shares her thoughts on Weapons.
- Leslie Felperin calls A Desert a horror film where high art meets trailer trash
- Jim Vorel calls Man Finds Tape a wildly inventive horror film.
- Benjamin Lee calls The Carpenter’s Son a dull biblical horror film.
- Arturo Serrano declares that taking a nap is preferable to watching the animated film In Your Dreams.
- Mari Ness discusses the portrayal of disability in The Wheel of Time TV-show.
- Stephen King shares his ten favourite movies.
- Lorna Wallace lists five SFF movies with incredibly memorable dialogue-free scenes
- Kali Wallace revisits the 1924 Soviet science fiction film Aelita.
- Victoria Silverwolf revisits the 1970 horror film House of Dark Shadows.
- Craig D. Lindsey revisits the 1978 fantasy musical The Wiz.
- Leah Schnelbach revisits the 1985 anime cult classic Angel’s Egg
- Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the 1997 Babylon 5 episode “Lines of Communication”
- Victoria Davis interviews Don Bluth, animator and director of The Secret of NIMH, All Dogs Go to Heaven, The Land Before Time, Anastasia and many others.
- Scott Roxborough interviews Ronald Víctor García, director of photography for Twin Peaks, about the show's unique look.
- Michael Cragg interviews Russell Tovey, star of Being Human and The War Between the Earth and the Sea.
- Ben Travis interviews Andrew Stanton, director of Toy Story 5.
- Justin Carter reports that Henry Gilroy, writer and producer of Star Wars: Rebels, believes that turning the character of Sabine Wren into a Jedi in Ahsoka was a bad idea.
- Camestros Felapton takes a look at the science fiction movies of Harry Piel during the silent and early sound era.
- Animation Obsessive talks about their quest to locate the lost 1983 Mexican animated science fiction movie Roy from Space.
- Catherine Shoard reports that actor Dick Van Dyke was tapped to play James Bond in the 1960s, but turned down the part.
- James Whitbrook reports that director Rian Johnson has ruled out a Muppets/Knives Out crossover.
- James Whitbrook reports that the disintegrated Doctor Who deal between Disney and the BBC Is leaving the spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea in limbo in the US.
- Japanese actor Tatsuya Nakadai, best known for his roles in Ran, High and Low, Sanjuro, The Sword of Doom, Kagemusha and many others, has died aged 92.
Comments on Masters of the Universe in general:
- Mark Cassidy reports that early reactions to the upcoming Masters of the Universe live action film are positive.
- Mr. H. Reviews also reports that test screening reactions to the upcoming Masters of the Universe live action film were very positive, but that the movie itself appears to be rather light-hearted and comedic.
- Mega Jay Retro interviews someone who attended one of the test screenings of the upcoming Masters of the Universe live action film.
- He-Mania interviews Leah Smith, camera operator trainee who worked on the live action Masters of the Universe movie.
- Colt Crane reports that the Masters of the Universe comic mini-series "The Sword of Flaws" will become an ongoing series from Dark Horse comics.
- He-Mania is confused by some blatant errors and misspellings in the Masters of the Universe mini-comic "The Sting of Sting-Or".
Comments on Star Trek in general:
- James Whitbrook discusses the history and workings of the Klingon Empire in Star Trek.
- Witney Seibold notes that Bjo Trimble, the Star Trek fan who initiated the letter writing campaign that saved the original Star Trek from cancellation, was an extra in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
- James Whitbrook interviews Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, writers of the comic Star Trek: The Last Starship, as well as IDW editor Heather Antos
- Justin Kroll reports that a new Star Trek movie is in the works from directors/writers Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley
- Olav Rokne wonders what the takeover of Star Trek's owners Paramount by Skydance Media and its far right CEO David Ellison will mean for the future of the traditionally leftwing and progressive Star Trek.
Comments on season 4 of The Witcher:
Comments on the final season of Stranger Things:
Comments on the new The Running Man:
Comments on It: Welcome to Derry and Stephen King adaptations in general:
Comments on Wicked For Good:
- Peter Bradshaw calls Wicked For Good a zingily scored conclusion to the hit origin story
- Jesse Hassenger calls Wicked: For Good a whole movie's worth of second-act problems
- Germain Lussier declares that Wicked: For Good never quite flies
- Zoe Williams interviews Jon M Chu, director of Wicked and Wicked for Good.
- Niamh Ní Hoireabhaird interviews Marissa Bode who plays Nessarose in Wicked and Wicked For Good.
- Adrian Horton reports that actress Ariana Grande, who plays Glinda in Wicked and Wicked for Good, contracted covid during the press tour for Wicked for Good.
Comments on Keeper:
Comments on Pluribus:
- Noel Murray shares his thoughts on episode 3 of Pluribus.
- Cheryl Eddy shares her thoughts on episode 3 of Pluribus.
- Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on the first two episodes of Pluribus.
- BBC Front Row interviews Vince Gilligan, creator of Pluribus, Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.
- Read an excerpt from Winds of Wyncaro, the fictional romantasy novel written by the protagonist of Pluribus.
Awards:
- The winner of the 2026 Damon Knight Grand Master Award has been announced.
- The longlist for the 2026 Andrew Carnegie Medals has been announced.
- The winner of the 2025 National Book Awards have been announced.
- The finalists for the 2025 Game Awards have been announced.
- Mike Glyer reports that 2023 Best Fan Writer Hugo winner has moved to dismiss his lawsuit against former Hugo administrator Dave McCarty for not delivering his trophy, because he has been promised to finally receive his trophy by the remaining Chengdu comittee.
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- Javier Grillo–Marxuach talks about writing memorable characters.
- Mike Maden talks about writing memorable villains.
- Scott Edelman explains why he pulled a story he sold to The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction for inacceptable contract terms of the new owners Must Read Magazines.
- Victoria Strauss reports about a new impersonation scam targeting authors.
- Kelly Burke also reports about a new scam targeting authors.
- Brendan O'Connor reports that the Center for Fiction in Brooklyn, New York, where writers can rent a desk for a fee, is running out of space.
- James Davis Nicoll shares five reasons to leave the house and go explore a used bookstore
- Alex Call reports that sales of science fiction and fantasy have reached an all-time high in 2025, but that this is mainly due to the runaway success of romantasy.
- Tim Ford reports that the Canadian speculative fiction magazine On Spec is shutting down after 35 years.
- Dead Girl Reads talks about the problem that reviewers may no longer share their honest opinion, lest the supply of free books and ARCs dries up.
- Emma Loffhagen reports that more than half of British novelists fear that their work will be replaced by AI according to a recent study.
- Deborah Cole and Philip Oltermann report that GEMA, the German music licencing agency, won a lawsuit against ChatGPT for using song lyrics for training their Large Language Model without authorisation.
Interviews:
Reviews:
- Mark Yon reviews Brigands and Breadknives by Travis Baldree.
- Marlene Harris reviews Brigands and Breadknives by Travis Baldree
- Lesa Holstine reviews Constituent Service by John Scalzi
- Wendy N. Wagner reviews Saltcrop by Yume Kitasei
- Z.B. Steele reviews Kingdoms of Death by Christopher Ruocchio
- Gary K. Wolfe reviews All That We See or Seem by Ken Liu
- Marlene Harris reviews Testimony of Mute Things by Lois McMaster Bujold
- Lesa Holstine reviews The Seven Rings by Nora Roberts
- Julia Kitvaria Sarene reviews A Study in Sirens by Suzannah Rowntree
- Runalong the Shelves reviews Daughters of Nicnevin by Shona Kinsella
- Colleen Mondor reviews The Yomigaeri Tunnel by Kelly Murashige
- C.T. Phipps reviews The Long Way Down by Craig Schaefer
- Rob Bedford reviews The Strength of the Few by James Islington
- Julia Kitvaria Sarene reviews The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang
- Marlene Harris reviews The Blackfire Blade by James Logan
- Fiona Denton reviews The Lost Reliquary by Lyndsay Ely
- Runalong the Shelves reviews The Salt Oracle by Lorraine Wilson
- Aida Edemariam reviews The Wax Child by Olga Ravn
- Marion Deeds reviews Cinder House by Freya Marske
- Maya Gittelman reviews Cinder House by Freya Marske
- Alex Brown reviews Tall Is Her Body by Robert de la Chevotière
- Esmay Rosalyne reviews Alpha by K.D. Marchesi
- James Davis Nicoll reviews The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean McKay
- Rich Horton reviews A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett
- Ed Crocker reviews The Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes
- Alex Brown reviews The Dead of Summer by Ryan La Sala
- Alexandra Pierce reviews The Year’s Top Tales of Space and Time 5, edited by Allan Kaster
- Ruthanna Emrys reviews The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli.
- Doreen Sheridan reviews The In Death Cookbook by Theresa Carle-Sanders
Classics reviews:
- Postcards from a Dying World revisits the 1948 science fiction story "Mars is Heaven" by Ray Bradbury
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the infamous 1958 science fiction story "The Queen Bee" by Randall Garrett and finds it's still as terrible as ever.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1969 dystopian novel A Sweet Sweet Summer by Jane Gaskell
- Jason Sacks revisits the 1970 science fiction novel The Stone God Awakens by Philip Jose Farmer, Cora Buhlert revisits the 1970 sword and sorcery novel Swords of the Barbarians by Kenneth Bulmer anbd Winona Menezes revisits the 1970 science fiction novel Year of the Cloud by Ted Thomas and Kate Wilhelm
- Amber Dubin revisits the 1970 science fiction novels The Communipaths by Suzette Haden Elgin and The Noblest Experiment in the Galaxy by Louis Trimble, Kris Vyas-Myall revisits the 1970 science fiction novel The Snow-White Soliloquies by Sheila MacLeod and Victoria Silverwolf revisits the 1970 science fiction novel Chronocules by D. G. Compton
- Kris Vyas-Myall revisits the 1970 science fiction anthology Quark/1, edited by Samuel R. Delany and Marilyn Hacker
- Sandy Ferber revisits the 1981 horror novel The Third Grave by David Case
- Young People Read Old SFF revisit the 1981 proto-cyberpunk novella True Names by Vernor Vinge
- Alissa Burger revisits the 1996 YA horror novel Homecoming Queen by John Hall and the 1997 YA horror novel Who Killed the Homecoming Queen? by R.L. Stine
- Lesa Holstine revisits the 2012 science fiction novella An Election by John Scalzi
Con and event reports:
- Alison Scott, John Coxon and Emily Tesh report about the 2025 Novacon in Buxton, UK
- Mike Glyer discusses what happens when the Wolrd Science Fiction Society cannot address all proposals during the alotted time for the business meeting.
- Chris M. Barkley shares his experiences at the Books By the Banks Cincinnati Regional Book Festival in Cincinnati, Ohio.
- The program for the 10th Annual City Tech Science Fiction Symposium on Image and SF has been announced.
- Ellen Datlow shares some photos of the latest Fantastic Fiction Reading, featuring Lara Elena Donnelly and Sam J. Miller, at the KGB Bar in New York City.
- Claire Moses reports about Paddington: The Musical, which is coming to the stage in London, UK.
Science and technology:
- The Guardian shares NASA's photos of the interstellar comet 3I/Atlas
- Kate Blackwood explains how we could detect life in the clouds of other worlds.
- Daniel Whiteson and Andy Warner wonder what it would mean if aliens don't actually do science as we understand it.
- Kristina Nienhaus reports that our solar system is moving faster than expected
- Skander Garroum notes that solarpunk is already happening in Africa.
- Casey Michael Henry wonders why so nuch new technology feels inspired by dystopian science fiction movies.
- H.
Lee Justine talks about the toxicity of social media, particularly when
young children are involved by their influencer parents without their
consent.
Gaming:
- Adam Serwer explains why Elon Musk needs Dungeons & Dragons to be racist.
- Germain Lussier reviews the video game Hades 2.
- Joe DelFranco reviews the video game Death Stranding: Director's Cut by Kojima Productions
- Justin Carter bids goodbye to Halo Infinite, which has received its final update.
- Keza MacDonald reports how the use of AI in the video game ArcRaiders caused an uproar.
- Video game designer Rebecca Heineman has died aged 62.
Toys and collectibles:
- Toy Habits reviews the Mattel Masters of the Universe Masterverse New Eternia Mantenna action figure.
- Toy Habits reviews the Mattel Masters of the Universe Masterverse New Eternia Mosquitor action figure.
- Toy Habits reviews the Super 7 Thundercats Ultimates Lion-O action figure reissue.
- Toy Habits reviews the Super 7 Thundercats Ultimates Reptilian Guard action figure.
- Toy Habits reviews the Loyal Subjects Rainbow Brite doll with Twink.
- Cheryl Eddy shares a look at the Hot Toys Predator: Badlands Dek and Thia figure.
- Mega Jay Retro interviews Brian Flynn, head of Super 7.
Free online fiction:
- "Regarding the Childhood of Morrigan, Who Was Chosen to Open the Way" by Benjamin Rosenbaum in Reactor.
- "How to Build a Homecoming Queen: A Guide by a Bad Asian Girl" by Tina S. Zhu in Lightspeed.
- "Visible Damage" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman in Lightspeed.
- "The Millay Illusion" by Sarah Pinsker in Uncanny Magazine
- "Dull’s Knife" by Liam Q. D. Hall in Swords and Sorcery Magazine.
- "Trees at Night" by Ramiro Sanchiz, translated by Sue Burke in Clarkesworld.
- "Prerequisites for the Creation of a Possible Predicted World" by Chisom Umeh in Clarkesworld.
- "We Used to Wake to Song" by Leah Ning in Apex Magazine.
- "Tragedia dell’Arte" by T.J. Cimfel in The Dark.
- "Bleed for Me, Bro" by Sharang Biswas in Nightmare Magazine.
- "Hamaka, Leave Me Alone" by Testimony Odey in The Deadlands.
Trailers and videos:
- Watch a trailer for Project Hail Mary.
- Watch a trailer for season 2 of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters
- Watch a trailer for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping
- Watch a trailer for Varanasi to the World.
- Watch a trailer for Hoppers.
- Watch a trailer for the new Wuthering Heights.
- Watch a trailer for Return to Silent Hill.
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