Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for March 20, 2026

 

It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with the 2025 Nebula Award finalists and the 2026 Academy Award winners, the upcoming Masters of the Universe live action film and Masters of the Universe in general, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and Star Trek in general, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, season 4 of Invincible, Project Hail Mary, Undertone, the rediscovery of two lost Doctor Who episodes and Doctor Who in general, the potential revival of Firefly, tributes to Len Deighton and much more.

Speculative fiction in general:

• Lisa Tuttle shares her favourite recent science fiction, fantasy and horror
• Natalie Zutter lists romantasy novels coming out in March and April 2026 
• Alex Brown shares must-read short speculative fiction from February 2026 
• Lorna Wallace shares five science fiction stories set underwater 
• Lish McBride shares her favourite cozy fantasy novels. 
• Stacie Ramey shares her favourite cozy mysteries featuring magic.
• Joanna Margaret talks about the current gothic romance boom 
• Sam Reader shares nine religious horror novels 
• Jo Walton explains how to read sixteen books at once (at all times)  
• Brandon Sanderson explains why there are no elves and dwarves in his fantasy novels. 
• Emily Temple recounts the relationship between W.H. Auden and J.R.R. Tolkien. 
• Richard P. Martin shares his thoughts on the Irish tale "The Wooing of Étaín" 
• Chris M. Barkley shares his appreciation for the speculative poetry of Jacquelyn Montenaro 
• Rich Lynch takes a look at the science fictional piece of music “Telstar” by The Tornados and its legendary producer Joe Meek. 
• Sahara Reporters report that Nigerian SFF author Oghenechovwo Donald Ekpeki and a friend were seriously injured in a traffic accident caused by a motorcycle delivery driver.  
• Locus remembers M.R. Hildebrand. 
• Military science fiction writer William C. Dietz has died aged 81. 

  

Tributes to Len Deighton: 

• British spy fiction author Len Deighton has died aged 97. 
• Mike Ripley shares a personal tribute to Len Deighton.  
• Mike Ripley shares an obituary for Len Deighton. 
• William Grimes shares an obituary for Len Deighton. 
• Tim Johnson shares an obituary for Len Deighton. 
• Martin Edwards remembers Len Deighton. 
• Bill Koenig remembers Len Deighton. 
• Chris Connor remembers Len Deighton. 

 

Comics and Art:

• Isaiah Colbert calls the manga Divine Incursions by Kouya Ashitaka a brainy monster-of-the-week thriller that will scratch your X-Files itch 
• Garrick Webster reports that IDW has announced a new range of crime comics. 

 

Film and TV:

• Ann Michelle Harris calls season 2 of the live action One Piece a fun adventure that manages to capture some moments of emotional storytelling and manages to showcase some appealing new characters.  
• Jacob Oller calls Forbidden Fruits a mean and magical modern witch story.
• Arturo Serrano calls  The Beauty an uninspired The Substance wannabe with far less bite
• Jacob Oller calls Never After Dark a creepy-cozy Japanese exorcism film. 
• Isaiah Colbert calls the anime Witch Hat Atelier simply magical   
• Saloni Gajjar shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Paradise. 
• Isaiah Colbert shares an introduction to the anime JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
• Cheryl Eddy calls 1000 Women in Horror a documentary that gazes at horror history through a feminist lens 
• Vanessa Armstrong interviews interviewed Sophie Skelton, Richard Rankin and Izzy Miekle-Small, who plays Brianna, Roger and Rachel in Outlander. 
• Kendall Crawford interviews Hannah Beachler, production designer for Black Panther and Sinners. 
• Radha Vatsal revisits the 1922 horror documentary Häxan. 
• Kali Wallace revisits the 1964 retro science fiction film First Men in a Moon.
• Joe Reid revisits the 1971 science fiction film The Andromeda Strain. 
• Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the 1998 Babylon 5 episode “The Paragon of Animals” 
• Judith Tarr revisits the 2011 South Korean horror film The Cat 
• Cheryl Eddy shares rare behind the scenes photos from Return of the Jedi. 
• Ben Child optimistically believes that King Conan is Arnold Schwarzenegger’s chance for a late-period masterpiece, like Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven  
• Kate Aurthur shares a look behind the scenes of the proposed Buffy: The Vampire Slayer reboot and why it was ultimately cancelled. 
• David Smith speculates how Paramount buying Warner Bros will change Hollywood.  

 

Comments on Masters of the Universe in general:

• James Eatock shares a look at the unpublished Masters of the Universe mini-comic "Return from Terror Island". 
• James Eatock takes a look at the differences between the first five episodes of She-Ra: Princess of Power and the recaps of previous episodes. 

 

Comments on Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and Star Trek in general: 

• Arturo Serrano calls Starfleet Academy a more than worthy successor to Discovery, somewhat undercut by mixed messaging
• Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on “Rubincon”, the season 1 finale of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.   
• Emmet Asher-Perrin discusses the introduction of a Federation War College in Starfleet Academy and what it means. 
• Anthony Pascale interviews Alex Kurtzman, executive producer of the Paramount Plus Star Trek shows, about the future of Star Trek on TV, following Paramount's takeover by the rightwing Skydance Media.
• Matthew Byrd reports that there will be a season 2 of Starfleet Academy. 
• Matthew Byrd ranks the first seasons of all Star Trek series. 

 

Comments on Ready or Not 2: Here I Come:

• Benjamin Lee declares that Ready or Not 2: Here I Come offers even more screaming, running, swearing and exploding rich people and expands mythology we didn’t need expanded  
• Andy Crump declares that Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come once again paints the walls with the Satanic one percent.
• Cheryl Eddy declares that Ready or Not 2: Here I Come offers gory fun but doesn’t quite level up   

 

Comments on Project Hail Mary:

• Leah Schnelbach calls Project Hail Mary a delightful, optimistic science fiction adventure
• Germain Lussier interviews Phil Lord and Chris Miller, director of Project Hail Mary.  

  

Comments on season 4 of Invincible:

• Isaiah Colbert declares that Invincible is back in fighting form, but that the animation has suffered due to the frequent release schedule. 
• William Hughes notes that Invincible is back, but it's not clear why it bothered 

 

Comments on Undertone: 

• Germain Lussier declares that a paranormal podcast comes to life in the simple, scary film Undertone.  
• Trace Saveur declares that Undertone beckons audiences into the isolating art of sound-forward horror. 

 

Comments on the rediscovery of two lost Doctor Who episodes and Doctor Who in general: 

• The BBC reports that two missing Doctor Who episodes from the 1965 serial "The Daleks' Master Plan" have been found.
• Molly Templeton also reports about the rediscovery of the two lost Doctor Who episodes and the reaction of actor Peter Purvess who played Steven in "The Daleks' Master Plan" to first seeing those episodes after sixty years. 
• Jessica Holmes revisits the 1971 Doctor Who serial "The Mind of Evil". 

 

Comments on the possible revival of Firefly: 

• Jake Kleinman reports that Firefly will return as an animated series. 
• Charlie Jane Anders declares that Firefly should have stayed dead.   
• Steve Davidson responds to Charlie Jane Anders and declares that he thinks an animated Firefly reboot would be a good idea.  
• James Whitbrook reports that the 1998 anime Outlaw Star basically is the animated version of Firefly. 
• Inspired by the possible revival of Firefly and the failed revival of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, Camestros Felapton talks about TV reboots in general.  

 

Awards:

• The finalists for the 2026 Nebula Awards have been announced. 
• The finalists for the 2026 Seiun Awards have been announced. 
• The longlist for the 2026 Aldiss Awards has been announced. 
• The winners of the Horror Writers Association 2026 Specialty Awards have been announced. 
• The shortlist for the 2026 Climate Fiction Prize has been announced.
• The finalists for the 2026 Lambda Literary Awards have been announced. 
• The shortlists for the 2026 Carnegie Medals have been announced. 
• The winners of the 2026 Academy Awards have been announced with some love for Sinners, KPop Demon Hunter and Frankenstein and lots of love for One Battle After Another. 
• The winners of the 2026 Razzie Awards have been announced. 
• Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts on the 2025 Nebula Award finalists. 
• Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts on the 2026 Academy Award winners. 
• Cheryl Eddy shares a brief history of vampire movies at the Oscars 
• Heather Rose Jones analyses how the Hugo finalists for Best Related Work have changed over time. 

 

 

Writing, publishing and promotion: 

• Joshilyn Jackson talks about creating a fictional sister
• Writers Who Kill shares their favourite crime or writing reference books. 
• Publishers Weekly reports that a US judge ruled that Tracy Wolff did not plagiarise her YA romantasy series Crave in spite of superficial similarities to an unpublished manuscript by Lynn Freeman. 
• Emma Loffhagen reports that Grammarly has removed an "AI expert" review feature mimicking real life writers after a massive backlash

 

Interviews:

• Martin Cahill interviews Matthew Kressel. 
• Paul Weimer interviews Alex Shvartsman.
• Scott Edelman interviews Salinee Goldenberg. 
• Paul Weimer interviews Aubrey Sitterson. 

 

Reviews: 

• Paul Di Filippo reviews The Forest on the Edge of Time by Jasmin Kirkbride 
• Niall Harrison reviews The Forest on the Edge of Time by Jasmin Kirkbride 
• Melissa A. Warkins reviews The Girl Who Made a Mouse From Her Grandfather’s Whiskers by Kenneth Hunter Gordon   
• Marlene Harris reviews The Girl Who Made a Mouse From Her Grandfather’s Whiskers by Kenneth Hunter Gordon  
• James Davis Nicoll reviews What We Are Seeking by Cameron Reed  
• Abigail Nussbaum reviews The Misheard World by Aliya Whiteley 
• James Davis Nicoll reviews The Language of Liars by S.L. Huang  
• Roseanna Pendlebury reviews This Brutal Moon by Bethany Jacobs 
• Paul Di Filippo reviews After the Fall by Edward Ashton
• James Davis Nicoll reviews The Proposal by Myung-Hoon Bae, translated by Stella Kim.  
• Marlene Harris reviews Blindside by Michael Mammay  
• Niall Harrison reviews Loss Protocol by Paul McAuley
• Marion Deeds reviews Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett 
• Marlene Harris reviews The Somewhat Wicked Witch of Brigandale by C.M. Waggoner 
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Entwined by H.M. Long 
• Rob Bedford reviews The Fox and the Devil by Kiersten White. 
• Julia Kitvaria Sarene reviews Aspirant’s Oath by Levi Jacobs 
• Alex Brown reviews To Ride a Rising Storm by Moniquill Blackgoose 
• J.C. Kang reviews The Poet Empress by Shen Tao
• Grimdark Magazine reviews Aicha by Soraya Bouazzaoui  
• Jim McLeod reviews Cabaret in Flames by Hache Pueyo. 
• James Davis Nicoll reviews Cabaret in Flames by Hache Pueyo.  
• Ed Crocker reviews Cabaret in Flames by Hache Pueyo.   
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews Sister Svangerd and the Not Quite Dead by K.J. Parker 
• Esmay Rosalyne reviews A Call to Bones by D. H. Hoskins 
• Esmay Rosalyne reviews Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher 
• Z.B. Steele reviews He Who Ate the Wild by G.J. Terral 
• Rai Furniss-Gresley reviews Wretch by Eric LaRocca
• Gabino Iglesias reviews The Essential Horror of Joe R. Lansdale by Joe Lansdale 
• Bar Fridman-Tell reviews The Curiosities by Maggie Stiefvater, Tessa Gratton and Brenna Yovanoff

 

Classics reviews:

• Lesa Holstine revisits the 1939 ghost story Tryst by Elswyth Thane 
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1953 alternate history novel Bring the Jubilee by Ward Moore 
• Camestros Felapton revisits the 1969 science fiction novel The Ship Who Sang by Anne McCaffrey. 
• Maureen Hogan revisits the 1971 science fiction novel Furthest by Suzette Haden Elgin, George Pritchard revisits the 1971 alternate histoy novel The Chilian Club by George Shipway, Winona Menezes revisits the 1971 southern gothic novel The Other Side of the Sun by Madeleine L'Engle and Kris Vyas-Myall revisits the 1971 science fiction novel The Far Side of Evil by Sylvia Louise Engdahl and the 1971 technothriller The Black Room by Colin Wilson
• Alan Brown revisits the 1981 science fiction collection Federation by H. Beam Piper, edited by John F. Carr 
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1988 alternate history novel Fire on the Mountain by Terry Bisson 
• Alissa Burger revisits the 1990 YA horror novel Haunted and the 1991 YA horror novel The Secret Bedroom by R.K. Stine.

 

Con and event reports:

• Daniel Dern reports about the 2026 Arisia in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 
• Delaina Dixon shares her experiences at the 2026 BlerDCon in Washington, DC.
• Ella Creamer shares a round-up of news from the London Book Fair in London, UK. 
• Mike Glyer reports that Farah Mendlesohn has won the 2026 GUFF fan fund race.  
• Mike Glyer reports that the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society will officially open their new clubhouse in Northridge, California  
• Priya Bharadia reports that Rydal Mount and Gardens, the former home of poet William Wordsworth, in Ambleside, UK, will remain open to the public. 
• Tristram Kenton shares photos of the stage adaptation of  My Neighbour Totoro, which is currently playing on London, UK.

 

Crowdfunding:

• Nigerian SFF writer Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki was injured in a serious traffic accident and needs some help with medical expenses.

 

Science and technology:

• Eric Lagatta reports that astronomers witnessed evidence of two planets colliding 11000 lightyears away from Earth. 
• Elly LaPointe reports that the asteroid Ryugu contains all five DNA and RNA building blocks
• Evelyn Hart reports about Chrysalis, a proposed 36-mile tnterstellar generation ship designed to carry one thousand humans beyond Earth… forever 
• Ellyn LaPointe reports that new research on muscle loss suggests humans will really suffer on Mars  
• James Davis Nicoll shares one more reason why aliens might be avoiding us
• Petra Stock talks about the environmental costs of generative AI. 
• Jason Sanford declares that AI is providing ever-faster ways for the rich and powerful to do what they want 
• Margaret Atwood recounts her rather unsatisfying interactions with Anthropic's AI chat bot Claude. 
• Kelsey Day talks about the dissociative horrors of virtual reality and social media 
• Erin Griffith reports that passengers of self-driving taxis in San Francisco, California, have found themselves trapped inside the vehicles during anti-robot attacks. 
• Eric Niiler reports that the Trump government is planning to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. 
• Ian Sample reports that researchers at CERN plan to transport volatile antimatter for first time
• Neville Morley talks about people disappearing from academia. 
• Eilzabeth Howell remembers Robert Goddard launching the first liquid fuelled rocket in 1926. 

 

Gaming: 

• C.T. Phipps reviews the video game Resident Evil: Requiem
• Cam Winstanley lists six of the best board games based on video games 
• Stefan Fatsis reports about competitive Scrabble. 
• Helen Vogelsong-Donahue explains how the rise of AI is negatively affecting gaming. 

 

Toys and collectibles:

• Adam Power reviews the Mythic Legions Manisha Cinderhorn action figure from Four Horsemen Studios
• Adam Power reviews the Mythic Legions Diis Patar action figure from Four Horsemen Studios 
• Adam Power reviews the Mythic Legions Bodvar action figure from Four Horsemen Studios
• Nitya Rao shares eight rare McDonald's Happy Meal toys worth a small fortune

 

Free online fiction: 

• "An Encounter at the Dawn of the Time War" by J.T. Petty in Lightspeed.  
• "Lotus Dew for the Emperor’s Tea" by Vanessa Fogg in Lightspeed.
• "Cutting Corners" by Yoon Ha Lee in Reactor. 
• "Her Dark Places" by Adam-Troy Castro in Nightmare Magazine.  
• "This Obituary Has Been Redacted" by P.C. Verrone in Strange Horizons.  
• "First Human Ghost on Mars" by R.L. Meza in Clarkesworld. 
• "Scion" by Thomas Ha in Clarkesworld. 
• "Zeynep’s Judgment" by Luana Saitta in Swords and Sorcery Magazine.  
• "The Island of Sea Turtles and Blood" by Angela Liu in Apex Magazine.
• "The Sea Child" by Justin Wesley Ferguson in Beneath Ceaseless Skies. 
• "Mother’s Hearth" by W.A. Hamilton in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• "The Empty Vessel" by Rhys Hughes in The Dark.
• "Self-Portrait with Bones" by Alex Irvine in The Sunday Morning Transport. 
• "Sole" by Aliya Whiteley in The Deadlands. 
• "Sandbag Squidward" by Ashlee Lhamon in Grist: Imagine 2200 
• "A Woman Is Screaming" by Joe Koch in The Deathlands.

 

Trailers and videos:

• Watch a trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day. 
• Watch a trailer for part 3 of Dune. 
• Watch a trailer for Shaun The Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom   
• Watch a trailer for Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen
• Watch a trailer for Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord   
• Watch a trailer for Pizza Movie.