It's
time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting
links
about speculative
fiction from
around the web, this week with the upcoming Masters of the Universe live action film and Masters of the Universe in general, season 2 of Daredevil: Born Again and the Marvel Cinematic and TV Universe in general, Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord, The Mandalorian and Grogu and Star Wars in general, Mortal Kombat II, Hokum, The Terror: Devil in Silver and much
more.
Speculative fiction in general:
- Reactor shares all the new science fiction books arriving in May 2026
- Reactor shares all the new fantasy books arriving in May 2026
- Reactor shares all the new romantasy books arriving in May 2026
- Reactor shares all the new horror books arriving in May 2026
- Reactor shares all the new SFF crossover books arriving in May 2026
- Reactor shares all the new young adult SFF books arriving in May 2026
- Matt Harry shares his eight favourite dystopian and post-apocalyptic novels
- Alex Brown shares five books about deep space horrors
- James Davis Nicoll lists the first books he bought from several SFF publishers.
- Angela Boord explains why novellas are an underrated artform.
- Z.B. Steele shares his appreciation for the works of Joe Abercrombie.
- John Hertz shares a tribute to Larry Niven for the latter's 88th birthday.
- Locus remembers Eluki Bes Shahar a.k.a. Rosemary Edghill a.k.a. James Mallory.
- Spy fiction and horror author and editor Michael P. Spradlin has died aged 65.
- Horror author Thomas Tessier has died aged 78.
Comics and Art:
Film and TV:
- Germain Lussier shares the 25 SFF movies he is most excited about this summer.
- Rachel Kessler talks about the deep humanity of Project Hail Mary
- Elijah Gonzales declares that the latest version of Lord Of The Flies finds fresh terror in a familiar story
- Benjamin Lee compares Swapped to an off-brand Pixar
- Cheryl Eddy shares her thoughts on the latest episode of The Testaments.
- Cheryl Eddy shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Widow's Bay.
- Saloni Gajjar shares her thoughts on the latest episode of The Boys.
- Chris Tryhorn wonders how faithful Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey will be
- Rich Pelley interviews Ian McKellen, who played Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings movies and Magneto in the X-Men movies.
- Ryan Gilbey interviews Guillermo Del Torro, director of Pan's Labyrinth, The Shape of Water, Frankenstein, Crimson Peak, Pacific Rim and many others.
- Marlow Stern interviews Melissa Barrera, star of Scream 5 and Scream 6 who was fired from Scream 7 after pro-Palestinian comments.
- Fred Topel interviews Amanda Jones, composer of Murderbot.
- Matthew Byrd shares his fifteen favourite X-Files monsters of the week
- Animation Obsessive revisits the 1926 animated film The Adventures of Prince Ahmed by Lotte Reiniger.
- Amber Dubin revisits the 1971 Night Gallery episodes "Pamela's Voice", "Lone Survivor" and "The Doll".
- Cheryl Eddy rewatches season 1 of the 1989 horror anthology series Tales from the Crypt.
- Matthew Davey revisits the other 1991 Robin Hood film.
- Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the 1998 Babylon 5 episode “A Tragedy of Telepaths”
- Ben Child revisits the 2001 science fiction film Donnie Darko.
- Leah Thomas revisits the 2002 anime Princess Tutu.
- Ryan Britt revisits the 2006 Doctor Who episode "School Reunion".
- Kali Wallace revisits the 2006 anime Paprika.
- Isaiah Colbert reviits the 2009 anime Redline.
- Owen Myers reports that the indigenous actress Q’orianka Kilcher has sued James Cameron for supposedly borrowing her facial features for a character in Avatar without permission or compensation.
Comments on Masters of the Universe in general:
- Mark Ellis interviews Travis Knight, director of the live action Masters of the Universe movie, as well as Nicholas Galitzine, who plays Adam/He-Man, and Camila Mendes, who plays Teela.
- Bryson Edward Howe interviews Sam C. Wilson who plays Trap-Jaw in the upcoming Masters of the Universe live action movie.
- Gerrad Hall interviews Richard Sale, costumer designer for the live action Masters of the Universe movie.
- Adam McCombs takes a look at the Castle Grayskull design from the Masters of the Universe live action movie and compares it to the original design by Mark Taylor.
- James Eatock reports that Jay Scheimer, wife of Lou Scheimer, occasionally voiced Queen Marlena in the Filmation He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon, when her regular voice actress Linda Gary was otherwise occupied.
- Watch a TV spot for the Masters of the Universe live action movie.
- Watch another TV spot for the Masters of the Universe live action movie.
- Watch a featurette about the Masters of the Universe live action movie.
- Watch another featurette about the Masters of the Universe live action movie.
Comments on season 2 of Daredevil: Born Again and the Marvel Cinematic and TV Universe in general:
- Leah Schnelbach shares her thoughts on “The Southern Cross”, the latest episode of Daredevil: Born Again.
- Jarrod Jones shares his thoughts on “The Southern Cross”, the latest episode of Daredevil: Born Again.
- Germain Lussier shares his thoughts on “The Southern Cross”, the latest episode of Daredevil: Born Again.
- Caroline Siede declares that in season two, Daredevil: Born Again reclaimed its identity
- Zack Budryk talks about Daredevil: Born Again and the fascism of state gangsters
- Nick Ronano interviews Dario Scardapane, showrunner of Daredevil: Born Again.
- Matthew Byrd reports that season 3 of Daredevil: Born Again will adapt the 2006 Daredevil story “The Devil in Cell-Block D” by Ed Brubaker and Matt Lark.
Comments on Star Wars: Maul: Shadow Lord, The Mandalorian and Grogu and Star Wars in general:
- Emmet Asher-Perrin talks about the sheer, unbridled joy of Star Wars
- James Whitbrook shares his thoughts on the season one finale of Maul: Shadow Lord.
- Emmet Asher Perrin declares that the first season of Maul: Shadow Lord was worth every second
- James Whitbrook declares that Maul: Shadow Lord used Darth Vader damn near perfectly
- James Whitbrook explains how Darth Vader killed Rook Kast in Maul: Shadow Lord.
- Germain Lussier shares Lucasfilm president Dave Filoni's view on Darth Vader.
- Ben Child declares that Star Wars has to deliver a proper movie with The Mandalorian and Grogu – otherwise the franchise is dead
- James Whitbrook thinks that maybe the Mandalorian should die in The Mandalorian and Grogu.
- Paul Anthony Jones shares seven things in Star Wars inspired by real history
- Aimee Hart interviews Beth Revis, Alexander Freed and John Jackson Miller about their Star Wars tie-in novels.
- Sébastien Bérard talks about being a competitive lightsaber fighter.
- Watch a clip from The Mandalorian and Grogu.
Comments on Mortal Kombat II:
- Justin Carter declares that he hopes Mortal Kombat II knows what it’s doing
- Germain Lussier declares that Mortal Kombat II is a lot of mindless action, which is all it needs to be
- Benjamin Lee calls Mortal Kombat II a junky game-to-movie sequel that offers more of the same
- Jacob Oller declares that the dreck of the 1990s is alive in Mortal Kombat II
- Aaron Couch interviews Karl Urban, star of Mortal Kombat II and The Boys.
- Germain Lussier talks about the ending of Mortal Kombat II.
Comments on Hokum:
Comments on The Terror: Devil in Silver:
- Saloni Gajjar calls The Terror: Devil in Silver a horror series that struggles to bring its various ideas together.
- Alex Brown declares that The Terror: Devil in Silver nails its premiere
- Vanessa Armstrong interviews Victor La Valle and Christopher Cantwell, showrunners of The Terror: Devil in Silver, as well as director Karyn Kusama
Awards:
- The finalists for the 2025 Asimov’s and Analog Readers’ Awards have been announced.
- The finalists for the 2026 Tony Awards have been announced with lots of love for SFF plays.
- Pete Hammond reports that the Oscars have implemented several rule changes, including banning AI from the acting and screenwriting categories.
- Voting for the 2026 Hugo Awards is now open and the Hugo voter packet is available for download.
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- Charlie Jane Anders asks writers to let their characters teach us about their world
- Several writers talk about throwaway comments that changed their lives.
- Tim Sullivan explains how he went from screenwriter to novelist.
- Patricia Cornwell talks about writing a memoir as a lifelong novelist
- Simon Elegant talks about the difference between being a reporter and writing crime fiction.
- Vincent Yu explains how being a mediocre scientist made him a better novelist
- L.M. Kemp talks about some of the stranger research she did for her latest novel.
- Nathalie op de Beeck reports about an uproar caused by US National Ambassador for Young People's Literature Mac Barnett claiming at 94.7 percent of children's books are crud.
- Rachel Meghan talks about the impact of AI on book reviewers.
- Alexandra Alter reports that five publishers and Scott Turow sue Meta and Mark Zuckerberg for copyright infringement over unauthorised use of books for AI training.
- Nathalie op de Beeck reports that book bans in the US increasingly target non-fiction books.
Interviews:
Reviews:
- Marlene Harris reviews Darksight Dare by Lois McMaster Bujold
- James Davis Nicoll reviews Darksight Dare by Lois McMaster Bujold
- Marlene Harris reviews I Choose the Bear by Shiloh Walker
- Liz Bourke reviews Enchanting the Fae Queen by Stephanie Burgis
- Christine D. Baker reviews Green City Wars by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
- Alexandra Pierce reviews City of Others by Jared Poon
- Runalong the Shelves reviews Slow Gods by Claire North
- Mark Yon reviews Mortedant's Peril by R.J. Barker.
- Jake Casella Brookins reviews The Night Ship by Alex Woodroe
- Esmay Rosalyne reviews ShadowBane by Cal Logan
- Runalong the Shelves reviews The Killing Spell by Shay Kauwe
- Roseanna Pendlebury reviews A Long and Speaking Silence by Nghi Vo
- Sam Leith reviews Solace House by Will Maclean
- Grimdark Magazine reviews Weavingshaw by Heba Al-Wasity
- Ian Mond reviews The Hospital at the End of The World by Justin C. Key
- Paul Levinson reviews On the Calculation of Volume: Multiplication by Silvej Balle, translated by Barbara Haveland.
- Stuart Cripps-Schnoor reviews The Daughters’ War by Christopher Buehlman
- Jim McLeod reviews Sarafina by Philip Fracassi
- Ann Michelle Harris reviews I, Medusa by Ayana Gray,
- Ed Crocker reviews Trad Wife by Sarah Langan
- Alex Brown reviews On Sundays She Picked Flowers by Yah Yah Scholfield
- Marlene Harris reviews Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker
- Marion Deeds reviews Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher
- Krystle Matar reviews Tapeworm by A.P. Thayer
- Rai Furniss-Greasley reviews Make Me Better by Sarah Gailey
- Jake Casella Brookins reviews Black Hole Heart by K.A. Teryna
- Wole Talabi reviews Mojorhythm by Sheree Renée Thomas
- Ali Karim reviews Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King by Caroline Bicks
Classics reviews:
- James Davis Nicoll reviews the prehistoric novel 1955 The Inheritors by William Golding
- Kris Vyas-Myall revisits the 1971 science fiction anthology New Writing in S-F 18, edited by John Carnell
- Jason Sacks revisits the 1971 science fiction anthology Quark 3, edited by Samuel Delaney and Marilyn Hacker
- Joe Sherry revisits the 1991 epic fantasy novel The Magic of Recluce by L.E. Modesitt.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1994 Company Wars space opera Tripoint by C.J. Cherryh
- Alex Dueben revisits the 1996 contemporary fantasy novel The Wood Wife by Terri Windling.
- Julia Kitvaria Sarene revisits the 2013 Alex Verus urban fantasy novel Chosen by Benedict Jacka
- Hache Pueyo revisits the 2013 dystopian novel Of Cattle and Men by Ana Paula Maia.
Con and event reports:
- Daniel Dern reports about the 2026 Boskone convention in Boston, Massachusetts.
- Lance Oszko shares the program for the 2026 Balticon Sunday Short Science Fiction Film Festival in Baltimore, Maryland.
- Arushi Jacob and Marc Malkin report that the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, California, has unveiled its inaugural exhibitions and will open to the public in September.
- Germain Lussier reports about the "Star Wars in Motion" exhibition at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.
- Sarah Lyall reports that Queen Camilla has presented the New York Public Library in New York City with a replica of Roo, the baby kangaroo from the Winnie the Pooh novels by A.A. Milne, to be reunited with the rest of the original Winnie the Pooh characters, who are on display at the New York Public Library.
- Vittoria Elliott and Zeyi Yang report that the Chinese Government got RightsCon, the world's biggest Digital Rights conference in Zambia, cancelled due to a row over Taiwanese participation.
Crowdfunding:
- The Tide Realm Corsairs fantasy pirate action figures by Corsair Creations are looking for funding.
- The horror anthology Side Hustle: Horror Stories for Late Capitalism, edited by Michael Phillips Jr, is looking for funding.
- Dean Wesley Smith is looking for funding for five science fiction collections.
Science and technology:
- Frank Landymore reports that NASA administrator Jared Isaacman has called for making Pluto a planet again.
- Leonard David reports that the California based start-up ExplorationLabs plans to protect the Earth from dangerous asteroids.
- Eric Berger reports that Virgin Galactic has unveiled a new ship, but that the company is running out of money, since they cannot find a way to make space tourism profitable.
- Adrian Villellas reports that the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile could mark the beginning of a new era in astronomy
- Eric Lusito shares photos of Soviet science institutes and installations.
- Dr. Rose Hernandez talks about polymer survival at the limits of matter
Toys and collectibles:
- Geek Illustrator Dad reviews the Mattel Masters of the Universe Chronicles Trap-Jaw action figure.
- Pixel Dan reviews the Mattel Masters of the Universe Origins Movie He-Man, Spikor and Beast-Man action figures.
- Pixel Dan reviews the Mattel Masters of the Universe Origins Fright Fighter vehicle.
- Toy Habits reviews the Mattel Masters of the Universe Core Combat Ready Roboto action figure.
- James Whitbrook notes that the new Hot Toys Star Wars Ahsoka Tano action figure is weird for all the wrong reasons
- Justin Carter shares a look at The Mandalorian and Grogu “Hutt Palace Sentry Droid Showdown” LEGO set.
- Luke Burbank reports about PEZ dispenser collectors.
- Brian Sozzi interviews Ynon Kreiz, CEO of Mattel.
Free online fiction:
- "One Last Light to Guide Me Home" by Avery Parks in Apex Magazine.
- "Forty-Seven Vacant Floors of Ur" by T.K. Rex in Imagine 2200.
- "The Profitable Sentience of Household Goods" by Louis Inglis Hall in Clarkesworld.
- "Conquerors" by Nick Wolven in Clarkesworld.
- "The Winter Trials" by Rae Maybee in Swords and Sorcery Magazine.
- "In This Corner Of the World" by A. E. Weisgerber in The Deadlands.
- "Hollow Cast" by Sarah Grey in Nightmare Magazine.
- "Sarah’s Laugh" by Melissa A Watkins in Lightspeed.
- "The Knacker Man" by Scott Dalrymple in Ligthtspeed.
- "Chicken Finger" by N.M. Whitley in The Dark.
- "This Fleshy Side of the Bone" by John Langan in Reactor.
Trailers and videos:
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