It's time for the weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with tributes to Toni Morrison, the 2019 Dragon Award finalists, The Boys, Another Life, season 3 of The Handmaid's Tale, season 3 of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, season 3 of Stranger Things, the season 6 finale of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw, The Iron Giant at twenty and much more.
Speculative fiction in general:
- Goodreads shares the 24 most popular science fiction and fantasy novels of 2019 so far.
- Aurelia C. Scott shares the best recent SFF audiobooks.
- James Wallace Harris explains why he considers science fiction and fantasy distinct genres.
- Camestros Felapton responds to James Wallace Harris.
- Paul Tassi shares his favourite science fiction books of all time.
- Marissa Lingen talks about the popularity of hard choices stories in science fiction and why such stories are so problematic.
- Christopher Brown talks about science fiction and the law.
- Tom Chatfield shares his favourite science fictional and dystopian thrillers.
- Stephanie Toliver talks about the history and future of speculative fiction by black women.
- R.F. Kuang shares five SFF novels in translation.
- Tamsyn Muir shares five science fiction and fantasy books featuring bad old men.
- Zoraida Cordova shares five shippable YA speculative fiction novels.
- Myke Cole and Michael Livingston share their all-time favourite aliens.
- Andrew Liptak shares his appreciation for the Tensorate series by J.Y. Yamg.
- Joachim Boaz shares his appreciation for the work of Italian cover artist Ludovico di Luigi.
- Alison Flood reports that Stephen King has written yet another new ending for The Stand.
Tributes to Toni Morrison:
- Nobel Prize winning writer Toni Morrison died aged 88.
- Michiko Kakutani remembers Toni Morrison.
- Chigozie Obioma shares a tribute to Toni Morrison.
- Several writers share their tributes to Toni Morrison.
- Locus remembers Toni Morrison.
- The Guardian shares an essay by the late Toni Morrison.
Film and TV:
- Zack Handlen shares his thoughts on the season 4 premiere of Preacher.
- Cheryl Eddy declares that Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark has some cool monsters, but only fleeting frights.
- Jesse Hassenger calls Dora and the Lost City of Gold sort of weird and sometimes funny.
- Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of The Rook.
- Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the finale of Years and Years.
- Emily Asher-Perrin declares that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is getting a lot weirder in Phase 4.
- Ian Cardona finds some parallels between Pennyworth and the 1989 Batman comic Gotham by Gaslight.
- Ben Child wonders whether the time is ripe for a Matrix reboot.
- Cheryl Eddy shares ten PG-13 horror movies that don't suck.
- Jessica Holmes revisits the 1964 Doctor Who serial "The Sensorites".
- Lorelei Marcus revisits the 1964 kaiju film Mothra vs. Godzilla.
- Camestros Felapton revisits the 1993 science fiction film Jurassic Park.
- Scott Tobias revisits the 1999 film The Sixth Sense for its twentieth anniversary.
- Tor.com compares the various Robin Hood film adaptations.
- Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the 1954 and 1997 film adaptations of Prince Valiant.
- Brian Hiatt portrays Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner who played Arya and Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones.
- Sarah Hughes interviews Shannon Lee, daughter of the late Bruce Lee.
- Katie Campione interviews Craig Mazin, creator of Chernobyl.
- Jennifer Maas interviews Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, creator of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
- Stuart Conover interviews Brent Spiner who played Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
- Charles Pulliam Moore intervies Owen Dennis, creator of the cartoon Infinity Train.
- Germain Lussier and James Whitbrook rank the lightsabres of Star Wars.
- Germain Lussier reports that Netflix has cancelled The OA after two seasons.
- Tor.com reports that actor Kevin Conroy who provided the voice of Batman for various animated series will get to play Batman in the live action "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover.
- Michael Canva traces the romance of voice actors Russi Taylor and Wayne Allwine who voiced Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse respectively.
- Voice actor Stuart M. Rosen, best known for appearing in Dusty's Treehouse and Fraggle Rock, has died aged 80.
- Cosmo Genovese, script supervisor on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, The A-Team and Perry Mason, has died aged 95.
Comments on season 3 of The Handmaid's Tale:
- Liz Shannon Miller shares her thoughts on "Sacrifice", the latest episode of The Handmaid's Tale.
- Abigail Chandler shares her thoughts on the latest episode of The Handmaid's Tale.
Comments on Another Life:
- Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on the science fiction series Another Life and declares that he could not even finish one episode.
- Steve J. Wright did finish Another Life and calls it a big steaming mess; a farrago of inept SF, implausible science, idiot plotting and God-awful characters.
Comments on The Boys:
- Charles Pulliam-Moore calls The Boys a morbidly frank breath of fresh air in the tired superhero genre.
- Jesse Hassenger declares that The Boys shows the limits of satirizing superheroes outside comic books.
- Charles Pulliam-Moore also finds The Boys' criticism of megacorporations somewhat hypocritical, considering that the series is produced by Amazon Prime.
Comments on season 3 of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power:
- Charles Pulliam-Moore declares that season 3 of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is a massive leap forward for the series.
- Tor.com wonders whether the She-Ra universe is expanding.
- James Whitbrook declares his love for She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, but wishes the show would slow down and catch its breath.
- Beth Elderkin interviews Noelle Stevenson, showrunner of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.
Comments on season 3 of Stranger Things:
- Beth Elderkin declares that one of the best ideas in season 3 of Stranger Things only developed while the show was already filming.
- Lane Florsheim interviews Maya Hawke who plays Robin in Stranger Things.
Comments on the season 6 finale of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.:
- Alan Brown shares his thoughts on the season 6 finale of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
- Liz Shannon Miller finds the season 6 finale of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. somewhat weak, but is pleased by the teaser for season 7.
Comments on Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw:
- Alex McLevy wonders why Hobbs & Shaw isn't more fun.
- Renaldo Matadeen calls Hobbs & Shaw the Luke Cage and Iron Fist show we'll never get.
- Brandon Zachary explains the ending of Hobbs & Shaw.
- Brandon Zachary also discusses the post-credits sequence of Hobbs & Shaw.
- Brandon Zachary shares the most delightfully absurd action moments on Hobbs & Shaw.
- Charles Bramesco explains how Hobbs & Shaw expands the Fast & Furious franchise.
- Brandon Zachary interviews Dwayne Johnson who plays Hobbs in Hobbs & Shaw.
- Renaldo Matadeen is angry that that Hobbs & Shaw does not deliver justice for Han Seoul-Oh, a fan favourite character who was murdered in a previous installment of the Fast & Furious franchise.
- Chris Lee reports that the Deckard Shaw character played by Jason Statham in the Fast & Furious franchise was never supposed to be a villain
- Chris Davidson shares the ten most ridiculous moments of the Fast & Furious franchise.
Comments on The Iron Giant at twenty:
- Joe George revisits the 1999 aimated movie The Iron Giant.
- Ross Johnson also revisits The Iron Giant for its 20th anniversary.
Awards:
- The finalists for the 2019 Dragon Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the 2019 Mythopoeic Awards have been announced.
- The winner of the 2019 Joan Aiken Future Classics Prize has been announced.
- The finalists for the 2019 Imadjinn Awards have been announced.
- The longlist for the 2019 Deutscher Phantastik Preis has been announced.
- The longlist for the 2019 James White Awards has been announced.
- The winners of the 2019 ENnie and Spotlight Awards have been announced.
- Dave Wallace shares his thoughts on another proposed Hugo rule change.
- Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts on the 2019 Dragon Award finalists.
- Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on the 2019 Dragon Award finalists.
- J. Richard Stevens and Rachel Lara van der Merwe share an academic paper about the Sad Puppies Hugo controversy.
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- J. Scott Coatsworth talks about writing goals.
- Kameron Hurley explains how she writes through the news cycle.
- Emily Temple shares some writing advice from Shirley Jackson.
- David Leonardt shares a character development crib sheet.
- Cora Buhlert offers a post-mortem of the 2019 July Short Story Challenge.
- Mike Glyer reports that the SFWA has turned down the application of Jon Del Arroz once again.
- Independent publisher Aurelia Leo is offering services for authors.
- Jessamyn West reports about the fight surrounding e-book lending rights for libraries.
- Kristine Kathryn Rusch talks some more about licensing opportunities for authors.
Interviews:
- Paul Weimer interviews Julie E. Czerneda.
- James Islington and Evan Winter interview each other.
- The Brooklyn Book Festival interviews Marlon James.
- Nosheen Iqbal interviews Nana-Kwame Adjei-Brenyah.
- The Qwillery interviews Kira Jane Buxton.
- Tyler Cowen interviews Neal Stephenson.
- Captain Phil interviews Paul Levinson.
- Hector Cantú interviews Glynn Crain.
Reviews:
- Adri Joy reviews To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers.
- Tadiana Jones reviews The Citadel of Weeping Pearls by Aliette de Bodard.
- Sam Reader reviews First Cosmic Velocity by Zach Powers.
- S. Qiouyi Lu reviews Cry Pilot by Joel Dane.
- Colleen Mondor reviews Spectacle by Jodie Lynn Zdrok.
- Bill Capossere reviews Beneath the Twisted Trees by Bradley P. Beaulieu.
- Paul Weimer reviews The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang.
- Jamie Sugah reviews Beasts of the Frozen Sun by Jill Criswell.
- Liz Bourke reviews Descendant of the Crane by Joan He.
- Ian Mond reviews Red Birds by Mohammed Hanif.
- Maya Gittelman reviews Shatter the Sky by Rebecca Kim Wells.
- Elizabeth Lowry reviews Inland by Téa Obreht.
- Alex Brown reviews Dread Nation by Justina Ireland.
- James Davis Nicoll reviews Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
- Kelly Lasiter reviews Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
- Alex Brown reviews The Belles of Dhonielle Clayton.
- James Davis Nicoll reviews Carry On by Rainbow Rowell.
- Alex Brown reviews Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi.
- Richard Marpole reviews A Ritual of Bone by Lee C. Conley.
- L.A. Young reviews Red Sister by Mark Lawrence.
- Summer H. Paulus reviews The Red Plains by G.R. Matthews.
- Molly Templeton reviews Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman.
- Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Doorways into the Deadeye by Eric J. Guignard.
- Bill Capossere reviews The Violent Century by Lavie Tidhar.
- Paul Weimer reviews Dragonslayer by Duncan M. Hamilton.
- Doreen Sheridan reviews The Elusive Elixir by Gigi Pandian and tries a recipe from the book.
- Amber Keller reviews Mrs. Morris and the Ghost by Traci Wilton.
- James Davis Nicoll reviews The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant by Drew Hayes.
- Suzy Michael reviews Castle of Sorrows by Jonathan Janz.
- Tadiana Jones reviews Awakened by James S. Murray and Darren Wearmouth.
- Tadiana Jones reviews The Brink by James S. Murray and Darren Wearmouth.
- Michael Patrick Hicks reviews The Fearing Book 2: Water & Wind by John F.D. Taff.
- Michael Patrick Hicks reviews One Star by The Behrg.
- Matt Keeley reviews The Best of R.A.Lafferty by R.A. Lafferty.
- Gary K. Wolfe reviews The Gollancz Book of South Asian Science Fiction, edited by Tarun H. Saint.
- The Skiffy and Fanty Show reviews A Larger Reality: Speculative Fiction from the Bicultural Margins / Una realidad más amplia: Historias desde la periferia bicultural edited by Libia Brenda
Classics reviews:
- Rich Horton revisits the 1950 science fiction novel Time and Again by Clifford D. Simak.
- Joachim Boaz revisits the 1960 post-apocalyptic novel Dark December by Alfred Coppel.
- Gideon Marcus revisits the August 1964 issue of Analog.
- James Smart revisits the 1968 surrealist story "Life for Sale" by Yukio Mishima.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits Wolfling, a 1969 space opera by Gordon R. Dickson.
- Fabio Fernandes revisits the 1980 collection The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories by Genre Wolfe.
- C.D. Covington revisits the 1983 science fiction story "Speech Sounds" by Octavia E. Butler.
- Kelly Lasiter revisits the 1986 urban fantasy novel Yarrow by Charles de Lint.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1987 science fiction novel Penterra by Judith Moffett.
- Camestros Felapton revisits the 1991 science fiction story "In the Late Cretaceous" by Connie Willis.
- Camestros Felapton reviews the 1992 science fantasy novel Far-Seer by Robert J. Sawyer.
- Camestros Felapton revisits the 1995 science fiction novelette "Think Like a Dinosaur" by James Patrick Kelly.
Con and event reports:
- WorldCon 77 in Dublin, Ireland, shares its fifth progress report.
- The program for WorldCon 77 in Dublin, Ireland, is also available on Grenadine.
- Brian Doherty reflects back on the fifty year history of San Diego Comic Con in San Diego, California.
- Arley Sorg reports about Readercon 30 in Boston, Massachusetts and shares several photos.
- Libia Brenda, Gabriela Damián and Julia Rios shares their experiences at WorldCon 76 in San José, California, as part of the Mexicanx Initiative in a two part interview at the Unreliable Narrators podcast.
- Derek Künsken report about the Another Planet Science Fiction Convention in Beijing, China.
- Anime News Network reports that anime voice actor Vic Mignogna, against whom there already are several complaints of alleged harrassment and sexual misconduct, harrassed Japanese voice actress Mari Iijima at Tekkoshocon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
- Tiny Diapana reports about several instances of alleged sexual misconduct at the National Writers Workshop in Iligan, Phillippines.
- Amanda Silberling reports about the sixth annual Pikachu Outbreak in Yokohama, Japan, and shares several photos.
- The Glasgow WorldCon bid for 2024 has decided on the dates on which the convention will be held.
- CoNZealand, the 2020 WorldCon, wishes to make attending members aware that there are new requirements for entering New Zealand.
- The Waukegan Public Library in Waukegan, Illinois, reports that a statue of Ray Bradbury is currently being set up outside the library.
- Mike Glyer reports about the Inklings Collection at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, California.
Science and technology:
- Callum Hoare reports that there may be an ocean of water under the surface of Pluto.
- Pallab Ghosh reports that the Milky Way galaxy is warped and twisted rather than flat, as previously thought.
- Scott Neuman reports about about protests against the plans to build the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii and about the astronomers' plan B.
- Ian Sample reports that tardigrades on board may have survived the crash of Israel's Beresheet lander on the moon.
- Nicola Davis reports about the creation of the firsat human-monkey chimera.
- The BBC reports that an ancient parrot who once lived in New Zealand was one meter tall.
- Margaret Owen talks about the executioners of medieval Europe.
- Sarah Hall wonders why we still struggle so much with the idea of female soldiers.
Free online fiction:
- "One Thousand Beetles in a Jumpsuit" by Dominica Phettleplace in Lightspeed.
- "More Real Than Him" by Silvia Park at Tor.com.
- "How the Trick is Done" by A.C. Wise in Uncanny Magazine.
- "On the Impurity of Dragon Kind" by Marie Brennan in Uncanny Magazine.
- "The Rock Eaters" by Brenda Peynado in Lightspeed.
- "The Bleeding Maze: A Visitor's Guide" by Kurt Fawver in Nightmare Magazine.
- "Tether" by A. Katherine Black in The Dark.
- "A short history of a uiverse in fold theory" by James Walton in Punk Noir Magazine.
- "The Biggest News in History" by Anderson Fonseca, translated by Toshiya Kamei, in Antipodean SF.
- "HeLa Is Here" by Ketty Steward, translated by Toshiya Kamei, in Bewildering Stories.
- "Flower Fairies" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
- "Albrecht, the Nightmare" by Cora Buhlert.
Odds and ends:
