Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for April 14, 2017

Here is a special Good Friday edition of our weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with the TV show Colony, women in SFF, a scandal at Odyssey Con, Marvel Comics' alleged diversity problem, the Ardian Syaf controversy as well as the usual mix of awards news, writing advice, interviews, reviews, awards news, con reports, crowdfunding projects, science articles and free online fiction. 

Speculative fiction in general:

• Cassandra Rose Clarke discusses how she became a speculative fiction fan.  
• Rebecca Mead profiles Margaret Atwood. 
• Natalie Zutter takes a look at the legacy of The Handmaid's Tale.
• John Hertz shares his appreciation for Herland and With Her in Ourland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. 
• Gail Carriger shares her appreciation for Mercedes Lackey and particularly for her depiction of LGBT characters.
• Dan Koboldt declares that portal fantasy is not dead. 
• Paul Weimer shares his appreciation for the Stormwrack novels of A.M. Dellamonica. 
• Ruthanna Emrys shares her appreciation for the Shadow Unit series by Elizabeth Bear, Emma Bull and others.
• Danya discusses the protrayal of menstruation in fantasy novels. 
• Neal Asher shares five books about achieving immortality.
• A time capsule associated with Jules Verne has been discovered in the French Pyrenees. 
• Ruthanna Emrys finds surprising optimism in the works of H.P. Lovecraft of all things.
• Emily Asher Perrin discusses how horror movies draw on women's fear to be disbelieved.
• Dean E.S. Richard revisits Terry Gilliam's dystopian SF film Brazil. 
• Tom Overton revisits the British nuclear war movie Threads. 
• Leigh Butler rewatches Logan's Run.
• Erin Horokova explains that Captain Kirk as portrayed in the original Star Trek is quite diffrerent from the rash womanizer as which he is nowadays remembered.  
• Kelsey Hershberger shares 15 lessons the Marvel cinematic universe can learn from the TV show Legion.
• Beth Elderkin reports about a controversy involving X-Men Gold artist Ardian Syaf hiding coded messages referring to a political conflict in Indonesia in an issue of the comic.
• Coconuts Jakarta has some ore background on Ardian Syaf's controversial drawings and subsequent problematic statements by the artist.
• G. Willow Wilson sheds some light on the religious background of the Ardian Syaf controversy. 
• Alex Bhattarcharji reports about David Lynch's return to the world of Twin Peaks.
• Legendary cinematographer Michael Ballhaus died aged 81.

Marvel Comics and diversity:

• John B. Robinson IV discusses Marvel Comics' alleged diversity problem and its causes.
• James Hibberd also reports on Marvel's alleged diversity problem and the controversy the statements by Marvel vice president David Gabriel caused.
• George Gene Gustines declares that Marvel may be experiencing a sales slump, but that its diverse heroes and heroines are not to blame. 
• Adam White declares that Marvel blaming its sales slump on diversity is a troubling example for the struggles facing stories centering characters from marginalised groups.
• Meanwhile, James Whitbrook reports that Marvel insists that Steve Rogers' recent turn towards fascism and storylines it inspired are totally not political.  

Comments on season 2 of Colony:

• Alex Cranz explains what Colony gets right about living in the apocalypse.
• Paul Levinson reviews the season 2 finale of Colony.
  

Awards:

• The winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize is The Underground Railroad, an alternate history novel by Colson Whitehead. 
• The nominees for the 2017 Eugie Foster Memorial Award have been announced.
• The nominees for the 2017 Rita Awards have been announced.
• The final ballot for the 2017 Ditmar awards has been announced. 
• The finalists for the 2017 Canopus Awards have been announced. 
• The nominees for the 2017 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire have been announced.
• The nominees for the 2017 Prix Imaginales have been announced.
• The nominees for the 2017 Premio Italia have been announced.
• The winners of the 2017 British Academy Games Awards have been announced.
• The redesigned World Fantasy Award trophy has been unveiled. 
• Cora Buhlert offers a round-up of reactions to the 2017 Hugo Award finalists as well as a follow-up post with even more reactions.

Writing advice:

• Sara Walter Ellwood reminds us that there is inspiration to be found everywhere, if we but look.
• Shaunta Grimes shares ten books that will make you a better writer.
• Chuck Wendig reminds us that you can write at any age. 
• Georgina Bruce talks about her writing process.
• S. Jae Jones talks about writing, identity and the albatross around her neck.  
• Aliette de Bodard talks about creating characters that move beyond tired clichés.
• Aliette de Bodard talks about likeable characters, interesting characters and terrible characters.  
• Aliette de Bodard also talks about the fallacy of agency.
• Jeffrey Aaron Miller explains why moments of sadness and despair are important for good stories. 
• DiAnn Mills shares five ways to create passion in your story.
• Steven Smith shares some tips for writing a fantasy battle scene. 
• Yangsze Choo talks about researching and exploring the setting of her stories. 
• Patty Jansen takes a look at the different definitions of writing success. 
• Zat Rana shares how J.K. Rowling deals with failure.
• Lieze Neven explains how to write a great book blurb. 
• Angela Haddon explains what size a book cover should be. 
• Daniel Arenson shares some tips for promoting a series to keep readers hooked.
• Tobias Buckell shares six things he learned from his first month using Patreon.

Interviews:

• The Qwillery interviews Sara O. Thompson. 
• The Qwillery also interviews Cat Sparks.
• Charles Payseur interviews A. Merc Rustad. 
• Anne Charnock interviews E.J. Swift.  
• Malcolm Surer interviews Hao Jingfang.
• Cristian Tamas interviews Johanna Sinisalo. 
• StarWars.com interviews Timothy Zahn.
• Jason Heller interviews the Hugo nominated rap group Clipping.
  

Reviews:

• Ross Johnson reviews Avengers of the Moon by Allen Steele.
• John Bardinelli reviews Gauntlet by Holly Jennings. 
• Sam Reader reviews Void Star by Zachary Mason. 
• Niall Alexander reviews Waking Hell by Al Robertson.
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Beneath by Kristi DeMeester. 
• Paul Weimer reviews The Weight of the World by Tom Toner.
• Anna Chapman reviews The House of Binding Thorns by Aliette de Bodard.
• Martin Cahill reviews Tender by Sofia Samatar. 
• Sherry Fundin reviews Shade by Marilyn Peake. 
• Shana DuBois reviews The Dragon's Legacy by Deborah Wolf.
• Aidan Moher reviews Take Us To Your Chief by Drew Hayden Taylor.
• Camestros Felapton reviews the Hugo nominatd album Splendor & Misery by Clipping.

Crowdfunding:

• Mages of Mystralia, an adventure game written by the creator of Forgotten Realms, is looking for funding.
  

Con reports:

• Monica Valentinelli explains why she is withdrawing as a Guest of Honour from Odyssey Con in Madison, Wisconsin. 
• Melissa F. Olson offers her take on the Odyssey Con controversy. 
• Mary Robinette Kowal also weighs in on the Odyssey Con controversy.
• K. Tempest Bradford also weighs in on the Odyssey Con controversy.
• Natalie Luhrs also weighs in on the Odyssey Con controversy.
• Jim C. Hines also weighs in on the Odyssey Con controversy. 
• Mike Glyer offers a summary of the Odyssey Con controversy. 
• Tad Williams also withdraws as Guest of Honour from Odyssey Con.
• John King Tarpinian shares a report and some photos of the exhibition "The Art of Plasma" at the Museum of Neon Art in Glendale, California.
• E.T. Smith reports about a panel featuring Marc Miller, creator of the Traveller RPG, at Gary Con IX in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. 
• Lamar reports that Rocky Mountain Fur Con in Denver, Colorado, has been cancelled following a series of controversies.

Science and technology:

• China accelerates its moon program.
• Donald Trump has signed a bill authorizing NASA's budget for a manned Mars mission among other things.
• A Lockheed Martin official believes that there could be a Mars base by 2028. 
• Where did the water on Mars go?
• Saturn's Moon Enceladus contains the basic ingredients for life. 
• Hibernation systems for deep space travel are in development.
• Scientists have discovered that solar storms can both flood and strip our atmosphere of electrons.
• Why are entire galaxies dying off? 
• The first pizza has been delivered by a drone in New Zealand.
• A start-up has developed a smartwatch that is charged by body heat.
• The rat lungworm, a rare parasite, is spreading due to climate change. 
• The evolution of octopuses and squid is even weirder than previously imagined.
• Scientists have bred a chicken with the face of a dinosaur. 

Free online fiction:

• "I Have Been Drowned in Rain" by Carried Vaughn in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• "And Then There Were (N-One)" by Sarah Pinsker in Uncanny Magazine.
• "If Lions Could Speak: Imagining the Alien" by Paul Park in Lightspeed. 
• "Remote Presence" by Susan Palwick in Lightspeed.
• "Dark Warm Heart" by Rich Larson at Tor.com.
• "Mental Diplopia" by Julianna Baggott at Tor.com.
• "The Hulder's Husband Says Don't" by Kate Lechler in Fireside Fiction.
• "Lacuna" by Lane Robins in Strange Horizons. 
• "The End of a Long Journey" by C.M. Harald.
  

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a trailer for Thor: Ragnarok.
• Watch a trailer for The Osiris Child.
• Watch a trailer for The Mist.
• Watch a trailer for season 2 of Sense8.
• Watch a video tribute to Carrie Fisher.
  

Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for January 22, 2016

Here is our weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with yet more Star Wars discussion as well as tributes to David Bowie, Alan Rickman and David G. Hartwell and discussion about the the TV shows Agent Carter, Legends of Tomorrow, The Expanse, Colony and the revived X-Files. 

Speculative fiction in general:

• John DeNardo shares 150 SFF books to look forward to in 2016.
• 28 authors, including many speculative fiction writers, talk about the books that changed their lives. 
• Fran Wilde asks ten SFF authors about their definition of hard versus soft science fiction.
• Mary Robinette Kowal investigates why there aren't any more books by women and non-binary writers in the SFF section in various bookstores.
• Teresa Frohock discusses abandoned children in fiction and reality.
• The participates of the SF Signal Mind Meld discuss which spacecraft they would like to own.
• Charlie Jane Anders takes a look at the rise of the weird western subgenre. 
• Heather Rose Jones shares her appreciation for the River of Souls series by Beth Bernobich and its treatment of sexual diversity.
• Liz Bourke discusses the politics of justice, identity and empire in Ann Leckie's Ancillary trilogy.
• Will R. traces the connections between Martin Luther King and science fiction. 
• Aliette de Bodard shares her experiences as a woman of colour writing speculative fiction. 
• Alyssa Wong also shares her experiences as a woman of colour writing speculative fiction.
• Malon Edwards discusses his experiences as a man of colour writing science fiction. 
• Ed Power discusses how to reconcile H.P. Lovecraft's impact on speculative fiction with his repellant personal views.  
• Ursula K. Le Guin gets political and comments on the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon by militant rightwingers. 
• Damien Walter shares his appreciation for Neuromancer by William Gibson. 
• Jay Allan shares his appreciation for The Forever War by Joe Haldeman.
• Michael Dirda takes a look at The Self-Propelled Island, a little known Jules Verne novel first published in 1895. 
• Michael Dirda also takes a look at J.M. Barrie's other fantasy work.
• Austin Gilkeson argues that Aragorn's claim to the throne in Lord of the Rings is illegitimate.  
• Joe Blevins has finally figured out that A Song of Ice and Fire was inspired by the Wars of the Roses. 
• Carlie St. George discusses the Mary Sue trope and why it does not have to be a bad thing.
• Mark Dawidziak remembers the many classic SFF TV shows which debuted in 1966.
• Charlie Jane Anders shares ten things that Star Trek got right that have never been copied. 
• David M. Perry claims that The Expanse is the best new space opera TV show since Firefly.
• Adam Rowe offers a taxonomy of polar bear drawn sleighs in 1970s fantasy art. Yes, this was a thing.
• Max Gladstone shares his tribute to Alan Rickman.
  

Tributes to David Bowie:

• Jason Heller traces the connections between David Bowie's music and science fiction.
• Engadget points out that David Bowie fused science fiction and pop culture.
• Cory Casciato remembers the science fiction majesty of David Bowie's Low.
• Brian Merchant points out that David Bowie's death was a science fiction masterpiece in itself. 
• Paula Young Lee offers a fan theory to end all fan theories connecting David Bowie, Elvia and Blade Runner. 
• Erin Keane reminds us that we should not gloss over the darker side of David Bowie. 

Tributes to David G. Hartwell: 

• Editor David G. Hartwell died aged 74.
• Tor Books remembers David G. Hartwell, who worked there as an editor for over three decades.
• Tor publisher Tim Doherty remembers David G. Hartwell.
• Locus remembers David G. Hartwell. 
• Jason Sanford shares his appreciation for David G. Hartwell.
• Paul Levinson also shares his appreciation for David G. Hartwell.
• Michael Swanwick also shares his appreciation for David G. Hartwell.
  

Comments on Star Wars and The Force Awakens:

• Mike Chen offers a reappreciation of The Force Awakens, one month after its release.
• Liz Bourke discusses the roles of women in The Force Awakens. 
• Emily Asher-Perrin hopes that Rey will not turn out to be a Skywalker. 
• Dirk Libbey points out that a deleted scene from The Force Awakens offers some new insight into the character of Maz Kanata.
• Dave Trumbore has more information about the scenes deleted from The Force Awakens. 
• Richard Brody explains what the seven Star Wars films reveal about George Lucas.
• Bryan Curtis points out that the derivative nature of The Force Awakens makes him appreciate George Lucas more. 
• K.M. McFarland traces some parallels between Star Wars and the French comic series Valerian et Laureline by Pierre Christin and Jean Claude Mézieres.
• David Kluft offers a history of Star Wars related lawsuits.
• Michael Boehm discusses the true reason behind the lack of Rey toys.
  
• Grammarly offers an infographic about Yoda's grammar.
  

Comments on Agent Carter: 

• David Betancourt shares his thoughts on the premiere of season 2 of Agent Carter.
• Charlie Jane Anders shares her thoughts on the season 2 premiere of Agent Carter.
• Chris Lough shares his thoughts on the season 2 premiere of Agent Carter.
• Oliver Sava shares his thoughts on the season 2 premiere of Agent Carter.
• Alex Diedrick wonders whether Peggy Carter is the most important character in the Marvel Universe.
• Poppy Jay Palmer explains how season 2 of Agent Carter ties in to Doctor Strange.
  

Comments on The X-Files:

• X-Files creator Chris Carter explains why the time is ripe for an X-Files comeback. 
• Chris Carter also admits that the second X-Files movie was a mistake.
• Jethro Nededog reveals that the revived X-Files tackles September 11 conspiracy theories among other things. 
• Kelly Connolly reports that the revived X-Files will also address the fan theory that Dana Scully is in fact immortal.
• Ken Tucker wanted to believe that The X-Files revival would work, but it didn't.
• The Telegraph points out that The X-Files revival isn't very good. 
• Alex McCown thinks that the new X-Files is very much like the original X-Files.
• Lexi Pandell explains how the original X-Files shaped modern television. 
• Chuck Bowen rewatched the original X-Files in preparation for the revival.
• Ed Power wonders whether people have forgotten how terrible the original X-Files was towards its end.

Comments on Colony: 

• Matt Zoller Seitz calls Colony a work of real science fiction.
• Sage Young claims that Colony's realism makes it even more terrifying.
• Hank Stuever calls Colony yet another dystopian SF drama.
  

Comments on Legends of Tomorrow:

• Gwen Ihnat believes that Legends of Tomorrow proves that more is less, when it comes to superheroes.
  

Awards:

• The nominees for the 2016 Academy Awards have been announced and include several SFF films.
• Germain Lussier and Katherine Trendacosta point out the greatest Oscar snubs of 2016, which also happen to contain a lot of SFF.
• The 2016 Academy Awards also failed to nominate any actors of colour at all, which has caused a lot of controversy and a boycott.
• The winners of the 2016 Critics' Choice Awards have been announced. 
• Lee and Low Books have announced the winner of their 2015 New Voices Award. 
• The preliminary ballot for the 2015 Bram Stoker Awards has been announced.
• The nominees for the 2016 Edgar Awards have been announced.
• The shortlist for the 2016 Hall of Fame Award of the Libertarian Futurist Society has been announced.
• The nominations for the 2015 Ursa Major Awards are open.
• Steve Davidson explains how to recommend works for an award without creating a slate.

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Peter McLean talks about writing modern noir fantasy. 
• Jonathan Winn talks about how to survive writing the unspeakable.
• Pippa Jay talks about the challenge of discovery writing.
• Tim Akers shares his approach to plotting and outlining. 
• Patty Jansen explains how Scrivener can be useful for discovery writers. 
• Matthew de Abaitua shares some tips for writing a loose trilogy. 
• Sara Beatty shares some tips for keeping up productivity.
• Jennifer Garam shares some tips for how to keep writing when no one gives a shit. 
• Tricia Sullivan talks about worldbuilding.
• Kate Elliott discusses inductive and deductive worldbuilding approaches.
• Charlie Jane Anders shares eleven ways to write a character-driven story that still feels action-packed. 
• Elena Linville discusses the evolution of a character.
• Ben Galley talks about his struggles to write believable female characters.
• Alex Bledsoe shares his thoughts on the Clarion workshop, Neil Gaiman and privilege. 
• J.Y. Yang talks about her experience at Clarion West and how writers from beyond the US/UK often feel that such workshops will make US/UK editors take them seriously.
• Fran Wilde points out that you don't need to take specific workshops to be a real writer.  
• Patty Jansen attempts to answer the question "Should I self-publish?"
• Eric Flint discusses what used book sales mean for authors.
• Brooke Warner shares five things every author needs to know about cover design.
• Cecilia Tan explains what she learned from reading one star reviews.
• Gregory Schmidt profiles Ashley Eckstein, founder of Her Universe and Her Universe Press.
• Simon Bestwick reports about his issues with Spectral Press.
  

Interviews:

• Steve Paulson interviews Margaret Atwood.
• Katie Waldman interviews Philip Pullman.
• Matt Staggs interviews Tim Akers.
• Nicholas Yanes interviews Jennifer A. Nielsen.
• Kyra Halland interviews Vanessa Kings. 
• Nadine Matheson interviews Anthony Vicino.
• Bryan Behrenshausen interviews Cory Doctorow. 

Reviews:

• Kelly Anderson reviews The Duellists trilogy by Julia Knight. 
• Elena Linville reviews Deep in the Hollow by Brandy Nacole.
• Ana Grilo reviews In the Garden of Iden by Kage Baker.  
• Emily Nordling reviews The Drowning Eyes by Emily Foster.
• Larry Ketchersid reviews Medusa's Web by Tim Powers.
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Desolation by Kristopher Rufty. 
• Rich Rosell reviews City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett. 
• Rachel Acks reviews the movie 400 Days. 
• Garth Cremona reviews the movie The Fifth Wave.
• Steve Vernon reviews Zack Snyder's Superman adaptation Man of Steel.
  

Crowdfunding:

• People of Colo(u)r Destroy Science Fiction, a special issue of Lightspeed magazine, is loooking for funding.
• Bradley P. Beaulieu is looking for funding for his short fiction collection In the Stars I'll Find You. 
• Polar Boreal, a Canadian speculative fiction magazine, is looking for funding.
• Quantum Warlock, a graphic novel by Scott Schindel, is looking for funding.  

Con reports:

• Daniel P. Dern shares photos taken at Arisia in Boston. 
• Michael Bailey reports about his experiences at Arisia.
• Leah Schnelbach reports about a literary event featuring authors Daniel José Older and Victor La Valle at the Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn, New York.
• Mark L. Blackman reports about the first in the Fantastic Fiction Readings series at the KGB Bar in New York City.  
• Watch some videos of the James Tiptree Jr. Symposium at the University of Oregon.

Science and technology:

• The California Institute of Technology has predicted the existence of a ninth planet in our solar system and believes it will be found in the next five years.
• A so-called "assassin supernova" which is brighter than the entire milky way, has been discovered.
• How can we build a city on Mars?
• How should we look for aliens?
• The world's first virtual reality rollercoaster will launch soon at the British amusement park Alton Towers. 
• Stephen Hawking has foretold the end of the world once again. 
• Fairy tales may be thousands of years old.

Free online fiction:

• "Angel, Monster, Man" by Sam J. Miller in Nightmare Magazine.
• "The Rakshasa of Des Moines" by Shweta Sundararajan in Expanded Horizons. 
• "How the God Auzh-Aravik Brought Order to the World Outside the World" by Arkady Martine in Strange Horizons.
• "Thundergod in Therapy" by Effie Seiberg in Galaxy's Edge. 
• "The Caretakers" by David Nickle at Tor.com.
• "Small Wars" by Matt Wallace at Tor.com.
• "Counting Mississippis" by Dora Badger in Kaleidotrope.
  
• "That Lucky Old Sun" by Carrie Cuinn in Apex Magazine.
• "Riding Atlas" by Ferrett Steinmetz in Apex Magazine.
• "Longsleeves" by Mike Allen in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• "Secondhand Bodies" by J.Y. Yang in Lightspeed.
• "Lotus Face and the Fox" by Nghi Vo in Uncanny Magazine. 
• "Godfall" by Sandra M. Odell in GigaNotoSaurus.
• "Sepia Seven" by Floyd Looney.
• Chapter 1 of "Homage", part 92 of The Descendants by Landon Porter.
  

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a trailer for Suicide Squad.
• Watch a trailer for 10 Cloverfield Lane, a sequel to Cloverfield.
  

Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for January 15, 2016

Here is our weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with yet more Star Wars discussion as well as tributes to David Bowie and discussion about the the TV shows The Expanse, The Shannara Chronicles, Colony and the revived X-Files. 

Speculative fiction in general:

• The participants of the SF Signal Mind Meld talk about what they want to read in 2016. 
• Paul di Filippo takes a look at upcoming 2016 SFF releases. 
• Andrew Liptak also takes a look at upcoming 2016 SFF releases.
• Veronica Scott talks about science fiction romance. 
• Cora Buhlert talks about SFF, romance and abuse narratives. 
• Leah Rhyne talks about Jessica Jones, Sansa Stark and rape culture in entertainment.
• Tobias Carroll talks about the blurred lines between science fiction and noir.
• Jason Sanford shares his admiration for and frustration with the works of Philip K. Dick.  
• Maddie Crum talks about dystopian novels which put a new spin on an entrenched genre.
• Brian Merchant explains what the science fiction of 2015 tells us about the concerns of today.
• Max Gladstone discusses a year of reading differently.
• Dave Bara explains why heroes are important in science fiction and fantasy. 
• Marcus Sakey talks about moments of heroism which always get him.
• Colleen Gillard attempts to explain why she feels that British children's fiction is superior to American children's fiction.
• Paul St. John Mackintosh discusses the damage that James Patterson Inc. has done to the publishing industry. 
• Doctor Science explains how special effects eat characterisation.
• Scott Mendelson wonders how Avatar managed to become the highest grossing movie of all time, only to be nigh forgotten only five years later.
• Jake Wilson discusses the proliferation of robot movies in 2015.
• Germain Lussier shares his appreciation for the 1984 film The Last Starfighter.
• Sophie Besl shares her thoughts about Quentin Tarantino's movie The Hateful Eight and its main female character. 
• Bob Pastorella shares his appreciation for the TV show Penny Dreadful.
• Mick Joest calls Black Mirror one of the most important TV shows of our time.
• Stuart Starosta shares his thoughts about the streaming video adaptation of Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle. 
• Smart Girls Love Sci Fi Romance takes a look at some largely forgotten 1990s time travel shows. 
• Josh Jones shares his appeciation for Delia Derbyshire, the electronic music pioneer who created the original Doctor Who theme. 
• Adam Smith discusses the history of Flash Gordon.
• Chris Kluwe explains why jocks versus nerds is a false division.
• Horror writer A.R. Morlan has died aged 58.
• Actor Alan Rickman has died aged 69.
  

Tributes to David Bowie:

• Adam Sweeting offers an obituary for David Bowie who died of cancer aged 69. 
• Rob Bricken shares all the way that David Bowie changed our lives and expanded our minds. 
• Abraham Riesman explains why David Bowie was a geek icon.
• Rob Salkowitz traces David Bowie's connection to the science fiction of the 1960s and 1970s. 
• Danny Lewis explains how David Bowie helped shape science fiction as we know it.
• The Slipper traces how comics influenced David Bowie and vice versa.
• Landon Palmer talks about discovering David Bowie through the movies.
• Charlie Jane Anders shares her tribute to David Bowie. 
• Lou Anders shares his tribute to David Bowie.
• Emily Asher-Perrin shares her tribute to David Bowie.
• Adam Whitehead shares his tribute to David Bowie. 
• C.E. Murphy shares her tribute to David Bowie.
• SF Crowsnest share their tribute to David Bowie.
• David Cardinal shares his tribute to David Bowie.
• Kameron Hurley shares her tribute to David Bowie and talks about mortality.
• Neil Gaiman shares his short story "The Return of the Thin White Duke", which was inspired by David Bowie. 

Comments on Star Wars and The Force Awakens:

• Austin Walker claims that The Force Awakens retells Star Wars for the so-called Millennial generation. 
• The participants of The Establishment's roundtable talk about the significance of finally seeing themselves reflected in Star Wars.
• Alex Brown talks about the reawakening of Star Wars fandom.
• Stephen D. Greydanus wonders about the influence of gnosticism on Star Wars.
• This Jupiter Ascending fan tumblr compares the role of women in Star Wars and Jupiter Ascending.
• Steven Murphy offers another theory regarding the identity of Supreme Leader Snoke. 
• Mike Ryan explains why he believes that Revenge of the Sith of the worst Star Wars movie.
• Becky Feldmann explains why the Battle of Endor in Return of the Jedi probably led to the mass extinction of Ewoks.
• Kylo Ren and Luke Skywalker or rather their parody accounts get into a (spoilerish) Twitter spat. 

Comments on The Shannara Chronicles:

• Bethonie Butler explains what The Shannara Chronicles is and what it is doing on MTV. 
• Aidan Moher calls The Shannara Chronicles a modern take on a genre classic.
• Rob Bricken shares his thoughts about the pilot episode of The Shannara Chronicles. 
• Andrew Liptak also shares his thoughts about The Shannara Chronicles.
• Reid Nakamura explains why The Shannara Chronicles is more like Star Wars than Lord of the Rings. 
• Dany Roth believes that The Shannara Chronicles is Tolkien meets George Lucas.
• Dave Seitz points out that The Shannara Chronicles isn't entirely sure what it wants to be.
• Den of Geek interviews Terry Brooks, on whose novels The Shannara Chronicles are based. 

Comments on The Expanse: 

• Bookworm Blues share their thoughts about The Expanse, both the books and TV series.
• Rowan Kaiser claims that attention to detail is making The Expanse the best new SF series in years. 
• Elizabeth Howell wonders whether it is possible to colonise Ceres as portrayed in The Expanse.
• Lucas Siegel reports that The Expanse has already been renewed for season 2.
  

Comments on Colony:

• Amy Ratcliffe discusses how Colony explores life in an alien occupied Los Angeles.
• John Jurgensen claims that Colony offers an Orwellian view of Los Angeles under alien occupation.
• W. Alejandro Sanchez points out that the repressive dystopian regime depicted in Colony bears many similarities to real world dictatorships.
• Winston Cook-Wilson points out that Colony asks a lot of big and ultimately pointless question.
• Brendan Gallagher also points out that Colony asks a lot of questions, but fails to answer the most important one, namely why should we watch it.
  

Comments on the revival of The X-Files:

• Savannah Tanbush calls the return of The X-Files glorious.
• Tim Goodman calls The X-Files revival underwhelming.
• Brian Lowry calls the revived X-Files a joyless missed opportunity.  
• Joanna Robinson admits that the first episode of the revived X-Files is bad, but that fans should give up hope.
  

Awards:

• The winners of the 2015 Stabby Awards have been announced. 
• The nominees for the 2016 Philip K. Dick Awards have been announced.
• Irene Gallo, creative director at Tor Books, has won the 2016 Richard Gangel Art Director Award. 
• Voting is open for the British National Television Awards.
• Nominations for the second round of the BSFA Awards are open.
• Submissions are open for the 2016 Baen Books Fantasy Adventure Award. 
• Submissions are also open for the 2016 Jim Baen Memorial Award. 
• Shaun Duke shares a crowdsourced Hugo recommendation list.
• Joe Sherry shares his personal Hugo Awards longlist. 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Elena Linville advises writers to let their characters grow and evolve. 
• Marie Brennan talks about creating characters with PTSD.
• Kate Elliott starts a series of posts on worldbuilding.
• Lev Mirov discusses writing related work you are probably not counting.
• Debra Purdy Kong shares her two cents for indie authors. 
• Simon Owens reports how writers are monotising their short fiction via Patreon.
• Read in Colour points out that publishers are underpromoting books by writers of colour. 
• Michael Patrick Hicks talks about cover design.
• Luna Lindsey shares some thoughts for writing an author bio.
• Miral Sattar shares seven ways to nail your author SEO in 2016. 
• Stuart Whitmore shares his appreciation for the Alphasmart Neo.
• Michael J. Martinez shares some money tips for writers and other freelancers. 

Interviews:

• Lauren Sarner interviews John Scalzi. 
• Leo Elijah Cristea interviews Susan Dennard. 
• Francesca T. Barbini interviews Juliet E. McKenna.
• Kristin Centorcelli interviews Megan E. O'Keefe. 
• The Qwillery interviews Emily Foster.
• The Book Plank interviews Lawrence M. Schoen.  
• Paul Weimer also interviews Lawrence M. Schoen.
• Matthew Stott interviews Eddie Robson. 
• Kristin Centorcelli interviews Scott Allan Morrison.
• Quentin S. Crisp interviews Justin Isis.
• Kyra Halland interviews herself.

Reviews:

• Elena Linville reviews City of Light by Keri Arthur.
• Paul Weimer reviews Steal the Sky by Megan E. O'Keefe.
• Bibliotropic reviews Planetfall by Emma Newman.
• Charlie Jane Anders reviews Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson. 
• Paul Di Filippo reviews Eleanor by Jason Gurley.
• Sue Granquist reviews The Box Jumper by Lisa Manetti. 
• Lucy Hounsom reviews Angel of Storms by Trudi Canavan.
• Charlie Hopkins reviews The Last Mortal Bond by Brian Stavely. 
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews The Dream Beings by Aaron J. French.
• Faren Miller reviews The Pilo Travelling Show by Will Elliott. 
• Robert Kilpatrick reviews The Feminine Future: Early Science Fiction by Women Writers.
• Jesse Hassenger reviews the horror film The Forest.

Crowdfunding:

• Guillem March, artist of Catwoman, is looking for funding to make his Spanish graphic novel Laura available in English.
• Ascension, the third book in W.C. Hoffman's Twins of Prey trilogy, is looking for funding. 
• A hardcover reprint of The Dark Verse, an award-winning collection of horror stories, is looking for funding. 
• The magazine Fireside Fiction is looking for donations.
• Hard SF artist William Black is looking for patrons.
  

Con reports:

• Karl-Johan Norén reports about ConFuse, the 2015 Swecon held in Linköping, Sweden
• Darrell Buxton reports about the 26th Festival of Fantastic Films in Manchester, UK. 

Science and technology:

• David Brin claims that 2015 was the best year ever in space.
• Scientists in the US may have detected gravitational waves. 
• Why finding gravitational waves would be such a big deal.
• NASA has successfully tested a new engine that could take humans to Mars in ten weeks.
• Why Ghana started a space program.
• Why 3D printing will be a key technology in the next space race. 

Free online fiction:

• "Kaiju maximus®: “So Various, So Beautiful, So New” by Kai Ashante Wilson in Fantasy Magazine.
• "The Padishah Begum's Reflections" by Shweta Narayan in Fantasy Magazine.
• "Finnegan's Field" by Angela Slatter at Tor.com.
• "Breaking the God Partition" by Robert Hood in Cosmos.
• "Two's Company" by Joe Abercrombie at Tor.com. 
• "Next of Kin" by Meg Elison in Terraform.
• "Ephemeron" by Graham Edwards.
• "Calved" by Sam J. Miller. 
• "The Troll and the Garter" by Robert Dahlen.
• "Life and Death in Outer Space" by Floyd Looney.
• "The Heart of Rock 'n Roll", The Descendants Special No. 8 by Landon Porter.
  

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a trailer for season 2 of Daredevil.
• Watch a trailer for the adaptation of Stephen King's 11.22.63.
• Watch a trailer for the live action version of The Jungle Book.
• Watch a trailer for The Witch.
• Watch a trailer for Black Road.
• Watch a trailer for the new season of The 100.
• Watch the pilot episode of the web horror series Red Weather.
• How to make an origami Millennium Falcon.