Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for October 6, 2017

It's time again for our weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with Star Trek Discovery, Blade Runner 2049, Inhumans, The Gifted, Stephen King, a lot of horror fiction, the Nobel Prize for Literature as well as the usual mix of awards news, writing advice, interviews, reviews, awards news, con reports, crowdfunding campaigns, science articles and free online fiction. 

Speculative fiction in general:

• Adrian McKinty explains why genre fiction should be a part of the literary canon.  
• Katherine Ashe talks about the art of mixing genres.
• The participants of this month's Mind Meld share their personal definition of urban fantasy.
• Ryan Graudin shares five SFF books dealing with parallel universes and string theory.
• The Hugo Awards Book Club discusses the political power of science fiction.
• Corrie Brundage shares her top five science fiction heroines. 
• Lucy V. Hay shares five debates on female writers that really need to die.
• Cora Buhlert discusses the latest round of romance bashing, this time courtesy of the New York Times. 
• Cora Buhlert also has a follow-up post with reactions from around the web to the romance bashing New York Times article.
• Amanda Diehl shares five romances just begging for a film adaptation.
• Doris V. Sutherland revisits Edmond Hamilton's Interstellar Patrol series.
• Andrew O'Hehir shares his appreciation for the Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin. 
• Camestros Felapton discusses fantasy terrains in The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe. 
• Grady Hendrix revisits The Shining by Stephen King. 
• Darren Slade revisits It by Stephen King.
• Leah Schnelbach sharees fifteen haunted house stories. 
• Rachel Cordasco shares eight horror novels from around the world.
• Stephen Graham Jones talks about horror and cautionary tales.
• Joanne Kaufman profiles R.L. Stine.
• Germain Lussier declares that the Flatliners remake should have stayed dead.  
• Barry Monush revisits Steven Spielberg's early 1971 TV movie L.A. 2017.
• Glen Weldon remembers the classic television show The Prisoner for its 50th anniversary.
• Teresa Jusino shares her appreciation for the much maligned Star Trek: The Next Generation character of Wesley Crusher.
• The Geekiary shares their appreciation for the afterlife sitcom The Good Place.
• Todd Mason remembers Kit Reed as well as the other nominees for the Hugo Award for most promising new author of 1959.
• Writer Dian Crayne a.k.a. J.D. Crayne has died aged 75. 
• Actress Anne Jeffreys, who appeared in numerous SFF TV shows, has died aged 94.
  

Comments on Star Trek Discovery: 

• Jodie of Lady Business shares her thoughts about the first episode of Star Trek Discovery and praises the character of Michael Burnham.
• Jodie of Lady Business also shares her thoughts on the second episode of Star Trek Discovery and mourns the fate of Captain Philippa Georgiou.
• Swapna Krishna praises the fact that Star Trek Discovery briefly had two women of colour as leads and mourns the fact that this only lasted for two episodes.
• Kaila Hale-Stern wonders about the symbolism behind the name of Michael Burnham, Star Trek Discovery's central character.
• Anita Sarkeesian and Ebony Aster offer two highly critical reviews of the two-part pilot and the third episode of Star Trek Discovery.
• Angel Wilson declares that Star Trek Discovery is everything she wanted and needed from a new Star Trek series.  
• Angel Wilson also declares that Star Trek is for everyone.
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw calls Star Trek Discovery a gift for fans old and new.
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw also reviews Desperate Hours by David Mack, the first Star Trek Discovery tie-in novel, in which Michael Burnham teams up with her adoptive brother of sorts, Mr. Spock.
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw also recaps episode 3 of Star Trek Discovery.
• Angel Wilson reviews episode 3 of Star Trek Discovery.
• Camestros Felapton is quite pleased with episode 3 of Star Trek Discovery.
• Keith DeCandido feels that the third episode of Star Trek Discovery should have been the pilot rather than the two-parter we got.
• Katharine Trendacosta is pleased that Star Trek Discovery delves into the conflict between the scientific and the military side of starfleet. 
• Beth Elderkin and Katharine Trendacosta also discuss the game-changing technology that's apparently being developed in Star Trek Discovery and why we never see any trace of it in any other Star Trek shows.
• Nick Izumi compares Star Trek: Discovery to The Orville.
• Anthony Cuoto also compares Star Trek Discovery to The Orville.
• Carl Slaughter rounds up several critical YouTube reviews of Star Trek Discovery.
• Anthony Cuoto also attempts to explain why in spite of critical acclaim Star Trek Discovery is not the Star Trek that many fans wanted.
• Cora Buhlert talks about cultural differences and shares some thoughts and baseless speculation about Star Trek Discovery.
• Daniel Holloway interviews Jason Isaacs about his character Captain Lorca in Star Trek Discovery.
  

Comments on Blade Runner 2049: 

• Scott Huver declares that Blade Runner 2049 almost equals the original.
• Chris Klimek calls Blade Runner 2049 even sharper than the original.
• Cassam Looch calls Blade Runner 2049 a worthy successor to the original that may even exceed it.
• Katharine Trendacosta calls Blade Runner 2049 gorgeous, brilliant, pretentious and very long. 
• Liam Nolan explains what viewers should know before watching Blade Runner 2049.
• Damien Walter shares five questions the new Blade Runner must answer.
• John Bardinelli shares some background information about Do Androids Dream of Electronic Sheep?, the Philip K. Dick novel on which Blade Runner was based.  
• Ross Johnson ranks every philip K. Dick film adaptation.
• Meanwhile, Sarah Gailey shares her reactions to watching the original 1982 Blade Runner for the first time.
• Beth Elderkin and Charles Pulliam Moore also share their reactions to watching the original Blade Runner for the first time.
• Watch Black Out 2022, an animated tie-in short film to Blade Runner 2049.
  

Comments on Inhumans:

• Glen Weldon calls Inhumans inept and inert.
• Kevin Melrose argues that the supposed antagonist Maximus might actually be the hero of Inhumans. 
• Charles Pulliam Moore finds at least one good idea in Inhumans.
• Meagan Damore traces differences between the TV version of Inhumans and the version that was shown in IMAX theatres.
  

Comments on The Gifted: 

• Farid Ul-Haq calls The Gifted a good X-Men spin-off that doesn't offer anything new. 
• Charles Pulliam Moore declares that The Gifted is not trying to be an X-Men show, which is what makes it good.
• Kevin Melrose explains why The Gifted changed a scene featuring the mutant Lorna Dane a.k.a. Polaris in prison between the trailer and the episode that actually aired.
  

Awards:

• Kazuo Ishiguro had been awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize for Literature.
• The winners of the 2017 British Fantasy Awards have been announced. 
• The winners of the 2017 Salam Award for Imaginative Fiction have been announced. 
• Composer and writer Somtow Sucharitkul a.k.a. S.P. Somtow has been awarded the KulturPreis Europa.
• The winner of the inaugural Sputnik Award has been announced.
• The winners of the 2017 Lord Ruthven Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the 2017 Inky Awards have been announced.
• Adam Roberts offer a phantom version of the 2017 Kitschies in place of the real award, which was put on hold this year. 
• Chris M. Barkley shares his views and suggestions regarding the Dragon Awards.
• Red Sonja of the Red Panda Fraction explains why the Red Pandas created a slate for the 2017 Dragon Awards.
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Christopher Laney shares three concepts (aspiring) writers should know.
• Barbara G. Tarn shares five things she learned in the age of the typewriter. 
• Thomas Oppong shares some tips for not screwing up your creativity.
• John Scalzi discusses why the current political situation is negatively affecting his writing and his wordcount.  
• Frank McKinley explains how to get your writing done, when you're busy all the time.
• Damien G. Walter explains why all stories are fractal. 
• Damien G. Walter also talks about emotion, the thermonuclear weapon in a writer's arsenal.
• Bookplan Pro talks about contrast in storytelling.
• Greg Ruth explains what writers of all genres can learn from horror fiction. 
• Scott Warren discusses three-tier worldbuilding.
• Marshall Ryan Maresca talks about living with a fantasy city inside his head.
• Michael Coorlim talks about writing an interactive series. 
• Dean Wesley Smith shares his criticisms of the practice of using beta readers.
• Michael Coorlim explains how self-publishing saved his life.
• Abby Norman explains that writing a book may not change your life, but that it will change you.
  

Interviews:

• Ana Grilo and Thea James interview Ann Leckie. 
• Mary Louise Kelly interviews Stephen and Owen King.
• Mark Lefevre interviews Charles de Lint.
• Joel Cunningham interviews Elizabeth Bear.
• Andrew Liptak interviews Jeff VanderMeer.
• Dianca London Potts interviews Tanarive Due.
• The Qwillery interviews Ausma Zehanat Khan.
• The Qwillery interviews Tim Doyle.
  

Reviews:

• Martin Cahill reviews The Tiger's Daughter by K. Arsenault Rivera. 
• Sam Reader reviews Quillifer by Walter Jon Williams.
• Paul Weimer reviews Horizon by Fran Wilde. 
• Liz Bourke reviews The Stone in the Skull by Elizabeth Bear.
• Abigail Nussbaum reviews The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin.
• Jason Sheehan reviews The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo. 
• Ceridwen Christensen reviews Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeanette Ng.
• John Connolly reviews Sleeping Beauties by Stephen and Owen King.
• Mark Yon reviews Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill.
• Kirkus reviews Satellite by Nick Lake. 
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Phasma by Delilah S. Dawson. 

Crowdfunding:

• Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith are looking for funding to bring back Pulphouse Fiction Magazine after 21 years.
• Joe Praska is looking for personal stories about journeys to fandom.
  

Con reports:

• Rich Johnston reports about an uproar during a Marvel panel at New York Comic Con, where several comic retailers made racist, sexist and homohpobic complaints about various Marvel characters.
• At The Geekiary, Bekah shares a report about Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia. 
• Gideon Marcus reports about Geek Girl Con in Seattle, Washington.
• Daniel Dern reports about a reading plus Q&A session featuring Stephen and Owen King in Newton, Massachusetts.
• Mark L. Blackman reports about the latest installment of the New York Review of Science Fiction Readings series in Brooklyn, New York, featuring Michael Swanwick and Grdner Dozois.
• Brian Lee Durfee is planning to organise a convention inside Utah State Prison for the inmates.
  

Science and technology:

• Elon Musk plans to use rockets for intercontinental passenger flights. 
• The mysterious bright spots on Ceres might have a common origin.
• Chinese scientists have managed to cure diseases by performing DNA surgery on human embryos.
• The tomb of St. Nicholas of Myra, better known as Santa Claus, has been discovered in Turkey.
  

Free online fiction:

• "Down and Out in R'lyeh" by Catherynne M. Valente in Uncanny Magazine.
• "Longing for Stars Once Lost" by A. Merc Rustad in Lightspeed.
• "The Tale of Mahliya and Mauhub and the White Footed Gazella" by Sofia Samatar in Lightspeed.
• "Red Lights, and Rain" by Gareth L. Powell in Clarkesworld.
• "Fandom for Robots" by Vina Jie-Min Prasad in Uncanny Magazine.
• "Crispin's Model" by Max Gladstone at Tor.com.
• "The Whalebone Parrot" by Darcie Little Badger in The Dark.
  

Odds and ends:

• Watch a trailer for The Beyond.
• Watch a trailer for Ghosted.
• Watch a trailer for Future Man. 
• Watch a trailer for the French science fiction series Missions. 
• Watch a clip for season 2 of Stranger Things.
• In Casper, Wyoming, the police have arrested a drunken man who claims to be a time traveller from the year 2048 come to warn us of an alien invasion.
  

Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for September 15, 2017

It's time again for our weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with It, Inhumans, The Orville, Outlander, Indiana Jones, tributes to Len Wein and Jerry Pournelle as well as the usual mix of awards news, writing advice, interviews, reviews, awards news, con reports, crowdfunding campaigns, science articles and free online fiction. 

Speculative fiction in general:

• James Davis Nicoll shares twenty Cyberpunk novels every true fan should have on their shelves.
• Mercedes Lackey shares five groundbreaking urban fantasies with unique settings.
• Joseph Brassey discusses seven SFF heroes who reject toxic masculinity. 
• Krista D. Ball takes a look at the gender breakdown of authors of books reviewed on the r/fantasy subreddit.
• N.K. Jemisin recommends current science fiction and fantasy releases.
• David Gerrold declares that science fiction is the research and development lab of the human race. 
• Lawrence Krauss explains why science fiction is so bad at predicting developments like the Internet.
• Tom Hunter implores publishers to challenge genre boundaries and welcome science fiction readers. 
• Sarah Gailey explains how Harry Potter can help readers deciding how to evaluate authority.
• Sam Reader ranks dystopian novels from the least to the most likely.
• Politico profiles Margaret Atwood and analyses the current relevance of her 1985 novel The Handmaid's Tale.  
• Jo Walton shares her appreciation for The Day Before the Revolution by Ursula K. Le Guin. 
• Ceridwen Christensen shares her appreciation for The Hainish Novels and Stories by Ursula K. Le Guin.
• Matthew Keeley shares his appreciation for Gloriana by Michael Moorcock.
• Max Gladstone points out that Indiana Jones isn't actually that bad as an archaeologist.
• Leigh Butler revisits Raiders of the Lost Ark and finds it still a great movie.
• Alex Gabriel explains why the end of the film Wonder Woman makes no sense. 
• Larry Klaes discusses the 1956 movie Forbidden Planet.
• Mark Mancini shares eleven facts about the 1953 movie The Beast From 20000 Fathoms.
• Echo Ishii remembers the 1984/85 British science fiction TV series The Tripods.
• The Tor.com staff ranks filmic Robin Hood adaptations.
• Liz Bourke shares her appreciation for the TV series Wynonna Earp.
• Vance Kortla compares the new Twin Peaks to poetry. 
• In the face of the many debates about Star Trek: Discovery, Katharine Trendacosta wonders whether everybody has forgotten what Star Trek is supposed to be.
• James Berardinelli reviews the science fiction movie Anti-Matter. 
• Canadian poet Pierre DesRuisseaux has been accused of heavily plagiarising his poems from a variety of sources.
• Jaideep Unudurti shares his tribute to the late Brian Aldiss.

Comments on It:

• Germain Lussier calls the latest adaptation of Stephen King's It a great movie that is much more than just a horror film. 
• Ross Johnston declares that It understands the horrors of growing up.
• Leah Schnelbach calls It terrifying and the perfect lesson in how to use nostalgia. 
• Ross Johnston takes a look at the general popularity of 1980s nostalgia in current pop culture.
• Meanwhile, Grady Hendrix revisits Stephen King's original 1986 novel.
• The Economist attempts to explain why Stephen King's novels still resonate.
• Ben Child wonders whether the success of It will lead to a Stephen King Renaissance in Hollywood. 
• Alasdair Stuart revisits the original 1990 TV adaptation of It.
• E. Alex Jung reports that Stephen King himself is baffled why a scene of underage sex in It is considered more controversial than several scenes of childrne being murdered.
• E. Alex Jung also discusses how the movie handles the controversial sex scene.
• Charles Pulliam Moore reports that the next chapter of It will be darker and introduce new demons.
• Mack Lamoureurx reports that real life clowns are protesting outside theatres showing It against the negative stereotypes peddled by the film.  

Comments on Inhumans: 

• C.E. Murphy declares that Inhumans is not as bad as the reviews say, but that no one should mistake it for good.
• Daniel Rasmus declares that even IMAX can't make Inhumans impressive. 
• Rob Grubaugh calls Inhumans filmmaking at its worst.
• Looper explains in a video why Inhumans flopped.
  

Comments on The Orville: 

• Dominic Patten declares that The Orville is neither a comedy nor a drama and that it feels lost in space.
• Marissa Martinelli declares that The Orville is more earnest Star Trek homage than Family Guy in space. 
• Samuel R. Delany declares that every single situation in The Orville is a cliche.
• Caroline Framke is baffled by The Orville.
• Liz Shannon Miller believes that The Orville would be better, if it were a half hour comedy.
• Chaim Gartenberg shares some ideas for improving The Orville.
• Ray Rahman interviews Seth MacFarlane, star, creator and showrunner of The Orville.
  

Comments on the season 3 premiere of Outlander:

• Nicole Cliff offers a recap of the season 3 premiere of Outlander.
• Eleanor Fye is not overly thrilled with the season 3 premiere of Outlander. 
• Kathryn Van Arendonk explains why the birth scene in the season 3 premiere of Outlander was so unusual and something rarely seen on TV.  
• Joanna Robinson explains that a crucial scene in the season 3 premiere of Outlander was entirely improvised.

Tributes to Len Wein:

• Len Wein, comic book writer and editor who is best remembered for relaunching the X-Men in 1975 and co-creating Wolverine and Swamp Thing, has died aged 69.  
• Tim Adams shares an obituary for Len Wein. 
• Evan Narcisse shares his tribute to Len Wein and explains how Wein made superhero comic universes bigger, broader and better.
• Ernie Estrella shares a tribute to Len Wein.
• Mike Glyer shares a tribute to Len Wein. 
• Glen Weldon remembers Len Wein.

Tributes to Jerry Pournelle:

• Science fiction writer Jerry Pournelle has died aged 84. 
• Andrew Liptak shares an obituary of Jerry Pournelle.
• Mike Glyer shares a tribute to Jerry Pournelle.
• John Scalzi shares a tribute to Jerry Pournelle.
• George R.R. Martin shares a tribute to Jerry Pournelle. 
• Norman Spinrad remembers Jerry Pournelle. 
• James Whitbrook remembers Jerry Pournelle. 
• Randy Cassingham remembers Jerry Pournelle.
• The SFWA remembers Jerry Pournelle.
• Keith Kato reports how the death of Jerry Pournelle has effected the Heinlein Society.

Awards:

• Director Guillermo del Toro has won the Golden Lion at the Venice film festival for his movie The Shape of Water.
• The winners of the 2017 Dwarf Star Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the 2017 Creative Emmy Awards have been announced.
• Mike Glyer reports about the state of the Sputnik Awards.
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Michael J. Martinez shares tips for writing while the world burns. 
• P.Z. Myers responds to claims that SFF magazines are discriminating against white men by tearing a particularly stupid post making that claim apart.
• Damien Walter declares that storytelling is a crucial skill, because stories are the operating system of the human consciousness.
• Steven McIntosh shares seven screenwriting tips from Aaron Sorkin. 
• Ana Grilo and Thea James share what they learned from starting a short fiction line from scratch.
• Kelly Robson talks about the dream of writing full time.
• Annalee Newitz explains how she made the leap from science journalist to science fiction writer.
• Kristina Adams shares seven ways to stop yourself from editing as you write.
• Reedsy offers an overview of book promotion services.
  

Interviews:

• Ed Finn interviews Margaret Atwood.
• Shana DuBois interviews Malka Older.
• John Williams interviews Stephen Baxter. 
• Chris Urie interviews Charles Stross.
• Erin Underwood interviews Nat Segaloff.
• The Qwillery interviews Brad Abraham.  
• Farid Ul-Haq interviews E.M. Hamill.
• Alix Adale interviews S.T. Sanchez.
• S.T. Sanchez interviews Alix Adale.
• Carl Slaughter interviews Gordon Van Gelder.
• Aaron Reese interviews Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie.
• David Harper interviews Sana Takeda.
  

Reviews:

• Martin Cahill reviews Taste of Marrow by Sarah Gailey. 
• Aidan Moher also reviews Taste of Marrow by Sarah Gailey.
• Rob Bedford reviews Skyfarer by Joseph Brassey. 
• Paul Weimer also reviews Skyfarer by Joseph Brassey.
• Andrea Johnson reviews The Emperor and the Maula by Robert Silverberg.
• Morgan Moore reviews Snowspelled by Stephanie Burgis. 
• Sam Reader reviews The Man in the Tree by Sage Walker. 
• Brit Mandelo reviews The River Bank by Kij Johnson
• Dave Richards reviews Magicians Impossible by Brad Abraham. 
• Niall Alexander reviews The Glass Town Game by Catherynne M. Valente.
• John H. Carroll reviews Upon the Ashes of Empire by  Stephen L. Nowland.
• Andrea Smith reviews The Book of Joan by Lidia Yuknavitch.
• Corrina Lawson reviews An Excess Male by Maggie Shen King.
• Jeff Somers reviews The God Peak by Patrick Hemstreet.
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Strange Weather by Joe Hill.
• Sam Reader reviews Sleeping Beauties by Stephen and Owen King. 
• Thea James reviews Noumenon by Marina J. Lostetter.
• Bence Pintér reviews Artemis by Andy Weir. 
• Mark Yon reviews Acadie by Dave Hutchinson. 
• Emily Asher-Perrin reviews Phasma by Delilah S. Dawson.

Crowdfunding:

• Sisters, Volume 5 of the Ladies' Night comic anthology series, is looking for funding.
• Writer Lezli Robyn needs help to pay for surgery to keep her eyesight from deteriorating even further. 
• Comedian Rebecca O'Neal needs help to be able to move to another state to escape a particularly persistent stalker.
  

Con reports:

• Jeremy Szal shares some photos of WorldCon 75 in Helsinki, Finland.
• Victor Fernando R. Ocampo reports about the panels about "Surreal Worlds of South East Asia" and "Your Mythology is Much Like My Mythology" at WorldCon 75 and also posts some photos of the Hugo Awards ceremony.
• Susan from Lady Business shares her experiences at WorldCon 75.
• Susan from Lady Business also shares her experiences at Nine Worlds Fan Fest in London, UK, in a two part post. 
• Lee Murray, Darian Smith and Dan Rabarts share their experiences at LexiCon 2017 in Taupo, New Zealand.
• Claire Napier reports about some problems at Rose City Comic Con in Portland, Oregon.
• Martin Morse Wooster reports about the dystopian play Noah Apocalypse by Amanda Quain as performed at the DC Reynolds Bar in Washington DC.
  

Science and technology:

• The space probe Cassini has started its final descent towards Saturn. 
• Offshore windpower is now cheaper than new nuclear power stations.
• The seven deadly sins of predicting the future of artificial intelligence.
• Artificial wombs and the future of reproductive technology.
• The rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere cause nutrient levels in plants to drop with unknown consequences.
  

Free online fiction:

• "They Will Take You From You" by Brandon O'Brien in Strange Horizons. 
• "An Ever Expanding Flash of Light" by Timothy Mundie in Lightspeed.
• "The Secret Life of Bots" by Suzanne Palmer in Clarkesworld.
• "Breaking Borders/The Fortean Limes" by Yoss, translated by Lawrence Schimel in Litro.
• "Henosis" by N.K. Jemisin in Uncanny Magazine.
• "The Magician's Apprentice" by Tamsyn Muir in Lightspeed.
  

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a trailer for The Shape of Water.
• Watch a trailer for Bright.
• Watch a trailer for Downsizing.
  

Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for September 8, 2017

It's time again for our weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with Dragon Con, the Dragon Awards, yet more WorldCon 75, criticism of the "Show, don't tell" advice, the controversy surrounding a proposed all female Lord of the Flies film, Inhumans, The Shape of Water as well as the usual mix of awards news, writing advice, interviews, reviews, awards news, con reports, crowdfunding campaigns, science articles and free online fiction. 

Speculative fiction in general:

• Alexandra Rowland declares that the opposite of Grimdark is Hopepunk.
• Sarah Kuhn praises the inclusion of female sexual desire in science fiction and fantasy.
• Sam Reader shares a list of five confessional SFF novels written in the first person.
• Sam Kates shares his favourite horror novels. 
• Jeff Tanyard shares Clare Winger Harris' list of science fiction themes.
• Judith Tarr praises the hardworking horses of fantasy fiction. 
• Ted Gioia shares his appreciation for Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury. 
• Gideon Marcus shares his appreciation for Eye of the Monster and Sea Siege by Andre Norton.
• Sandra Gisi shares her appreciation for The Claidi Journals by Tanith Lee.
• Katherine Cross declares that lowbrow pop culture gets even less respect when it's aimed at women.
• C.E. Murphy shares her thoughts on Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. 
• Angie Barry revisits the 1996 movie Barb Wire.
• Dave Nemetz is not impressed by the new science fiction TV show The Orville. 
• The G. shares his thoughts on season 7 of Game of Thrones. 
• David Cranmer discusses the season finale of the new Twin Peaks.  
• Sam Reader shares eight books for people missing Twin Peaks.
• The Nerdwriter analyses the use of shallow focus in the TV adaptation of The Handmaid's Tale.
• Hadley Freeman isn't quite sure why James Cameron's remarks on Wonder Woman in the interview she did with him last week caused such uproar. 
• Ben Child muses about the future of shared cinematic universes.
• Jeet Heer profiles Jack Kirby for his 100th birthday. 
• Writer H.A. Hargreaves has died aged 88.
• Actor Richard Anderson, best known for playing Oscar Goldman in the 1970s TV shows The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman, has died aged 91.
• Hank Stuever remembers Richard Anderson.
  

Comments on the all-female Lord of the Flies film:

• Scott McGehee and David Siegel, two white men, are planning to adapt William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies with an all-female cast to much controversy.   
• Teresa Jusino doesn't mind an all-female Lord of the Flies adaptation per se, but worries about the fact that both the writer and director are men.
  
• Isabella Biedenharn shares some suggestions for books that already offer all-female takes on Lord of the Flies. 
• Libba Bray, whose novel Beauty Queens already offers a female take on Lord of the Flies, shares her thoughts about the planned adaptation.

Comments on Inhumans:

• Charles Pulliam Moore has mixed feelings about the Inhumans preview shown in IMAX theatres. 
• Brian Cronin explains the comic background of Eldrac, an Inhumans character who is a living doorway.
• Scott Huver interviews Scott Buck, showrunner of The Inhumans. 
• Albert Ching interviews actress Ellen Woglom who plays the character of Louise in Inhumans.

Comments on The Shape of Water: 

• Nicholas Barber calls The Shape of Water one of the best films of the year.
• Nancy Tartaglione reports that The Shape of Water was received very well at the Venice Film Festival, where it competes this year.
• John Horn interviews director Guillermo del Toro about The Shape of Water.
  

Awards:

• The winner of the 2017 Eugie Foster Memorial Award has been announced. 
• The winners of the 2017 Dragon Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the 2017 eFestival of Words have been announced.
• The winners of the 2017 Deutscher Phantastik Preis have been announced. 
• The winners of the Year's Best Military and Adventure SF Awards have been announced.
• The winner of the 2017 Hank Reinhardt Award has been announced.
• The winners of the 2017 Dragon Con Art Show Awards have been announced.
• Camestros Felapton reports about the entry of a new fraction into the debate about the Dragon Awards and also visualises the Dragon Awards controversy in a map. 
• Cora Buhlert shares her comments on the 2017 Dragon Awards.
• Doris V. Sutherland shares her comments on the 2017 Dragon Awards.
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Cecilia Tan illuminates the hidden assumptions behind the old "Show, don't tell" advice and explains why it can be problematic.
• Namrata Poddar asks if "Show, don't tell" is an universal truth or a colonial relic.  
• Steven Barnes points out that people who write regularly will eventually succeed.
• Chris Mandeville shares some tips for writing short stories. 
• Joshua Palmatier discusses selecting stories for an anthology.
• Becca Mills reports that the subscription service Playster is rejecting LGBT books.
• Ivy Quinn also reports about the Playster issue.

Interviews:

• Katelyn Mae Petrin interviews Ann Leckie. 
• Max Gladstone interviews Sarah Gailey.
• Carl Slaughter interviews David Gerrold. 
• The Qwillery interviews Robert Brassey.
• Carl Slaughter interviews Rob Dircks. 
• Dag Rambraut interviews Jesper Schmidt. 
• Farid Ul-Haq interviews Andrew Wheeler.
• Steven McKenzie interviews several Scottish women involved with comic books. 

Reviews:

• Corrina Lawson reviews Skyfarer by Joseph Brassey.
• Camestros Felapton reviews Raven Strategem by Yoon Ha Lee. 
• Allison Brennan reviews Secrets in Death by J.D. Robb.  
• Smart Bitches, Trashy Books also reviews Secrets in Death by J.D. Robb. 
• Rob Bedford reviews Injection Burn by Jason M. Hough.
• Niall Alexander reviews Sea of Rust by C. Robert Gargill.
• Ceridwen Christensen revies Sea of Rust by C. Robert Gargill.
• Ceridwen Christensen reviews Call of Fire by Beth Cato. 
• Tadiana Jones reviews Snowspelled by Stephanie Burgis.
• Liz Bourke reviews The Black Tides of Heaven and The Red Threads of Fortune by J.Y. Yang. 
• Greg Hersom, Kat Hooper and Tim Scheidler review Red Sister by Mark Lawrence.
• Rob Bedford reviews Halls of Law by V.M. Escalada. 
• Mark Yon reviews Tomorrow's Kin by Nancy Kress.
• Niall Harrison reviews Acadie by Dave Hutchinson.
• For winter nights also reviews Acadie by Dave Hutchinson. 
• Thea James reviews Warcross by Marie Lu.
• Ross Johnson reviews Uploaded by Ferrett Steinmetz.
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Subhuman by Michael McBride.
  

Crowdfunding:

• The Book Smugglers are looking for funding for a new season of short fiction, new paid contributors to the blog, a new look and much more. 
• The Razor's Edge, Guilds and Glaives and Second Round: The Return to the Ur-Bar, three anthologies edited by Joshua Palmatier, is looking for funding.
• Vlad's First Fang, a children's book by Mykayla Fontaine and Nora Erwin, is looking for funding. 
• Carribbean born SFF writer Tobias Buckell shares link to charities helping the victims of Hurricane Irma in the Carribbean.

Con reports:

• C.E. Murphy shares her experiences at WorldCon 75 in Helsinki, Finland, as well as several photos in a multi-part post. 
• Susanna Shore shares her experiences at WorldCon 75 as well as several photos.
• Tiffani Angus and Chris Butler share their experiences at WorldCon 75. 
• Mur Lafferty shares some photos of WorldCon 75.
• Marcin Klak reports about Polcon 2017 in Lublin, Poland, and shares some photos. 
• Brandilyn Carpenter and Ralph Gallagher report about a John Barrowman performance at Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia, and share some photos. 
• Nelson Hicks shares some photos of the Dragon Con Parade in Atlanta. 
• Jonathan Phillips also shares some photos of the Dragon Con Parade.
• Rikki Klaus reports about an incident where chairs were thrown from a hotel in Atlanta and injured two Dragon Con attendants.
• Ellen Eldrige also has a report about the chair attack at Dragon Con as well as a few photos.
• Mike Glyer also reports about the chair attack at Dragon Con. 
• Matthew Jacobsen profiles the founders of Salt Lake City Comic Con in Salt Lake City, Utah.
• Mike Glyer shares a report about MagiCon, the 1992 WorldCon in Orlando, Florida, as well as several photos.
• Jess Nevins reports about the results of a survey regarding sexual harrassment at SFF conventions.
  

Science and technology:

• In 1.3 million years, the solar system will briefly contain two stars.
• Microscopic lasers may be used to halt the spread of cancer.
• What does the future of food look like?
• How prepared are we for nuclear war?
• How would a real post-apocalyptic scenario play out?
  

Free online fiction:

• "Angel of the Blockade" by Alex Wells at Tor.com. 
• "Wise Child" by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller at Baen.com.
• "The Girl Who's Going to Survive Your Horror Movie" by Barbara A. Barnett in Flash Fiction Online. 
• "Metal and Flesh" by Marie Vibbert in Daily Science Fiction.
• "Blue Ribbon" by Marissa Lingen in Lightspeed.
• "Clearly Lettered in a Mostly Steady Hand" by Fran Wilde in Uncanny Magazine.
• "The Last Cheng Bang Gift" by Jaymee Goh in Lightspeed. 

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a sneak peek at Inhumans.
• Watch a trailer for Infinity Chamber. 
• Watch a trailer for The Crucifixion.
• Watch a trailer for season 4 of Star Wars: Rebels.
• Watch a live action trailer for the videogame Destiny 2.