Here is our weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web:
Speculative fiction in general:
- At The Guardian, Michael Newton talks about growing up with science fiction.
- Also at the Guardian, Damien Walter wonders whatever happened to Cyberpunk.
- At The New Yorker, Joshua Rothman takes on the old genre versus literary fiction debate and wonders whether the dichotomy is still relevant at all.
- At Amazing Stories, Steve Davidson wonders why contemporary science fiction films still compare themselves to 2001 - A Space Odyssey, even though said film is now 46 years old.
- The 2014 World Fantasy Awards have been given out.
- Landon Porter talks about GamerGate and his latest writing projects.
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- M.T. McGuire points out that sometimes it's best to focus on writing and not worry about selling.
- At Write Publish Now, Neal Martin discusses how to find your true writing voice and why you need to.
- S. Elliot Brandis introduces his character, the android with no name, at the "Meet My Character" blog hop.
- Kyra Halland interviews her character Silas Vendine.
- Jolie du Pré does the Speculative Fiction Writing Process blog hop.
Interviews:
Reviews:
- Elena Linville reviews Pines by Blake Crouch.
- Judy Goodwin reviews Mutation Z: The Ebola Zombies by Marilyn Peake.
- Michael Patrick Hicks reviews The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin.
- Madeline Ashby reviews Christopher Nolan's film Interstellar.
- C.P.D. Harris wonders just why The Princess Bride holds up so well.
- Kyoko M. reviews the most recent episode of Castle and wonders whether the show is on the slippery slope into badness.
- Jeremy Ferretti shares his top 5 segments of the VHS series of horror films.
Crowdfunding and good causes:
- The Writer Emergency Pack, which is supposed to help writers get unstuck, is looking for funding.
- The anthology series Pulp Literature Year 2 is looking for backers.
- North by Southwest, an anthology of short fiction by North Bristol writers, could use some help.
- Shrieks and Shivers from the Horror Zine, an anthology edited by Jeani Rector, is looking for funding.
- Ytasha Womack is looking for funding for Bar Star City, an Afrofuturist SF film.
- Author MeiLin Miranda recently suffered a house fire and needs support, so consider buying one of her books.
Con reports:
- At SF Signal, Guy Hasson shares his experiences at Zappcon in Fresno, California.
- Casey Walsh also shares his impressions of Zappcon with a special focus on cosplay.
- Sofia Samatar shares some impressions of the 2014 World Fantasy Convention in Arlington, VA as well as her acceptance speech for the World Fantasy Award for the best novel.
- Scott Edelmann also shares his impressions of the World Fantasy Convention.
- Jamie Todd Rubin describes his experiences at the World Fantasy Convention in the form of a letter to his 20-year-old self.
- Joyce Reynolds-Ward shares her impressions of Orycon 2014, held in Portland, Oregon.
- Becca Price shares a touching story that happened at the holiday bazaar in Pinckney, Michigan.
Science and technology:
- The space probe Rosetta of the European Space Agency has reached the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and the lander Philae has successfully landed on the surface of the comet.
- Some of the stunning photos astronaut Chris Hadfield took from aboard the International Space Station are now available in bookform.
- More stunning photos taken from aboard the International Space Station can be seen in this short film by Guillaume Juin.
Odds and ends:
- Kyra Halland shares her favourite western music with a speculative twist.
- The final trailer for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies has arrived.
- HBO has announced that they are planning to adapt Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy for television with a script by Interstellar's screenwriter Jonathan Nolan.
- Jamie Todd Rubin shares some reservations about the proposed Foundation TV adaptation.
- Alison Flood also weighs in on the proposed Foundation TV adaptation.
