Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for June 28, 2019

It's time for the weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with Spider-Man: Far From Home, season 3 of The Handmaid's Tale, season 3 of Jessica Jones, season 3 of Legion, Yesterday, Annabelle Comes Home, Chernobyl, Toy Story 4, tributes to Judith Krantz, Billy Drago and Max Wright, a debate whether John Scalzi ruined the Hugo Awards and much more. 

Speculative fiction in general:

• Ross Johnson lists ten diverse space operas. 
• Jeff Somers shares fifteen science fiction and fantasy prequels.
• Philip Womack lists the thirty best children's books, including many genre works.
• Vylar Kaftan traces the use of ESP in science fiction and fantasy. 
• Caroline Louise Walker explains why doctors make the most terrifying villains in fiction.  
• Felicity McLean takes a look at Australian gothic fiction. 
• Brian Evenson shares his ten scariest novels. 
• Camestros Felapton shares some advice for time travellers.
• Emily Asher-Perrin wonders why science fiction and fantasy are so happy to demolish Venice again and again.
• Emily Temple traces the grand cultural influence of Octavia Butler. 
• Ardi Alspach shares her appreciation for the works of Mercedes Lackey.
• Lila Shapiro profiles Sherilyn Kenyon and also discusses the alleged attempt by her husband to poison her. 
• Camestros Felapton finds some parallels between the Ray Bradbury story "The Rocket Man" and Elton John's song "Rocketman". 
• Michael Gonzales shares a brief history of the heroes of black pulp fiction. 
• William Patrick Maynard celebrates the centennial of Johnston McCulley's Zorro.
• Tom Miller traces the history of the Street and Smith building in New York City, where The Shadow and Astounding Science Fiction were published among others.
• Summer H. Paulus compiles some unicorn lore.
• Molly Templeton points out that YA Twitter and cancel culture may be toxic, but that it also points out actual problems
• Katharine Trendacosta talks about toxic fandom.
• Natalie Zutter shares eight funny and thrilling LGBTQ fiction podcasts.
• Tarply Hitt reports that Nicholas Sparks, author of romantic melodrama, tried to ban an LGBT club at the Christian high school he founded. 
• Rich Johnston reports about some political disagreements inside the so-called Comicsgate movement. 
• Graeme McMillan reports that DC Comics is closing down its Vertigo imprint after 26 years.
• Ross Johnson shares ten Vertigo series that changed comics. 
• Graeme McMillan reports that DC has launched a new horror imprint called Hill House Comics.
• Mike Glyer reports that Peter S. Beagle has won his lawsuit against his former manager Connor Cochran.
• Will Errickson remembers the late Dennis Etchison.
• Romance and women's fiction author Judith Krantz died aged 91.
• Margalit Fox remembers Judith Krantz.
  

Film and TV:

• Nicholas Barber calls The Dead Don't Die an absurdist apocalypse with hidden depths.
  
• Erik Adams shares his thoughts on Years and Years. 
• Liz Shannon Miller shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
• William Hughes shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Archer.
• Jack Seale shares his thoughts on season 2 of Dark. 
• Peter Bradshaw calls In Fabric a horror film unllike anything else around. 
• A.A. Dowd calls Midsommar a deranged (and funny) folk horror nightmare.
  
• Simran Hans declares that the superhero horro film Brightburn fails to take flight. 
• Ben Child declares that the lack of success of Dark Phoenix means that the X-Men franchise needs a Marvel resurrection.
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 2014 science fiction film Predestination. 
• Rosemary Benton revisits the 1964 horror movie The Masque of Red Death.
• Cora Buhlert shares her appreciation for the 1943 German fantasy movie Münchhausen.
• Tyler Malone talks about John Wayne, cancel culture and the art of problematic artists.  
• Natalie Devitt revisits the last four episodes of season 5 of the original Twilight Zone.
• Director Bernard Rose and star Tony Todd remember the making of the 1992 horror movie Candyman. 
• Bryan Burton remembers how difficult it was for Tim Burton to get his 1989 Batman adaptation made.
• Katie Rife revisits the 1989 science fiction comedy Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and finds it still terrifying. 
• Ben Child declares that the main problem with Flash Gordon is that Ming the Merciless is a racist stereotype and that any modenr film adaptation will have to deal with this issue.
• Carrie Sessarego talks about the romances in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
• Homa Khaleeli interviews the people behind the fansites Whovian.net, Watchers on the Wall and Welcome to Twin Peaks.
• Brian Davids interviews Dave Bautista who plays Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy. 
• Jax Motes reports that Lady Gaga might provide the voice for Lylla, girlfriend of Rocket Raccoon, in Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3.  
• Bob Mondello is bothered by Disney's box office dominance via various mega-blockbusters.
• Andrew Pulver reports that Mark Hamill has demanded that Donald Trump's star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California, be replaced by one for Carrie Fisher.
• Ryan Britt shares five questions that only a Captain Pike Star Trek show could explore.
• Tor.com reports that Spock as played by Ethan Peck in Star Trek Discovery as well as Number One played by Rebecca Romijn will return for an upcoming Short Treks episode.  
• Nellie Andreeva reports that Michael Chabon has been named showrunner for the upcoming Star Trek: Picard series.
• Peter Allen Fields, screenwriter for Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, has died.
• French actress Edith Scob, best known for her role in Eyes Without a Face, has died aged 81.
• Actor Max Wright, best known for playing Willie Tanner in ALF, has died aged 75.
• Actor Billy Drago, best known for his appearances in The Untouchables, Charmed and The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., has died aged 73.
• Christian Long remembers Billy Drago.
  

Comments on Spider-Man: Far From Home: 

• Charles Pulliam-Moore calls Spider-Man: Far From Home a spectacular leap forward for Peter Parker and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
• Jesse Hassenger calls Spider-Man: Far From Home funny and more focussed on character interaction than action scenes.
• Peter Bradshaw declares that Spider-Man: Far From Home lacks sparkle.
• Mike Ryan interviews Tom Holland, star of Spider-Man: Far From Home.
  

Comments on season 3 of The Handmaid's Tale:

• Allison Shoemaker shares her thoughts on "Household", the latest episode of The Handmaid's Tale.
• Beth Elderkin is bothered by the body horror in "Household".
• Kimberly Roots shares her thoughts on "Household".
  

Comments on season 3 of Jessica Jones:

• Charles Pulliam-Moore and Jill Pantozzi share four things they loved and three things they didn't like about season 3 of Jessica Jones.
• Camestros Felapton bids good-bye to Jessica Jones and the Marvel Netflix shows. 
• James Whitbrook discusses the conflicted legacy of the Marvel Netflix shows. 
• Charles Pulliam-Moore discusses some surprise cameos in season 3 of Jessica Jones that hint at a future which will never happen.
• Charles Pulliam-Moore praises the way season 3 of Jessica Jones handles the character of Trish Walker a.k.a. Hellcat.
• Rebecca Ianucci interviews Krysten Ritter, star of Jessica Jones.
  

Comments on season 3 of Legion:

• Rob Bricken declares that the season 3 premiere of Legion knows exactly how horrible a certain even in the season 2 finale was.
• Alex McLevy declares that season 3 of Legion starts off with time travel to deal with the ramifications of what happened in the season 2 finale.
  

Comments on Yesterday:

• Peter Bradshaw calls the alternate history movie Yesterday a wacky, winning comedy.  
• Jesse Hassenger declares that Yesterday just stops short of becoming a musical.
• Xan Brooks interviews Danny Boyle, director of Yesterday. 
• Michael Hogan interviews Himesh Patel, star of Yesterday. 
• Baraka Kaseko and Marah Eakin also interview Himesh Patel.

Comments on Chernobyl: 

• Emily Todd VanDerWerff shares her thoughts about the Chernobyl finale.
• Chris M. Barkley shares his thoughts on Chernobyl.
  

Comments on Annabelle Comes Home:  

• Peter Bradshaw calls Annabelle Comes Home a creaky funhouse horror threequel. 
• Katie Rife declares that Annabelle Come Home is like a greatest hits album of The Conjuring horror franchise.
• Joe George calls Annabelle Comes Home the Avengers: Endgame of horror. 
• Brian Davids interviews Gary Dauberman, screenwriter of Annabelle Comes Home.

Comments on Toy Story 4:

• Leonard Maltin calls Toy Story 4 a summertime treat.
• Emily Asher-Perrin declares that Toy Story 4 will make you love humanity again.
• Anthony Lane declares that Toy Story 4 retreads some of the plotlines covered by the previous movies, but still enjoyed it.
• Nick Mamatas declares that Toy Story 4 is a secret horor movie. 
• Leah Schnelbach finds some parallels between Toy Story 4 and The Good Place.
• The BBC reports that Toy Story 4 has broken a global box office record for animated movies.
• The BBC reports that Toy Story 4 has been beaten at the Chinese box office by the Japanese animated film Spirited Away which arrived in Chinese cinemas eighteen years late.
  

Comments on John Scalzi and the Hugos:

• Mike Glyer reports about an uproar involving John Scalzi's Hugo win for best fanwriter in 2008 and the changes in the best fanwriter category.
• John Scalzi responds to Ulrika O'Brien's article.
• Camestros Felapton responds to Ulrika O'Brien's article attacking John Scalzi for breaking the Hugo Awards.
• Camestros Felapton also asks whether writing for pro-sites like Tor.com still counts as fanwriting.
  

Awards: 

• The winners of the 2019 Premios Kelvin 505 have been announced.
• The shortlist for the 2019 Utopiales Awards has been announced.
• The finalists for the 2019 Russ Manning Awards have been announced. 
• The nominations for the 2019 TCA Awards have been announced with some love for genre TV.

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Orly Konig explains how mindmapping can help writers. 
• Lisa Lowe Stauffer explains how objects can inject worldbuilding and character details into dialogue.
• Laura Lippman asks if it is okay for a white writer to write a black character. 
• Tom Lloyd explains how asking "What if?" inspires his writing. 
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch talks about rethinking the writing business.
• Emily Temple shares rejection letters sent to famous writers.
  

Interviews:

• The Qwillery interviews Ada Hoffman. 
• Chris Urie interviews Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone.
• Juliette Wade interviews Jaymee Goh.
• Christian A. Coleman interviews Cadwell Turnbull.
• Gord Sellar interviews Soyeon Jeong.
  

Reviews:

• Ethan Mills reviews Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers. 
• Lee Mandelo reviews Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee.
• Russell Letson reviews Edges by Linda Nagata.
• Paul Weimer reviews Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky. 
• Liz Bourke reviews An Illusion of Thieves by Cate Glass.  
• Rob Bedford reviews A Veil of Spears by Bradley P. Beaulieu 
• Adrienne Martini reviews Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City by K.J. Parker.
• James Davis Nicoll reviews Unsung Heroine by Sarah Kuhn. 
• Alex Brown reviews Wicked Fox by Kat Cho. 
• Matthew Keeley reviews The Iron Dragon's Mother by Michael Swanwick. 
• Keikii Eats Books reviews Tyger Burning by T.C. McCarthy.
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews Destroy All Monsters by Sam J. Miller.
• Kartik Narayaran reviews Quill by A.C. Cobble.
• Ian Mond reviews The Book of Flora by Meg Elison.
• Blue Book Balloon reviews The Girl in Red by Christina Henry.
• Blue Book Balloon reviews The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t With Her Mind by Jackson Ford.
• Paul di Filippo reviews The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull.
• Bill Capossere reviews The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull.
• Blue Book Balloon reviews The Edge by Tim Lebbon.
• Sandra Mangan reviews The Passengers by John Marrs. 
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews Big Cat and Other Stories by Gwyneth Jones.
• Blue Book Balloon reviews Revenants and Maledictions by Peter Bell.
  

Classics reviews:

• Doris V. Sutherland revisits the Spring 1928 issue of Amazing Stories Quarterly.
• Bill Capossere revisits the 1943 military science fiction novella Clash by Night by Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore.
• Sandy Ferber revisits the 1948 science fiction novel Dreadful Sanctuary by Eric Frank Russell.
• Victoria Silverwolf revisits the July 1964 issues of Fantastic Stories of Imagination. 
• Fabio Fernandes revisits the 1972 fantasy novel The Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe.
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1975 conspiracy thriller The Illuminatus Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson.
• Liz Bourke revisits the 1978 science fiction novel Dreamsnake by Vinda N. McIntyre.
  
• Ethan Mills revisits the 1979 horror novel The Dead Zone by Stephen King.
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1985 YA science fiction novel Sandwriter by Monica Hughes.
• Kat Hooper revisits the 2001 fantasy novel Take a Thief by Mercedes Lackey.
  

Crowdfunding:

• Midnight Widows, a horror comic by Doris V. Sutherland and Rosie Wigg, is looking for funding.
  

Con and event reports:

• Amazing Stories has a calendar covering cons and events worldwide. 
• Alex McLevy and Randall Colburn report about the Cinepocalypse festival in Chicago, Illinois and share the best, worst and weirdest films presented. 
• The BBC shares some photos of the summer solstice celebrations at Stonehenge, Glastonbury, Avesbury and elsewhere in the UK.
• Ken Mondschein offers a defence of the Society for Creative Anachronism.
  

Science and technology:

• George Dvorsky reports that mysterious cosmic radio bursts have been detected in a completely unexpected region of space.
• Charles Fishman reports that Neil Armstong and Buzz Aldrin were lost on the moon and neither they nor NASA knew where they were during the Apollo 11 mission. 
• John R. Quain explains how historians can now see invisible text on ancient documents.
• David Kindy traces the accidental invention of the Super-Soaker.
  

Free online fiction:

• "War Hosts" by Yoon Ha Lee in Lightspeed.
• "Unpublished Gay Cancer Survivor Memoir" by Caspian Gray in Lightspeed
• "Strange Scenes from an Unfinished Film" by Gary McMahon in Nightmare Magazine.
• "The Peppers of GreenScallion" by Myung-Hoon Bae, translated by Jihyun Park and Gord Sellar in Clarkesworld.
• "A Forrest, or a Tree" by Tegan Moore at Tor.com. 
• "Ambassador Berry" by Linda McMullen in Luna Station Quarterly.
• "Violent Silence" by Elizabeth Guilt in Luna Station Quarterly. 
• "The Unwish" by Claire Dean in The Dark.
• "Spaceships in the Desert" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
  

Odds and ends:

• Watch a trailer for season 3 of Stranger Things.
• Watch a trailer for Charlie's Angels.
  

Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for February 17, 2017

Here is our weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with discussion about romance in science fiction, comments on The Expanse, Legion, The Great Wall and The Lego Batman Movie 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:

• Natalie Zutter explains that romance brings humanity to science fiction and fantasy.
• Valeria Vitale hosts a roundtable on female protagonists in speculative fiction.  
• Gideon Marcus profiles several female SFF writers of the 1950s and 1960s.
• Natalie Zutter and Leah Schnelbach share eight SFF books sexier than Fifty Shades of Grey. 
• James Gleick discusses the history of the time travel trope in science fiction. 
• Stephen Baxter discusses the flying car trope in science fiction and why it probably won't work that way in reality. 
• Swapna Krishna shares five books to read if you loved Hidden Figures.
• Sam Reader shares his favourite Decopunk novels.  
• Jeff Somers shares his ten favourite SFF novels set in an alternate London.
• Ruth Vincent shares five books about scary fairies. 
• Judith Tarr shares her appreciation for the works of Andre Norton. 
• Cat Rambo analyses the Doc Savage novel Quest of Qui by Kenneth Robeson a.k.a. Lester Dent.
• Gautam Bhatia discusses issues of place, theme and tone in River of Gods by Ian McDonald. 
• Jacqueline Carey shares her appreciation for Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. 
• Patrick Lyons profiles Afrofuturist poet Sun Ra.
• San Feng offers an overview about science fiction in China in 2016. 
• Michael Moreci shares his appreciation for Paul Verhoeven's film adaptation of Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein. 
• Leigh Butler shares her appreciation for the 1968 science fiction film Barbarella.
• Cheryl Eddy shares twelve things you might not know about Big Trouble in Little China.
• Frank Cottrell Boyce shares his thoughts about Back in Black, the BBC docudrama about Terry Pratchett. 
• Chris Lough would like the return to the Firefly universe, but maybe not to the crew of the Serenity. 
• Don Kaye shares the current status of various SFF film franchises. 
• Carl Slaughter shares the longest running science fiction and fantasy TV series. 
• Katherine Siegel shares six classic science fiction stories that inspired the latest episode of Supergirl.
• Camestros Felapton discusses bickering couples in the Star Wars films and how that trope was borrowed directly from The Hidden Fortress.
• Borys Kit reports that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. II has scored a record high approval rate during test screenings. 
• David Betancourt reports that Avengers: Infinity War seems like a more intriguing movie after recent revelations. 
• Katharine Trendacosta wonders whether the X-Men movies should take a break.
• John Kelly investigates whether Washington Post movie critic Gary Arnold was fired after giving a negative review to Star Wars. 
• James Whitbrock explains what Marvel's planned Generations project is all about. 
• Kelly Sue DeConnick shares twelve Image Comics titles she loves.
• Ben Hooper reports that Illinois lawmakers have designated October "zombie preparedness month". 
• Science fiction writer Edward Bryant has died aged 71.
• Mike Glyer remembers Edward Bryant. 

Comments on The Great Wall:

• Germain Lussier calls The Great Wall a historical fantasy epic that is historically, fantastically and epically bad. 
• Tim Grierson calls The Great Wall a goofy monster movie.
• Olivia Truffaut-Wong declares that The Great Wall has a white saviour problem, but that the movie's mostly Asian cast is a step in the right direction.
• Foz Meadows was initially sceptical about The Great Wall, but then found herself thoroughly enjoying it. 

Comments on Legion: 

• Beth Elderkin declares that Legion isn't just a great superhero show, but a great TV show in general.
• Shyama Krishna Kumar calls Legion the antidote to all superhero TV shows.
• Dave Itzkoff declares that Legion has the X-factor.
• Eric Amaya lists ten X-Men references in Legion.
  

Comments on The Expanse:

• Charlie Jane Anders declares that The Expanse isn't just awesome, it's also transformative.
• Leah Schnelbach shares a recap of episode 4 of season 2 of The Expanse.
• Zack Handlen also shares a recap of episode 4 of season 2 of The Expanse.
• Scott Beggs also recaps the latest episode of The Expanse and declares that Mormons may be angry about it.
  

Comments on The Lego Batman Movie:

• Alexa Grave shares a spoilerish review of The Lego Batman Movie.
• Alasdair Stuart declares the the Lego Batman Movie is awesome.

Awards:

• The winners of the 2016 SFR Galaxy Awards have been announced.
• Robert J. Sawyer has won the 2017 Robert A. Heinlein Award.
• The winners of the 2016 Cybils Awards have been announced. 
• The shortlist for the 2017 Dwayne McDuffie Awards has been announced.
• The Salam Award for Imaginative Fiction by Pakistani authors will be awarded for the first time this year. 
• Shana DuBois has some more information about the Salam Award for Imaginative Fiction.
• Tom Hunter shares the list of all eligible novels submitted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award.
• Maureen Kincaid Speller discusses the proposed Clarke Award shadow jury. 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Marisol Dahl shares the 100 best websites for writers in 2017.
• Kameron Hurley explains why writers should continue to read good and not so good books even after they find some success.
• Kameron Hurley shares some tips for keeping writing through times of great political upheaval. 
• Chuck Wendig talks about art as resistance and stories as seeds.
• Richard Lea reports that both writers and readers experience fictional characters invading their everyday lives. 
• Steven Smith shares lessons he learned writing an epic fantasy trilogy.
• Cheryl Morgan declares that including marginalised people in fiction should be about representation, not objectification. 
• Everdeen Mason reports about the practice of authors employing sensitivity readers.
• Kameron Hurley points out that writers can say "no" to their editors.
• Stephen Blackmore talks about missing deadlines.
• Jim C. Hines takes a look at the income of trad, indie and small press published SFF authors.
• Joynell Schultz talks about using a free giveaway to grow your mailing list.
• Ann Leckie shares tips for making tea for writers and others.
  

Interviews:

• Locus interviews Alastair Reynolds.
• Eric Abrahamsen interviews Ken Liu.
• Tara Bennett interviews Ted Chiang.
• Carl Slaughter interviews Cat Rambo. 
• G.G. Silverman interviews Caroline M. Yoachim.
• Kathryn McGee interviews Lisa Manetti. 

Reviews:

• Amal El Mohtar reviews Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor. 
• Brit Mandelo reviews The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley. 
• Ardi Alspach reviews A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab. 
• Kelly Anderson reviews With Blood Upon Sand by Bradley P. Beaulieu.
• Kelly Anderson also reviews Miranda and Caliban by Jacqueline Carey.
• Ardi Alspach reviews Gilded Cage by Vic James.
• Sam Reader reviews A Perfect Machine by Brett Savory.
• Ross Johnson reviews The People's Police by Norman Spinrad. 
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Rupert Wong, Cannibal Chef and Rupert Wong and the Ends of the Earth by Cassandra Khaw. 
• Michael Patrick Hicks also reviews The Devil Crept In by Ania Ahlborn.
• Ceridwen Christensen reviews Winter of the Gods by Jordanna Max Brodsky. 
• Jason Golumb reviews Infernal Parade by Clive Barker.
• Tanya Ballard Brown reviews the graphic novel version of Octavia Butler's novel Kindred by artists Damian Duffy and John Jennings.
• Camestros Felapton reviews the movie Hidden Figures.
  

Crowdfunding:

• What We Left Behind, a documentary about Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, is looking for funding.
• The Vericon Charity Auction auctions off books and other SFF related goodies to benefit a project to help refugees.
  

Con reports:

• Trae Dorn reports about the controversy surrounding BayCon in San Mateo, California.
• Tara Lynne reports about a hotel rate hike for DragonCon in Atlanta, Georgia. 
• Mark L. Blackman reports about the latest installment in the Fantastic Fiction Reading series at the KGB Bar in New York City, featuring Michael Cisco and Nicholas Kaufmann.

Science and technology:

• NASA plans to drill into the crust of Jupiter moon Europa in search of life.
• A new gravitational wave detector might revolutinise astronomy.
• Drones that can carry passengers are to begin operation in Dubai. 

Free online fiction:

• "Extracurricular Activities" by Yoon Ha Lee at Tor.com.
• "Cupid's Compass" by Leah Cypress in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
• "The Famine King" by Darcie Little Badger in Mythic Delirium.
• Eating the Sickness" by Jeffrey Aaron Miller in Omni.
• "Robo and the Little Door" by Jeffrey Aaron Miller in Omni.

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a teaser video from the set of Avengers: Infinity War.
• Watch another short video featuring Thor and his Australian roommate Darryl. 

Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for February 10, 2017

Here is our weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with discussion about alternate histories and dystopian fiction, the Locus Awards, discussion about the future of Doctor Who, tributes to Richard Hatch, a shadow jury for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, comments on The Expanse, Legion and The Space Between Us 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:

• Jason Sanford shares an alternate history of alternative histories. 
• Judith Thurman discusses Philip Roth's alternate history novel The Plot Against America in the context of the Trump administration.
• Michiko Kakutani explains why George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four is a must-read in 2017. 
• Paul di Filippo takes a look at stories about a fragmented future from the late nineteenth century to the present day.
• Trent Cannon discusses how science fiction is always related to the time it was written. 
• Camestros Felapton wonders who is the most Trumpian character in literature and popular culture. 
• John Markoff shares the science fiction books that helped him to understand the future. 
• Daniel A. Gross discusses with Catherine Asaro and David Brin whether science fiction can help prevent a nuclear war. 
• Sam Reader discusses the pros and cons of seven fictional secret societies.
• Thoraiya Dryer wonders why epic fantasy so often defaults to stories about restoring monarchies.
• Thoraiya Dryer shares eight books about fictional forests. 
• Judith Tarr introduces her new column on horses in SFF.
• Damien Walter shares his appreciation for the Culture series by Iain M. Banks on the occasion of its 30th anniversary.
• Thoraiya Dryer shares her appreciation for the Castings Trilogy by Pamela Freeman. 
• Andrea Johnson revisits The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury.
• Alec Nevala-Lee profiles L. Ron Hubbard and his fiction.
• David Robson discusses what Peter Pan can teach us about memory and consciousness.
• Rich Johnston and Phil Boyle discuss how political comics should be.
• Violette Malan shares her top five sword-fight movies. 
• Germain Lussier has some details about Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. II. 
• Germain Lussier also discusses Marvel's villain problem and that Marvel intentionally focusses on its heroes rather than villains.
• Sarah Gailey discusses iconic costumes from SFF movies.
• Steve Vertlieb shares his appreciation for legendary composer John Williams on the occasion of his 85th birthday. 
• Germain Lussier declares that The Lego Batman Movie tries much too hard to be cool. 
• MeTV shares fifteen forgotten SFF TV shows of the 1970s.
• James Whitbrook explains why Star Trek Deep Space Nine and Voyager may never get full HD Blu-Ray releases.  

Tributes to Richard Hatch:

• Richard Hatch, the actor best known for playing Captain Apollo in the original Battlestar Galactica, has died aged 71.
• Steve Green remembers Richard Hatch. 
• Cora Buhlert remembers Richard Hatch and the original Battlestar Galactica.
• Bill Watters shares tributes and rememberances of Richard Hatch by friends and colleagues.

Awards:

• Voting is open for the 47th annual Locus Awards.
• The winner of the 2017 Crawford Award has been announced.
• The winners of the 2017 Annie Awards have been announced. 
• The nominees for the 2017 Audie Awards have been announced.
• The nominees for the 2017 BAFTA Awards have been announced, including a couple of speculative movies.
  

Discussion about the Arthur C. Clarke Award shadow jury:

• Nina Allan announces the establishment of a shadow jury for the Arthur C. Clarke Award and introduces the members of the shadow jury.
• Nina Allan also shares an introduction and a manifesto about the Arthur C. Clarke Award shadow jury. 
• Helen Marshall explains why a shadow jury for the Arthur C. Clarke Awards is a worthy endeavour. 
• Shadow jury member Paul Kincaid explains how the shadow jury will operate.
• At File 770, there is a discussion about the Clarke Award shadow jury.

Debate about the future of Doctor Who: 

• Camestros Felapton wonders who will be the next Doctor.
• James Whitbrook cautions that it may take a while, until we know who will replace Peter Capaldi as the Doctor.
• Meanwhile, the Daleks demand that the next Doctor should be a Dalek.
  

Comments on The Expanse: 

• Andrew Liptak explains why The Expanse is the most politically relevant show in TV.
• Katharine Trendacosta calls The Expanse the best science fiction show on TV and interviews two of the actors. 
• Leah Schnelbach offers a recap of the latest episode of The Expanse.
• Watch a "Behind the scenes" feature for The Expanse.

Comments on Legion:

• Charlie Jane Anders declares that Legion is a triumph for the X-Men franchise in general.
• Todd VanDerWerff calls Legion a landmark production in more ways than one.
• Graeme Virtue calls Legion the most beautiful superhero show yet. 

Comments on The Space Between Us:  

• Gary Westfahl reviews The Space Between Us.
• Peter Bradshaw calls The Space Between Us a cosmically mawkish teen romance.
• Angie Errigo calls The Space Between Us a lazy teen movie, which wastes its fine actors.

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Steven Smith shares some tips for dealing with writer's block. 
• Sue Duff discusses the difficulties of destroying Earth in fiction.
• Michael Johnston explains why he wrote Soleri.
• Mary Rosenblum explains what really sold in 2016.
• Steve Vernon shares his experiences with Kindle Scout.
• Martin Cavanaugh shares some tips regarding cover design for indie authors.
  

Interviews:

• Carl Slaughter interviews Jacey Bedford. 
• Kathryn McGee interviews Mercedes M. Yardley. 
• Kathryn McGee also interviews Kathe Koja.
• Evan Narcise interviews Jess Nevins. 
• Anne Charnock interviews Suw Charman-Anderson. 
• Carl Slaughter interviews Joe Stech.
• Tony Sokol interviews Malcolm McDowell.
  

Reviews:

• Ana Grilo reviews Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor.
• Thea James reviews Cloak of War by Rhonda Mason.
• Ross Johnson reviews Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty.
• Constance Grady reviews Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman.
• Meghan Ball also reviews Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman. 
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews Passing Strange by Ellen Klages.
• Martin Cahill reviews Amberlough by Lara Elena Donnelly.
• N.K. Jemisin reviews recent SFF releases.
• The Idle Woman reviews Blood Upon the Sand by Bradley Beaulieu. 
• Alex Bledsoe reviews Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire. 
• Paul Weimer reviews Crossroads of Canopy by Thoraiya Dryer.
• Martin Cahill also reviews Crossroads of Canopy by Thoraiya Dryer.
• Joe Sherry reviews Idle Ingredients by Matt Wallace. 
• Liz Bourke reviews The Rise of Io by Wesley Chu. 
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews A Perfect Machine by Brett Savory.
• Jonathan Thornton reviews Everfair by Nisi Shawl. 
• Lucy Hounsom reviews Metronome by Oliver Langmead.
• Sam Reader reviews Universal Harvester by John Darnielle.
• Rob Bedford reviews Dreadnought by April Daniels.
• Rob Bedford reviews A Conversation in Blood by Paul S. Kemp.
• Camestros Felapton reviews Diaspora by Greg Egan.

Crowdfunding:

• Everyone - Worlds Without Walls, a District of Wonder anthology edited by Tony C. Smith, is looking for funding.
  

Con reports:

• Ellen Datlow shares some photos of a reading featuring Holly Black and Fran Wilde at the KGB Bar in New York City.
• Mike Glyer reports about a controversy regarding BayCon in San Matteo, California. 

Science and technology:

• A newly discovered Helium compound could cause chemistry textbooks to be rewritten.
• Benjamin C. Kinney discusses tools and problems of neuroscience. 
• Scientists are building pollination drones to counter the global bee die-off.
• The stone marten that knocked out the Large Hadron Collider.
• What will the city of the future look like?
• Why is the sun spinning too slowly?
• A mysterious X-ray signal intrigues astronomers.
  

Free online fiction:

• "Some Cupids Kill With Arrows" by Tansy Rayner Roberts in Uncanny Magazine.
• "Probably Still the Chosen One" by Kelly Barnhill in Lightspeed.
• "Starship Day" by Ian R. MacLeod in Lightspeed. 
• "The Old Dispensation" by Lavie Tidhar at Tor.com.
• "Entangled" by Lars H. Hoffmann in Compelling Science Fiction.
• "Skychildren" by C.L. Kagmi in Compelling Science Fiction.
• "Grandfather's Room" by Jeffrey Aaron Miller.
• "Planet Feast" by Jeffrey Aaron Miller. 

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. II. 
• Watch a trailer for Iron Fist.
• Watch a trailer for Logan.  
• Watch a trailer for The Circle.
• Watch a trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. 
• Watch a trailer for Ghost in the Shell.
• Watch a trailer for Samurai Jack.
• Watch a trailer for Life. 
• Watch a trailer for Wish Upon.
• Carl Slaughters shares his favourite SFF related YouTube videos.