It's time for the weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with LGBT science fiction, season 3 of The Handmaid's Tale, Dark Phoenix, season 3 of Jessica Jones, Men in Black International, The Dead Don't Die, Chernobyl, Midsommar, the new Child's Play and much more.
Speculative fiction in general:
- Amazon shares the best science fiction and fantasy books of 2019 so far.
- Andrew Liptak shares eleven new science fiction and fantasy books for June.
- Tor.com share their favourite LGBTQ science fiction and fantasy of the year.
- K.A. Doore lists five little known science fiction and fantasy novels featuring lesbian couples.
- Ross Johnson wonders why stories featuring gay men are comparatively rare in science fiction and fantasy.
- Elizabeth Hirst shares five horror novels which move beyond the trope of killing of LGBTQ characters.
- Agnes Gomillion explains how she discovered Afrofuturism.
- Camestros Felapton tackles the debate of what is science fiction and what is fantasy and what are the ramifications of the technologies or magics depicted.
- Cora Buhlert points out that science fiction is not evenly distributed.
- Font Folly discusses science fiction nomenclatura and the problems of definitions.
- James Davis Nicoll talks about single system space opera.
- Max Gladstone wonders why there are so many monks in science fiction.
- Joe Bonadonna takes a look at classic dystopian fiction.
- Suji Davies Okungbowa shares five SFF books set in contemporary African locales.
- Jiayang Fan profiles Liu Cixin.
- Brian Murphy remembers Lin Carter and the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series he edited.
- Sara Light-Waller remembers Hugo Gernsback's shortlived Air Wonder Stories pulp.
- Alex Brown lists ten great parents from YA science fiction and fantasy.
- K.M. Szpara shares his appreciation for The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice.
- Sam J. Miller shares his appreciation for the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare,
- Leo Benedictus talks about the so-called "cancel culture" in YA fiction and why it has become so vicious.
- Sam Kates talks about the suspension of disbelief in speculative fiction.
- Rosemary Jenksinon explains why she prefers short stories to novels.
- Scott Simon reports about a conflict between the city of New York and the famous Strand Bookstore over the latter's status as a designated landmark.
- Tor.com reports that Irene Gallo has been promoted to vice president, publisher of Tor.com
Film and TV:
- Haleigh Foutch calls Les Espookys a hilarious and wonderfully bizarre tribute to the weird.
- Matthew Keeley shares his thoughts on the Chinese science fiction film The Wandering Earth.
- Farid Ul-Haq shares his thoughts on the Indian dystopian drama Leila.
- Lucy Mangan calls the finale of Years and Years fast, furious and frequently devastating.
- Peter Bradshaw calls Boyz in the Wood a macabre rural teen horror comedy.
- Peter Bradshaw calls Blue My Mind a surreal coming of age horror.
- 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.
- Carrie Vaughn shares her thoughts on Avengers: Endgame.
- Germain Lussier shares early reactions to Spider-Man: Far From Home.
- Sophus Helle points out that the happy endings of newer Disney films have moved away from romance to focus on family relationships.
- Edward Helmore explains why there are so much fewer sex scenes in Hollywood movies these days.
- Benjamin Lee wonders why dystopian science fiction films do so badly on the big screen, but extremely well on the small.
- Benjamin Lee wonders why movie stars no longer seem to be a draw at the box office, but do drive up Netflix download numbers.
- Stuart Heritage wonders why Netflix is cancelling so many shows of late.
- Scott Bryan wonders whether Russian Doll really needs a second season.
- Jessica Holmes revisits the 1964 Doctor Who series "The Aztecs".
- James Whitbrook offers a brief history of Doctor Who's missing episodes.
- Lee Whiteside talks about Dirk Gently and Don't Panic and their connection to Doctor Who.
- Marjorie M. Liu shares her appreciation for Keanu Reeves and the many roles he played.
- Andrew Anthony interviews Lena Headey, best known for playing Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones.
- Chris Wiegand interviews Indira Varma who appeared in Game of Thrones, Torchwood and Luther.
- Camestros Felapton muses how to destroy the Death Star, preferably with a minimum of deaths.
- Alison Flood reports that a Christian fundamentalist group is petitioning Netflix to cancel Good Omens, because it offends their religious sensibilities, seemingly unaware that the show is streaming on Amazon Prime.
- Tara Lynne shares ten infamous pieces of fandom lore.
- Neda Ulaby reports about fan edits of popular movies like Avengers: Endgame and The Last Jedi, which remove all female characters, characters of colour and men being not manly enough to please racist, sexist and homophobic fans.
- Stuart Heritage also reports about the Avengers: Endgame edit with fewer women, emotional scenes and no Black Panther or Captain Marvel.
- Zack Sharf reports that Robert Downey Jr. would like to see Ironheart a.k.a. Riri Williams in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- Stuart Heritage wonders why Marvel's Spider-Man posters are so bad.
- Rory Tingle reports that actor Michael Palin, best known for his role in the Monty Python sketches, has been knighted.
- Amy Zimmerman reports that eight women accuse filmmaker Max Landis, best known for Bright, of sexual, physical and emotional abuse.
- Kate Erbland declares that Hollywood should have dropped Max Landis years ago, given his track record.
Comments on season 3 of The Handmaid's Tale:
- Allison Shoemaker shares her thoughts on "Unknown Caller", the latest episode of The Handmaid's Tale.
- Beth Elderkin also shares her thoughts on "Unknown Caller".
Comments on Dark Phoenix:
- Brandon Zachary declares that Dark Phoenix finally gets Cyclops right.
- Haleigh Foutch discusses what went wrong with Dark Phoenix according to director Simon Kinberg.
- Zack Sharf reports that Dark Phoenix's already low box office grosses have dropped even further in its second week.
Comments on season 3 of Jessica Jones:
- Graeme Virtue shares his thoughts on season 3 of Jessica Jones and bids farewell to the Marvel Netflix shows.
- Dave Richards also shares his thoughts on season 3 of Jessica Jones and looks back on the Marvel Netflix shows.
- Charles Pulliam-Moore declares that season 3 of Jessica Jones feels a little too familiar and is not a fitting swan song for the Marvel Netflix shows and their mini-universe.
- Caroline Siede offers episode by episode reviews of season 3 of Jessica Jones.
- Christina Radish interviews Krysten Ritter, star of Jessica Jones.
- Charles Pulliam-Moore interviews Carrie Ann Moss who plays Jeri Hogarth in Jessica Jones.
- Tyler Hersko interviews Melissa Rosenberg, showrunner of Jessica Jones.
- Abraham Riesman wonders what went wrong with the Marvel Netflix shows.
- Joshua Rivera ranks every season of the Marvel Netflix shows.
Comments on Men in Black International:
- Emily Asher-Perrin calls Men in Black International uninspired, but still cute and fun.
- Vinnie Mancuso calls Men in Black International a so-so sequel, but praises the performances of Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson.
- Scott Tobias calls Men in Black International awful and wishes he could erase it from his mind.
- Inspired by Men in Black International, Renaldo Matadeen wonders about the popularity of shapeshifters in recent science fiction films.
- Bryan Alexander wonders why Will Smith and Tomm Lee Jones are not in Men in Black International.
- Audie Cornish interviews Tessa Thompson, one of the stars of Men in Black International.
- Norys Kit takes a look at the behind-the-scenes trouble with Men in Black International.
- Ciara Wardlow explains that spectacle and special effects aren't enough to dazzle audiences anymore, which is why Men in Black International failed.
- Dave Trumbore reports that Men in Black International did better at the box office than assumed.
Comments on The Dead Don't Die:
- Leah Schnelbach calls The Dead Don't Die the perfect zombie movie for our times.
- Andrew Lapin calls the zombie comedy The Dead Don't Die a single joke stretched out far too long.
Comments on Chernobyl:
- Renaldo Matadeen declares that Chernobyl isn't just a historical disaster drama, but straight up horror.
- British reporter Kim Wilsher, who reported about the disaster in the 1980s, declares that the truth about Chernobyl is much worse than what the already grim TV series depicts.
- Rebecca Nicholson wonders why depressing series like Chernobyl and When They See Us are so popular.
- Renaldo Matadeen is bothered by the lack of Russian accents in Chernobyl.
- Tom Skipp shares some photos of Chernobyl and Pripyat today.
- Zack Sharf reports that tourism in Pripyat has spiked by forty percent due to Chernobyl.
Comments on the new Child's Play:
- Peter Bradshaw calls the new Child's Play a razor-sharp and exquisitely gruesome toy story.
- Charles Bramesco declares that Chucky might be wi-fi enabled in the new Child's Play, but that's hardly an upgrade.
Comments on Midsommar:
- Scott Wampler shares his thoughts on the horror movie Midsommar.
- Eric Kohn declares that Midsommar is actually a perverse break-up movie.
Awards:
- The finalists for the 2019 Elgin Awards have been announced.
- The finalists for the 2019 Baen Fantasy Adventure Award have been announced.
- The winner of the 2019 Australian Fairy Tale Society Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the 2019 Maine Literary Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the 2018 Foreword INDIES Awards in the science fiction and fantasy categories have been announced.
- The nominations for the 2019 Neffy Awards have been announced.
- The winner of the 2019 Dwayne McDuffie Award for Kids' Comics has been announced.
- The winners of the 2019 Carnegie and Greenaway Medals have been announced.
- The winners of the 2019 Origins Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the 2019 MTV Movie and TV Awards have been announced with some love for genre works.
- John Hertz explains the meaning of the Big Heart Award.
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- Ken Miyamato shares 31 must-read screenwriting tips from Rod Serling, creator of The Twilight Zone.
- Tessa Palmer shares eight writing tips by Kurt Vonnegut.
- Elizabeth Bear talks about professional jealousy and how to deal with people who've done you harm being successful.
- Lauren Sapala talks about Jungian types, neuroscience and writers.
- Alison Flood discusses the plight of the midlist author.
- Edward Trimnell laments the ossification of indie publishing.
- Marko Kloos explains why he is leaving social media.
Interviews:
- Paul Weimer interviews Spencer Ellsworth.
- Locus interviews Michael Blumlein.
- Wendy Uchimura interviews Yoshio Kobayashi.
- Brigid Alverson interviews Junji Ito.
Reviews:
- Liz Bourke reviews Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone.
- Ceridwen Christensen reviews The Sol Majestic by Ferrett Steinmetz.
- For Winter Nights reviews Velocity Weapon by Megan E. O'Keefe.
- Blue Book Balloon reviews Velocity Weapon by Megan E. O'Keefe.
- Camestros Felapton reviews Tiamat's Wrath by James S.A. Corey.
- Sam Reader reviews The Outside by Ada Hoffman.
- Amy Goldschlager reviews Ninth Step Station by Malka Older, Fran Wilde, Jacqueline Koyanagi and Curtis C. Chen
- Gary K. Wolfe reviews Waste Tide by Chen Qiufan.
- Russell Letson reviews Luna: Moon Rising by Ian McDonald.
- Marion Deeds reviews Storm of Locusts by Rebecca Roanhorse,
- Andrew Liptak reviews Storm of Locusts by Rebecca Roanhorse.
- Brit Mandelo reviews Broken Places and Outer Spaces by Nnedi Okorafor.
- Chaim Gartenberg reviews Magic For Liars by Sarah Gailey.
- L.A. Young reviews Seven Blades in Black by Sam Sykes.
- Liz Bourke reviews Cast in Oblivion by Michelle Sagara.
- Bill Capossere reviews Tide of Stone by Kaaron Warren.
- Tadiana Jones reviews The Poppy War by RF. Kuang.
- James Davis Nicoll reviews Renegades by Marissa Meyer.
- Sara Collins reviews She Would Be King by Wayétu Moore.
- Jeff Somers reviews The Affair of the Mysterious Letter by Alexis Hall.
- Adrienne Martini reviews Your Favourite Band Cannot Save You by Scotto Moore.
- John Self reviews Frankissstein by Jeanette Winterson.
- Blue Book Balloon reviews My Name is Monster by Katie Hale.
- Bitter Tea and Mystery reviews The Wolves of Winter by Tyrell Johnson.
- Andrew Taylor reviews Shadowplay by Joseph O'Connor.
- Sadie Jones reviews Shadowplay by Joseph O'Connor.
- Ian Mond reviews The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull.
- Maria Haskins reviews The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull.
- Adi Robertson reviews Fall by Neal Stephenson.
- Adri Joy reviews The Gameshouse by Claire North.
- Jared Shurin reviews The Gameshouse by Claire North.
- For Winter Nights reviews Recursion by Blake Crouch.
- Tadiana Jones reviews Recursion by Blake Crouch.
- Jason Sheehan reviews Recursion by Blake Crouch.
- Em Nordling revisits The History of Living Forever by Jake Wolff.
- Jason Sheehan reviews FKA USA by Reed King.
- Russell Letson reviews The Best of Greg Egan by Greg Egan.
- Paul Di Filippo reviews The Grand Dark by Richard Kadrey.
- Kat Hooper reviews The Listener by Robert McCammon.
- Ardi Alspach reviews The Girl in Red by Christina Henry.
- Mattt Brandenburg reviews Curse of the Dead-Eyed Doll by Thomas Kingsley Troupe.
- Scott Kemper reviews The Drive-Thru Crematorium by Jon Bassoff.
- Michael Patrick Hicks reviews House of Skin by Jonathan Janz.
- Michael Patrick Hicks reviews The Hungry Ones by Chris Sorenson.
- Jared Shurin reviews Wastelands 3: The New Apocalypse, edited by John Joseph Adams.
Classics reviews:
- Sandy Ferber revisits the 1922 lost world adventure The Silver God of the Orang Hutan vy David Douglas.
- Paul Fraser revisits the January 1949 issue of Astounding Science Fiction.
- Richard Robinson revisits the 1953 science fiction novel Starman Jones by Robert A. Heinlein.
- Matthew Wuertz revisits the August 1954 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction.
- Mark Yon revisits the 1959 science fiction novel A Clash of Cymbals a.k.a. The Triumph of Time by James Blish.
- Joachim Boaz revisits the 1962 science fiction thriller Seconds by David Ely.
- Gideon Marcus revisits the July 1964 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
- Victoria Silverwolf revisits the August 1964 issue of Worlds of Tomorrow.
- Cora Buhlert and Jason Sacks revisit the 1964 science fiction novels The Valley of Creation and Outside the Universe by Edmond Hamilton and Escape Across the Cosmos by Gardner Fox.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1974 dystopian novel The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe by D.G. Compton.
- Joachim Boaz revisits the 1977 science fiction novel Moonstar Odyssey by David Gerrold.
- Mari Ness revisits the 1978 science fantasy novel The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey.
- Alan Brown revisits the 1978 sword and sorcery collection Kull: The Fabulous Warrior King by Robert E. Howard.
- Joe Sherry revisits the 1979 fantasy novel The Watchtower by Elizabeth A. Lynn.
- Joe Kenney revisits the 1979 martial arts science fiction novel Circle of Iron by Robert Weverka.
- Joachim Boaz revisits the 1984 fantasy novel Daybreak on a Different Mountain by Colin Greenland.
- Will Errickson revisits the 1983 horror novel In a Lonely Place and the 1987 horror novel Why Not You and I?, both by Karl Edward Wagner.
- Leah Schnelbach revisits the 1984 YA fantasy novel A House Like a Lotus by Madeleine L'Engle.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1986 fantasy novel The Falling Woman by Pat Murphy.
- Judith Tarr revisits the 2006 fantasy novel A Taste of Magic by Andre Norton and Jean Rabe.
Crowdfunding:
Con and event reports:
- Edmund Schluessel shares his experiences at Replicon, the 2019 Swecon, in Västerås, Sweden.
- Mike Glyer reports that Mythcon 50 in San Diego, California, has announced Tim Powers as the new Guest of Honour after the previous Guest of Honour John Crowley had to cancel.
- Eric Francisco reports about the Dungeons & Dragons Live event in Los Angeles, California.
- Locus reports about Norwescon 42 in Seattle, Washington.
- Jamie Sugah reports that there will be a SpongeBob SquarePants twentieth anniversary event at San Diego Comic Con in San Diego, California, this year.
- Angel Wilson reports that there will be a Game of Thrones panel at San Diego Comic Con this year, but isn't sure what will be featured, considering that the series finished its run.
- Angel Wilson also reports about road closures near the convention center during San Diego Comic-Con.
- The Geekiary shares an interview with the female stars of Marvel's Runaways at ClexaCon in Las Vegas, Nevada.
- Jaime Casillas looks ahead at Burning Cat con in Portland, Oregon.
- Kristine Kathryn Rusch reports about the Las Vegas Licensing Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada.
- Mark L. Blackman reports about the latest edition of the Fantastic Fiction Readings series at the KGB Bar in Manhattan, New York, featuring Keith R.A. DeCandido and Chuck Wendíg.
- Mike Glyer shares some photos of speculative artworks at the Passadena Chalk Fest in Passadena, California.
Science and technology:
- Rebecca Boyle discuses the true price of privatising space.
- Sarah Zhang reports that half the DNA found on the New York subway matches no known organism.
- Gordon L. Dillow explains what would happen if an asteroid were to hit Earth.
- Dwayne A. Day reports about the 1967 plan to deflect the asteroid Icarus.
- Charles Fishman explains how a calculation error doomed the Mariner 1 Venus probe back in 1962.
- Adam Frank looks at some non-fiction books to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Apoolo 11 moon mission.
- Chanda Prescod-Weinstein explains how Star Trek's warp drives touch on one of physics' biggest mysteries.
- Christopher Joyce reports about a project to replace plastics with biopolymers.
- Jonathan Amos reports that the submarine known as Boaty McBoatface has mapped water currents in the deep ocean.
- C.D. Covington takes a look at the so-called Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and why it makes for great science fiction, even though it is extremely questionable science.
Free online fiction:
- "When Two Swordsmen Meet" by Ellen Kushner in Lightspeed.
- "The Harvest of a Half-Known Life" by G.V. Anderson in Lightspeed.
- "A Handful of Sky" by Elly Bangs in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
- "Black Like Earth" by Jordyn Blanson in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
- "Corpse Soldier" by Kameron Hurley in Uncanny Magazine.
- "Canst Thou Draw Out the Leviathan" by Christopher Caldwell in Uncanny Magazine.
- "The Taurids Branch" by Alanna J. Falen in Nightmare Magazine
- "We Sang You As Ours" by Nibedita Sang in The Dark.
- "The New Prometheus" by Michael Swanwick at Tor.com.
- "The Hole-Seller" by Robert Dawson in Daily Science Fiction.
- "Hunting the Viper King" by Kathryn Harlan in Strange Horizons.
- "Safety Tests" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
Odds and ends:
