It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with season 3 of Star Trek Discovery and Star Trek in general, season 2 of The Mandalorian and Star Wars in general, season 2 of His Dark Materials, season 5 of The Expanse, Wonder Woman 1984, The Stand, The Midnight Sky and much more.
Speculative fiction in general:
- Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Lavie Tidhar share the perfect science fiction and fantasy for the holiday season.
- Sam Maggs shares eight novels about female superheroes.
- Phoebe Wagner talks about the idea of the frontier in science fiction.
- James Davis Nicoll discusses the strange experience of reading a book series in the wrong order.
- Jo Walton recommends books that grabbed her.
- Molly Fisher wonders whatever happened to J.K. Rowling.
- Olivia Rutigliano talks about the forgotten Christmas tradition of telling ghost stories.
- Ryan Britt shares some speculations about How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Theodore Geisel a.k.a. Doctor Suess.
- Matt Mikalatos discusses the portrayal of Santa Claus in the Narnia novels by C.S. Lewis.
- James Malizewski is bothered by cuddly Cthulhu toys, because they undermine what Cthulhu originally was.
- SFF artist David Geiser has died aged 73.
- Science fiction writer and critic James Gunn has died aged 97.
Film and TV:
- William Hughes declares that The Watch will disappoint fans of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels as well as everybody else.
- Ignatiy Vishnevetsky calls Greenland a paint by numbers disaster movie.
- Cath Clarke declares that the alien invasion apocalypse has never been duller than in the Russian science fiction film The Blackout.
- Benjamin Lee calls Freaky a wildly entertaining body swap horror comedy.
- Cath Clarke declares that A Night of Horror: Nightmare Radio doesn't deliver many scares.
- Marion Deeds compares the novel Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff to the recent TV adaptation.
- Keith R.A. DeCandido shares his thoughts on The New Mutants.
- Carrie Vaughn shares her thoughts on Enola Holmes and For All Mankind.
- Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the horror movie Nocturne.
- Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the horror movie Evil Eye.
- Gwen Ihnat shares her thoughts on the season finale of Next.
- Rhiannon Lucy Cossett explains why the 1992 holiday movie The Muppet Christmas Carol is the perfect festive movie.
- Leah Schnelbach shares six intergalactic holiday specials.
- Bridget McGovern shares eleven oddball holiday specials that should be classics.
- Patrick Gomez reports that Die Hard director John McTiernan has confirmed that Die Hard is a holiday movie.
- Leah Schnelbach ranks every superhero origin movie she could remember.
- Ryan Gilbey interviews Daveed Diggs, star of Hamilton, Snowpiercer and Soul as well as member of the two time Hugo finalist band clipping.
- Steve Rose takes a look at the impact of the corona pandemic on movies in 2020.
- Lacy Baugher reports that with the departure of Bradley Walsh and Tosin Cole, Doctor Who will have the first all female TARDIS team in its 57 year history.
- David Giler, producer of the Alien movies and screenwriter for The Man From U.N.C.L.E. TV series, has died aged 77.
Comments on season 3 of Star Trek Discovery and Star Trek in general:
- Keith R.A. DeCandido shares his thoughts on "Terra Firma, Part II", the latest episode of Star Trek Discovery.
- Zack Handlen shares his thoughts on "Terra Firma, Part II".
- James Whitbrook shares his thoughts on "Terra Firma, Part II".
- Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on "Terra Firma, Part II".
- Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts on "Terra Firma, Part II".
- John Orquiola explains the background of the character Carl in "Terra Firma".
- Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the Star Trek Voyager episodes "Living Witness" and
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1985 Star Trek tie-in novel Uhura's Song by Janet Kagan.
Comments on season 2 of The Mandalorian and Star Wars in general (spoilers):
- Paul MacInnes shares his thoughts on "The Rescue", the season 2 finale of The Mandalorian.
- Mike Vanderbilt shares his thoughts on "The Rescue".
- Emmet Asher-Perrin shares his thoughts on "The Rescue".
- Germain Lussier shares his thoughts on "The Rescue".
- Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts on "The Rescue".
- James Whitbrook discusses the post-credits scene of "The Rescue".
- Ben Child wonders what's next for The Mandalorian now that season 2 has ended.
- Zack Sharf reports how a certain cameo in "The Rescue" came to be.
- James Whitbrook also discusses a certain character's appearance in "The Rescue".
- The Straits Times reports that Boba Fett will get his own Star Wars spin-off series entitled The Book of Boba Fett.
- James Davis Nicoll wonders why the Star Wars universe is full of mega-fauna.
- T.J. Muscaro has more on the fact that Disney is not paying writers of various tie-in novels.
- Toby Hadoke remembers the late Jeremy Bulloch, best known for playing Boba Fett in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
Comments on Wonder Woman 1984:
- Peter Debruge calls Wonder Woman 1984 an enjoyable sequel which will take viewers away from the real world for a time.
- Anna Smith wonders whether Wonder Woman 1984 is the first superhero movie for the #MeToo era.
- Katie Rife declares that there is not enough action or Wonder Woman in Wonder Woman 1984.
- Jordan Hoffman shares a spoilerish review of Wonder Woman 1984.
- Kyle Buchanan interviews Patty Jenkins, director of Wonder Woman 1984.
- Gavia Baker-Whitelaw reports that Wonder Woman 1984 director Patty Jenkins almost quit over a salary dispute.
- Mark Malkin reports that Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot has confirmed that she had negative experiences with Joss Whedon on the set of Justice League.
Comments on season 2 of His Dark Materials:
Comments on season 5 of The Expanse:
Comments on The Stand:
Comments on The Midnight Sky:
- Leah Schnelbach declares that The Midnight Sky offers a bleak near future.
- Paul Levinson calls The Midnight Sky an uplifting downer.
- Marah Eakin interviews George Clooney, star and director of The Midnight Sky.
- Marah Eakin also interviews Felicity Jones and David Oyelowo, two more stars of The Midnight Sky.
- Marah Eakin also interviews Kyle Chandler and Tiffany Boone, two more stars of The Midnight Sky.
Awards:
- Samuel R. Delany explains why he writes.
- Mike Glyer reports about editorial changes at Amazing Stories.
- Elizabeth A. Harris and Nicole Perlroth report about a mysterious phishing scam where the scammer is stealing unpublished manuscripts.
- Victoria Strauss also reports about the manuscript phishing scam.
- Kristine Kathryn Rusch discusses the issues facing traditional publishers in 2020.
- B.V. Lawson reports that the mystery bookshop Clues Unlimited in Tuscon, Arizona, is closing down because of the covid pandemic, one of the many independent bookstores in the US to shut down because of the pandemic.
Interviews:
Reviews:
- Russell Letson reviews Fleet Elements by Walter Jon Williams.
- Paul Weimer reviews Persephone Station by Stina Leicht.
- Bobby Derie reviews Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
- Julia Frazer reviews This Virtual Night by C.S. Friedman.
- L.A. Young reviews The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons.
- Fabienne Schwizer reviews The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey.
- Mark Yon reviews A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djèlí Clark.
- Katharine Coldiron reviews Over the Woodward Wall by A. Deborah Baker a.k.a. Seanan McGuire.
- Gary K. Wolfe and Ian Mond reviews The Arrest by Jonathan Lethem.
- James Davis Nicoll reviews Cog by Greg van Eekhout.
- Colleen Mondor reviews Never Look Back by Lilliam Rivera.
- Eugene Vassilev reviews Children by Björn Larssen.
- J.C. Kang reviews The Brightest Shadow by Sarah Lin.
- Paula Guran reviews Monster Movies by David J. Schow.
- Paul Weimer reviews Call Me Joe by Poul Anderson.
Classics reviews:
- Bobby Derie revisits the 1953 weird fiction collection The Curse of Yig by Zealia Bishop.
- Gideon Marcus revisits the January 1966 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
- Ken Lizzi revisits the 1974 sword and sorcery anthology Flashing Swords #2, edited by Lin Carter.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1979 fantasy novel Sorcerer's Son by Phyllis Eisenstein.
- Paul Weimer revisits the 1983 fantasy novel The Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford.
- Emmet Asher-Perrin revisits the 1985 children's holiday fantasy The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg.
- Adri Joy revisits the 1996 horror novella The Route of Ice and Salt by José Luis Zárate, translated by David Bowles.
- James Malizewski revisits the 1986 sword and sorcery story The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski.
Con and event reports:
Science and technology:
- Jake Rossen shares a history of celebrating Christmas in Space.
- Sarah Knapton reports that according to Nobel laureate Roger Penrose an earlier universe existed before the Big Bang and can still ne observed today.
- Phil Plait reports that a signal has been received from Proxima Centauri, which is likely the result of intelligence, but more likely originates with humans than aliens.
- Gideon Marcus reports about the Gemini 6 and 7 missions in 1965.
- Ger Apeldoorn shares some 1954 advice for surviving a nuclear war.
Free online fiction:
- "Margins" by Elizabeth Hinckley in Luna Station Quarterly.
- "No Way Back" by Chi Hui, translated by John Chu in Clarkesworld.
- "The Wrong Girl" by Angela Slatter in Nightmare Magazine.
- "My Wife" by Ernest O. Ògúnyem in The Dark.
- "Tiger of the New Moon" by Allison Thai in Anathema.
- "Tiny House Living" by Kristiana Willsey in Fantasy Magazine.
- "Tiny Bravery" by Ada Nnadi in Omenana.
- "Party Time!" by Ben H. Winters in Lightspeed.
- "An Account of the Land of Witches" by Sofia Samatar in Lightspeed.
- "Bad Call" by Richard Marpole in Fantasy Faction.
- "At the Station" by C.T.E. Peacock in Daily Science Fiction.
- "Boughs of Holly" by Jenna Hanchey in Daily Science Fiction.
- "Naughty List 4 Lyfe" by Thomas J. Griffin in Daily Science Fiction.
Trailers and videos:
