Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for September 27, 2019

It's time for another somewhat truncated weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Ad Astra, the backlash against Joker, Kevin Feige does Star Wars, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) at fifty, tributes to Aron Eisenberg and much more. 

Speculative fiction in general:

• Cloaked Creators shares 200 science fiction novels by women and non-binary authors.
• John DeNardo explains why too many genre labels are bad for science fiction and fantasy. 
• Tor.com shares nine science fiction and fantasy duos that bring out the best and the worst in each other.
• Andrew Liptak asks if science fiction has a moral obligation to address climate change.
• Joel Cunningham shares five metafictional SFF stories with heart.
• Julia Bergen lists six science fiction and fantasy restaurants she wants to visit.
• Gabriella Tutino shares five books that feature Area 51.
• James Davis Nicoll explains how superheroes and supervillains are symbiotically linked to each other.
• Leah Schnelbach shares five otherwise realistic children's and YA books whose teenage characters suddenly display supernatural abilities. 
• Kelly Chiu shares five SFF books that fans of Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir will appreciate.
• Jeff Somers takes a look at the science fiction and fantasy novels that appeared in Oprah's Book Club.
• Emily Asher-Perrin explores how robots in science fiction talk to each other.
• Jonathan Crowe explains where fantasy maps come from. 
• Emily Asher-Perrin talks about how readers visualise stories. 
• Miriam Alexander-Kumaradoss profiles Blaft Books, a small press specialising in translating Tamil pulp fiction. 
• Dana Schwartz talks about Rainbown Rowell's Simon Snow series and its relationship to fanfiction. 
• Mike Glyer shares the negative remarks of SFF writer Dan Simmons about environmental activist Greta Thunberg as well as various reactions to Simmons' remarks.
  

Film and TV:

• Alex Brown lists all the new and returning SFF TV shows for fall 2019. 
• Keith R.A. DeCandido shares his thoughts on Captain Marvel. 
• Paul Levinson declares that in spite of superficial simiarities to Lost, the dystopian prison thriller The I-Land is its own thing.
• Cath Clark calls Don't Let Go a very silly timewarp murder mystery. 
• Rob Hunter calls Synchronic a warm and suspenseful call for human connection. 
• Katie Rife calls In the Shadow of the Moon a science fiction misfire.
• Cath Clarke calls Phoenix a chilly Scandinavian horror drama. 
• Mike McCahill calls To Tokyo a thrilling, chilling horror in the wilderness.
• Hans Qu explains what modern science fiction movies can learn from the 1980 Flash Gordon movie.
• Cora Buhlert shares her appreciation for the 1964 German science fiction thrillers The Ringer and The Death Ray of Dr. Mabuse. 
• James Davis Nicoll shares five vintage atomic war films. 
• Lindsey King-Miller talks about the girls who die first in horror movies. 
• Thomas Hobbs interviews Robert Englund and Heather Langenkamp, the stars of Nightmare on Elm Street.
• Various Guardian writers share their favourite TV cliffhangers of all time. 
• Stuart Heritage asks if Netflix has killed off the cliffhanger.
• Ben Child is not quite happy that Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man will return to our screens very soon, even though his character is currently dead.
• Sara Century profiles actress Robin Wright and remembers her many genre roles.
• Steve Vertlieb shares his appreciation for 100-year-old character actor Nehemiah Persoff and reports about a recent meeting with Persoff.  
• Andrew Pulver reports that Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios has been asked to develop a new Star Wars film for Disney.
• Ben Child wonders whether Kevin Feige's Star Wars film will mean the end of the George Lucas era.
• Aron Eisenberg, best known for playing Nog in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, has died aged 50.
• Tor.com shares tributes to Aron Eisenberg.
  

Comments on The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance: 

• Hugh Montgomery declares that The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is weird and brilliant and even better than the 1982 original.
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw explains how to watch the original The Dark Crystal.
  

Comments on Joker:

• Kathleen Newman-Bremang declares that Joker is a dangerous film that brings out the worst of the internet.
• Sarah Hagi declares that Joker is the antihero that angry and alienated white men have been waiting for and that precisely is the problem.
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw declares that Joker is catnip for the toxic masculinity of parts of Batman fandom.
• Ryan Parker reports that the families of victims of a mass shooting during a screening of The Dark Knight in Auroro, Colorado, in 2012 are concerned that Joker will glorify violence.
• Brent Lang reports that Warner Bros has responded to the concerned families that Joker is not intended as an endorsement of real world violence.
• Dell Cameron reports that the US military has warned soldiers of the potential for shootings and violence at screenings of Joker. 
• Jim Vejvoda shares the responses of director Todd Phillips and star Joaquin Phoenix to criticisms of Joker.
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw reports that director Todd Phillips has blamed the backlash against Joker on the "far left".
• Omar Sanchez interviews Todd Phillips, director of Joker, about the backlash against the film. 
• Robbie Collin tried to interview Joaquin Phoenix, star of Joker, only for Phoenix to walk out of the interview, when faced with an uncomfortable question.
• Charles Pulliam-Moore reports that Joaquin Phoenix also stormed off the Joker set a lot.

Comments on Ad Astra:

• Chris Klimek calls Ad Astra a stirring science fiction epic.
• Leonard Maltin calls Ad Astra an intelligent space drama for grown-ups.
• Natalie Zutter calls Ad Astra an extended parable about absentee fathers and wonders what the point of it all is.
• Rob Hunter declares that in Ad Astra, Brad Pitt's daddy issues hold the key to the future of humanity.
• Matt Thrift interviews James Gray, director of Ad Astra.
  

Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) at fifty:

• Spy Vibe remembers the British supernatural detective show Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased).
• J. Kingston Pierce also remembers Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased).
  

Awards:

• Vox by Christina Dalcher has won the 2019 Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award.
• The winners of the 2019 Niels Klim Awards have been announced. 
• The winners of the 2019 Salam Award have been announced.
• The shortlist for the 2019 Prix Utopiales BD has been announced.
• The winner of the 2019 Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize has been announced.  
• The longlist for the 2019 National Book Awards has been announced with some love for genre fiction.
• The winners of the 2019 Primetime Emmy Awards have been announced. 
• The recipients of the 2019 MacArthur Genius Grants have been announced.
• Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts on the 2019 Hugo Award winners and the Hugo ceremony and Hugo Losers Party in general. 
• ErsatzCulture analyses the gender distribution of various SFF awards and shares several graphs.  
• Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on ErsatzCulture's gender analysis of SFF awards.
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Tor.com shares some writing advice by Neil Gaiman. 
• K.V. Johansen talks about the small details that create depth in worldbuilding. 
• Janice Hardy implores writers not to let the plot hijack the story. 
• Bonnie Randall explains how to effectively insert backstory.
• Katy Doherty shares Joanne Harris' remarks about ageism in publishing and the intense focus on debut novels.
• Chuck Wendig shares some financial advice for writers.
  

Interviews:

• Lisa Allardice interviews Margaret Atwood.
• John DeNardo interviews Ellen Datlow.
• The Qwillery interviews Alix E. Harrow. 
• The Qwillery interviews Sarah Pinsker. 
• Arkady Martine and Vivian Shaw interview each other.
• Locus interviews Cadwell Turnbull.
• Christian A. Coleman interviews Lisa M. Bradley.
• Paul Weimer interviews Elle Katharine White.
  

Reviews:

• Bill Capossere and Kat Hooper review The Testaments by Margaret Atwood.
• Paul Weimer reviews The Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone. 
• Lee Mandelo reviews The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz. 
• Ceridwen Christensen reviews The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz.
• Camestros Felapton revisits Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. 
• Blue Book Balloon reviews The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow. 
• Liz Bourke reviews The Outside by Ada Hoffman. 
• Tobias Carroll reviews A Song for a New Day by Sarah Pinsker. 
• James Davis Nicoll reviews Finna by Nino Cipri.
• Matt Brandenburg reviews Glitch Rain by Alex Livingston.
• Marion Deeds reviews The Toll by Cherie Priest.
• Blue Book Balloon reviws The Silver Wind by Nina Allan. 
• Paul Di Filippo reviews The Silver Wind by Nina Allan.
• Rachael McKenzie reviews The Last by Hanna Jameson.
• Jason Heller reviews The Divers' Game by Jesse Ball.
• Jason Heller reviews A Cosmology of Monsters by Shaun Hamill.
• Alex Brown reviews The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht.
• Meghan Ball reviews The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht.
• Kelly Lasiter reviews All the Bad Apples by Moira Fowley-Doyle. 
• Kat Hooper reviews The Wicked King by Holly Black. 
• Kelly Lasiter reviews Enchantée by Gita Trelease. 
• James Davis Nicoll reviews Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron.
• Bill Capossere reviews Line of Descent by Troy Carrol Bucher.
• The Qwillery reviews Blade's Edge by Virginia McClain.
• S. Qiouyi Lu reviews Steel Crow Saga by Paul Krueger.
• Mark Yon reviews Cold Storage by David Koepp.
• Sam Jordison reviews Skin by Liam Brown.
• Kat Hooper reviews Pawn by Timothy Zahn.
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews A City Made of Words by Paul Park. 
• Kelly Lasiter reviews The Wand That Rocks the Cradle: Magical Stories of Family, edited by Oren Litwin. 
• Fantasy Faction reviews The Spider by Leo Carew.
• Nicole Hill reviews Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky.
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews The Pale White by Chad Lutzke. 
• Tadiana Jones reviews Pines by Blake Crouch.

Classics reviews: 

• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1898 science fiction novel Edison's Conquest of Mars by Garrett P. Serviss.
• Judith Tarr revisits the 1957 science fiction novel Star Born by Andre Norton. 
• Alan Brown revisits the 1960 science fiction novel Deathworld by Harry Harrison.
• Jason Sacks revisits the 1964 science fiction novel The Penultimate Truth by Philip K. Dick, Gideon Marcus revisits the 1964 science fiction novel Tongues of the Moon by Philip José Farmer and Rosemary Benton revisits the 1964 science fiction novels The Million Year Hunt by Kenneth Bulmer and Ship to the Stars by Fritz Leiber.   
• Victoria Silverwolf revisits the October 1964 issue of Fantastic Stories of Imagination.
• Gideon Marcus revisits the October 1964 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
• Paul Fraser revisits the August 1965 issue of New Worlds. 
• Paul Fraser revisits the September 1965 issue of New Worlds.
• Paul Weimer revisits the 1966 science fiction novel Planet of Exile by Ursula K. Le Guin.
• Rich Horton revisits the 1966 science fiction novels The Beasts of Kohl by John Rackham a.k.a. John T. Phillifent and A Planet of Your Own by John Brunner.
• M. Porcius revisits the 1969 science fiction novel Deathstar Voyage by Ian Wallace. 
• Joe Kenney revisits the 1980 science fiction novel Logan's Search by William F. Nolan.
• Joachim Boaz revisits the 1984 science fiction novel Frontera by Lewis Shiner.
• Summer H. Paulus revisits the 1990 fantasy novel The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan.
  

Con and event reports:

• Edmund Schluessel shares his experiences at Fantasticon in Copenhagen, Denmark.
• Mike Glyer reports about yet more charges against Ed Kramer, co-founder of DragonCon in Atlanta, Georgia. 
• The latest issue of The Drink Tank is entirely dedicated to WorldCon 77 in Dublin, Ireland.
• Ted Daley shares some photos of the Rotsler Award Exhibition at WorldCon 77 in Dublin, Ireland. 
• Actor John G. Hertzler, who played Martok in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, shares his negative experiences at NE Trek Con in Albany, New York. 
• Cora Buhlert shares her experiences at Steamfest in Papenburg, Germany, as well as several photos.
• Patti Restivo reports about the Maryland Renaissance Festival in Crownsville, Maryland, and profiles cosplayer Kyle Wilhelm.
• Katie Rife reports about Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, in a two part post.
• J. Oliver Conroy shares his experiences at the attempted storming of Area 51 in Rachel, Nevada.
• Mike Roe reports about the Waterworld Stunt Show at Universal Studios Hollywood in Hollywood, California.
  

Crowdfunding:

• Glitter + Ashes: Queer Tales of a World That Wouldn't Die, an anthology of postapocalyptic stories edited by Dave Ring, is looking for funding.
• The magazine Anathema: Spec from the Margins is looking for funding for its fourth year.
  

Science and technology:

• Jonathan Amos reports about ESA's Euclid space telescope. 
• Jonathan Amos also reports about NASA's IceSat space laser.
• East German cosmonaut Sigmund Jähn, the first German person in space, has died aged 82.
• Heather Harper Ellett explains why feral hogs are a real problem in parts of the US.
  

Free online fiction:

• "The Witch of the Will" by Aaron Perry in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• "Portrait of the Artist" by K.J. Parker in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• "Elegy of a Lanthornist" by M.E. Bronstein in Beneath Ceaseless Skies. 
• "The Answer That You Are Seeking" by Jenny Rae Rappaport in Lightspeed.
• "The Second Nanny" by Djuna, translated by Sophie Bowman, in Clarkesworld.
• "Biologist Naming Privileges Removed" by Chloe Woods in Daily Science Fiction.
• "Compassionate Simulation" by Rachel Swirsky and P.H.Lee in Uncanny Magazine.
• "The Oldest Game" by Alberto Chimal, translated by Toshiya Kamei in Aether/Ichor.
• "Zeitgeber" by Greg Egan at Tor.com.
• "Desire" by Kini Ibua Salaam in Lightspeed. 
• "Wilderness" by Letitia Trent in Nightmare Magazine.
• "All My Relations" by Bryan Kamaoli Kuwada in The Dark.

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a trailer for Frozen 2.
  

Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for September 20, 2019

It's time for another somewhat truncated weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with Carnival Row, Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Chapter 2 of It, Ad Astra, The Testaments by Margaret Atwood, Scooby Doo at fifty, Milo Yiannopoulos getting banned from Midwest FurFest, debates about the Campbell/Astounding Award and the Tiptree Award, a false piracy accusation and an indie author making a spectacle of himself and much more. 

Speculative fiction in general:

• Andrew Liptak shares eight science fiction and fantasy novels he wishes weren't standalones.
• James Davis Nicoll shares five SFF stories about surviving the dangers of boarding school that aren't Harry Potter. 
• Natalie Zutter shares eight examples of stories within stories and SFF hyper-worldbuilding.
• A.K Larkwood shares six stories about science fiction immortality.
• Jennifer Giesbrecht shares five fantasy books steeped in history. 
• Leah Schnelbach discusses fantasy novels which focus on dealing with trauma.
• Howard Andrew Jones and Todd McAulty share five forgotten swordsmen and swordwomen of fantasy. 
• Jeff Somers shares ten science fiction and fantasy novels inspired by roleplaying campaigns.
• Aidan Moher shares thirteen books for fans of Japanese RPGs.
• Michelle Goldberg compares the dystopian theocracy Gilead from Margaret Atwood's novels The Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments to our own world and finds The Testaments more hopeful. 
• Stuart Parker explains why J.R.R. Tolkien continues to remain relevant in our time.
• Wojciech Orlinski reports about the altercation between Stanislaw Lem and Philip K. Dick, because Dick believed that Lem was a secret cabal of KGB agents out to infiltrate US science fiction.
• Michael Schulman wonders if fandom is becoming as toxic as politics.
• Cian Maher remembers when the X-Men were declared non-human in a US court as part of a lawsuit to reclassify the action figures in order to pay lower import tariffs.
• Bill Schelly who wrote several non-fiction books about comics has died.
• Canadian writer Graeme Gibson, partner of Margaret Atwood, has died aged 85.
  

Film and TV:

• Molly Horan declares that American Horror Story: 1984 has made the anthology series fun again.
• Benjamin Lee calls Ready or Not a scrappy horror comedy that is all bark and no bite. 
• A.A. Dowd calls 3 From Hell a tedious sequel. 
• Zack Handlen shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Preacher.
• Ben Gazur shares his appreciation for Babylon 5.
• Emily Asher-Perrin talks about Spock and the myth of emotion vs. logic in Star Trek.  
• Ryan Britt shares ten ways Star Trek: The Motion Picture changed Star Trek forever. 
• Jessica Holmes revisits the 1964 Doctor Who serial "The Reign of Terror".
• The BBC reports that former Doctor Who actor Christopher Eccleston has spoken out about his struggles with depression and anorexia. 
• James Hibberd interviews Damon Lindelof, showrunner of the upcoming Watchmen series.
• Germain Lussier interviews Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix, director and star of Joker.
• Fatima Bhutto talks about the surprising global success of Turkish TV dramas. 
• Pamela McClintock talks about the increasing length of movies and how this is testing the patience of audiences. 
• Sara Century profiles 1930s genre star Fay Wray. 

Comments on Carnival Row: 

• Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on the steampunk fantasy crime series Carnival Row.  
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw calls Carnival Row a cliched, humourless disaster. 

Comments on The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance: 

• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw declares that The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is all about catastrophic climate change.
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw also declares that using the Skeksis language from the original 1982 Dark Crystal would have made The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance even creepier.
• Zack Handlen talks about The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and the prequel paradox.
  

Comments on Chapter 2 of It:

• L.D. Nolan explains what audiences did not realise about the transformation of Pennywise in chapter 2 of It.
• Hannah Shaw-Williams explains that Stephen King made a cameo appearance in chapter 2 of It.
  

Comments on Ad Astra:

• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw calls Ad Astra half space thriller and half drama about repressed American masculinity.
• Peter Bradshaw calls Ad Astra a thrilling Freudian space odyssey.
• Ignatiy Vishnetvetsky calls Ad Astra a satisfying science fiction drama.
  

Scooby Doo at fifty:

• Olivia Rutigliano declares that Scooby Doo, Where Are You? was the weird and hopeful mystery series that 1969 needed.
• Eleni Theodoropoulos explains how Scooby Doo, Where Are You? revived gothic storytelling for generations of young viewers.
• Vance Kotrla explains how Scooby Doo and Vincent Price introduced him to the horror genre.
• K. Thor Jensen shares the eleven weirdest Scooby Doo guest stars.
  

Awards:

• The shortlist for the 2019 Deutscher Phantastik Preis has been announced.
• The winners of the 2019 Saturn Awards have been announced. 
• The winners of the 2019 Creative Arts Emmy Awards have been announced.
• The 2019 National Toy Hall of Fame finalists have been announced. 
• The winners of the 2019 American Tabletop Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the 2019 Ig Nobel Prize have been announced.
• The finalists for the 2019 John W. Campbell Literary Prize, former the Ribbit Award, have been announced. This award is not related to the Astounding Award for Best New Writer, formerly the John W. Campbell Award, or the John W. Campbell Memorial Award.
• Elsa Sjunneson-Henry reflects on her Hugo win for Uncanny.
• The Archive of Our Own clarifies that the Hugo Award for AO3 is for the archive itself and its functions, not for individual works of fan fiction, as some contributors evidently assumed.
• IP attorney Will James explains why AO3 users calling themselves Hugo Award winners is a potentially serious case of trademark infringement.
  

Debates about award name changes:

• James Tiptree Jr. biographer Julie Phillips sets the record straight regarding the relationship of Alice and Huntington Sheldon and their deaths.
• M.L. Clark shares his thoughts on the impending Tiptree Award name change.
• Jason McGregor shares his displeasure with the Campbell Award name change. 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Matthew Pearl explains what writers today can learn from Dante Alighieri.
• Colleen Coble shares several ideas for how DNA tests can advance or inspire a story.  
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch talks about contract negotiation.
• Mike Glyer responds to a false piracy accusation by Richard Fox against File 770.
• Camestros Felapton also responds to Richard Fox.
• Camestros Felapton shares an update on Richard Fox's false piracy accusations.
• Mike Glyer sets Richard Fox straight with regard to copyright law.
  

Interviews:

• The Qwillery interviews Sarah Pinsker.
• Lila Shapiro interviews Carmen Maria Machado. 
• The Qwillery interviews Kassandra Montag.
• Runalong the Shelves interviews Edward Cox.
• The Qwillery interviews Shaun Hamill.
  

Reviews:

• Mahvesh Murad reviews The Testaments by Margaret Atwood. 
• Julie Myerson reviews The Testaments by Margaret Atwood.
• Samantha Nelson reviews The Testaments by Maragret Atwood.
• Maria Haskins reviews Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes. 
• Paul Weimer reviews This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar. 
• James Davis Nicoll reviews The Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone.
• James Davis Nicoll reviews The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow.
• Maya Gittelman reviews Steel Tide by Natalie C. Parker. 
• Blue Book Balloon reviews The Monster Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson. 
• Katharine Coldiron reviews Upon a Burning Throne by Ashok K. Banker.
• Paul Weimer reviews A Choir of Lies by Alexandra Rowland. 
• Ceridwen Christensen reviews A Choir of Lies by Alexandra Rowland.
• Jana Nyman reviews The Hills Have Spies by Mercedes Lackey. 
• S. Qiouyi Lu reviews A Hero Born by Jin Yong, translated by Anna Holmwood. 
• Outside of a Dog reviews Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss.
• Amy Goldschalger reviews The Fever King by Victoria Lee. 
• James Davis Nicoll reviews Spirit Hunters by Ellen Oh. 
• Rebecca Fisher reviews Grail of Stars by Katherine Roberts. 
• Kelly Lasiter reviews The River South by Marta Randall.
• Kelly Lasiter reviews Mapping Winter by Marta Randall.
• Kelly Lasiter reviews Frostfire by Jamie Smith. 
• Ross Johnson reviews Gamechanger by L.X. Beckett.
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews The Gameshouse by Claire North.
• Rob Bedford reviews A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie. 
• Jared Shurin reviews A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie. 
• Aidan Moher reviews A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie.
• L.A. Young reviews Grey Sister by Mark Lawrence.
• Bill Capossere reviews Blood of an Exile by Brian Naslund.
• The Qwillery reviews Knight and Shadow by Flint Maxwell.
• Ian Mond reviews Last Day by Domenica Ruta. 
• Toni V. Sweeney reviews Cold Storage by David Koepp. 
• Xan Brooks reviews The Institute by Stephen King. 
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews The Institute by Stephen King. 
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews If It Bleeds by Matthew M. Bartlett.
• Buttonholed Book Reviews reviews Blue Stars and Other Tales of Darkness by Tony Tremblay.
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Hex Life: Wicked New Tales of Witchery, edited by Christopher Golden and Rachel Autumn Deering.
  

Classics reviews: 

• S.D. Sykes revisits the 1842 horror story "The Masque of Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe.
• Paul di Filippo revisits Flora Columbia, the forgotten 1901 collaborative novel between Jules Verne and H.G. Wells.
• Sandy Ferber revisits the 1914 fantasy novel Under the Andes by Rex Stout.
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1960 science fiction novel Deathworld by Harry Harrison as well as its 1964 and 1968 sequels. 
• Rich Horton revisits the 1961 science fiction novels Meeting at Infinity by John Brunner and Beyond the Silver Sky by Kenneth Bulmer.
• Gideon Marcus revisits the October 1964 issue of Worlds of If.
• Victoria Silverwolf revisits the November 1964 issue of Worlds of Tomorrow. 
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1969 spy thriller Red Heroin by Wade Curtis a.k.a. Jerry Pournelle.   
• Jason McGregor revisits the 1978 science fiction fix-up novel Berserker by Fred Saberhagen. 
• Fabio Fernandes revisits the 1980 fantasy novel The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe. 
• Joe Sherry revisits the 1989 fantasy novel The Star Scroll by Melanie Rawn.
• Mark Yon revisits the 1998 science fiction novel Moonseed by Stephen Baxter.
  

Con and event reports:

• Ian Moore shares his experiences at WorldCon 77 in Dublin, Ireland.
  
• Arthur Chappell reports about Ytterbium, the 2019 Eastercon, in Heathrow, UK.
• Alan Robson reports about GeyserCon in Rotorua, New Zealand.
• Arisia 2020 in Boston, Massachusetts, shares its first progress report.
• Audrey McNamara reports that far right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos has been banned from Midwest FurFest in Rosemont, Illinois. 
• Jack Crosbie also reports about Milo Yiannopoulos being banned from Midwest FurFest. 
• Mike Glyer reports about the latest installment of the Speculative Literature Foundation Deep Dish Reading Series in Chicago, Illinois.
• Mike Roe shares a look at some Halloween attractions at Universal Studio Tours in Hollywood, California.
• CBS Los Angeles reports about the construction of the George Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, California.
• Vintage Everyday shares some photos of Wendy Pini cosplaying as Red Sonja in the 1970s.
  

Science and technology:

• Geoff Brumfiel reports about NASA's Dragonfly drone which is supposed to explore Titan.
• Vitaly Shevchenko reports about Russian robots and their problems.
• Becky Ferreira reports about Greater Adria, a lost continent underneath southern Europe.
• Popular Mechanics reports about some UFOs observed and recorded by US Navy submarines.
  

Free online fiction:

• "Witch's Road" by Christian K. Martinez in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• "The Silent Flowers of the Magician's Garden" by Eleanna Castroianni in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• "Advice For Your First Time at the Faerie Market" by Nibedita Sen in Fireside Magazine.  
• "Sweet Dream Are Made of You" by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor in Nightmare Magazine.
• "A Ladder to the Moon" by Naoko Awa, translated by Toshiya Kamei in Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores.
• "When the Bough Breaks" by Jaymee Goh in Mythic Delirium.
• "Single Point of Failure" by Elizabeth Bonesteel. 
• "Joyride" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
• "The Vetting" by Michael Cassutt at Tor.com. 
• "Hello, Hello" by Seanan McGuire in Lightspeed.
• "All In" by Rajan Khanna in Lightspeed.
• "The Price of Our Knives" by Ruoxi Chen in The Dark.
• "Yellow" by Liliana Bodoc, translated by Toshiya Kamei in Bewildering Stories.
  

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a trailer for the final season of Supernatural.
• Watch a trailer for season 2 of Castle Rock.
• Watch a trailer for Watchmen.
• Watch a trailer for In the Tall Grass.
• Watch a trailer for Countdown.
• Watch a trailer for Raising Dion.
• Watch a trailer for All Hail the Popcorn King.
  

Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for September 6, 2019

It's time for another somewhat truncated weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Carnival Row, Chapter 2 of It,  Ad Astra, Joker, tributes to Terrance Dicks, WorldCon 77, debates about the Campbell/Astounding Award and the Tiptree Award, the 2019 Dragon Award winners and much more. 

Speculative fiction in general:

• Leah Schnelbach shares five science fiction and fantasy books to look out for in September.
• The Orangutan Librarian shares some gateway science fiction books for new readers. 
• Paul Tassi shares his favourite science fiction books for gamers. 
• Lauren Davis shares the origins of 31 common science fiction terms. 
• John Marrs shares seven dystopian techno-thrillers to read. 
• David Koepp shares seven essential novels about plagues, virusses and contagions.
• Deborah Hewitt shares five books about fantasy versions of London.
• Eric Smith shares five SFF books featuring giant insects.
• Camestros Felapton offers a post-mortem of his project to trace the history of the Hugo Awards through stories featuring dinosaurs.
• Emily Boynton explains how Jewish writers influenced Arthurian legend. 
• Kenneth R. Johnson shares a comprehensive bibliography of gothic romances with fantasy elements. 
• Hampus Eckerman talks about fandom, entitlement and toxicity.
• First Fandom Experience shares a 1937 letter by John W. Campbell.
• Matthew Tompkins talks about illusions that fooled Arthur Conan Doyle and memory and perceptions in general.
  
• George Gene Gustines reports that Marvel Comics has changed several lines in a current comic in which Captain America calls the USA a flawed country.
• Amy, wife of writer Jim C. Hines, has lost her fight with cancer.
• Science fiction writer Brad Linaweaver had died aged 66.
• Jack Weaver, longtime fan and webmaster of Fanac.org, has died aged 92.
• Science fiction author Katherine MacLean has died aged 94.
  

Film and TV:

• Allison Shoemaker shares her thoughts on the season three finale of The Handmaid's Tale
• Zack Handlen offers episode by episode reviews of season four of Preacher.
• Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on The Boys.
• Paul Levinson calls See You Yesterday time travel meets Black Lives Matter. 
• Paul Levinson also finds some reasons to praise Mortal Engines.
• Katie Rife declares that Satanic Panic has a clever premise, but manages to be only lukewarm horror. 
• Katie Rife calls Tigers Are Not Afraid a dark Mexican fairytale.
• A.A. Dowd calls the new Jacob's Ladder a crappy remake. 
• Ignatiy Vishnevetsky declares that the time travel aspect are the most convincing thing about the thriller Don't Let Go. 
• Phil Hoad shares his thoughts on the documentary Memory: The Origins of Alien. 
• Jim Vorel shares his 100 favourite horror movies of the last 100 years.
• Catherine Shoard reports that gender and racial diversity in blockbuster films has increased.
• Rebecca Nicholson interviews actor Joseph Gilgun, who plays Cassidy in the TV version of Preacher.
• Ramin Setoodeh interviews Robert Pattinson, star of The Lighthouse and High Life and soon to be Batman.
• Taryn Rayder reports that actress Kristen Stewart was reportedly told to stop holding hands with her girlfriend in public, if she wanted to be cast in a Marvel movie. 
• Stuart Heritage wonders what No Time to Die, the title of the upcoming 25th James Bond film, might mean.  
• Gwen Ihnat reports that Hulu is planning to adapt The Testaments, sequel to The Handmaid's Tale.
• Ryan Britt discusses the regeneration of Romana in Doctor Who in 1979 and how it changed the series forever.
• Longtime Doctor Who writer Terrance Dicks has died aged 84.
• Tor.com shartes tributes to Terrance Dicks from several Doctor Who writers past and present.
  

Comments on The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance:

• Beth Elderkin calls The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance the groundbreaking fantasy epic we've been waiting for. 
• Beth Elderkin also declares that The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is about climate change. 
• Erik Adams declares that The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance unleashes the full potential left untapped by the 1982 movie.
• Emily Asher-Perrin declares that The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance could save us from the homogeny of modern cinema.
• Glen Weldon calls The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance gorgeous, multi-faceted and hollow at its centre. 
• Jack Seale calls The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance a puppet fantasy purely for fans.
• Donna Dickens explains the ending of The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and looks ahead at a possible season 2.
• The BBC shares some background about the original 1982 The Dark Crystal as well as the 2019 prequel.
  

Comments on Carnival Row:

• Paul Levinson calls Carnival Row searingly relevant Steampunk. 
• Tyler Dean calls Carnival Row a surprisingly complex take on Victorian fantasy tropes, race and politics.
• Ed Power calls Carnival Row a riotous Steampunk mash-up.
• Jill Pantozzi finds Carnival Row just dull.
• Danette Chavez declares that Carnival Row might have worked better, if it had gone completely off the rails.
• Hannah J. Davis interviews Cara Delevingne, one of the stars of Carnival Row.
  

Comments on Chapter 2 of It:

• Peter Bradshaw calls chapter 2 of It a painfully long horror show, the most horrible thing about which is the prospect of a third movie.
• Katie Rife declares that chapter 2 of It sinks rather than floats.
• James Smythe explains why he will always prefer the 1990s TV mini-series adaptation of It to the movie duology.
• A.A. Dowd revisits the original 1986 novel and compares it to both film version of It.
• The AV Club lists the best, worst and weirdest Stephen King adaptations.
• Camestros Felapton offers some not entirely serious suggestions for future It sequels.

Comments on Ad Astra:

• Nicholas Barber calls Ad Astra a rewarding combination of pulpy B-movie and ominous, atmospheric drama.
• Xan Brooks calls Ad Astra a suberb space opera with serious daddy issues.

Comments on Joker:

• Nicholas Barber calls Joker a dark, dingy drama about urban decay, alienation, and anti-capitalist protests.
• Stephanie Zacharek declares that Joker wants to criticise the emptiness of our culture, but instead becomes a prime example of it. 
• Christina Newland declares that the violence in Joker is horrific, but that the film refuses to take sides.
• Germain Lussier calls Joker powerful, confused and provocative, just like the titular character.
• Xan Brooks calls Joker a daring reboot and praises Joaquin Phoenix's performance as the titular character. 
• Owen Gleiberman is impressed by Joker and praises Joaquin Phoenix's performance. 
• Jim Vejvoda calls Joker amazing and also praises Joaquin Phoenix's performance.
• Jenna Bush also praises Joaquin Phoenix's performance as the titular character in Joker.  
• Richard Lawson calls Joker bracing and disturbing.
• Steve Weintraub calls Joker a comic book movie unlike any other.
• David Ehrlich calls Joker the boldest and most exciting superhero movie since Dark Knight.
• Ben Child wonders whether there is encounter between the Joker as played by Joaquin Phoenix and Batman as played by Robert Pattinson in the works and whether the resulting film could rival Marvel's box office.
  

Awards:

• The winner of the 2019 Eugie Foster Award has been announced.
• The winners of the 2019 Dragon Awards have been announced. 
• The shortlist for the 2019 Booker Prize has been announced.
  
• The winner the 2019 James White Award has been announced. 
• The winner of the 2019 Year's Best Military and Adventure Science Fiction Readers' Choice Award has been announced. 
• CoNZealand has announced that they will host the 1945 Retro Hugos. 
• Peter Libbey reports about the Campbell Award name change.
  
• John-Henri Holmberg weighs in on calls to rename the Tiptree Award.
• The James Tiptree Jr. Award motherboard explains that they will not change the name of the award.
• Nicholas Whyte weighs in on the viability of the best art book category, which was trialed this year at the Hugo Awards.
• Doris V. Sutherland shares her thoughts on the 2019 Dragon Award winners.
• Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts on the 2019 Dragon Award winners.
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Chris Winkle shares some tips for turning your fanfiction into original fiction. 
• R.J. Theodore shares some worldbuilding tips for creating worlds without monocultures.
• Joe McDermott talks about worldbuilding and the labour of food.
• Rena Barron talks about drawing inspiration from black magic.
• Maura Yzmore shares her experiences as a slush reader for a speculative fiction magazine. 
• Marie Bilodeau talks about her issues with her publisher.
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch talks about licensing in. 
• The new SFWA pro rate of eight cents per word for short fiction is now in effect.
  

Interviews:

• Sarah Hughes interviews George R.R. Martin.
• Khalia Strong interviews Nalini Singh. 
• Carl Slaughter interviews Charlie Jane Anders.
• The Word on the Street interviews Amal El-Mohtar.
• John Parker interviews Sarah Pinborough.
• John Parker interviews Hanna Jameson.
  
• Tia Kalla interviews Jennifer McKeon.
• A.M. Justice interviews C.T. Phipps.
• Summer H. Paulus interviews Todd Lockwood.
  

Reviews:

• Danielle Kurtzleben reviews The Testaments by Margaret Atwood. 
• Alex Clark reviews The Testaments by Margaret Atwood.
• Liberty Hardy reviews Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. 
• Christina Tucker reviews The Lady Rogue by Jenn Bennett.
• Camestros Felapton reviews The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley.
• Lee Mandelo reviews To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers.
• Lis Carey reviews To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers. 
• James Davis Nicoll reviews To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers.
• James Davis Nicoll reviews The Dragon that Flew out of the Sun: Stories of the Xuya Universe by Aliette de Bodard.
• James Davis Nicoll reviews Contingency Plans for the Apocalypse and Other Situations by S.B. Divya. 
• Bill Capossere reviews Dark Age by Pierce Brown.
• Maya Gittelman reviews Red Skies Falling by Alex London.
• Adrienne Martini reviews Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey. 
• Kat Hooper reviews Reticence by Gail Carriger.
• Kelly Lasiter reviews Small Spaces by Katherine Arden.
• Alex Brown reviews Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron. 
• Rebecca Fisher reviews Crown of Dreams by Katherine Roberts. 
• J.C. Kang reviews Descendant of the Crane by Joan He. 
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Sanctuary by V.V. James. 
• Amy Goldschlager reviews Miranda in Milan by Katherine Duckett. 
• James Davis Nicoll reviews Lent by Jo Walton.
• James Davis Nicoll reviews The Affair of the Mysterious Letter by Alexis Hall.  
• Colleen Mondor reviews An Affair of Poisons by Addie Thorley. 
• Mark Yon reviews The Song of the Sycamore by Edward Cox.
• Paul di Filippo reviews Sing Your Sadness Deep by Laura Munro. 
• L.A. Young reviews Bound by Mark Lawrence.
• Mark Yon reviews The Grip of It by Jac Jemc. 
• Tracy Robinson reviews Grind Your Bones to Dust by Nicholas Day.
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Weeping Season by Sean O'Connor. 
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Slash by Hunter Shea. 
• Tobias Carroll reviews Cold Storage by David Koepp. 
• Nina Allan reviews The Institute by Stephen King.
• Sarah Ditum reviews The Need by Helen Phillips.
• Amal El-Mohtar reviews Palestine + 100, edited by Basma Ghalayini.
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Monster She Wrote by Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson.
  

Classics reviews: 

• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1905 feminist utopian novel Sultana's Dream by Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain.
• Judith Tarr revisits the 1953 science fiction novel Star Rangers a.k.a. The Last Planet by Andre Norton.
• James Davis Nicoll revisits Rediscovery: Science Fiction by Women Authors (1958 - 1966), edited by Gideon Marcus. 
• Margarita Mospanova revisits the 1960 science fiction novella From Beyond by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky.
• Gideon Marcus revisits the 1964 science fiction novel Greybeard by Brian Aldiss.
• Gideon Marcus revisits the September 1964 issue of Analog.
• James Davis Nicoll reviews the 1974 science fiction novel Icerigger by Alan Dean Foster.
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1975 science fiction novel Norstrilia by Cordwainer Smith. 
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1984 science fiction novel The Shattered Stars by Richard S. McEnroe.
• Jana Nyman and Rebecca Fisher revisit the 1984 fantasy novel In the Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce. 
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1986 science fiction collection Tuf Voyaging by George R.R. Martin. 
• Leah Schnelbach revisits the 1986 horror novel It by Stephen King.
• Kelly Lasiter revisits the 1993 historical fantasy novel The Porcelain Dove by Delia Sherman.
  

Crowdfunding:

• The Fantastic Fiction of Hannes Bok, a hardcover collection of the three fantasy novels written by SFF writer and artist Hannes Bok, is looking for funding.
• Phoenix Pick is looking for funding to publish Robert A. Heinlein's unpublished novel The Pursuit of the Pankera. 
• Elements: Earth, a comic anthology by creators of colour, is looking for funding.
• Don't Go Without Me, a comic collection by Rosemary Valero-O'Connell, is looking for funding.
  

Reports about WorldCon 77:

• Karlin Lillington reports about WorldCon 77 in Dublin, Ireland.
• Cheryl Morgan shares an extensive report about WorldCon 77.
• Jay Faulkner shares his experiences at WorldCon 77. 
• Runalong the Shelves shares their experiences at WorldCon 77. 
• Nell Jenda shares her experiences at WorldCon 77.
• First time attendant Sara of Not Another Book Blogger shares her experiences at WorldCon 77.
• Hedwig's World shares her experiences at WorldCon 77 as well as several photos. 
• John Coxon shares his experiences at WorldCon 77.
• Espana Sheriff shares her experiences at WorldCon 77.
• Greg Hullender and Eric Wong share their experiences at WorldCon 77.
• Brenda Clough shares her experiences and several photos of WorldCon 77.  
• Cora Buhlert shares some photos of the Hugo reception as well as of the Raksura Colony Tree project at WorldCon 77.
• Steamtinkerer's Klönschnack reports about WorldCon 77 and shares some photos. 
• George R.R. Martin shares his experiences at WorldCon 77 and TitanCon in Belfast.

Comments about the issues with the Hugo Losers' Party at WorldCon 77:

• George R.R. Martin weighs in on the issues with the Hugo Losers' Party at WorldCon 77. 
• Alex Acks responds to George R.R. Martin. 
• Kat Tanaka Okopnik responds to George R.R. Martin.
• Tammy Coxen offers a brief history of the Hugo Losers' Party.
• George R.R. Martin shares his personal recollections of past Hugo Losers' Parties. 
• Cora Buhlet shares some photos of the Hugo Losers' Party at WorldCon 77. 

Other con and event reports:

• John Hertz reports about SpikeCon in Layton, Utah. 
• Geoff Matthews reports about VoyagerCon in London, UK, and shares some photos.
• Emily Stein reports about PodCon 2019 in Seattle, Washington.
• Mark L. Blackman reports about the latest edition of the New York Reviewof Science Fiction Readings Series in Brooklyn, New York, featuring Gregory Feeley and Michael Swanwick. 
• Mike Roe reports about the Oogie Boogie Bash, a Halloween themed event at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. 
• Erik Adams and Allison Shoemaker report about a visit to the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge attraction at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. 

Science and technology:

• Andrew Jones reports that the Chinese Lunar Rover Yutu-2 has made a strange discovery on the far side of the moon. 
• Scottie Andrews reports that NASA is sending a helicopter to Mars.
• Jonathan Amos reports about the James Webb Space Telescope.
• William Harwood reports how Kennedy Space Center in Florida is preparing for hurricane Dorian.
• Zachary Fryer-Biggs reports about battlefield robots.
• Jon Hamilton reports that lab-grown mini-brains start having brainwaves after approximately six months.
  

Free online fiction:

• "A Bird, a Song, a Revolution" by Brooke Bolander in Lightspeed. 
• "Exile From Exinction" by Ramez Naam in Lightspeed.  
• "Brigid Was Hung By Her Hair from the Second Story Window" by Gillian Daniels in The Dark. 
• "A Song for the Leadwood Tree" by Aimee Ogden in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• "The Sweetest Fruit of Summer" by R.K. Duncan in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• "Beyond the High Altar" by Ray Nayler in Nightmare Magazine.
• "Next Year In" by Merridawn Duckler in Jewish in Seattle Magazine. 
• "Crunchers Inc." by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
• "The Bleak Heath" by Cora Buhlert.
• Read an excerpt from The Testaments by Margaret Atwood.
  

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a trailer for Terminator: Dark Fate.
• Watch a trailer for the DVD release of season 26 of the original Doctor Who featuring Sophie Aldred as Ace.