It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with the various iterations of Star Trek, the various iterations of Star Wars, season 5 of Outlander, season 3 of Westworld, The Wretched, the return of Twilight, the latest convention cancellations due to the corona virus and much more.
Speculative fiction in general:
- Ellen Cheeseman-Meyer shares some uplifting SFF books to enjoy.
- Jo Walton shares some SFF books she enjoyed recently.
- A.K. Larkwood recommends escapist adventure fantasy books.
- The Boston Public Library recommends Steampunk books.
- Joshua Gillingham offers a defense of genre fiction.
- Alasdair Stuart talks about the evolution of the astronaut myth.
- Raphael Tsavkko Garcia shares some science fiction, fantasy and horror books from Brazil.
- Teo Bileta offers an insider guide to Slavic inspired fantasy.
- Scott Kenemore finds some unexpected parallels between the works of H.P. Lovecraft and crime fiction.
- Ramsey Campbell explains how having children can change horror writers and the books they write.
- Kali Wallace shares her appreciation for the Books of the Raksura by Martha Wells.
- Lillie Gissen reports that Stephenie Meyer will be releasing a new Twilight book entitled Midnight Sun.
- Kiran Millwood Hargrave is pleased that Twilight is coming back.
- Mark Brown reports that Stanley Johnson, father of UK prime minister Boris Johnson, hoped to re-release his 1982 technothriller The Marburg Virus because of the corona virus pandemic.
- Hunter Harris reports that Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer have broken up.
- Adam Whitehead reports that fantasy writers David and Leigh Eddings spent a year in jail for abusing their adoptive children (warning: child abuse).
- Mark Cole takes a look at the history of science fiction toys.
- Michael Lee reports that DC Comics is sueing Transamerica Tyre Co. over their tyre brand "Swampthing".
- Mike Glyer reports that Brianna Wu has ended her 2020 candidacy for the US Congress due to the corona virus.
Film and TV:
- Leslie Felperin calls The Shed a goofy, gory vampire horror film.
- Danette Chavez shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Penny Dreadful: City of Angels.
- Katie Rife shares her thoughts on the latest episode of What We Do In the Shadows.
- A.A. Dowd shares his thoughts on the documentary Spaceship Earth.
- Gavia Baker-Whitelaw lists the best vampire movies to stream.
- Tor.com lists nine villains from SFF movies and television that can be defeated with a single punch.
- Ryan Britt shares some geeky behind the scenes bits about several famous SFF films and TV shows.
- Richard Trenholm takes a look at how science fiction films and TV shows portray sleep.
- Hannah Flint explains how the Marvel Cinematic Universe helped her to deal with mourning the loss of her grandmother to the corona virus.
- Herbie J. Pilato revisits the original Twilight Zone and its creator Rod Serling.
- Jeet Heer revisits Val Lewton's 1945 horror movie The Isle of the Dead.
- Nick Shave watches Andrei Tarkovsky's 1972 science fiction classic Solaris for the very first time.
- Rich Pelley watches the 1984 time travel thriller The Terminator for the very first time.
- Tom Breihan revisits the 1985 time travel movie Back to the Future and finds that it holds up pretty well.
- Leah Schnelbach revisits the 1990 fantasy adventure movie Joe versus the Volcano and discusses its unlikely philosophy.
- Alastair Reynolds and Stephen Baxter share their love for the Supermarionation shows by Gerry Anderson.
- Kevin Polowy interviews director Terry Gilliam and screenwriters David and Janet Peoples for the 25th anniversary of Twelve Monkeys.
- Elizabeth Aubrey interviews director Edgar Wright and writer and star Simon Pegg about the making off Shaun of the Dead.
- Hadley Freeman interviews Julie Andrews, star of Mary Poppins.
- Christina Radish interviews Ben Barnes, star of Gold Digger and Shadow and Bone.
- Andrew Liptak reports that Tom Cruise is shooting a movie aboard the ISS in cooperation with Nasa and SpaceX.
- The BBC reports that actor and weightlifter Hafthor Björnsson, who played Gregor Clegane a.k.a. The Mountain in Game of Thrones, has set a new world record in deadlifting.
- John Lafia, co-writer and director of Child's Play and Child's Play 2, has died aged 63.
Comments on the various iterations of Star Wars:
- Nicholas Barber claims that The Empire Strikes Back is overrated.
- Dave Trumbore shares his thoughts on the series finale of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
- Emmet Asher-Perrin shares their thoughts on the series finale of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
- Anthony D'Alessandro shares his thoughts on the series finale of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
- Kevin Johnson shares his thoughts on the series finale of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
- Michelle Jaworski shares her thoughts on the series finale of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
- James Hibberd interviews Dave Filoni, creator of Star Wars: Clone Wars and one of the producers of The Mandalorian.
- Andrew Liptak reports that Taika Waititi will write and direct a Star Wars film.
- Ben Child wonders whether Taika Waititi can revive the cosmic sweep of classic Star Wars.
- M. Evan Wolkenstein talks about how the character of Yoda in the Star Wars films inspired him to delve deeper into Judaism.
- Craig Miller recalls working for Lucasfilm and naming the bounty hunter Zuckuss.
- Kaleena Pierce-Bohen shares ten particularly impressive Star Wars cosplays.
- Kerry Geraldine Malone reports that a woman dressed in a Stormtrooper outfit to promote a restaurant was arrested in Lethbridge, Alberta, because the police mistook her toy blaster for a real weapon.
Comments on the various iterations of Star Trek:
- Mike Joest shares eight things we know about season 3 of Star Trek Discovery.
- Keith R.A. De Candido rewatches the Star Trek Voyager episodes "Alliances" and "Threshold".
- Adam Holmes reports that John Belushi spent his last day on Earth visiting the set of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
Comments on season 5 of Outlander:
- Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Outlander.
- Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Outlander.
Comments on season 3 of Westworld:
- Zack Handlen shares his thoughts on "Crisis Theory", the season 3 finale of Westworld.
- Adam Chitwood shares his thoughts on the season 3 finale of Westworld.
- Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the season 3 finale of Westworld.
- Paul MacInnes shares his thoughts on the season 3 finale of Westworld.
- Theresa DeLucci shares her thoughts on the season 3 finale of Westworld.
- Dean E.S. Richard shares his thoughts on the season 3 finale of Westworld.
- The AV Club reviewers host a roundtable about the season 3 finale of Westworld.
- Andrea Reiher explains the timeline of Westworld.
Comments on The Wretched:
- A.A. Dowd calls The Wretched a fun teen horror film.
- Peter Bradshaw calls The Wretched a by the numbers, unscary horror film
Awards:
- The nominees for the 2020 Sir Julius Vogel Awards have been announced.
- The winner of the 2020 Prix Solaris has been announced.
- The finalists for the 2021 Prix Jeunesse des Univers Paralléles have been announced.
- The finalists for the 2019 Quantum Shorts Flash Fiction Competition have been announced.
- The Expanse has been named the winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination Prize in Speculative Media.
- The winners of the 2020 Neukom Institute Literary Arts Award for Playwriting have been announced.
- The winners of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize have been announced.
- The nominees for the 2020 Australian Fairy Tale Society Awards have been announced.
- The 2020 Filk Hall of Fame inductees have been announced.
- Camestros Felapton pairs beers and Hugo finalists.
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- The Guardian shares tips for writers struggling to write during the corona virus pandemic.
- Roger Wolfson muses how science fiction writers will respond to the corona virus pandemic in their writing.
- Cory Doctorow talks about writing, rules for writers and two writing books that greatly influenced him.
- Maggie Tokuda-Hall explains how to heist your novel.
- Darren Shan talks about his influences and why he loves alternate worlds.
- Elizabeth Zelvin talks about mixing crime fiction with magic and supernatural elements.
- Cat Rambo shares several ideas for writers to socialise online.
- Cat Rambo talks about the SFWA mentor program.
- Shaun Duke explains why he does not like e-books.
- Rob Hart talks about book promotion in the age of the corona virus.
- Camestros Felapton and Sir Tim Cattenborough take a not entirely serious look at the life cycle of a novel.
- Nick Mamatas attempts to answer the question whether writers need to attend conventions or conferences.
- Locus reports that there have been several lay-offs and salary reductions at Tor due to the corona virus.
- Alison Flood reports that more than half of Britain's small publishers fear that they may go bankrupt due to the corona virus.
- Kristine Kathryn Rusch talks about the general uncertainty of the future affecting many people right now.
- Locus reports about the copyright controversy surrounding the Internet Archive's so-called "National Emergency Library" and also explains whom authors can contact to have their works removed.
Interviews:
- Arley Sorg interviews Lois McMaster Bujold.
- Alison Flood interviews N.K. Jemisin.
- Redditors interview Martha Wells.
- Stephen Colbert interviews Stephen King.
- Arley Sorg interviews Tamsyn Muir.
- Locus interviews Kate Heartfield.
- Paul Weimer interviews Anna Stephens.
- Paul Weimer interviews Octavia Cade.
- Mod Move interviews Paul Levinson.
- Andrew Liptak interviews Kim Stanley Robinson.
- Terry Gross interviews Benjamin Dreyer.
- Drew McCaffrey interviews Isaac Stewart.
Reviews:
- Publishers Weekly reviews Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott.
- Tadiana Jones reviews Network Effect by Martha Wells.
- Em Nordling reviews Network Effect by Martha Wells.
- Publishers Weekly reviews Driving the Deep by Suzanne Palmer.
- Publishers Weekly reviews Seven Devils by Laura Lam and Elizabeth May.
- Publishers Weekly reviews Architects of Memory by Karen Osborne.
- Camestros Felapton reviews Bone Silence by Alastair Reynolds.
- Publishers Weekly reviews Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir.
- Publishers Weekly reviews The Eleventh Gate by Nancy Kress.
- Kat Hooper reviews The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin.
- Publishers Weekly reviews The House on Widows Hill by Simon R. Green.
- Blue Book Balloon reviews The Wailing Woman by Maria Lewis.
- L.A. Young reviews Binti: The Complete Trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor.
- Doreen Sheridan reviews Master Class by Christina Dalcher.
- John Folk-Williams reviews The Quantum Evolution by Derek Künsken.
- Adrienne Martini reviews Aftershocks: The Palladium Wars by Marko Kloos.
- Liz Bourke reviews Shadows of Annihilation by S.M. Stirling.
- Alex Brown reviews The Mermaid, the Witch and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall.
- James Davis Nicoll reviews The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho.
- Paul Weimer reviews The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H.G. Parry.
- Rob Bedford reviews A Queen in Hiding by Sarah Kozloff.
- Mark Yon reviews The Kingdom of Liars by Nick Martell.
- Bill Capossere reviews The Kingdom of Liars by Nick Martell.
- Kat Hooper reviews The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu.
- Paul Di Filippo reviews A Luminous Republic by André Barba, translated by Lisa Dillman
- Ian Mond reviews Providence by Max Barry and Hearts of Oak by Eddie Robson.
- Kat Hooper reviews The Last Human by Zack Jordan.
- Angela Maria Spring reviews Little Eyes by Samata Schweblin.
- Runalong the Shelves reviews The Book of Koli by M.R. Carey.
- Andrew Fowlow reviews Ghoster by Jason Arnopp.
- Paula Guran reviews The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones.
- Michael Patrick Hicks reviews If It Bleeds by Stephen King.
- Brian Truitt reviews If It Bleeds by Stephen King.
- Andrew Fowlow reviews Kill Creek by Scott Thomas.
- Gary K. Wolfe revews Rambunctious: Nine Tales of Determination by Rick Wilber
- Gary K. Wolfe reviews Made to Order: Robots and the Revolution, edited by Jonathan Strahan.
- Colleen Mondor reviews A Phoenix First Must Burn, edited by Patrice Caldwell.
- Paul Jessup reviews Weird Dream Society: An Anthology in Support of RAICES, edited by Julie C. Day.
Classics reviews:
- Adam Roberts revisits the 1916 war novel Mr. Britling Sees It Through by H.G. Wells.
- Paperback Warrior revisits The Man of Bronze, the 1933 first ever Doc Savage novel by Kenneth Robeson a.k.a. Lester Dent.
- James Wallace Harris revisits the 1934 planetary romance "A Martian Odyssey" by Stanley G. Weinbaum.
- Adventures Fantastic revisits the 1944 science fiction novelette "City" by Clifford D, Simak.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1947 apocalyptic novel Greener Than You Think by Ward Moore.
- Ruthanna Emrys and Anne M. Pillsworth revisits the 1949 horror short story "The Witch" by Shirley Jackson.
- Tom Holland revisits the 1957 children's fantasy Moominland Midwinter by Tove Jansson.
- David Levinson revisits the June 1965 issue of If - World of Science Fiction.
- Kris Vyas-Myall revisits the 1965 anthology New Writings in SF 4, edited by John Carnell, and the 1965 children's fantasy Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1969 apocalyptic novel The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton.
- Alan Brown revisits Tactics of Mistake, a 1971 Dorsai military science fiction novel by Gordon R. Dickson.
- Sean Guynes revisits the 1972 fantasy novel The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin.
- Elyse Martin revisits the 1986 fantasy novel Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones as well as the 2004 anime adaptation by Hayao Miyazaki.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1999 fantasy novel Guardian of the Darkness by Nahoko Uehashi, translated by Cathy Hirano.
Crowdfunding:
- Dark Matter Magazine is looking for funding.
- Sea of Legends, a swashbuckling adventure fantasy noardgame by Zach Weisman, is looking for funding.
- Actor Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in the Lord of the Rings movies, will read The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien in its entirety to collect donations for two British corona virus charities.
Con and event reports:
- Fantastika 2020 in Stockholm, Sweden, may take place in October or be postponed until March 2021.
- WisCon 44 in Madison, Wisconsin, has been cancelled due to the corona virus, but is planning an online event.
- Anthrocon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been cancelled due to the corona virus.
- The website for the virtual SFWA Nebula conference has gone live.
- Peter Florence reports what the online version of the Hay Festival, normally held in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, will look like.
- Catherine Shoard reports that the corona virus may have spread at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, as several attendants later experienced symptoms.
- 2020 GUFF winner Alison Scott is going on a virtual GUFF tour before attending the virtual Worldcon CoNZealand.
- Watch a video of a panel featuring Ursula K. Le Guin and Susan Wood at Aussiecon, the 1975 Worldcon, in Melbourne, Australia.
Science and technology:
- Paul Rincon reports that Nasa has named the companies that are to develop moon landers for manned missions.
- Jonathan Amos reports about Nasa's IceSat satellite which measures the thickness of the polar ice sheets.
- Rosie McCall reports about the achievements of ten record-breaking Nasa astronauts.
- James Davis Nicoll talks about potential planetary ring systems and where to find them.
- Jonathan Amos reports that British scientists have estimated how many meteorites fall to Earth using meteorites recovered in the Antarctic as a guide.
- Jonathan Amos explains why the magnetic poles tend to move around.
- James Gallagher reports that a microbe can protect mosquitoes from transmitting malaria.
- Cora Buhlert talks about new movements in modern art in 1965.
Free online fiction:
- "The Time Traveler's Advice to the Lovelorn" by Adam-Troy Castro in Lightspeed.
- "February Moon" by Josh Rountree in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
- "Ganymede Days" by Victoria Feistner in Luna Station Quarterly.
- "What Happens in Solarium Square 21" by Ashleigh Shears in Clarkesworld.
- "The Curse" by Marissa Lingen in Daily Science Fiction.
- "I Bury Myself" by Carmen Maria Machado in Lightspeed.
- "Fox Red, Life Red, Teeth Like Snow" by Devin Miller in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
- "The Blue Room" by Yohanca Delgado and Claire Wrenwood in Nightmare Magazine.
- "Sleeping in Metal and Bone" by Kristi Demeester in The Dark.
- "A Being Together Amongst Strangers" by Arkady Martine in Uncanny Magazine.
- "Twice Killed Katherine" by Melissa Albert at Tor.com.
- "The Doll in the Museum" by Jaymee Goh in Curious Fictions.
- "Dutiful Daughter" by Joyce Chng in Kanstellation Magazine.
- "Berlin is Never Berlin" by Marko Kloos at Tor.com.
Odds and ends:
