It's
time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting
links
about speculative
fiction from
around the web, this week with the best (and worst) SFF of 2025, a
debate about ethical AI use in writing and publishing and if that's even
possible, Masters of the Universe in general, season 2 of Fallout, Avatar: Fire and Ash, the series finale of Stranger Things, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and much
more.
Speculative fiction in general:
- Reactor shares all the new science fiction books arriving in January 2026
- Reactor shares all the new fantasy books arriving in January 2026
- Reactor shares all the new romantasy books arriving in January 2026
- Reactor shares all the new horror books arriving in January 2026
- Grimdark Magazine share their most anticipated science fiction, fantasy and horror books for 2026.
- Natalie Zutter shares 26 science fiction and fantasy books to look forward to in 2026
- Alex Brown shares their most anticipated YA spculative fiction for January 2026.
- Ratika Deshpande shares six seriously funny speculative short stories
- James Davis Nicoll lists five SFF worlds threatened by endless winter
- Lorna Wallace shares five horror stories about inanimate objects coming to life
- Ryan Britt lists the eleven most iconic science fiction stories about sleep of all time.
- Ross Montgomery talks about our enduring obsession with the end of the world
- Christine Yunn-Yu Sun talks about the politics of translation.
- Evan Amato explains why J.R.R. Tolkien did not like Dune by Frank Herbert.
- Sylas K. Barrett discusses communication via hand signals in baseball, Dune and The Wheel of Time.
- Lee Wood shares a health update about Norman Spinrad.
Best (and worst) of 2025:
- The British Fantasy Society share their favourite SFF books of 2025.
- The Fantasy Hive share their favourite SFF books of 2025.
- A.C. Wise shares her favourite SFF books of 2025.
- Roseanna Pendlebury shares her favourite SFF books of 2025.
- Abigail Nussbaum shares her favourite SFF books of 2025.
- Gavia Baker-Whitelaw shares her favourite SFF books of 2025.
- Every Book a Doorway shares her favourite SFF books of 2025.
- SF Concatenation share their favourite SFF books and films of 2025.
- Fantasy Book Nerd shares their favourite SFF books of 2025.
- Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub shares their favourite SFF books of the 2025.
- Aquavenatus shares their favourite SFF books of 2025.
Comics and Art:
- Bill Capossere reviews The Mighty Avengers vs. the 1970s by Paul Cornell
- Bill Capossere reviews Doctor Strange: A Decade of Dark Magic by Stuart Moore
- Isaiah Colbert calls MAD by Yusuke Otori the wildest science fiction manga right now.
- Claude Solnik reports that the New York City Council has approved naming a street after Jack Kirby on the Lower East Side, where he grew up.
Film and TV:
- Megan Navarro lists fifty horror movies she's looking forward to in 2026.
- Cheryl Eddy looks ahead at SFF TV shows coming out in 2026.
- Justin Carter takes a look at superhero movies coming out in 2026.
- Petrana Radulovic lists all the genre TV premieres airing in January
- Petrana Radulovic lists all the genre movies premiering in January
- Jesse Hassenger takes a look at science fiction films set in 2026.
- Germain Lussier takes a look at genre movies that are celebrating notable anniversaries this year.
- James Whitbrook notes that the season 2 opening of Andor remains one of its best moments.
- Keith R.A. DeCandido calls the latest Superman film finally, a Superman movie that truly gets Superman...and it’s glorious
- Benjamin Lee calls We Bury the Dead a slightly smarter-than-average zombie survival movie
- Emmet Asher-Perrin talks about Dust Bunny and fighting for the love you deserve
- Vanessa Armstrong discusses what the fact that Carol reads The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin says about Pluribus
- Arturo Serrano declares that Eternity seems to know what it wants to say, but it needs to resort to an absurd scenario for that message to begin to make sense.
- Lacy Baugher Milas declares that the Anne Rice TV universe needs to get gayer
- Robert Repino lists some made-for-TV movies that mimicked Hollywood, for better or worse
- Martin Edwards revisits the 1968 science fiction film Planet of the Apes.
- Kali Wallace revisits the 1979 dystopian film Mad Max.
- Scott Monty revisits the 1985 movie Young Sherlock Holmes.
- Peter Bradshaw revisits the 1986 fantasy film Labyrinth.
- Lisa Morton revisits the 1997 urban fantasy series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
- Keith R.A. De Candido revisits the 1997 Babylon 5 episode “The Exercise of Vital Powers”
- Dee Jefferson interviews Miranda Otto who plays Eowyn in Lord of the Rings.
- Amando Tinoco interviews Sarah Michelle Gellar, who is best known for playing the titular character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
- Cheryl Eddy interviews Ric Roman Waugh, director of both Greenland and Greenland 2: Migration.
- Jack Dunn shares director Guillermo del Toro's comments about the importance of art.
- Miatta Mbriwa reports that Chloé Zhao, director of Eternals, has said that ‘feminine consciousness’ incompatible with current Hollywood model
- Sian Cain reports that actress Evangeline Lilly, best known for her appearances in Lost, the Hobbit movies and the Ant-Man movies, has suffered brain damage after experiencing a fall.
- Beth McMillan explains that "An Unearthly Child", the first Doctor Who serial, is embroiled in a copyright battle between the BBC and the descendants of the writer.
- Andrew Pulver reports that A Minecraft Movie is the highest grossing film of 2025 in the UK and Ireland.
- Ramin Zahed takes a look at some animated characters that have become public domain at the beginning of 2026.
- Mark Sweney reports that Warner Bros Discovery has told investors to reject the takeover bid by Paramount.
- Benjamin Mullen reports that the US Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which operates NPR and PBS among others, has voted to shut down after the US Congress cut their funding.
- Former child actor Sidney Kibrick, one of the last few survivors of the Our Gang shorts, has died aged 97.
- Science fiction writer and special effects artist Con Pederson, who is best known for his work on 2001 - A Space Odyssey, has died aged 91.
Comments on Masters of the Universe in general:
Comments on Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and Star Trek in general:
Comments on season 2 of Fallout:
Comments on the series finale of Stranger Things (spoilers):
- Cheryl Eddy declares that the Stranger Things finale really tried to be everything for everyone
- Judy Berman declares that Stranger Things started as a triumph of trauma bonding and ended as a casualty of the franchise machine
- Tyler Dean discusses the critical hits and misses of the Stranger Things finale
- Saloni Gajjar declares that Stranger Things ends with a whimper instead of a bang
- Stuart Heritage declares that Stranger Things committed TV’s ultimate crime by ending at all.
- Matt Larkin shares his thoughts on season 5 of Stranger Things.
- Andrew McGowan shares the moments of the Stranger Things finale that got the biggest reactions during theatrical showings.
- Germain Lussier discusses whether there were two or three waterfalls in the Stranger Things finale.
- Katie Campione interviews Matt and Ross Duffer, creators of Stranger Things.
- Kate Arthur interviews Matt and Ross Duffer, creators of Stranger Things.
- Katie Campione interviews Caleb McLaughlin, who plays Lucas Sinclair in Stranger Things.
- Justin Carter reports that the 1984 songs “Purple Rain” and “When Doves Cry” by Prince shot up the charts after being played in the Stranger Things finale.
- Jem Aswad explains how the two Prince songs came to be in Stranger Things and the negotiations involved.
- Benjie Godhart discusses the "Conformity Gate" conspiracy theory which claims that there is a secret true final episode of Stranger Things and how this belief crashed Netflix.
- Jennifer Maas reports that the rumoured secret final episode of Stranger Things does not exist.
- Cheryl Eddy notes that the Stranger Things finale broke Netflix's ratings records,
- Isaiah Colbert shares some speculations about a planned Stranger Things spin-off.
- Matthew Byrd shares what to watch after finishing the final season of Stranger Things.
- Watch Sesame Street parodying Stranger Things.
Comments on Avatar: Fire and Ash:
Awards:
- The finalists for the 2026 Golden Globes have been announced with some love for genre film and TV.
- The winners of the 2026 Critics Choice Awards have been announced.
- The finalists for the 2026 SAG Actor Awards have been announced.
- The finalists for the 2026 DGA Awards have been announced.
- The finalists for the 2026 ADG Awards have been announced.
- The finalists for the 2026 Annie Awards have been announced.
- Molly Templeton explains how Hugo voting works,.
- Mike Glyer shares an update on the status of the remaining 2023 Hugo trophies that still haven't been delivered to the respective winners.
- Chris Gardner reports about costume designer Colleen Atwood who lost her three Oscars in the Los Angeles wildfires last year.
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- Gabino Iglesias shares ten ways to turn your writing resolutions into reality
- Elizabeth McCracken shares some tips for writing a novel in 2026.
- Jenn Lyons talks about building the ecology of an SFF universe
- Cate Quinn shares some of the strange things she learned for research.
- John Scalzi reports that Tor Books editor Patrick Nielsen Hayden is retiring after 37 years.
- Locus also reports about Patrick Nielsen Hayden's retirement from Tor.
- Sam Spratford reports that both Patrick Nielsen Hayden, editor-at-large, and Linda Quinton, publisher and vice president of Tor Forge Books, have retired.
- Michael Schaub reports that the state of Utah has added Wicked by Gregory Maguire to the list of books banned from public schools in the state.
- Natalie op de Beek reports that a lawsuit by the estate of Kurt Vonnegut is challenging Utah's book banning laws.
- Leah Romero reports that proposed legislation would prohibit book banning in New Mexico public libraries
The Debate about intentional and unintentional AI-use in writing and publishing:
Interviews:
Reviews:
- Gary K. Wolfe reviews Nine Goblins by T. Kingfisher
- Judith Tarr reviews Hell's Heart by Alexis Hall.
- James Davis Nicoll reviews The King Must Die by Kemi Ashing-Giwa
- Paul Weimer reviews The Gryphon King by Sara Omer
- Grimdark Magazine reviews The Poet Empress by Shen Tao
- Paul Weimer reviews Enchanting the Fae Queen by Stephanie Burgis
- Julia Kitvaria Sarene reviews Wooing the Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis
- Julia Kitvaria Sarene reviews Under the Lesser Moon by Shelly Campbell
- Z.B. Steele reviews Ashes of Man by Christopher Ruocchio
- Rob Bedford reviews Bones of Our Stars, Blood of Our World by Cullen Bunn.
- Marlene Harris reviews A Ruin Great and Free by Cadwell Turnbull
- Lesa Holstine reviews The Shop on Hidden Lane by Jayne Ann Krentz
- Lesa Holstine reviews The Charmed Library by Jennifer Moorman
- James Davis Nicoll reviews Secrets Of The Silent Witch by Matsuri Isora, translated by Alice Prowse.
- James Davis Nicoll reviews The Two Doctors Górski by Isaac Fellman
- Caleb Klaces reviews Arborescence by Rhett Davis
- Niall Harrison reviews Ice by Jacek Dukaj
- Ainy Cormac reviews Artificial Truth by J.M. Lee
- Runalong the Shelves reviews Teenage Girls Can be Demons by Hailey Piper
- Sandy Ferber reviews Cathedral of Horror and Other Stories by Arthur J. Burks
- John Mauro reviews Tell Me Yours, I’ll Tell You Mine by Kristina Ten
- Runalong the Shelves reviews Between Worlds - The IF Anthology of New Indian SFF Vol 1, edited by Gautam Bhatia
- Ann Michelle Harris reviews Will This Be a Problem? The Anthology: Issue V, edited by Somto Ihezue and Olivia Kidula,
- Toby Litt reviews A Long Game: How to Write Fiction by Elizabeth McCracken
- Tim Clare reviews The Score by C. Thi Nguyen
Classics reviews:
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1948 dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
- Alan Brown revisits the 1962 children's science fantasy novel A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.
- George Pritchard revisits the 1971 science fiction anthology Orbit 8, edited by Damon Knight.
- Gideon Marcus revisits the Feburary 1971 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1985 science fiction novel Cuckoo’s Egg by C J Cherryh
- Alissa Burger revisits the 1992 YA horror trilogy Cheerleaders by R.L. Stine,
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1995 Drake Majistral space opera Rock of Ages by Walter Jon Williams
- Runalong the Shelves revisits the 1996 historical fantasy novel Declare by Tim Powers.
- Zachary Gillan revisits the 1997 Well-Built City dystopian novel The Physiognomy by Jeffrey Ford.
- Gayle Surrette revisits the 2002 Liaden Universe space opera I Dare by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
- Dave Hook revisits the 2002 anthology The Hard SF Renaissance, edited by Kathryn Cramer and David G. Hartwell
- Clara Cohen revisits the 2013 The Rain Wild Chronicles epic fantasy novel Blood of Dragons by Robin Hobb.
Con and event reports:
- The 2026 Worldcon in Anaheim, California, has announced Tracey Baptiste as a special guest.
- David K. Li reports about an accident involving a giant boulder during the “Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular” performance at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
- James Whitbrook also reports about the giant boulder accident at Disney World.
Science and technology:
- Aaron Leong reports that astronomers have spotted a rogue planet the size of Saturn hurtling through space
- Denise Chow reports that NASA has lost contact with the MAVEN space probe that is orbiting Mars.
- Passant Rabie lists the asteroids that would be profitable to mine,
- James Davis Nicoll explains where to look for evidence of alien visitors to our solar system
- With regard to AI, Jow Stech points out that intelligence is a landscape, not a ladder
Toys and collectibles:
- The DorkLair shares his ten favourite action figures of 2025.
- Pixel Dan reviews the Frazetta Universe 5.5 inch Conan, John Carter and Death Dealer action figures.
- Billy Beige Customs reviews the Xesray Studios Gold Hildr action figure.
- James Whitbrook takes a look at the Hot Toys Absolute Batman action figure.
- James Whitbrook takes a look at some new "smart" LEGO Star Wars sets and explains why they are controversial.
- Chris Bryant reports that a New York congressman has asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Collectors Universe for their alleged monopoly on trading card grading.
- Cora Buhlert shares a toy photo story called "Nutcracker versus Mouse King: The Legendary Battle"
Free online fiction:
- "The (Mis)Fortunes of Saint Ilia’s School for Gifted Girls, In No Particular Order" by Catherine Tavares in The Dark.
- "Brokeheart’ GPT” or “A Superintelligent Being Reads Pat Rosal" by Micaiah Johnson in The Sunday Morning Transport.
- "Choose Your Own Damnation" by Kehkashan Khalid in Lightspeed.
- "Mother’s Hip" by Corey Jae White and Maddison Stoff in Lightspeed.
- "The Stars You Can't See by Looking Directly" by Samantha Murray in Clarkesworld
- "Down We Go Gently" by M. L. Clark in Clarkesworld.
- "Be My Horse, Ride the Cowboy" by Christopher Caldwell in Uncanny Magazine
- "Iron Phantom" by Bader M. Alsadeqi in Swords and Sorcery Magazine.
- "The Stone’s Choice" by Anaea Lay in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
- "Sing" by Jules Bly in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
- "The Tailors" by Kurt Fawver in Nightmare Magazine.
Trailers and videos:
- Watch yet another teaser for Avengers: Doomsday.
- Watch a trailer for the latest attempt to revive The Muppets Show.
- Watch a trailer for The Death of Robin Hood.
- Watch a trailer for They Will Kill You.
- Watch a trailer for Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die.
- Watch a trailer for Greenland 2: Migration.
- Watch The Ballad of Squen and Cragg, a Magic the Gathering promotional film produced by the Jim Henson Company.
