The Sky Slayer by Joel Cornah

Release date: (pre-order) September 11, 2016
Sub-genre: Epic Fantasy

About The Sky Slayer:

All who kill a pterosaur are cursed. But Rob Sardan went a step further - he killed their King.
To break the curse he must escape a prison of ice and crystal, south of south, beyond all hope. With a ragtag team of former pirates, a failed thief and a strategist who cannot be trusted, they seek a ship that can sail on a sea of fire.
They must cross the grinding ice, challenge an empire, and face the dread pirate Skagra before she unleashes the Crown of Black Glass. But above all, Rob must face the ghosts of what he has become…
King Killer. Sword-breaker. Sky Slayer.
'Glory is like a circle in the water which never ceaseth to enlarge itself, till, by broad spreading, it disperses to naught'.

 

 

Excerpt:

The sea had broken him. Rob Sardan had looked into the waters and had seen his reflection. In the storms, the red winds, and the cold, he had learned what he was. He had wanted to be a hero, but what had he turned into?
King-killer. Sky-slayer. Sword-breaker.
A squawk distracted him, and he looked into a snow speckled tree. Nestled in the needles was a lizard-bird, its silver and white wings making it difficult to discern. Rob gave it a smile, and it chattered its toothy beak. It was the first living thing besides his captors and fellow prisoners that he had seen in two years. The thought sent a hollow feeling into him, and he felt the chasm of the future; a void of snow and isolation at the end of the world.
“She won’t give you time off,” a voice snapped. Rob sunk back into his hiding place.
“I know, but I’m still going to try,” a higher voice said.
They were pengs. Short, feathery and coated in armour. One was carrying her helmet under one arm, her wide fingers tapping the pearl and gold patterns that ran through the metal. The other peng was still wearing hers, the visor pulled down so that it extended into a spike that ran over her beak.
“Commander,” the peng holding her helmet said. “You think I could get transferred to the north some time?”
“You’ll have to be a bit more specific, Aisling,” her commander replied. “Literally everywhere is north from here.”
Even though he couldn’t see her, Rob was sure she was glowering. This was Kerrok, the commander of guards. How did she always manage to find him?
“I mean Penguve,” Aisling sniffed. “Need to check on my sisters and see if mother needs more food sending her way. Got connections now, don’t I?”
“Loads,” Kerrok snorted. “We’re connected to everyone. That’s if you ignore that giant wasteland surrounding us. Get through fifty miles of snow, ice and maybe a mountain or two, and then you can use those connections.”
“I’d get a proper escort; I’m not stupid. Next time the supplies come, you know? I’d hop on one of them new snow ships they got.”
“Well, good luck to you. I’ve been bothering Lomi about a transfer for ages.”
“I heard you’d asked to be here!”
“I did.” Kerrok prodded Aisling until she put her helmet on. “Didn’t meet my expectations.”
A hollow sound rang above their heads. Rob looked beyond the trees to the snow-capped ice cliffs that loomed overhead. A battalion was standing atop them, waving banners that showed a white peng crowned with laurels. Kerrok and Aisling rummaged in their packs and produced another banner. This one showed a dark blue snowflake surrounded by a chain of white links on a black field. The same banner flew all around the prison, and Rob was all too familiar with it.
“Don’t be shy, Sardan,” Kerrok said, waving at her companions. “I’m sure the new arrivals won’t be intimidated by the sight of you.”

 

Amazon

 

 

About Joel Cornah:

 

 

Joel Kristoffer Cornah, hailing from a small isolated village in Lancashire, is the author responsible for The Sea-Stone Sword. He was awarded a degree in Creative Writing from Liverpool John Moors University and spent seven years writing a comical newspaper for The Barrow Downs Tolkien discussion forum. Accompanying this paper was a comic strip series called The Phantom and Alien, a bizarre story of bus drivers, dead people, and a slime child bent on inconveniencing everyone around him. Currently working for a charity café in Parbold village, Joel is often found deep in discussion of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, the long history of Doctor Who, and desperately trying not to frighten people away. Often with limited success.

 

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Prelude to War (Athena Lee Chronicles, Book 9) by T.S. Paul

Release date: July 28, 2016

Subgenre: Space opera

About Prelude to War: 

 

With the destruction of the Earth ship Colossus the 3rd interstellar war is about to begin. The Cabal plan to reveal their political intentions to the Galaxy, but before they can, they have to eliminate their enemies first. Athena and her whole family are in their sights along with anyone that stands in the way of progress and control. Who will survive the onslaught and who will die? Only time will tell.

Join Athena, Wilson and the CATTs as they set out to prove that might does not equal right!

Excerpt:

The light fixture hit the ground with a crash. The former President’s office was starting to look a little worse for wear. Miguel 009 was extremely pissed off and was destroying things left and right. “The whole ship? How much of the fleet survived?”

“We aren’t sure, Sir. Mars had some kind of super weapon hidden beneath Deimos. Our science group thinks it was a mass driver or particle cannon. Whatever it was, it came as a complete surprise to both the Earth ship and our forces. That’s not even considering the large fleet of ships that came out of nowhere. It appears that Mars has been stockpiling a whole fleet in case of emergency. None of our informers knew anything about it.”

“Damn them to hell! Have we heard anything from Johann or from Earth itself?”

“No, Sir. We believe that he was on the flagship when it exploded. There have been a few survivors found but all but one group  committed suicide before being questioned. Martian Intelligence has that group. So far they’re still alive. As for the fleet, it was broken into three sections during the battle. One part was destroyed with all hands. Another fled back into Earth space. The third vanished. It may be on its way here at this very moment.”

“What else have you heard?” This day just kept getting worse and worse. Miguel needed to get a handle on things before any Earth forces showed up.

“Not very much. Mars has deployed the same sort of anti-spy system that Hong Kong is using. All of our intel sources are rapidly drying up and many of our agents have been captured. Incidentally, Sam 0256 has shown up on Mars. He was spotted in the company of the Primus’s security forces.”

“There is a prime example for you, Roger. Never show any sort of weakness because it will come back and bite you in the ass every time. I should have killed him like I was ordered to. Instead, I reprogrammed his systems and put all the worst troublemakers on board his ship. Once upon a time he was my friend, my brother, and my commander. Now he is just my enemy. Enough. Add his name to the hit list. Tell our operatives on Mars to take out the command group whatever the cost. Send a similar message to Hong Kong. We need to cut the head off these snakes or we will all be doomed.”

“Yes, Sir. I will send the word right now!” The man ran from the room.

Miguel’s lip curled. “Good help is so hard to find these days!” He pressed a button on his console. “Send in Jeremiah!”

Jeremiah 117 was a tall man with bushy eyebrows. “Sir!”

“Sit down, Jeremiah. Now, what’s our Fleet’s status.”

“We control about eighty-eight percent of the Fleet at this time. Admiral Kane escaped with a scratch squadron build from three fleets. Other than her forces, there is a small scattering of random ships here and there. Mostly they are supply ships or anti-piracy patrols. We are accounting for as many as we can. All of our shipyards are in full swing building the next generation ships from our ship designers.”

“Did the shipyard guilds give you any trouble?”

“Not after we sent the first group of protesters and the guild leaders for a walk outside. I have a vid of the second meeting as they drifted past the office windows. So far there have been no further issues.”

“Good. Try to keep it that way. Do we know where Admiral Kane’s fleet went?”

“We think they went either out to the rim or to one of the unpopulated systems. We’re checking now.”

“Tell your scouts to keep an eye out for unknown ships. Roger just reported to me that some of Earth’s fleet may have survived the Martian ambush and may travel straight to us. Make sure our ships are informed. How goes the rest of the Empire?”

“Most of the Imperial Senate has joined us. Any that didn’t have been retired. So far the Maskirovka is holding.”

Finally something good. “Excellent work, Jeremiah. Track down as many dissidents as you can before the announcement.  We suspect that many of the rebels will show their hands at that time. We need our troops to be able to put them down.”

Amazon 

 

About T.S. Paul:

A first time Novelist, I have experience in many things unrealated to writing. I've worked as a DJ, a Cook, Retail Book manager, and many other careers. My Telecommunication and Culinary degree did not prepare me for a future as an Author. Science Fiction has always been my passion. Now I can bring my love of the genre to more readers and share the stories from inside my Head.

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The Attic (After the Pretty Pox, Book 1) by August Ansel

Release date: July 28, 2016

Subgenre: Post-apocalyptic science fiction

About The Attic: 

 

"It's worse than that. God will ignore us entirely."
A searing act of bioterrorism. A catastrophic plague they call the Pretty Pox.
 

Most of the human race is dead, and for two years Arie McInnes has been alone, riding out the aftermath of the Pretty Pox, waiting for her own inevitable end.

Hidden in the attic of her ruined home, Arie survives by wit and skill, ritual and habit. Convinced that humans are a dangerous fluke, a problematic species best allowed to expire, she chooses solitude...even in matters of life and death.

Arie's precarious world is upended when her youngest brother - a man she's never met - appears out of nowhere with a badly injured woman. Their presence in the attic draws the attention of a dark watcher in the woods, and Arie is forced to choose between the narrow beliefs that have sustained her and the stubborn instinct to love and protect.

In Book One of August Ansel's captivating new post-apocalyptic series, After the Pretty Pox casts an unwavering eye on what it means to be human in a world where nature has the upper hand, and the only rules left to live by - for good or ill - are the ones written on our hearts.

Excerpt:

PRAELUDIUM~ POSTSCRIPTUM

by Tuli, c. 2052

An after-reckoning about how it shook out.
Supposition, hypothetical, considering everything, etc.

What happened?

This is how we create a history, as passed from lip to ear. The birth of rumor, legend, long nights around a fire while the moon rises and the log burns to embers.

The quickest way to spread information: telegraph, telephone, tell a secret.

The world came apart.

That may not be true. It may only have been the country. Or the continent.

The cavalry did not arrive. No assistance was forthcoming. Perhaps that means something?

I doubt it.

For a long time the disintegration was recorded. Data was downloaded and consumed. The unraveling was spectator sport.

There was probably a tipping point. One last margin of error, a hair’s breadth, a held breath, right before the moment of no return, an accumulation of trouble, enough to make us stand still, to look around at each other and say we should change this.

That is not what happened.

Who did this, damn it?

Finding a Responsible Party was more important than standing down.

We already knew we were responsible.

For a time, we knew everything, had all the information.

That is not true, either, but we thought it was. I search, therefore I am.

Once upon a time, a hole opened in the great web of connection. The filaments broke loose. The old forgotten quiet poured through.

What happened?

History is what we remember. Real-story is what we forget.

I can only write a history. But for you it may be a real-story.

I will write.

Not today. My hand fails.

Let us begin with a reminder: Carpent tua poma nepotes.

Your descendants will pick your fruit.

-CHAPTER 1-

Someone was inside. All the way inside, pushing past the overturned furniture and trash she had scattered strategically around the entryway and the living room. Bear, was Arie’s first thought. It had happened before. But there was a quality of hurried stealth. No bear would try to step around the bottles and cans, the old cellophane and silverware, broken glass and dead leaves. Lying face down on the attic floorboards, weight on her forearms, not moving a muscle except to turn her head ever so slowly, Arie hovered, put her ear as close to the slats of the old heating register as she dared. Panting down there, broken and whistling. A person, then. A person in the house with her. Someone frightened. Arie could smell it, without even putting her nose to the grate. The sour, dank odor of a body in extremity.

“Please don’t.” The words floated into Arie’s ear, a scrim of sound so high and wheezy it seemed like imagination. No longer directly below her. “Hurry. Have to hurry.” Female, probably. Or child. Arie knew better than to look.

Then something else inside, down there. The whistling breath of the intruder, the human, had gone silent. But the fear smell was loud and louder still.

Amazon

 

About August Ansel:

August Ansel is the pen name (and alter ego) of author Carla Baku. It’s August who is forever wedging beloved dog-eared novels by Shirley Jackson, Peter Straub, and Joe Hill in among the works of Toni Morrison and Tobias Wolff. Working from a tiny garret overlooking the lovely Myrtle Grove Cemetery, August prefers to write novels longhand while sipping bitterly strong tea and wearing an atrocious pair of bedroom slippers.

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Brother's Pride (The Rim Confederacy, Book 10) by Jim Rudnick

Release date: July 16, 2016

Subgenre: Space opera, military science fiction

About Brother's Pride: 

 

"While the wrecked alien ship on Ghayth provides some interesting new technology, Admiral Scott has nothing on his mind but his upcoming wedding to the Lady St. August. In only a couple of months, he’ll have vows to pledge and a ring to don as he becomes a Royal himself to take the new title of Lord Scott. And the only thing in his way—even though he doesn’t know it, is his sister Gia who has pledged revenge upon him for the death of their sister, Nora.

With the upcoming release of the Ikarian longevity vaccine, the RIM Confederacy realms are all wanting more and more of the vaccines to double their lifetimes, while the Baroness is purposely chocking off the supply. Added to that is the fact that the Master Adept knows what will happen at the wedding and she is hurriedly training her own replacement and the wedding will be where the assassination attempt is made.

But the Master is not the only wedding party member to die at the altar as the admirals sister takes careful aim and screams out her revenge and Tanner falls as do others—all to pay penance for his crime of decades ago…”

Excerpt:

 

The admiral turned to his left, as he was sitting in the Adept’s chair on the bridge of the BN Exeter and stared at the captain, who spoke up to answer him quickly.

“About thirteen hundred lights inwards, and this star, holds the admiral’s—well, your home planet, Branton, Sir. That’s her below and off to the starboard side. Helm, enlarge the view please, but do filter out the ice glare please.”

As the Exeter had just jumped, using the Barony Drive, from Neres to Branton in less than half a minute by the view screen sidebar over on the left and there had been no issues at all.

Thirteen hundred lights—in say thirty seconds.

Impressive, Tanner said to himself and yet he wasn’t here to test the Barony Drive at all…

He was here to visit his home planet after being away for twenty-two years.

He looked down at Branton and noted that as they came up on the back side—the side that forever faced outwards towards space rather than ever towards the sun. It got cold there he well knew—well below zero and as one left the edge of the backside of the planet to more than a hundred below in a zone that stretched from north to south.

On the other side, the side that faced the sun—it was much more un-hospitable. Down the center of the sun-side, temperatures ran more than 180+ degrees on most days and in full summer, when Branton got closer to it’s sun, they hit 220+ degrees most days.

Where there was life, of course, was on the areas on either side of the sun-side—where zones running north to south, held the millions of Branton citizens.

“Captain Magnusson, would you please take her down on the starboard side—that’s what citizens call the right hand side of the sun-side, captain,” he said quietly and left it to the captain to work out the details of the move to the starboard side. He nodded when he was asked if he wanted to go to the capital city, Astillon and again, let the captain and the crew work out the details. He watched on the view screen as the frigate came up to the sun side of the planet, and turned into the sunlight. Filters snapped up on the view screen and they could see again as the Exeter slowly yawed to the right and moved down to enter the Branton atmosphere.

They were challenged then by whomever was watching incoming ships and they passed with a quick—10/4 from the landing officer down in Astillon. The lieutenant on the helm, made the needed offerings and was told that the Exeter would be allowed to land, and to take landing pad #43. No other pad, was repeated back to the helm twice and he confirmed that both times. He raised an eyebrow and looked at his captain over his shoulder…glee in his eyes…

Amazon

About The Rim Confederacy series:

• Book 1: Pirates
• Book 2: Sleeper Ship
• Book 3: Prison Planet
• Book 4: Ancient Relics
• Book 5: Hospital Ship
• Book 6: Desert Planet
• Book 7: Ruined Memories
• Book 8: Eons Semester 
• Book 9: Trade Wars
• Book 10: Brother's Pride 

 

About Jim Rudnick: 

Being a youngster in the 1950's meant that I was a voracious reader in what has been called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. That meant that for me, my heroes were not on the hockey rink or gridiron - but instead in my local Library where at 12 I had a full Adult card (thanks Dad!) and took out more than 5 books a week.

Everyone from Heinlein, Norton, Leiber, Pohl, Anderson, Simak, Asimov, Brackett, Van Vogt and more....I fell in love with and eventually owned Ace Doubles of my own. While I never knew who wrote the Tom Corbett - Space Cadet series, I fell in love with them and they had a place of honor on my own bookcase too!

With that kind of an introduction to Science Fiction, it's no wonder that when got my writing work done, I turned my own fictional side of my brain to writing same. It's one thing I know to write - and a totally different matter to release same to the world - something that I've just started to work on....suffice it to say my own works are rooted in that Golden Age and it's that era that I'd like to one day be known as a teensy contributor to in some small way…

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Autonomy by Jude Houghton

Sub-genre: Cyberpunk, Dystopian

Release date: July 29, 2016

About Autonomy:

Balmoral Murraine works in a Battery, assembling devices she doesn’t understand for starvation pay. Pasco Eborgersenis the pampered son of an Elite, trying to navigate the temptations of the Pleasure Houses, the self-sacrifice of the Faith, and the high-octane excitement of Steel Ball. They never should have met, and now they will rip the world apart. What happens when ninety percent of the world lives on skaatch – a jellyfish and insect composite? What happens when mankind spends more time in alternative life sims instead of in the “real” world? What happens when economic interest is the sole determinant of global decision making? What happens when a single secret is discovered that calls into question everything we have ever believed? Welcome to the Autonomy. Welcome to your future. 

 Excerpt:

Discharged from Triage between shifts, there were no trams running to the Stacks so Li hobbled four miles home with the baby strapped to her chest in a Battery-issued sling. It was cold and Li could see her breath, despite the heavy smog. She was lightheaded and groggy from the birth accelerating drugs.

As she walked through the streets the rusty trailers, riveted together and stacked twenty high, yawned down upon her. Several times she had to avoid the waste that came gushing through the dunny holes above. You could never quite avoid it, some of it always got on your feet, your clothes and if you were unlucky, your head. The narrow streets were awash with litter and filth, each building only a few inches from the next. Li held Balmoral tight to her chest, shielding her.

She struggled up the six flights of rickety stairs welded to the outside of her stack. Only as she fumbled for the key, did she notice that the baby’s face was purple and that the respirator had slipped from her face. She smacked the child’s bottom, but instead of crying, the baby’s lips tightened further. Panicking, Li banged on the door of the trailer.

“Tai-Tai!” she screamed. “Tai-Tai!”

Inside, she heard a curse and a painfully slow shuffle of steps. The old woman opened the door. “What is it? Why don’t you use your key?”

“The baby!”

The amah looked at the child’s face and quickly pulled Balmoral from the sling. Tai-Tai hurried to the sink and reached for the large clay jug. As she poured water over the baby’s blackening face, Balmoral jumped as though slapped. She let out a silent, slow motion scream before gulping in mouthfuls of air in a torrent of tears.

“T-Thank you,” Li stuttered.

Tai-Tai clicked her tongue in disapproval and rocked the baby back and forth, soothing her.

“You need to put this on,” Li said handing her the respirator.

“She doesn’t want that.”

“They said to put it on, even indoors.”

“She’ll be all right.”

“But she couldn’t breathe a moment ago!”

Tai-Tai muttered something Li couldn’t hear, and continued to rock Balmoral.

Li chewed her lip and put the respirator on the table. Her husband said it was just a piece of cloth with a gauze filter anyway. It didn’t actually stop the pollutants; just broke them up a bit. None of her other children had bothered with one.

“Sit,” Tai-Tai said. “Did they give you formula?”

Li nodded.

“Then I will change her and when I’m done, you can feed her.”

“But I fed her a couple of hours ago.”

“She’ll be hungry again. Now sit.”

Li lowered herself onto the chair, wincing as the stitches pulled. The drugs had begun to wear off and she was in pain. It would be worse in a couple of hours.

The amah removed the baby’s blanket, the thin plastic undergarment and the soaking cloth underneath. She placed the cloth in the sink, rinsed the plastic briefs, took another piece of cloth from the pile of four or five she had laid ready, replaced the briefs and wrapped Balmoral in three quick folds. She swaddled the child back up using the Battery’s blanket.

The old woman’s proficiency reminded Li that she knew almost nothing about being a mother. It hadn’t mattered before. Tai-Tai looked after the children while she worked in the Battery. But tomorrow there would be no Tai-Tai.

Amazon

About Jude Houghton:

Jude developed a love of fantasy from a relatively early age after realising an innate talent for making stuff up could result in something other than detention. Working across the globe in fields as diverse as journalism, data entry, sales, management consultancy and babysitting, Jude has partially succeeded in putting an English and History degree from Oxford University to good use. A somnambulist, insomniac, lover of letters, Jude writes late into the night, most nights, tumbling down the rabbit hole to dream of other lives. Jude currently lives in Pennsylvania with an over-enthusiastic family and absurdly entitled dog.

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Lizzie in the Land Beyond by Susan McDonough-Wachtman

Release date: July 4, 2016

Subgenre: Young adult fantasy

About Lizzie in the Land Beyond: 

 

Lizzie is a teenager, an AP student, and a singer of folk songs. She wakes one day in a strange world. The women who revive her tell her they have summoned her to help them understand the aliens who have landed on their shores. They also tell her she can never go home because they scooped her up when she was about to die. Captured by witches, kidnapped by a dwarf, enraptured by river sprites -- Will Lizzie ever find her way home? 

A beautiful mixture of sorcery, mythical beasts, and aliens, Lizzie in the Land Beyond is a fantastic read from beginning to end. I love the characters, the voice of Lizzie and her bumbling youthful arrogance, the larger than life Adeline, and curmudgeonly Sculdar, and the strong and silent Osric. -- Cynthia Varady on Goodreads

Excerpt:

I sighed as I stepped into the chilly river, but I was already soaked through. “What’s the diff?” I asked myself. “You’ve hardly been dry since you got here, anyway.” I looked at Osric’s back and decided to vent my frustration on his unhearing person. “You must have known the raft might get swept away. Why didn’t you anchor it better? You should have wrapped that rope around the rocks a bunch more times.” I was beginning to enjoy my monologue. I had been holding my tongue for quite awhile now. “In fact, you knew this storm was coming, so why didn’t we just stay where we were? You could have pulled it right up onto the beach there! Then we could be floating along here instead of sloshing in this rain, catching pneumonia!”

I recalled, however, the distance we had traveled since then, and the rapids we had run. What would those rapids be like now with the additional water from the storm? What if the river switched direction again? I was thigh deep now, following closely behind the cat who was almost, but not quite, swimming. The water was dark with a silty runoff, and I could no longer see my feet. I stumbled on a boulder and caught myself on Mistran’s back. “Oh, sorry!” I backed away hastily. I was no longer afraid of the big animal, but neither did I mistake him for a large version of a house cat. He glanced back at me with one golden eye and flipped his tail toward me. At first I thought he was just expressing his annoyance, but then he did it again, and I realized he meant me to take hold. I grasped the thick, furry cord gratefully, but the strangeness of the situation struck me.

“I’m allowing a mountain lion to lead me, by his tail, across a river -- which might change direction at any moment -- in the rain. Beat that, Alice.” I raised my voice to a yell. I turned my face up to the rain and allowed the cat to tow me along. “Lizzie’s Adventures in -- what do they call this place, anyway? Narnia? Middle Earth? The Land? I am a heroine -- a beautiful heroine! -- in a fantasy, and I may as well enjoy it!”

My escort stopped moving. I opened my eyes and looked ahead. “What’s the holdup? Oh.” Osric had stopped mid-river and was staring at me. The cat had stopped to turn and stare as well. “G--guess you can hear now, huh?” I shivered. Osric assessed me a moment, then sloshed back to me, un-stoppering a skin bag as he came. He offered it and I drank -- and coughed. “Ahh -- wheh! I’m underage, you know!” I drank again, letting the burning liquid fill my “cockles” as my grandmother would have said. Osric took back the bag, turned and sloshed on. Mistran turned and sloshed on. I tightened my grip on his tail and sloshed on. I began to sing, softly at first: “I love to go a-wandering along the mountain track, and as I go I love to sing, my knapsack on my back.” I belted into the chorus: “Val a ree! Val a rah! Val a ree!” I bumped into Mistran, who had stopped again.

Amazon | Smashwords | Pronoun 

 

About Susan McDonough-Wachtman:

Susan McDonough-Wachtman is a writer, mother, wife, gardener, teacher, cat lover and book addict. She self-published her books Snail’s Pace and Arabella’s Gift after both were accepted for publication by companies which subsequently went out of business. Matriarchs:Eliza’s Revenge won best genre novel from the Pacific Northwest Writers Conference. Lizzie in the Land Beyond is her newest offering. Ferry Findings, an anthology of short stories, will be published by Kitsap Publishing in 2016. “Well written,” “quirky sense of humor,” and “doesn’t fit the genre” are the comments she hears most about her books and stories.

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Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for August 5, 2016

Here is our weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with a massive controversy surrounding World Fantasy Con, tributes to Jerry Doyle, a lot of debate about Suicide Squad, Star Trek: Beyond and the streaming video show Stranger Things as well as the usual mix of writing advice, interviews, reviews, awards news, con reports, crowdfunding projects and free online fiction. 

Speculative fiction in general:

• John Joseph Adams explains why he loves space opera and announces a new anthology. 
• Ardi Alspach shares his appreciation for the Split Worlds series by Emma Newman.
• Nicola Alter wonders why fantasy romances are often so grim.
• Derek Künsken is horrified by the blatant misogyny of Piers Anthony's Xanth series. 
• Ilya Somin shares seven works of political science fiction and fantasy. 
• Helen Lowe talks about her favourite trees in fantasy fiction.
• Andrew Peterson shares his appreciation for the Inkling scholarship of Diana Pavlac-Glyer.
• Linda Gould takes a look at how The Martian and Interstellar work as science fiction.
• Germain Lussier looks back on the first season of Preacher.
• Germain Lussier reports that Australia is experiencing a boom of people self-defining as Jedi. 
• Laura Bradley reports that Sesame Street has fired long time cast members Bob, Gordon and Luis after moving to HBO. 
• Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski remember the late castmember Jerry Doyle.
• Alasdair Stuart also shares a tribute to the late Jerry Doyle.
• Cher Martinetti shares six reasons why arguments against Riri Williams taking over the mantle of Iron Man are invalid.

Comments on Suicide Squad:

• Germain Lussier calls Suicide Squad "chaotic, manic and a total mess".
• Jen Yamato calls Suicide Squad "a dizzying, deranged mess". 
• Peter Debruge calls Suicide Squad "entertaining, but nonsensical".
• Joshua Yehl calls Suicide Squad "predictable and uninspired".
• Robbie Collin calls Suicide Squad "crushingly purile comic book pornography".
• Matt Singer calls Suicide Squad a "disappointing disaster". 
• David Ehrlich declares that the members of Suicide Squad may be the bad guys, but their movie is even worse. 
• Richard Lawson declares that Suicide Squad isn't even the good kind of bad.
• Fiona Williams claims that "at least the trailer for Suicide Squad was good, but the film itself isn't."
• Kristy Puchko actually enjoyed Suicide Squad, even though she dreaded it. 
• Kim Masters reports that worries about the negative reactions to Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice were the reason for the Suicide Squad reshoots and re-edits, which caused the movie to turn into such a mess. 
• Director David Ayer responds to the negative reviews of Suicide Squad.
• Robert Ito takes a look at the psychology of Harley Quinn.

Comments on Star Trek: Beyond:

• Lela E. Buis shares her thoughts on Star Trek: Beyond.
• Stephen Murphy has some idea how Star Trek's Federation could exploit transporter technology better.
• Jacob Clifton draws some parallels between the original Utopian Star Trek of the 1960s and William Gibson's classic story "The Gernsback Continuum". 

Comments on Stranger Things: 

• The Geekiary share their thoughts on Stranger Things.
• Des Richard talks about nostalgia in the context of the streaming video show Stranger Things.

Comments on the World Fantasy Con controversy:

• Mike Glyer reports about an uproar involving the programming of the 2016 World Fantasy Con in Columbus, Ohio. 
• Foz Meadows weighs in about the World Fantasy Con controversy.
• Cheryl Morgan points out that World Fantasy Con has a history of problematic events. 
• Jenny Wurts weighs in on the history behind the conflicts about World Fantasy Con.
• Jim C. Hines also weighs in on the World Fantasy Con controversy.

Writing, pulishing and promotion: 

• Michi Trota talks about building an inclusive community of readers, writers and fans. 
• Kameron Hurley talks about how to keep going in the face of things you have no control over. 
• Kameron Hurley also points out that you don't owe anybody your time.
• Cora Buhlert talks about writing a short story per day in July 2016. 
• Stephen S. Power explains how researching his novel saved him from drowning.
• Max Zsol shares the none most inspiring TED talks for writers. 
• Matthew Kirschenbaum tracks the impact of technology on the writing process. 
• Debra Purdy-Kong talks about purpose versus point in fiction.
• Elizabeth Barone talks about unlikable characters. 

Interviews:

• Mahvesh Murad interviews Margaret Atwood.
• Chris Urie interviews N.K. Jemisin.
• Andrea Johnson interviews Danica Davidson.
• Daniel Abbot interviews Josh Vogt.
• Dag Rambraut interviews K. Eason. 

Reviews:

• Liz Bourke reviews An Accident of Stars by Foz Meadows.
• Cheryl Morgan reviews Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire. 
• Cheryl Morgan also reviews Lizard Radio by Pat Schmatz. 
• Fantasy Book Café reviews The Empress Game by Rhonda Mason. 
• Ceridwen Christensen reviews Kojiki by Keith Yatsuhashi.
• Nicole Hill reviews The Last Days of New Paris by China Mieville. 
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Invasive by Chuck Wendig.
• Emily Asher-Perrin offers a spoilerish review of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling.  
• The Geekiary also reviews Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling.
• Jordan DesJardins reviews Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens.

Crowdfunding:

• Renegades, a science fiction web series staring various former Star Trek actors, is looking for funding.

Con reports:

• Greg van Eekhout reports about an accident he had at San Diego Comic-Con.
• Jason P. Hunt sums up all the horror related news from San Diego Comic-Con.
• The Geekiary shares some highlights from Star Wars Celebration Europe in London. 
• Marko Kloos reports about doing some events for George R.R. Martin's Wild Cards anthology series in New Mexico.

Science and technology:

• The atmosphere of Jupiter moon Io keeps collapsing. 
• The private company Moon Express has received permission to send a probe to the moon.
• Two newly discovered species of ants have been named for the dragons of Daenerys Targaryen of Game of Thrones fame. George R.R. Martin thinks that's pretty cool, even if the ants don't breathe fire.
  

Free online fiction:

• "Her Scales Shine Like Music" by Rajnar Vajra at Tor.com.
• "Alone, on the Wind" by Karla Schmidt, translated by Lara Harmon in Clarkesworld.
• "The Engines Imperial" by Sean Bensinger in Clarkesworld.
• "Robot Lives Matter Too" by T.S. Paul.

Odds and ends:

• Watch a trailer for The Great Wall.
• Watch a trailer for the semi-documentary TV show Mars.