Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for May 6, 2016

Here is our weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with lots of awards, including discussion about the Hugo and Locus Awards shortlists, reactions to Captain America: Civil War and High-Rise, women in science fiction and fantasy as well as the usual mix of writing advice, interviews, reviews, con reports and crowdfunding projects as well as free online fiction. 

Speculative fiction in general:

• The participants in the SF Signal Mind Meld share their favourite weapons in science fiction and fantasy.
• Charlaine Harris shares five literary worlds that smacked her in the face. 
• Ada Palmer talks about middle future science fiction.
• Charlie Jane Anders explains that io9 was founded on the idea that science fiction belongs to everyone.  
• Nikki Steele shares 100 must-read science fiction and fantasy novels by women.
• Emma Newman talks about the effects of sexism on woman writers.
• Jenny Barber talks about being a woman writing science fiction and fantasy.
• Juliet E. McKenna talks about being a female midlist SFF author.
• Izetta Nicole shares an open letter to Hermione Granger.
• Isa Sanusi reports about the romance novel boom in Northern Nigeria. 
• Camestros Felapton shares his appreciation for The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin. 
• Europa SF profiles Swedish writer Karin Boye and her dystopian novel Kallocain. 
• Zak Zyz shares his appreciation for the Sector General series by James White.  
• Alan Brown shares his appreciation for the works of James H. Schmitz.
• Joyce Dong profiles Liu Cixin. 
• Michael Lapointe discusses the literary legacy of the Chernobyl disaster thirty years on. 
• Bibliodaze takes a look at toxic nostalgia and the backlash against the new all-female Ghostbusters film. 
• Jeremy Egner profiles Welsh actor Iwan Rheon who plays Ramsay Bolton in Game of Thrones.
• Alasdair Stuart takes a look at the character of Joe West in the TV series The Flash. 

Awards:

• The winners of the 2016 Edgar Awards have been announced. 
• The finalists for the 2016 Locus Awards have been announced.
• The nominees for the 2015 Shirley Jackson Awards have been announced.
• The nominees for the 2016 Reuben Awards have been announced.
• The nominees for the 2016 Premio Ignotus have been announced.
• Black Gate, which was nominated for a Hugo in the best fanzine category, has withdrawn itself from consideration.
• Spacefaring Extradimensional Happy Kittens has compiled links to all reactions of Hugo finalists who found themselves on the Rabid Puppy slate. 
• Mike Glyer links to the statements of Hugo nominees Brooke Bolander and Daniel Polansky who give their reasons for not withdrawing.
• Tom Hunter attempts to answer the question "What's next for the Arthur C. Clarke Award?"
• Joe Sherry shares his thoughts on the 2016 Locus Awards. 

Comments on Captain America: Civil War: 

• Jason Guerrasio believes that Captain America: Civil War is the best Marvel movie yet.
• Derek Austin Johnson believes that Captain America: Civil War revigorates the Marvel franchise.
• Richard Lawson declares that Captain America: Civil War is the Marvel machine at peak performance.
• The Economist reports that Captain America: Civil War could have been a messy disaster, but isn't. 
• Kyle Anderson declares that Captain America: Civil War is the perfect hero explosion.
• Michael Phillips claims that Captain America: Civil War offers statisfying superheroism. 
• Bilge Ebiri was not overly impressed by Captain America: Civil War.
• Gregory Wakeman reports that Captain America: Civil War was made as a response to Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice.
• Luke Graham explains what Hollywood can learn from the international success of Captain America: Civil War.
• Alasdair Stuart shares his thoughts on Captain America: Civil War.
• Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on Captain America: Civil War.
• David Edelstein shares his thoughts on Captain America: Civil War. 
• Eric Eisenberg shares his thoughts about Captain America: Civil War.
• Ben Child shares the verdict on Spider-Man as portrayed by Tom Holland in Captain America: Civil War.
• Jack Giroux explains how the film team created the massive airport fight scene in Captain America: Civil War. 
• Jackie Mansky profiles Joe and Anthony Russo, the directors of Captain America: Civil War. 
• Steve Tilley interviews Emily van Camp who plays Sharon Carter in Captain America: Civil War.

Comments on High-Rise: 

• Sean Hutchinson compares Ben Wheatley's J.G. Ballard adaptation High-Rise to David Cronenberg's Shivers.
• Andrew O'Hehir shares his thoughts on High-Rise. 
• Jordan Zakarin explains how Ben Wheatley and his production team created the 1970s retro-futuristic look of High-Rise. 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Cat Rambo talks about moving from idea to draft.
• Alexa Graves talks about accountability for writers.
• Chris Beckett explains how he writes. 
• Cat Rambo explains why to write flash fiction. 
• Patty Jansen shares some tips for self-publishing on a very small budget. 
• Hugh Howey writes that self-publishing has never been easier.
• Heather Rose Jones explains what bad reviews are good for. 

Interviews:

• Sarah Begley interviews Jennifer Foehner Wells.
• Rachel Cordasco interviews Thomas Olde Heuvelt. 
• The Qwillery also interviews Thomas Olde Heuvelt.
• Andrea Johnson interviews Stephen Cox. 
• Dag Rambraut interviews Roshani Chokshi. 
• Claire Landsbaum interviews Maggie Stiefvater. 
• Rachel Swirsky interviews Mary Robinette Kowal.
• Paul Weimer interviews Marc Turner.
• Michael Cummings interviews Ken Scholes.
• Steve Berman interviews Nathan Burgoine. 
• Matthew C. Lamb interviews Daniel O'Malley.
• Joshua Rigsby interviews Cory Doctorow.
• Andrew Liptak interviews Marko Kloos. 

Reviews:

• John Wiswell reviews Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay. 
• Ana Grilo reviews Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel.
• Adam Whitehead reviews Cold Magic by Kate Elliott.
• Paul Di Filippo reviews Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt.
• John Bardinelli reviews Admiral by Sean Danker. 
• Faren Miller reviews Roadsouls by Betsy James.
• Jason Heller reviews The Chimes by Anna Small. 
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay.
• Martin Morse Wooster reviews The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture by Glen Weldon.
• Sharon Stogner reviews The Huntsman: Winter's War.
  

Crowdfunding:

• AZR-0: Robots in the Wild, a picture book in the form of an illustrated journal by Cesare Asaro and Kristie Shepherd, is looking for funding. 
• The documentary Clark Ashton Smith: The Emperor of Dreams is looking for funding. 
• The Outbound Project are looking for funding to take their play The Mission to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
• SFF fan and convention organiser Ed Dravecky has died and his partner Robyn Winans needs some help with the funeral costs.
• SFF writer Judith Tarr needs some help to feed her horses.

Con reports:

• Lisa Napoli reports about Monsterpalooza in Pasadena, California.
  

 
Science and technology:

• The Large Hadron Collider was shut down by an errant weasel, which caused a short circuit.
• The main mirror for the James Webb space telescope has been revealed.
• Russia's new Vostochny space centre had a nail-biting, but ultimately successful start.
• Three earth-like planets have been discovered orbiting a dwarf star.

Free online fiction:

• "Night's Slow Poison" by Ann Leckie at Tor.com. 
• "The Birth Will Take Place on a Mutually Acceptable Research Vessel" by Matthew Bailey in Lightspeed.
• "We've Lied" by Bob McHugh in Daily Science Fiction. 
• "Three Points Masculine" by An Owomoyela in Lightspeed.
• "Team Invasion" by David Tallerman in Liminal Stories. 
• "The Signal Birds" by Octavia Cade in Liminal Stories.
• "1957" by Stephen Cox in Apex Magazine.
• "Left Behind" by Cat Rambo in Clarkesworld. 
• "Cup and Table" by Tim Pratt in Lightspeed. 
• "Red as Blood and White as Bone" by Theodora Goss at Tor.com.
• "Mika Model" by Paolo Bacigalupi at Slate.
• "Revenge is Best Served Cold" by T.S. Paul.
  

Odds and ends:

• Watch a trailer for Batman: The Killing Joke.
• Watch a trailer for Andron.
• Watch a trailer for Approaching the Unknown.
• Watch a trailer for Harmony.