It's time for the weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with tributes to Victor Milán, Star Trek Discovery (spoilers again mostly marked, but reader beware), Black Panther, Altered Carbon, The Cloverfield Paradox as well as the usual mix of awards news, writing advice, interviews, reviews, con reports, crowdfunding campaigns, science articles, free online fiction and much more.
Speculative fiction in general:
- Eric Brown shares a round-up of the best recent science fiction novels.
- Cora Buhlert offers a defence of wallpaper science fiction.
- Liz Bourke wonders why there are so few science fiction and fantasy stories about pregnancy and child-rearing.
- Natalie Zutter shares her favourite beta couples in science fiction and fantasy.
- Leah Schnelbach and Natalie Zutter shares science fiction and fantasy novels featuring healthier sexual relationships than Fifty Shades of Grey.
- James Davis Nicoll takes a look at some more woman science fiction writers from the 1970s.
- Tor.com offers a list of epic fantasies that explore prehistory through the eyes of a woman.
- Jill Lepore takes a look at the strange and twisted life of Mary Shelley's classic novel Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus on its 200th anniversary.
- Alan Brown shares his appreciation for Hal Clement's 1953 science fiction classic Mission of Gravity.
- Karin L. Kross revisits Iain M. Banks' 1987 Culture novel Consider Phlebas.
- Leah Schnelbach shares her appreciation for the unchosen ones of fantasy and science fiction.
- Alasdair Stuart explains how Netflix is changing science fiction and fantasy film and series.
- Cassam Looch explains how science fiction found a new home at Netflix.
- Cheryl Eddy shares the eight best and four worst twist endings in science fiction and fantasy films.
- Camestros Felapton revisits the 1981 animated movie Heavy Metal and finds that it doesn't hold up.
- Cara Buckley asks how The Shape of Water became the film to beat at the 2018 Oscars.
- Natalie Zutter declares that love in the Star Wars universe is a lot more realistic now.
- Michael Cavna shares a guide to every Star Wars movie and TV show currently planned.
- Lucy Mangan feels that The X-Files has jumped the shark.
- Stuart Heritage explains why he roots for the villains of shows like Hard Sun and Lost.
- Lucy Chase Williams shares her #MeToo moment with Forrest J. Ackerman.
- Adam-Troy Castro explains that he was aware of Forrest J. Ackerman's problematic behaviour twenty years ago, when he was outvoted on giving Ackerman the Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award.
- JJ declares that we need to do more than simply be upset about abuse and harrassment in fandom.
- Jason Sanford reminds us that the golden age wasn't golden for everyone with the prevalence of abuse and harrassment in fandom.
Tributes to Victor Milán:
- Victor Milán, author of science fiction, fantasy and other genres, died aged 63.
- George R.R. Martin remembers Victor Milán.
- Craig W. Chrissinger remembers Victor Milán.
Comments on Star Trek Discovery:
- Katharine Trendacosta calls both the season finale and the entire first season of Star Trek Discovery wildly uneven.
- Gavia Baker-Whitelaw shares her thoughts on the season finale of Star Trek Discovery.
- Zack Handlen shares his thoughts on the season finale of Star Trek Discovery.
- Keith DeCandido shares his thoughts on the season finale of Star Trek Discovery.
- Swapna Krishna shares her thoughts on the season finale of Star Trek Discovery.
- Kayti Burt shares her thoughts on the season finale of Star Trek Discovery.
- Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts on the season finale of Star Trek Discovery.
- Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on the season finale of Star Trek Discovery.
- Ethan Siegel shares his thoughts on episode 14 of Star Trek Discovery.
- James Whitbrook declares that in its first season, Star Trek Discovery asked hard questions that it never really wanted the answers to.
- Swapna Krishna asks us to accept that Star Trek Discovery is Star Trek.
- Liz Shannon Miller interviews Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts, producers of Star Trek Discovery, and looks ahead at season 2.
- Gavia Baker-Whitelaw interviews Gersha Phillips, costume designer of Star Trek Discovery.
- Gavia Baker-Whitelaw finds a revelation regarding Klingon genitalia in the Star Trek Discovery finale.
Comments on Black Panther:
- Charles Pulliam-Moore explains why Black Panther is Marvel's first Shakespearean epic.
- Gavia Baker-Whitelaw calls Black Panther a beautiful and thoughtful political fantasy.
- Mick LaSalle calls Black Panther a grand-scale and serious action blockbuster.
- Annabel Rackham explains why Black Panther is no ordinary superhero movie.
- Dyane Ford declares that Black Panther is more than just a superhero movie.
- David Betancourt explains why Black Panther will mean so much to so many people.
- Jacob Joyce explains why black superheroes like Black Panther are so important for fans of colour.
- Carvell Wallace explains why Black Panther is a defining moment for black America.
- Charles Pulliam-Moore says that Marvel misses another opportunity for LGBT representation with the Dora Milaje in Black Panther.
- Meg Downey shares her appreciation for the character of Shuri in Black Panther.
- Mame Bougouma Diene compares the fictional African countries Wakanda from Black Panther and Zamunda from the 1988 movie Coming to America.
- Winona Dimeo-Ediger looks at the real world inspiratio for the Kingdom of Wakanda from Black Panther.
- Germain Lussier interviews Ryan Coogler, director of Black Panther.
- Anthony Breznican interviews the female stars of Black Panther.
- Watch a video of the premiere of Black Panther in Kisumu, Kenya, hometown of Lupita Nyong'o, one of the stars of the film.
Comments on Altered Carbon:
- The G. takes a look at the first three episodes of Altered Carbon.
- Graeme Virtue wonders whether Altered Carbon proves that filmic cyberpunk has a life beyond Blade Runner.
- Devindra Hardawar declares that Altered Carbon is more than just a Blade Runner rip-off.
- Alex McLevy calls Altered Carbon a sprawling potential blockbuster of a series.
- Alex McLevy reports that Netflix has harmed Altered Carbon by the surprise release of The Cloverfield Paradox on the very same weekend.
Comments on The Cloverfied Paradox:
- Benjamin Lee calls The Cloverfield Paradox a monstrous mess.
- Natalie Zutter declares that the problem with The Cloverfield Paradox is that it is trying to be two different movies.
Awards:
- The finalists for the 2017 BSFA Awards have been announced.
- The preliminary ballot for the 2018 Ditmar Awards has been announced.
- The shortlist for the 2017 Aurealis Awards has been announced.
- Voting is open for the 2017 This Is Horror Awards.
- Nominations are open for the Keystroke Medium Readers' Choice Awards.
- Nominations are open for the Australian Shadows Awards.
- The shortlist for the 2018 IAFA Crawford Awards has been announced.
- The winners of the 2018 SFWA Kate Wilhelm Solstice Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the 2018 Alex Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the 2017 Cybil Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the 2018 Annie Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the 2018 VES Awards have been announced.
- The Handmaid's Tale is one of the winners of the 2018 Scripter Awards.
- Nicholas Whyte shares some series eligible for the 1943 Retro Hugo in the Best Series category.
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- Oren Ashkenazi asks how useful Kurt Vonnegut's eight rules of writing still are.
- Damien Walter discusses the four skills of the full stack writer.
- Diana Pharaoh Francis explains how writers can learn from books that don't quite work.
- Sarah Gailey talks about creating a map for River of Teeth.
- Sara Wood talks about the process of designing a book cover.
Interviews:
- Juliette Wade interviews Ann Leckie.
- Ross Johnson interviews Alastair Reynolds.
- Reza Dahya interviews Nalo Hopkinson.
- Andrea Johnson interviews Alix E. Harrow.
- Pornokitsch interviews E.J. Swift and Joey Hi-Fi.
- Shellie Horst interviews Nick Bailey and Darren Bullock.
- Ross Johnson interviews Sebastian Girner and Galaad.
- Jonathan Hatfull interviews Guillermo Del Toro.
Reviews:
- The Bookish Libra also reviews Honor Among Thieves by Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre.
- Flying Paperbacks reviews Honor Among Thieves by Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre.
- Mark Chitty reviews Terminal Alliance by Jim C. Hines.
- Camestros Felapton reviews Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey.
- Ross Johnson reviews Gunpowder Moon by David Pedreira.
- Liz Bourke reviews Binti: The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor.
- Paul Weimer reviews The Black Tides of Heaven and The Red Threads of Fortune by J.Y. Yang.
- Paul Weimer also reviews The Harbors of the Sun by Martha Wells.
- A.S. Moser reviews Tracker and Visitor by C.J. Cherryh.
- Ceridwen Christensen reviews Pride and Prometheus by John Kessel.
- Faren Miller reviews The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty.
- Imogen Russell Williams reviews The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert.
- Mieneke van der Salm reviews Before Winter by Nancy K. Wallace.
- Camestros Felapton reviews Borne by Jeff VanderMeer.
- Niall Harrison reviews Taty Went West by Nikhil Singh.
- Sarah McCarry reviews Starlings by Jo Walton.
- Alex Brown reviews Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi.
- Shellie Horst reviews Evil is a Matter of Perspective, edited by Adrian Collins.
- Thomas Joyce reviews Lovebites & Razorlines by J. Daniel Stone.
- Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Weekend Getaway by Tom Deady.
Crowdfunding:
- Sunspot Jungle, an anthology of science fiction and fantasy from around the world edited by Bill Campbell, is looking for funding.
- M.C.A. Hogarth is looking for funding for a print edition of her military science fiction novel Either Side of the Strand.
- Tiny Wastelands, a post-apocalyptic roleplaying game, is looking for funding.
- Critic and podcaster Renay Williams is looking for funding to attend Camp Wellstone.
Con reports:
- Dino-Ray Ramos shares the schedule for the 2018 PaleyFest in Los Angeles, California.
- T.M. Shine reports about crashing several conventions and conference in Washington DC, including Fortfest 2017 and Blerdcon.
- Martin Morse Wooster reports about a performance of Thornton Wilder's 1943 fantasy play The Skin of Our Teeth in Washington DC.
- Leanne Italie reports about Philipp Plein's science fictional fashion show at the New York Fashion Week.
Science and technology:
- Ethan Siegel discusses the biggest myth in quantum physics.
- Ethan Siegel also explains why the ozone layer is not healing itself.
- Matt Williams predicts that exploding binary stars will light up the sky in 2022.
- George Dvorsky reports about the next SpaceX launch planned for this weekend.
Free online fiction:
- "A Witch's Guide to Escape: A practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies" by Alix E. Harrow in Apex Magazine.
- "Through te Eye of the Needle" by A.J. Fitzwater in GigaNotoSaurus.
- "Jamaica Ginger" by Nalo Hopkinson in Lightspeed.
- "A Coward's Death" by Rahul Kanakia in Lightspeed.
- "Evernight" by Victor Milán at Tor.com.
- "The Tallest Doll in New York City" by Maria Dahvana Headley at Tor.com.
- "Monkey See, Monkey Do" by Alicia Hilton at Akashic Books.
- "Last Stand for Lucifer's Legion" by D.K. Latta in Crimson Streets.
- "Her Beautiful Body" by Adrienne Celt in Strange Horizons.
- "Trigger Snowflake - Prominent Local Poet" by Ingvar in File 770.
Odds and ends:
No comments:
Post a Comment