SF/F/H Link Post for 2013-12-12
Interviews & Profiles
- Audible.com has a Q&A with John Scalzi, who discusses his career and new book, “Lock In.”
- Buffy and Merlin Anthony Head star talks about playing a centaur in Percy Jackson: Sea Of Monsters
- The Civilian Reader interviews Toby Venables of Knight of Shadows
- The League of Extraordinary Writers has an interview with the authors of the young adult novel These Broken Stars, Meagan Spooner and Amie Kaufman.
- Ming-Na Wen: Why S.H.I.E.L.D. is the ‘toughest show I’ve ever had to do’
- My Bookish Ways JB Lynn, author of Nearly Departed
- Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer: an audience with geek royalty
- Nicky Peacock interviews Laura Lam, author of Shadowplay.
Events & Event News
- The Confusion science fiction convention will be held in Detroit in January. The guest list includes Tobias Buckell, Cherie Priest, and Lucy A. Snyder.
- The New York Public Library (NYPL) has organized an event called “Charles Dickens & A Christmas Carol with Neil Gaiman and Molly Oldfield.” The event will take place on Saturday, December 15th inside the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building.
Crowd Funding
- Imaginary Drugs – An immortal celebrity assassin. Doomed love in space. An adorable but twisted ritual sacrifice. Your comics await!
- Red: A Cyberpunk Fairytale Volume 1 – A sci-fi version of Little Red Riding Hood. Red, a member of a private security firm, must fight to survive in a violent world.
Articles
- 9 Fairy Tales For Adults That Are WAY Better Than Disney
- 9 Signs You Might Be Living in a YA Novel, courtesy of Barnes and Noble.
- 95% of Americans find libraries ‘important’
- Amazing Stories editor Steve Davidson offers an explanation and apology and reaffirms his commitment to diversity and stand against bigotry.
- Are Libraries Essential? Mixed Message in Latest Pew Survey
- The Art & Science of World Building: The Tools You Need to Make a Believable World
- A.V. Club picks the best mainstream and superhero comics of 2013
- Dangerous Women tops Bookish’s list of the best sci-fi and fantasy books of 2013.
- Do the Amazing Spider-Man Movies Need Peter Parker?
- Ed Wood’s Plan 9 From Outer Space: Worst Movie Ever Made or Ultimate Cult Flick?
- Elizabeth Bear: A Shining Light in the Genre
- From the Ghetto to Literary Old Town: Exploring Shakespeare’s Magic
- Galatica’s Gods: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Cylon God
- Great Gift Books for the Sci-Fi and Fantasy Fan In Your Life, suggested by Barnes and Noble.
- The Huffington Post on The Meaning of Libraries.
- Is There Such A Thing As Too Much Star Wars?
- Kenya sci-fi series imagines European immigrants fleeing to Africa: TV show set in 2062 presents Africa as an oasis which desperate Europeans are risking their lives to reach
- Movie moguls do battle over The Hobbit’s olden hoard.
- The New York Times considers the issue of Heroines at the Box Office
- Omnivoracious suggests YA Books to Read in 2014
- Research sheds new light on why paper still has an edge over e-readers.
- The Secret of Writing Great Science Fiction from great science fiction writers.
- Spiders, Bear Men, Bowmen, and Crises of Elvish Conscience: Tor.com imagines What We Might See in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, like kids who can’t wait for Christmas.
- Understanding Tolkien’s work hinges upon the horror of the Somme. Ninety years ago, Allied commanders launched the World War I offensive lastingly remembered as the Battle of the Somme.
- When Can You Call Yourself A Writer?
- Why do writers publish? What do they make? Social science findings from Digital Book World
- Why people’s problems with a female Doctor Who are wrong, wrong, wrong
- Kirkus Reviews (John DeNardo) offers Gift Ideas for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Fans on Your Holiday Shopping List.
Science and Technology
- 6-year-old tries to save NASA: A 6-year-old who dreams of being an astronaut for NASA has taken matters into his own hands by starting an online petition to try and save NASA.
- Congressional hearings on extraterrestrial life
- Tolkien gesture – scientist maps climate of Lord of the Rings: Mount Doom is like LA and the Shire like Lincolnshire, so says a climate model based on author’s famously detailed maps
- Scientific America explains Why Life Does Not Really Exist
- Worried about robots? You should be. Artificial intelligence superior to our own is, by some estimates, only thirty years away. What could possibly go wrong? The answer: everything.
Art
- How to Make a Fantasy World Map
- In the new Itty Bitty Orphan Black Webcomic, Helena’s always scarfing down everyone’s food, Delphine’s being a goody two-shoes tattle tale, and Cosima is just straight up delinquent. And all of them are each other! What’s Principal Leekie to do?!?
More Fun Stuff
- The 13 Most Indisputable Fan Theories Of 2013
- Infographic: The Secret Wealth of Smaug the Dragon
- Watch a Teaser for Doctor Who’s Christmas Special
- Sword & Laser Podcast – #154 – A Natural History of Dragons.
- YouTuber and undeniable genius Paradise Decay has created the “trench run” from Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope in Minecraft, brick by exacting brick. None of it is random, either. Paradise Decay matched the original as close as humanly possible.
Thank for linking to Steve Davidson’s apology statement. We all make mistakes and I commend him for making an attempt to understand where he went wrong and having a commitment to grow moving forward. I think it wise not to give lengthy explanations as that usually backfires, making things worse. I hope he gets some constructive feedback from the process.