SF/F/H Link Post for 2014-02-18

Interviews & Profiles

• Daemon And Influx Author Daniel Suarez On Why Innovation Has Stalled
• Den of Geek has an interview with RoboCop Director Jose Padilha
• Geek Bomb Book Club hosts author Brent Weeks, author of The Way Of Shadows.
• Hypable has an interview with Snow Like Ashes author Sara Raasch
• My Bookish Ways interviews Cecil Castellucci, author of Tin Star.
• The Qwillery interviews T. R. Williams, author of Journey into the Flame.
• RoboCop Cast and Director discuss future of war tech.
• RoboCop director José Padilha: “the automation of violence opens the door for fascism.”
• The Skiffy and Fanty Show interview Adam Christopher, author of Hang Wire.
• X-Files creator Chris Carter on his long-awaited return to TV: Amazon’s The After

News

• The 2013 Stoker Preliminary Ballot has been released by the Horror Writers Association.

Events & Event News

• Cassandra Rose Clarke has posted her panel schedule for ConDFW in Addison, Texas.
• Fogcon: cozy, Wiscon-style San Francisco science fiction convention
• Jeff VanderMeer has announced dates for his New York City Book Tour for Annihilation – Three Nights of Music, Conversation, Readings
• Metro Detroit is getting a bit geekier this year as two conventions new to the city will be held at the Renaissance Center, Detcon1 and Midwest Media Expo.
• Neil Gaiman will be reading The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains, accompanied by the FourPlay String Quartet and the paintings of Eddie Campbell, at the Barbican in London in July.
• Season Four of Game of Thrones Is Coming… to Santa Fe, courtesy of George R.R. Martin.

Crowd Funding

• Dark Matters – an Original Novel of (mostly) Fiction. A thought-provoking look at what a globally-connected world of growing income inequality might be like in the not-too-distant future.
• Storms of Lazarus – a World War I dieselpunk novel with zombies, swords, and giant robots.

Articles

• Review: Have you been watching… Helix?
• Review: Nicky Peacock reviews Infinity series (Book 1 and 2) by Sedona Venez
• 5 sci-fi twists that would make Downton Abbey more interesting
• 6 Conspiracy Theories That Inspired Sci-Fi and Horror Movies
• 11 Sci-Fi Sequels That Work: Science Fiction Doubles Down
• 14 Most Anticipated Science Fiction and Fantasy Movies of 2014
• ​The 24 Most Embarrassing Dungeons & Dragons Character Classes
• The App That Helped Write a Breakout Sci-Fi Novel
• Boskone: A Preliminary Con Report from Amazing Stories.
• Charles Stross asks Can We Merge Minds and Machines?
• Den of Geek counts down the Top 10 Geek Procedurals
• Den of Geek salutes Starlog Magazine and the treasures to be found in its online archives…
• Impact examines the Invasion of the Sci-fi Allegory.
• “Just when readers thought the dust had settled on last week’s debate about “political correctness” in sci-fi publishing, a group of highly influential writers spent the past few days lamenting the rise of increasingly vocal women and minorities in their community.” The exchange has served to bring the issue of sexism to the forefront of the speculative fiction community once again. In response, Mary Robinette Kowal, who is mentioned specifically in the original exchange, has offered herself up as a Useful Representative Example, and John Scalzi immediately jumped in to lend Kowal his support, even while acknowledging that she is capable of defending herself.
• Last week, news broke that NASA is launching a program that helps science fiction writers create scientifically accurate stories, but a journalism professor has slammed the NASA science fiction program as “propaganda.” So, Is It Space Propaganda or not?
• The Original Robocop Was A Christ Allegory
• PopMatter waxes nostalgic over White Jumpsuits, Catsuited Babes, Pornstaches and Other Joys of ‘70s Sci-Fi Television. “…idealism of the ‘60s congealed into the malaise of the ‘70s, TV offered us small bands of forlorn humans in tight suits, roaming the stars. These are the ‘the starlost shows.'”
• Possible futures: Which science fiction will become reality?
• Punkpunk: A Compendium of Literary Punk Genres
• Ridley Scott: “Science Fiction is Dead” –Not a Match for Reality
• Science Fiction No Match For Reality, Truth Is Often Stranger says author Lawrence Krauss
• Scott Lynch, author of the Gentleman Bastard series, shares “culture that inspires me.”
• The Times of India asks Did Hermione choose the wrong partner?
• Tough Fantasy Thoughts with Amazing Stories
• Why Hollywood Needs to Stay Out of Anime (At Least For Now)
• You can’t speculate about technology without speculating about society

More Fun Stuff

• The 10 Best Game of Thrones Quotes by Daenerys Targaryen
• The newest Montreal web series is a lovesong to LARPing.
• Read a preview of the graphic novel “Noah” by Darren Aranofsky.
• RoboCop not so sci-fi anymore: Nanosuits, powerful prosthetics, and brain-computer interfacing seemed far-fetched when the original movie hit theaters. Now, with a remake nearly three decades later, the plot is closer to reality than you may think.
• RoboCop Tech: Science Fact and Fiction
• Things Superheroes Do That’d Be Creepy If You Did Them
• Watch the first trailer for Terry Gilliams’ Sci-Fi The Zero Theorem.
• Watch the trailer for Johnny Depp’s new sci-fi mind-bender, Transcendence.
• Watch the trailer for Marvel Renaissance: How The Superheroes Have Conquered Hollywood.