[SF/F/H Link Post] How to Build a Starship; The Latest X-Files Monster; Remember The Canterbury

Interviews & Profiles

• ARS Technica interviews Nick Farmer, who created the Belter Creole language heard in episodes of SyFy’s The Expanse.
• Engadget interviews Roger Guyett and Patrick Tubach, of The Force Awakens.
• Forward.com interviews Bernard Werber, author of The Sixth Sleep.
• Literary Hub interviews Robert W. Gehl and GMH, founders of The Torist, the Dark Web’s first literary magazine. [via Paul Di Filippo]
• People’s World interviews Junot Díaz, of The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

News

• Avengers: Age of Ultron takes home an Annie Award.
• New survey says that 92% of students prefer paper books over e-books. Meanwhile, the other eight percent ask “What’s a ‘book’?”
• Samuel R. Delany will be inducted to the New York State Writers Hall of Fame June 7.
• Star Wars lands preview on Disneyland TV special.
• There’s life of Mars and it eats Cauliflowers … or something. I don’t really know; I didn’t read past the headline.

Crowd Funding

• Battlefront Eva Chapter 1 – A Sci-Fi/Fantasy Epic about a Utopian Civilization consumed by Interplanetary Warfare.
• The Black Mill Comic Book: Issue Zero – For all lovers of the New Weird; for all the fans of Mervyn Peake’s GORMENGHAST books–the foundational story of a great new series.
• Discarded – Two presumed-dead genetically engineered soldiers search for the truth of their origins…and discover far more than they ever imagined.
• In the Stars I’ll Find You – A new short story collection from Bradley P. Beaulieu, the critically acclaimed author of Twelve Kings in Sharakhai.
• Moving Forward: A Novella of Life After Zombies – A science fiction novella by Jamie Lackey set in a post zombie-apocalypse world.
• PEOPLE OF COLO(U)R DESTROY SCIENCE FICTION! – a special issue of the Hugo-winning magazine LIGHTSPEED, 100% written—and edited—by POC creators.
• Starguild: Space Opera Noir tabletop RPG – In space, nobody can hear you scheme…

Articles

• TV Review: The X-Files has its groove back in a strange, funny, heartbreaking episode.
• 11 Books For The X-Files Fans Who Can’t Get Enough.
• 25 Science Fiction Books Being Adapted Into Movies.
• 33 Sci-Fi Movies Coming to Theaters in 2016.
• Alan Tudyk asks fans to send him fan fiction. I can only imagine the eye-searing response will eventually force him to beg for mercy.
• Beyond the warp drive: science fiction’s search for transcendence.
• The Expanse and the return of sci-fi to Syfy to the realm of actual sci-fi.
• George R.R. Martin names eleven book editors that deserve consideration for a Hugo.
• How The Expanse Pulled Off Two Miracles at the Same Time.
• How The X-Files changed television:The beloved sci-fi show paved the way for today’s binge-watchable serialized dramas.
• How to Build a Starship — and Why We Should Start Thinking About It Now.
• New Leia Focused Star Wars Book Reveals Kylo Ren’s Backstory.
• Peter Straub, and the Horror That Bartleby Wrought. [via Paul Di Filippo]
• A Point of View: Confessions of a repeat Star Wars viewer.
• Ranking the 9 Best Indie Science Fiction Web Series.
• Sci-fi isn’t just for guys (guest post by author Evangeline Denmark.)
• Sci-Fi What’s The Best Sci- Fi Weapon In the Universe? Humans, duh.
• Why We Should Use Behavioral Economics to Design Technology That Doesn’t Kill Us.
• Will Luke Skywalker’s Wife To Appear In Star Wars 8 Or Rogue One?
• Will robots take the field in Super Bowl 100? Probably, but will they be using footballs or a decapitated human head? That’s the real question.
• The X-Files, conspiracy theories, and the ‘90s: The inconvenient truth is out there.

Art

• The art Bordeaux, France-based Camille Alquier.
• The NFL meets Star Wars: Helmet designs from a galaxy far, far away.
• The New X-Files Art Exhibit Takes on Conspiracies, Monsters and Mythology.

More Fun Stuff

• Ample Hills Creamery’s Star Wars 4-pack now available for US$36.
• How The X-Files brought its latest creature to life.
• A new novel from Saint Louis area author, Mark Sumner, entitled On Whetsday will appear online as text “episodes,” as a series of podcasts, and as a paperback. The book will be published in February by a St. Louis-based writers cooperative, Word Posse, which also publishes the works of mystery writer Rett Macpherson and horror writer Marella Sands. Online episodes begins weekly, starting Jan 30, with the text appearing on dailykos.com at 10 eastern / 9 central. This is the first extended fiction project from the site, which generally focuses on political issues.
• Photos from 1956 World SF Convention.
• Read an excerpt from Star Wars: Bloodline at Outerplaces.
• “Remember The Canterbury” is a ballad that’s The Expanse’s Version Of the real world “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” Take a listen.
• Watch a trailer for the dystopian sci-fi short “Connected.”
• You won’t be able to unsee this Star Wars family portrait once you’ve seen it.