[SF/F/H Link Post] Is Star Trek’s Utopia Achievable?; Kylo Ren is Not a Resistance Spy; Wondercon 2016 Panels

Interviews & Profiles

• HuffPo interviews Gavin Hood, director of Eye in the Sky.
• The Observer interviews Hugh Howey, author of Beacon 23.
• SFFWorld interviews Jo Zebedee, author of Sunset Over Abendau.
• The Washington Post interviews Manu Saadia, author of Trekonomics.

News

• Aliette de Bodard picks up two sci-fi awards for ‘startlingly original fiction’
• Baidu Consults Science Fiction Writers for AI Research Project
• Hubble shows the heart of the Milky Way

Events & Event News

• ERNEST CLINE, best-selling author of Ready Player One, appears at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, NC on Tuesday, April 19 at 7:00 PM to sign ARMADA!
• Felicia Day (The Guild, Geek & Sundry) appears at Cat’s Cradle on Wednesday, April 27, 2016 at 6:00 PM to discuss and sign the paperback edition of her memoir YOU’RE NEVER WEIRD ON THE INTERNET (ALMOST)! Hosted by Flyleaf Books in Carrboro, NC, co-sponsored by NC Comicon. Buy tickets at the link.

Crowd Funding

• Evil Inc Annual Report Vol. 9: Ruby of Ragnoor – The new graphic novel based on the popular comic strip, Evil Inc, by Brad Guigar. 112 pages, full color graphic novel.
• NecronomiCards: A Lovecraftian card game of strategy & luck. – Match magic symbols to summon elder gods, demons, and mythological monsters, then use them to attack your opponents. 2-4 players
• The Pride Vol. 1 Hardcover Collection – LGBTQ Superheroes – Collecting the entire first volume of The Pride, an LGBTQ superhero team, into a huge, gorgeous hardcover.
• Wrath and Ruin: A Chilling Anthology – a debut, multi-genre collection of speculative fiction stories (fantasy, sci-fi, supernatural horror) by C.W. Briar.

Articles

• 6 Star Wars: The Force Awakens Characters Who Need to up Their Game in Episode VIII
• 11 Reasons The Lone Gunmen Are The Best X-Files Characters, Hands Down
• 12 Things We Want To See In The New Tomb Raider Movie
• Almost an author weighs in on Sci-Fi Military Technology
• April 2016 New Releases in Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror
• Bruce Sterling urges us not to panic, just yet
• Can we trust robots to make moral decisions?
• Dissident Voice wonders Is Star Trek’s Utopia Achievable?
• Even Kevin Smith Had Major Problems With Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice
• The Force Shrugs: Should Star Wars Fans Actually Care About Rogue One?
• From Sci fi to Real, Biological Supercomputers will soon arrive
• Geek book of the week: How a writer colonized another planet
• Human-Like Robot Interviewed at SXSW—It’s Here to Help and Destroy
• If death becomes optional, will only the rich get to live forever?
• Jeff VanderMeer explains what it’s like to edit The Big Book of Science Fiction
• A neuroscientist explains why artificially intelligent robots will never have consciousness like humans
• The Star Wars Easter Egg That Took fovever to fit into The Force Awakens
• Star Wars: 21 things we learned from The Force Awakens DVD documentary
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Could Snoke Have Been Done Practically?
• Why Jean-Luc Picard Never Carried a Wallet
• Why “shelfies,” not selfies, are a better snapshot of who you are
• Writing Sci-Fi Could Make Architects Better at Their Jobs

Art

• BB-8 Cosplay Kid Is Totally Adorbs
• Batman-themed Scout Trooper Helmet: Biker Bat from Earth
• Here’s Some Beautiful Star Wars Art for a Friday Evening
• A Massive Eight-Feet Tall Mountain Marble Maze Is Better Than Watching a Movie

More Fun Stuff

• Batman Super Fan Builds the Ultimate LEGO Batcave
• Force Awakens exclusive video: No, Kylo Ren is not a Resistance spy
• From the Swiss Army knife to an honest-to-God laser pistol, here’s a list of weapons astronauts and cosmonauts have taken with them into space. It includes disappointingly few power rings.
• Get a vinyl R2-D2 skin for your Roomba from Bel & Bel
• James Gunn Shares “Last Supper” Inspired Guardians of the Galaxy Easter Egg
• Producers Jeph Loeb and Jeffrey Bell, along with the cast of Agents of SHIELD and the cast of iZombie spoke to the media at Wondercon 2016, and Convention Scene have posted videos both Q&A sessions.
• Read an excerpt from Leviathan’s Blood by Ben Peek at Tor.