December 12, 2018

December News

* R.I.P. to Stan Lee, the creator of so many famous superheroes and a man who inspired many people: https://www.tor.com/2018/11/12/stan-lee-1922-2018/

* We're sorry to report the death of William Goldman, Oscar-winning screenwriter and more importantly, author of THE PRINCESS BRIDE. https://variety.com/2018/film/news/william-goldman-dead-dies-butch-cassidy-and-the-sundance-kid-1203030474/

* We're extremely sorry to hear that Endgame in Oakland will be closing at the end of January.  Please drop by and give them some support this month to assist with their closing expenses -- pick up a board or card game or a miniature, and also let them know they'll be sorely missed. http://www.endgameoakland.com/

* The classic vampire book THE GILDA STORIES by Jewelle Gomez is being adapted for TV by Cheryl Dunye and we are so excited.  Pick up the collection now while you can. https://shadowandact.com/afrofuturistic-novel-on-bisexual-vampire-the-gilda-stories-is-being-developed-for-tv-by-cheryl-dunye

* ANOTHER great adaptation on the way: this time Mira Grant's killer mermaid novella! https://www.tor.com/2018/11/15/mira-grant-rolling-in-the-deep-adaptation-seanan-mcguire-killer-mermaids/

* If you weren't lucky enough to make it to WorldCon this summer, check out George R.R. Martin's talk about a number of his works and techniques here: https://winteriscoming.net/2018/12/05/george-r-r-martin-interview-research-fantasy-fiction/

* Yeah this movie sounds . . . bad.  BUT, it sounds like it might be on the border of so bad it's good, so we sorta still want to check it out. https://www.deccanherald.com/entertainment/20-sci-fi-takes-fantasy-turn-706699.html

* Na'amen's only read one of the five novels on this list, but it was one of his favorite reads this year (THE POPPY WAR), and some of the others are on all of our lists, so we think it checks out: https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/the-5-best-science-fiction-and-fantasy-novels-of-2018/2018/11/13/14451af0-cbef-11e8-920f-dd52e1ae4570_story.html?utm_term=.24c85e8ddeac

* A list of the Top 5 Science Fiction movies of the year -- but your mileage may vary; some of these are questionable: https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2018/12/03/the-5-best-science-fiction-movies-of-2018/#409819b5174f

* "Nightflyers" doesn't look like it's the quite the runaway hit that Syfy thought it was getting. https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/nightflyers-attempts-apply-george-r-r-martin-s-game-thrones-ncna944761

* So there seems to be some debate as to whether "It's A Wonderful Life" is a speculative movie or not.  Na'amen's always thought of it as a speculative movie, and a bad one -- but if you disagree you can go to the io9.com article and argue in the comments. https://io9.gizmodo.com/is-holiday-classic-its-a-wonderful-life-secretly-or-ac-1830726913

* Here are nine of the most important British science fiction stories, many of which were part of waves that launched entire subgenres. https://www.denofgeek.com/uk/books-comics/62079/the-9-most-important-british-science-fiction-stories

* If you don't mind subtitles and are into some interesting and gripping Alt-History, you should definitely check out Netflix's "1983" which is set in a world where the Iron Curtain never fell and the Cold War continues. https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/netflix-s-new-show-1983-tightly-paced-well-written-polish-ncna942511?icid=related

* Check out this great interview with Lisa Yaszek about her book THE FUTURE IS FEMALE!: 25 Classic Science Fiction Stories by Women, from Pulp Pioneers to Ursula K. Le Guin and the things that we get wrong about the history of women writing in science fiction: https://loa.org/news-and-views/1439-lisa-yaszek-we-get-the-history-of-women-in-science-fiction-thoroughly-wrong

* A list of 10 new science fiction and fantasy books coming out this month that you should consider adding to your collection. https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/1/18109892/science-fiction-fantasy-books-recommendation-december-2018

* Using science fiction to discuss the ethics of actual controversial science such as gene-editing on children.  https://www.marketplace.org/2018/11/29/tech/can-science-fiction-help-us-grapple-gene-editing-technology

* For those who are interested in exploring other countries' speculative fiction that might not have made it over here, there's the new book A BRILLIANT VOID, which is a collection of Irish Science Fiction.  https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/a-brilliant-void-a-selection-of-classic-irish-science-fiction-1.3709937

* How many times have you watched the "Avengers: Endgame" trailer?  Did you catch these nine easter eggs?  https://www.inverse.com/article/51550-avengers-4-endgame-trailer-breakdown-secrets-spoilers-easter-eggs

* Look for our future corporate overlords to start hiring science fiction writers with an eye toward predicting future trends and inventions. https://boingboing.net/2018/12/07/brian-david-johnson.html

* If you haven’t been watching "The Good Place", we recommend you begin.  Immediately.  This article argues that Janet is the most optimistic AI on TV, although Janet would be the first to tell you "Not a Robot/AI."  https://www.wired.com/story/the-good-place-janet-optimistic-ai/

* What does science fiction say about the place where the author resides, where they grew up, and what their country is going through? http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20181203-what-our-science-fiction-says-about-us

* We just heard about this game and we are so into it.  A pulp sci-fi RPG?!? Sign us up!  https://in.ign.com/the-outer-worlds/130908/preview/the-outer-worlds-is-bringing-fun-back-to-science-fiction

* Scotland is having its first book festival dedicated to Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror.  https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/17244634.scotlands-first-book-festival-dedicated-to-fantasy-science-fiction-and-horror-is-launched/

* The Best Sci Fi movies of 2018 that star women.  This list actually convinced us to check out a few movies that we had written off. https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/a25323468/best-sci-fi-movies-2018/

* The discussion and debate of Tolkien and racism continues with author Andy Duncan weighing in, along with others.  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6428971/Science-Fiction-writer-claims-Lord-Rings-series-racist.html

* Here's a list of 15 of the greatest hard science movies. http://whatculture.com/film/15-greatest-hard-science-fiction-movies-of-all-time

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Award News
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* The Nebula Awards have announced a new category for Game Writing.  https://www.geekwire.com/2018/first-ever-nebula-award-game-writers-approved-professional-science-fiction-writers-organization/

* The 2018 Ignotus Winners, the equivalent to the Hugo for Spain, have announced their winners including Kameron Hurley.  http://locusmag.com/2018/11/2018-ignotus-winners/

* Congratulations to local author & sponsor Ellen Klages for winning the 2018 Best Novel Gaylactic Spectrum Award!  http://www.spectrumawards.org/2018.htm

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