Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for February 10, 2017

Here is our weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with discussion about alternate histories and dystopian fiction, the Locus Awards, discussion about the future of Doctor Who, tributes to Richard Hatch, a shadow jury for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, comments on The Expanse, Legion and The Space Between Us as well as the usual mix of awards news, writing advice, interviews, reviews, awards news, con reports, crowdfunding projects, science articles and free online fiction. 

Speculative fiction in general:

• Jason Sanford shares an alternate history of alternative histories. 
• Judith Thurman discusses Philip Roth's alternate history novel The Plot Against America in the context of the Trump administration.
• Michiko Kakutani explains why George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four is a must-read in 2017. 
• Paul di Filippo takes a look at stories about a fragmented future from the late nineteenth century to the present day.
• Trent Cannon discusses how science fiction is always related to the time it was written. 
• Camestros Felapton wonders who is the most Trumpian character in literature and popular culture. 
• John Markoff shares the science fiction books that helped him to understand the future. 
• Daniel A. Gross discusses with Catherine Asaro and David Brin whether science fiction can help prevent a nuclear war. 
• Sam Reader discusses the pros and cons of seven fictional secret societies.
• Thoraiya Dryer wonders why epic fantasy so often defaults to stories about restoring monarchies.
• Thoraiya Dryer shares eight books about fictional forests. 
• Judith Tarr introduces her new column on horses in SFF.
• Damien Walter shares his appreciation for the Culture series by Iain M. Banks on the occasion of its 30th anniversary.
• Thoraiya Dryer shares her appreciation for the Castings Trilogy by Pamela Freeman. 
• Andrea Johnson revisits The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury.
• Alec Nevala-Lee profiles L. Ron Hubbard and his fiction.
• David Robson discusses what Peter Pan can teach us about memory and consciousness.
• Rich Johnston and Phil Boyle discuss how political comics should be.
• Violette Malan shares her top five sword-fight movies. 
• Germain Lussier has some details about Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. II. 
• Germain Lussier also discusses Marvel's villain problem and that Marvel intentionally focusses on its heroes rather than villains.
• Sarah Gailey discusses iconic costumes from SFF movies.
• Steve Vertlieb shares his appreciation for legendary composer John Williams on the occasion of his 85th birthday. 
• Germain Lussier declares that The Lego Batman Movie tries much too hard to be cool. 
• MeTV shares fifteen forgotten SFF TV shows of the 1970s.
• James Whitbrook explains why Star Trek Deep Space Nine and Voyager may never get full HD Blu-Ray releases.  

Tributes to Richard Hatch:

• Richard Hatch, the actor best known for playing Captain Apollo in the original Battlestar Galactica, has died aged 71.
• Steve Green remembers Richard Hatch. 
• Cora Buhlert remembers Richard Hatch and the original Battlestar Galactica.
• Bill Watters shares tributes and rememberances of Richard Hatch by friends and colleagues.

Awards:

• Voting is open for the 47th annual Locus Awards.
• The winner of the 2017 Crawford Award has been announced.
• The winners of the 2017 Annie Awards have been announced. 
• The nominees for the 2017 Audie Awards have been announced.
• The nominees for the 2017 BAFTA Awards have been announced, including a couple of speculative movies.
  

Discussion about the Arthur C. Clarke Award shadow jury:

• Nina Allan announces the establishment of a shadow jury for the Arthur C. Clarke Award and introduces the members of the shadow jury.
• Nina Allan also shares an introduction and a manifesto about the Arthur C. Clarke Award shadow jury. 
• Helen Marshall explains why a shadow jury for the Arthur C. Clarke Awards is a worthy endeavour. 
• Shadow jury member Paul Kincaid explains how the shadow jury will operate.
• At File 770, there is a discussion about the Clarke Award shadow jury.

Debate about the future of Doctor Who: 

• Camestros Felapton wonders who will be the next Doctor.
• James Whitbrook cautions that it may take a while, until we know who will replace Peter Capaldi as the Doctor.
• Meanwhile, the Daleks demand that the next Doctor should be a Dalek.
  

Comments on The Expanse: 

• Andrew Liptak explains why The Expanse is the most politically relevant show in TV.
• Katharine Trendacosta calls The Expanse the best science fiction show on TV and interviews two of the actors. 
• Leah Schnelbach offers a recap of the latest episode of The Expanse.
• Watch a "Behind the scenes" feature for The Expanse.

Comments on Legion:

• Charlie Jane Anders declares that Legion is a triumph for the X-Men franchise in general.
• Todd VanDerWerff calls Legion a landmark production in more ways than one.
• Graeme Virtue calls Legion the most beautiful superhero show yet. 

Comments on The Space Between Us:  

• Gary Westfahl reviews The Space Between Us.
• Peter Bradshaw calls The Space Between Us a cosmically mawkish teen romance.
• Angie Errigo calls The Space Between Us a lazy teen movie, which wastes its fine actors.

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Steven Smith shares some tips for dealing with writer's block. 
• Sue Duff discusses the difficulties of destroying Earth in fiction.
• Michael Johnston explains why he wrote Soleri.
• Mary Rosenblum explains what really sold in 2016.
• Steve Vernon shares his experiences with Kindle Scout.
• Martin Cavanaugh shares some tips regarding cover design for indie authors.
  

Interviews:

• Carl Slaughter interviews Jacey Bedford. 
• Kathryn McGee interviews Mercedes M. Yardley. 
• Kathryn McGee also interviews Kathe Koja.
• Evan Narcise interviews Jess Nevins. 
• Anne Charnock interviews Suw Charman-Anderson. 
• Carl Slaughter interviews Joe Stech.
• Tony Sokol interviews Malcolm McDowell.
  

Reviews:

• Ana Grilo reviews Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor.
• Thea James reviews Cloak of War by Rhonda Mason.
• Ross Johnson reviews Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty.
• Constance Grady reviews Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman.
• Meghan Ball also reviews Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman. 
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews Passing Strange by Ellen Klages.
• Martin Cahill reviews Amberlough by Lara Elena Donnelly.
• N.K. Jemisin reviews recent SFF releases.
• The Idle Woman reviews Blood Upon the Sand by Bradley Beaulieu. 
• Alex Bledsoe reviews Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire. 
• Paul Weimer reviews Crossroads of Canopy by Thoraiya Dryer.
• Martin Cahill also reviews Crossroads of Canopy by Thoraiya Dryer.
• Joe Sherry reviews Idle Ingredients by Matt Wallace. 
• Liz Bourke reviews The Rise of Io by Wesley Chu. 
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews A Perfect Machine by Brett Savory.
• Jonathan Thornton reviews Everfair by Nisi Shawl. 
• Lucy Hounsom reviews Metronome by Oliver Langmead.
• Sam Reader reviews Universal Harvester by John Darnielle.
• Rob Bedford reviews Dreadnought by April Daniels.
• Rob Bedford reviews A Conversation in Blood by Paul S. Kemp.
• Camestros Felapton reviews Diaspora by Greg Egan.

Crowdfunding:

• Everyone - Worlds Without Walls, a District of Wonder anthology edited by Tony C. Smith, is looking for funding.
  

Con reports:

• Ellen Datlow shares some photos of a reading featuring Holly Black and Fran Wilde at the KGB Bar in New York City.
• Mike Glyer reports about a controversy regarding BayCon in San Matteo, California. 

Science and technology:

• A newly discovered Helium compound could cause chemistry textbooks to be rewritten.
• Benjamin C. Kinney discusses tools and problems of neuroscience. 
• Scientists are building pollination drones to counter the global bee die-off.
• The stone marten that knocked out the Large Hadron Collider.
• What will the city of the future look like?
• Why is the sun spinning too slowly?
• A mysterious X-ray signal intrigues astronomers.
  

Free online fiction:

• "Some Cupids Kill With Arrows" by Tansy Rayner Roberts in Uncanny Magazine.
• "Probably Still the Chosen One" by Kelly Barnhill in Lightspeed.
• "Starship Day" by Ian R. MacLeod in Lightspeed. 
• "The Old Dispensation" by Lavie Tidhar at Tor.com.
• "Entangled" by Lars H. Hoffmann in Compelling Science Fiction.
• "Skychildren" by C.L. Kagmi in Compelling Science Fiction.
• "Grandfather's Room" by Jeffrey Aaron Miller.
• "Planet Feast" by Jeffrey Aaron Miller. 

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. II. 
• Watch a trailer for Iron Fist.
• Watch a trailer for Logan.  
• Watch a trailer for The Circle.
• Watch a trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. 
• Watch a trailer for Ghost in the Shell.
• Watch a trailer for Samurai Jack.
• Watch a trailer for Life. 
• Watch a trailer for Wish Upon.
• Carl Slaughters shares his favourite SFF related YouTube videos.