(1) LEARNING ABOUT RUSSIAN SFF. Clarkesworld presents “A Brief History of Russian Science Fiction” by Alex Shvartsman. It’s telling that the Russian term used to describe speculative fiction doesn’t distinguish between science fiction and fantasy. The word is fantastika —the literature of … Continue reading
(1) UP, UP, AND AWAY. “NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Succeeds in Historic First Flight” the space agency reported today. (For a summary of the mission see the Wikipedia: “Ingenuity (helicopter)”.) Monday, NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter became the first aircraft in … Continue reading
(1) BUTLER HONORED. GeekWire, a site with roots in Seattle, took a strong interest in today’s news of a “Mars rover landing site named after Octavia E. Butler” because Butler spent her last years living in the Seattle area. Alan … Continue reading
(1) FRENCH LOCKDOWN. Utopiales, the International Science Fiction Festival of Nantes (France), scheduled for this weekend, was cancelled following today’s announcement by the French president of a new nationwide lockdown. BBC explains: French President Emmanuel Macron has announced a second … Continue reading
(1) QUEEN’S NEW YEAR HONOURS. Over a thousand people are on the list. It is a very good New Year to be a musician with the surname “John” — both Olivia Newton-John and Elton John received honours. As for literature … Continue reading
The James Tiptree, Jr. Literary Award Council has selected Gabriela Damián Miravete as the winner of the 2018 Tiptree Award for her short story “They Will Dream In the Garden,” translated by Adrian Demopulos and published online by Latin American … Continue reading
(1) VISIONS OF WFC 44. Ellen Datlow’s photos from World Fantasy Con 2018 are up on Flickr. (2) DESIGNING WAKANDA. Black Panther designer Hannah Beachler spoke to the CityLab Detroit conference about what went into designing the capital city of Wakanda … Continue reading
The James Tiptree, Jr. Literary Award Council has selected the winner of the 2017 Tiptree Award — Virginia Bergin for her novel Who Runs the World? (Macmillan, UK, 2017). (Bergin’s novel is scheduled to be published in the US in … Continue reading
By Steve Vertlieb: James Bernard was the musical heart and soul of England’s premier horror picture studio, Hammer Films. Creating the symphonic pulse quickened by luminaries Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, and the lovely Veronica Carlson in such films as Horror … Continue reading
(1) HEARTLESS. The day after the worst of recent mass-shootings in American history I don’t want to click on Nerds of a Feather and find “Non-review: Destiny 2 by Bungie (developer)”, a post that begins: Nameless Midnight is my favorite … Continue reading