Wishing Tree in Portland, Oregon, from Atlas Obscura.
Happy 2021, everyone. Congratulations on making it this far.
Conventions:
The Baltimore Science Fiction Society reported out on the findings of an investigation into the behavior of Eric Gasior, Vice Chair of the Virtual BaltiCon 54.
Giveaway:
One commenter will get the trade paperback version of Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House.
Tech and Fun:
From Boston Dynamics, the famous dancing robots.
Books and Writing:
Daniel Jose Older gets some help from Tik Tok to demonstrate why he thinks there’s no reason to put non-English words in italics in English text.
Nerds of a Feather has a microreview of Naomi Novik’s A Deadly Education.
Eldritch horror has gone mainstream!
Are publishers making progress on the inclusion front? Well, they think so.
Oh, look! A Best of 2020 list! This one is from The Mary Sue and doesn’t pretend to be all-inclusive, and I admire them for that.
Lithub shares ten books coming out this year that we’re anxious for (including a new Murderbot book!)
Mary Robinette Kowal provides an itinerary of where she’ll be virtually this month.
N.K. Jemisin provides her, well, not resolutions, exactly, but “best-laid plans” for 2021. I love how she discusses reducing her use of F-bombs, but not eliminating them completely, because she “is a New Yorker, after all.”
Streaming, TV and Movies:
Rumors continue that Jodie Whitaker will leave Doctor Who after this season. The Mary Sue wants a woman of color next. May I suggest Jo Harris, who has already played the Doctor in two episodes? Nothing we thought we knew about regenerations was true, so there’s no reason a previous generation can’t return.
If you love the DISCWORLD books by Sir Terry Pratchett, then stay far, far away from BBC’s adaptation The Watch. If you don’t care about the books or the characters and you think low-budget, irreverent fantasy could be fun, then check it out. Last month Polygon gave it a review that is, in my opinion, kind.
Warning, spoilers: Over at Whatever, Athena Scalzi has strong opinions about Wonder Woman 1984.
The Internet:
H.G. Wells fans are not pleased with the new British commemorative coin.
World:
Altas Obscura has an “unusual monuments” button on its site. I found the Portland, Oregon Wishing Tree there, and I like it.
Saw that robot video on Facebook the other day; it’s so adorable!
Adorable, and a little bit scary.
Commenting with the box checked to make sure I get notifications on these last two giveaway posts, although I thought I had it checked originally.
I had checked it, but the notifications had started going to Spam without warning.
The mistakes on the H.G. Wells coin are pretty amazing. Maybe they should have bought a copy of the old “Classics Illustrated” comic book, issue #124, “The War Of the Worlds”!
Thank you for the giveaway opportunity!
It’s good when people are held to account.
Count me in I really enjoyed The Ninth House!
THAT VIDEO IS AMAZING. I haven’t heard of the Boston Dynamics dancing robots before now, and I’m so glad you introduced me to them. I can’t believe the sheer grace of the dancing moves.
Ninth house sounds so amazing. I didn’t know until recently that it is going to be a series, though, interesting to see what will come of that.
It was great to see the original aunties in Sabrina; I loved the sitcom!
As a Latino writer, I’ve followed in Daniel Jose Older’s steps to not italicize non-English words. There’s no need for that.
And thank you for the giveaway opportunity, Marion
Thanks for the warning on The Watch, I started collecting the hardback editions of Terry Pratchet’s novels, loving them so far.
The Watch is a fun, quirky show with oddball humor, but it has heart too. The characters are vulnerable.
I think I’d have to leave Pratchett behind and just decide I’m watching a fantasy show, if I were going to stay with in. Good performances.
Nicolas Perez, if you live in the USA, you win a copy of NINTH HOUSE!
Please contact me (Marion) with your US address and I’ll have the book sent right away. Happy reading!