WWWednesday: April 9, 2025

The National Space Society is awarding its inaugural Arthur C. Clarke Memorial Award to Joe Haldeman.

The link takes you to the list of books pulled by the Nimitz Library at the U.S. Naval Academy in response to the administration’s policies. Titles include: What Are We Fighting For? By Joanna Russ(nonfiction); Light from Uncommon Stars, by Ryka Aoki (fiction); A Psalm for the Wild-Built, by Becky Chambers (fiction); The Last White Man, Mohsin Hamid (fiction); Sorrowland, by Rivers Solomona (fiction), and Gender Queer, by Maia Kobabe (memoir). (Thanks to File770.)

In related news, the American Library Association listed the ten most challenged books of 2024.

A Pilgrim in Narnia writes about the Inklings as a writing group, and how the mutual support boosted the work of its members.

Ruthanna Emrys wants us to consider using speculative fiction as a tool for preparation rather than prediction. Wide-ranging and thoughtful.

Entertainment Weekly shares a blast from the past about that time an actor in a popular Kid’s Show, Power Rangers, publicly asked to be compensated fairly and was fired. I can’t help noticing that this was before the ubiquity of social media. I think this would go differently now.

Of course there is a Minecraft movie! EW reviews it here.

Nerds of a Feather reviews an older book with a wonderful title: Murder Your Employer. Second only to the name of the book for wonderfulness is the author’s name: Rupert Holmes. And it’s a well-written review, too. (Please do not take the title as a suggestion or an order.)

Atlas Obscura shares what’s under the ice in Antarctica, with a map constructed by a team of scientists lead by the British Antarctic Survey.

 I recently DNFed a horror novel that had a Roanoke theme. (I bought it mostly for the Roanake vibe.) After my disappointment in the book, imagine my delight in finding this Colin Dickey article in Atlas Obscura.