WWWednesday: October 4, 2017

Tribute:

We all know what the candle is for. Every day, I try to use my words to persuade, to heal and to help, but in the face of so much violence I can’t find any words right now. I will let this image speak for my heart.

Books and Writing:

The British Fantasy Awards were announced last weekend. The Best Fantasy Novel was The Tiger and the Wolf by Adrian Tchaikowsky, Best Novella was “The Ballad of Black Tom” by Victor LaValle, Best non fiction “Geek Feminist Revolution” by Kameron Hurley, and Best Graphic Novel Monstress by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda.

The Vulture interviewed the woman who manipulated the New York Times Best Seller list for her YA fantasy of which no one had heard. She has no remorse and will probably try a similar stunt again. Here is my favorite sentence in the article: “Sarem, I’d learn, belongs to the Sheraton Club, which offers its members access to a sort of VIP lounge where you can get free chicken fingers and dumplings that are mysteriously filled with cheese.” I also liked this one: “‘I’m not sure what known reality her books reached all these readers in,” she said. “But it’s not one I’m familiar with.’”

Fran Wilde writes about magic and engineering for Tor.com.

Chloe Neill talks about dog-earing pages, Google Earth and fan fiction.

It’s October, and we all know what that means. Yes, it’s books about pumpkins. No, not really. It’s about high-calorie sugary pumpkin-flavored coffee-ish drinks and scary books. Do we have a list yet? It looks like we do. Here is one from The Verge, and for the fainter of heart, Mrs. Darcy offers books that are creepy and offer a chill, but which she does not consider scary.

TV and Movies (Mostly TV):

Nerd and Tie compares the first episode of Star Trek; Discovery with The Orville. (h/t to File 770.)

Speaking of TV, here is a review of ABCs Marvel’s Inhumans. I’d love to comment on this article and this show but I was so bored I fell asleep during the first hour, although I will say I thought Oahu looked pretty. The Mary Sue presents a Lego game that looks better than the TV show. Apparently, although the series hasn’t been cancelled yet, its fate is precarious.

Speaking of boring TV, BBC’s Doctor Who spinoff Class has been cancelled.

Terry Gilliam has wanted to make a movie about Don Quixote since 1998, and now it appears that it may be released in 2018. Lost in La Mancha is a great documentary about his first attempt to make this film, which I recommend.

Fox’s The Gifted earned an 82% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and opened to decent if not great ratings.

Science andTech:

Elon Musk has announced that the largest battery installation in the world is now halfway completed.

Three Americans were awarded the Nobel Prize in Science for their work in gravitational waves.

Space:

Astronaut and former ISS commander Terry Virts writes a compelling argument for more space flights with humans, and not another space station.

Internet and Conspicuous Consumption:

The Dark Knight Armory site has some lovely fantasy jewelry and accessories; Norse, medieval, Wiccan and fantastica.

Earth:

Another paper was recently published that pushes back the date of the emergence of human life on this planet.

The Thirty Meter Telescope moved one step closer to being built on Mauna Kea last week. The volcano, a sacred mountain to native Hawaiians, already hosts a number of telescopes, and the Thirty Meter Telescope will be built on a sacred site on the mountain’s crater. Opponents still plan to file an injunction against the new permit that was issued this week. This struggle is not over.