Sci-fi by Felix

Fantastic links

Good blogs to read:

And good magazines:

See also:

Highlights

Good books and stories:

And from a while ago, Overthinking Ghostbusters: brilliant book that analyzes the movie in depth.

Recent headlines:

But also:

Even more:

And from way back:

Representation

Star Trek: Enterprise Actor Slams How Her Character Was Written (4 September 2023) Star Trek: Enterprise's sorry legacy includes one actor who recently criticized her character's arc and what the show could have done.

To Boldly Stigmatise Where Everyone Has Stigmatised Before (7 February 2021) It's about mental health, and it's not just Star Trek, see below.

The Unbearable Weight of Fantasy, Tolkien, and Race (or, Eh, Black Elves Are Fine) (16 February 2022) Reminds me of the time when I would tie myself into knots to justify Tuvok's presence on Star Trek: Voyager. And he didn't need any justification: black elves vulcans simply exist, and the world is better for it. But it takes some of us a journey of discovery.

A pair of articles on a painful subject:

And some good news for a change:

History

Sci-tech

Spec fic community looks beyond Twitter (16 November 2022) A bit annoying how they whine about having to change, but a good summary nevertheless.

Is SF bad at tech skepticism? (5 November 2022) The answer will not surprise you!

And an ancient one: Sterling: "I'll believe in settling Mars when I see people settling the Gobi Desert" (8 January 2004)

Media

Books and publishing

And an older bunch:

Comics

And an older one: How DC Should Have Built Their Movie Universe (16 June 2013)

Movies

Ray Liotta, ‘Goodfellas’ and ‘Field of Dreams’ star, dies (27 May 2022) Posted here because I knew him from No Escape (1994), where he co-starred with Lance Henriksen.

Antonio Banderas on Death and GIFs (1 October 2019) The actor talks about his 2017 heart attack, his relationship with director Pedro Almodóvar, and why his role in Puss in Boots is so important to him.

Andrei Tarkovsky, Solaris and Stalker (December 2014) The making of two inner-space odysseys

Star Trek

And one that's really old: 15 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Star Trek (9 May 2010)

Star Wars

And one that's undated: Hal Hickel's answer to Why does Tarkin's CGI in Rogue One look so plastic-y? Could they have made it look more realistic?

Worldbuilding

The emotional distance of magic systems (21 December 2022) Or, why I will never be Brandon Sanderson I'll add that you should probably have a loose magic system, to keep it grounded (otherwise it comes across as an ass-pull), as long as it doesn't get in the way of a good story.

Then a couple of older links:

And two that are timeless: