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Last night was the Hugo awards and the Beyoncé of science fiction,  N.K. Jemisin, won her third Hugo in a row for the final book in her Broken Earth Trilogy The Stone Sky. It was not only a big night for Jemisin, but for female authors in general at the Hugo Awards. Most of the winners of the evening were women and some were women of color, including Ohkay Owingeh /Black author, Rebecca Roanhorse, Asian-American author Marjorie M. Liu, and Japanese illustrator Sana Takeda.

Best Novel

• The Stone Sky, by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
• The Collapsing Empire, by John Scalzi (Tor)
• New York 2140, by Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit)
• Provenance, by Ann Leckie (Orbit)
• Raven Stratagem, by Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris)
• Six Wakes, by Mur Lafferty (Orbit)

Best Novella

• All Systems Red, by Martha Wells (Tor.com Publishing)
• “And Then There Were (N-One),” by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny, March/April 2017)
• Binti: Home, by Nnedi Okorafor (Tor.com Publishing)
• The Black Tides of Heaven, by JY Yang (Tor.com Publishing)
• Down Among the Sticks and Bones, by Seanan McGuire (Tor.com Publishing)
• River of Teeth, by Sarah Gailey (Tor.com Publishing)

Best Novelette

• “The Secret Life of Bots,” by Suzanne Palmer (Clarkesworld, September 2017)
• “Children of Thorns, Children of Water,” by Aliette de Bodard (Uncanny, July-August 2017)
• “Extracurricular Activities,” by Yoon Ha Lee (Tor.com, February 15, 2017)
• “A Series of Steaks,” by Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Clarkesworld, January 2017)
• “Small Changes Over Long Periods of Time,” by K.M. Szpara (Uncanny, May/June 2017)
• “Wind Will Rove,” by Sarah Pinsker (Asimov’s, September/October 2017)

Best Short Story

• “Welcome to your Authentic Indian Experience™,” by Rebecca Roanhorse (Apex, August 2017)
• “Carnival Nine,” by Caroline M. Yoachim (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, May 2017)
• “Clearly Lettered in a Mostly Steady Hand,” by Fran Wilde (Uncanny, September 2017)
• “Fandom for Robots,” by Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Uncanny, September/October 2017)
• “The Martian Obelisk,” by Linda Nagata (Tor.com, July 19, 2017)
• “Sun, Moon, Dust” by Ursula Vernon, (Uncanny, May/June 2017)

Best Related Work

• No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters, by Ursula K. Le Guin (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
• Crash Override: How Gamergate (Nearly) Destroyed My Life, and How We Can Win the Fight Against Online Hate, by Zoe Quinn (PublicAffairs)
• Iain M. Banks (Modern Masters of Science Fiction), by Paul Kincaid (University of Illinois Press)
• A Lit Fuse: The Provocative Life of Harlan Ellison, by Nat Segaloff (NESFA Press)
• Luminescent Threads: Connections to Octavia E. Butler, edited by Alexandra Pierce and Mimi Mondal (Twelfth Planet Press)
• Sleeping with Monsters: Readings and Reactions in Science Fiction and Fantasy, by Liz Bourke (Aqueduct Press)

Best Graphic Story

• Monstress, Volume 2: The Blood, written by Marjorie M. Liu, illustrated by Sana Takeda (Image Comics)
• Black Bolt, Volume 1: Hard Time, written by Saladin Ahmed, illustrated by Christian Ward, lettered by Clayton Cowles (Marvel)
• Bitch Planet, Volume 2: President Bitch, written by Kelly Sue DeConnick, illustrated by Valentine De Landro and Taki Soma, colored by Kelly Fitzpatrick, lettered by Clayton Cowles (Image Comics)
• My Favorite Thing is Monsters, written and illustrated by Emil Ferris (Fantagraphics)
• Paper Girls, Volume 3, written by Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Cliff Chiang, colored by Matthew Wilson, lettered by Jared Fletcher (Image Comics)
• Saga, Volume 7, written by Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Fiona Staples (Image Comics)

Best Dramatic Presentation – Long Form

• Wonder Woman, screenplay by Allan Heinberg, story by Zack Snyder & Allan Heinberg and Jason Fuchs, directed by Patty Jenkins (DC Films / Warner Brothers)
• Blade Runner 2049, written by Hampton Fancher and Michael Green, directed by Denis Villeneuve (Alcon Entertainment / Bud Yorkin Productions / Torridon Films / Columbia Pictures)
• Get Out, written and directed by Jordan Peele (Blumhouse Productions / Monkeypaw Productions / QC Entertainment)
• The Shape of Water, written by Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor, directed by Guillermo del Toro (TSG Entertainment / Double Dare You / Fox Searchlight Pictures)
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi, written and directed by Rian Johnson (Lucasfilm, Ltd.)
• Thor: Ragnarok, written by Eric Pearson, Craig Kyle, and Christopher Yost; directed by Taika Waititi (Marvel Studios)

Best Dramatic Presentation – Short Form

• The Good Place: “The Trolley Problem,” written by Josh Siegal and Dylan Morgan, directed by Dean Holland (Fremulon / 3 Arts Entertainment / Universal Television)
• Black Mirror: “USS Callister,” written by William Bridges and Charlie Brooker, directed by Toby Haynes (House of Tomorrow)
• “The Deep” [song], by Clipping (Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, Jonathan Snipes)
• Doctor Who: “Twice Upon a Time,” written by Steven Moffat, directed by Rachel Talalay (BBC Cymru Wales)
• The Good Place: “Michael’s Gambit,” written and directed by Michael Schur (Fremulon / 3 Arts Entertainment / Universal Television)
• Star Trek: Discovery: “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad,” written by Aron Eli Coleite & Jesse Alexander, directed by David M. Barrett (CBS Television Studios)

Best Editor – Short Form

• Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas
• John Joseph Adams
• Neil Clarke
• Lee Harris
• Jonathan Strahan
• Sheila Williams

Best Editor – Long Form

• Sheila E. Gilbert
• Joe Monti
• Diana M. Pho
• Devi Pillai
• Miriam Weinberg
• Navah Wolfe

Best Professional Artist

• Sana Takeda
• Galen Dara
• Kathleen Jennings
• Bastien Lecouffe Deharme
• Victo Ngai
• John Picacio

Best Semiprozine

• Uncanny Magazine, edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, and Julia Rios; podcast produced by Erika Ensign & Steven Schapansky
• Beneath Ceaseless Skies, editor-in-chief and publisher Scott H. Andrews
• The Book Smugglers, edited by Ana Grilo and Thea James
• Escape Pod, edited by Mur Lafferty, S.B. Divya, and Norm Sherman, with assistant editor Benjamin C. Kinney
• Fireside Magazine, edited by Brian White and Julia Rios; managing editor Elsa Sjunneson-Henry; special feature editor Mikki Kendall; publisher & art director Pablo Defendini
• Strange Horizons, edited by Kate Dollarhyde, Gautam Bhatia, A.J. Odasso, Lila Garrott, Heather McDougal, Ciro Faienza, Tahlia Day, Vanessa Rose Phin, and the Strange Horizons staff

Best Fanzine

• File 770, edited by Mike Glyer
• Galactic Journey, edited by Gideon Marcus
• Journey Planet, edited by Team Journey Planet
• nerds of a feather, flock together, edited by The G, Vance Kotrla, and Joe Sherry
• Rocket Stack Rank, edited by Greg Hullender and Eric Wong
• SF Bluestocking, edited by Bridget McKinney

Best Fancast

• Ditch Diggers, presented by Mur Lafferty and Matt Wallace
• The Coode Street Podcast, presented by Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe
• Fangirl Happy Hour, presented by Ana Grilo and Renay Williams
• Galactic Suburbia, presented by Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce and Tansy Rayner Roberts; produced by Andrew Finch
• Sword and Laser, presented by Veronica Belmont and Tom Merritt
• Verity!, presented by Deborah Stanish, Erika Ensign, Katrina Griffiths, L.M. Myles, Lynne M. Thomas, and Tansy Rayner Roberts

Best Fan Writer

• Sarah Gailey
• Camestros Felapton
• Mike Glyer
• Foz Meadows
• Charles Payseur
• Bogi Takács

Best Fan Artist

• Geneva Benton
• Grace P. Fong
• Maya Hahto
• Likhain (M. Sereno)
• Spring Schoenhuth
• Steve Stiles

Best Series

• World of the Five Gods, by Lois McMaster Bujold (Harper Voyager / Spectrum Literary Agency)
• The Books of the Raksura, by Martha Wells (Night Shade)
• The Divine Cities, by Robert Jackson Bennett (Broadway)
• InCryptid, by Seanan McGuire (DAW)
• The Memoirs of Lady Trent, by Marie Brennan (Tor US / Titan UK)
• The Stormlight Archive, by Brandon Sanderson (Tor US / Gollancz UK)

In recent years, the science fiction awards have been working to be more inclusive, and this year’s finalists and winners show just how far we have come in recognizing the accomplishments of a diversity of people in working in that genre. It is hard to believe that in 2016 Jemisin became the first African-America author to win the Hugo for Best Novel and has now become the first person to win it three years in a row in that category.

It’s a beautiful reminder that despite all the things going wrong, that progress is happening.

(via Tor, image: Orbit)

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Warning: This contains spoilers To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before has finally dropped on Netflix. The film, adapted from Jenny Han’s book of the same name, is about 16-year-old Lara Jean Song Covey (Lana Condor) whose love life goes from fantasy to out of control when the love letters she had written to every […]

Season 3 / Episode 8, “The Tom/Brady” / AMC

Bait & Switch

We open right where we left off: with Starr holding a gun to Jesse’s head in hopes that he’ll kill the AllFather somehow. Well, Jesse gets his John Wick on in the elevator and takes out a gaggle of Grail lackeys while changing floors. They get back down to Grail HQ, and Jesse puts one right in the AllFather’s sternum! Then he hands the gun to Starr. Then the AllFather raises his hand, applauding the effort. Starr places the gun to Jesse’s head again. Opening credits run.

TC wakes Marie L’Angelle to let her know the Osaka job is done. The souls are here for her! Standing in the hallway is Jody, with a testy Tulip and a gut-shot Agent Featherstone. Marie asks for the souls. Jody points to the front door. She opens the door to be greeted by Madame Sabina Boyd and a whole lot of dead folks whose souls she’s eaten over the years. Marie wakes with a start and looks furtively toward the rotary phone with no numbers in her den. The voice on the other end says, “What do you want?”

Cassidy and his boo Eccarius leave a random bar and catch a cab. After they get out, the driver takes off a disguise to reveal Agent Hoover, arming himself with all types of anti-vamp knick-knacks. He looks in the rear view for some courage and is met by the glare of the entire Infant Du Squad! Yeah, he done messed up.

TC walks through the foyer and hears the doorbell ringing off the hook. A chill takes TC, and he looks shook as all hell. TC enters Marie’s room and brings a guest: Satan!

As in, 80’s Wolf of Wall Street Satan with the body of Terry Crews. Yeah, he’s hella familiar with Marie They looking like homies, thick as thieves. Satan wants to know why Marie hasn’t joined him in the fiery down under. Marie makes it clear that she has no intention of leaving the earthly realm, AND she wants to cut a new deal. Satan is not with the shits, but he’s listening. Marie puts him on to the thorn in her side: Tulip O’Hare.

Cut to: a gross generalization supercut montage of all things Japan. Then, the haphazard trio of Jody, Tulip, and Featherstone. They share some banter, then Featherstone hands the others their falsified credentials. Tulip chews bubblegum; because her assumed identity chews bubblegum.

Back at Grail HQ, Jesse is strapped to a device and told that Genesis will be taken from him. Jesse laughs, issues a threat about how it’ll destroy whoever they put Genesis into. AllFather calls his bluff and has Humperdoo enter a secret room behind the wall in his office. The device lights up, and Genesis travels out of Jesse through a tube…and into Humperdoo! After what appears to be a moment of elation, Humperdoo explodes into a red mist of nondescript organs! There are bits of the boy every-damn-where in that room.

Genesis rejoins Jesse through the tube and Jesse says, “Told ‘ya.” The AllFather ain’t even the least bit shook, without a moment’s hesitation he just utters, “Send in the next one.” A clone of Humperdoo, the last scion of the Christ, walks into the secret room and awaits his fate. Between stolen moments, Starr and Jesse work out just how they can kill AllFather before Genesis finds a home in Humperdoo. Starr says he put a gun in Jesse’s pocket.

Down To Business

Cut to: Tulip getting very, very awkwardly hit on by Jody in the most out of context scene in any TV show, ever. As Jody goes in for a handful of Tulip’s lady parts, we hear, “Freeze!”. Lights go up and we find ourselves party to a sexual harassment seminar being led by Featherstone, using Jody and Tulip as stand-ins for scenarios! This whole scene had me looking for a missed episode! Featherstone calls for a high-ranking businessman to fill in for Tulip and has Tulip fill in as the aggressor.

Tulip is really, really good at doing bad things — sexual harassment is no exception. She gets a good grip of said businessman’s booty meat then, “Freeze!”. Featherstone makes a note of the situation, scolds the pervy businessmen in the audience and dismisses them for a break. Tulip and Featherstone share 80’s buddy cop flick level banter before moving on the next part of the heist, which involves the ID Tulip took from the businessman.

Now we’re in Hell, literally. The flames on the floor reflect onto the ceiling and posh office decor. We pan down to the Angel of Death, looking fly as usual. Satan walks in, says, “Tulip O’Hare. Bring her to me.” The Angel just saunters out the door, swaggy as demonically possible.

Back to: a cacophony of exploding Humperdoos put to classical music. AllFather has seen enough. He calls for his head scientist, Dr. Sputnik. She explains her process of combining well-known DNA from the ages using one ‘good’ and one ‘bad’ person. The batch that failed used Serena Williams (good) and Louis XVI (16th, and ‘bad’ (and boujee)).

Sputnik goes into more detail, but Starr gets a notification on his celly. He heads out of the room to see a collection of photos sent from Hoover’s phone by Cassidy. Starr gets the picture and gives Cass the go-ahead to kill Hoover. Cassidy texts back to verify. Starr verifies. Funny as hell. Eccarius walks in and suggests turning Hoover to their ’cause’.

Arigato! Osaka is not ready. Tulip and Featherstone use the lifted ID to gain access to a restricted area. They so cool, they just look up at the camera; all the while knowing that security is looking dead at them. Security is, in fact, looking dead at them! They get the riot gear out and head for the door, where they are greeted by the new hire in Human Resources: Jody!

We cut back over to Tulip. She gets a text from Jody: a smiley face emoji. Featherstone goes to hack the vault while hitting Tulip with the kind of subs that start fights in these streets. Tulip keeps it icy. As she starts to work on lock picking, Featherstone lightly warns against it. Tulip gets into the lock and is thrown hella far by the electrified door! Insert sub from Featherstone. Tulip takes the gum out of her mouth, presses it against the lockpick and chucks it at the vault door, shorting it and unlocking it in seconds. Insert sub from Tulip. The unlikely but capable duo walk in to find a vertical chamber filled to the brim with souls.

Back in New Orleans, Hoover is receiving his blood rite: the ‘gift’ of vampirism. He’s actually hyped, says his mom would be so mad if he just died. The Infants show Hoover mad love and they celebrate a new brother into the fold. Cassidy feels some kind of way about the whole situation.

Raw Deal

We catch up with Oceans 2-and-a-half as they pack all them souls tight into a suitcase before they dip out, smooth as a hot knife through butter. In the lobby, they pass a tall figure in black with no second looks. That figure is the Angel of Death! She goes to follow, but is met by a businessman who very, very confidently says something to her about her booty meat. Remember how she bull-whipped The Saint a while back? Yeah, she was reaching for that.

As we get shifted over to the trio landing back in NOLA, Jody says he’s getting the truck. Featherstone takes a minute to compliment Tulip on the job they pulled. Tulip accepts the compliment. Featherstone takes it back. Tulip takes a deep ‘don’t beat her ass’ breath and is met by the Angel, who calls her by name and says to come with her. The Angel doesn’t know Tulip, and Tulip can tell. So, Tulip says, I can point you to her…and gives her Featherstone in her place! Tulip books it to Jody’s truck, saying Featherstone got pinched by the cops. Opening her suitcase reveals nothing but a laptop and some Ethernet cables! The O’Hare curse lingers over Tulip as she plots the next move.

In what feels like only seconds after being turned, Hoover is about to go on his ‘flight’ with Eccarius! He’s got his neck pillow and luggage, and is being taken out by Eccarius himself. Cassidy wishes him a good second chance. On his way out for a smoke, Cass goes to throw away his cigarette butt and sees Lisa’s neck pillow: bloodied and torn. Meanwhile, Hoover and Eccarius are in the jacked up blue station wagon with Paganini’s Greatest Hits bumping loud. Eccarius does his best ‘you ever dance with the Devil in the pale moonlight’ bit and is interrupted by Cassidy. Cass sees through the BS and pulls out Lisa’s neck pillow. Eccarius taps into the speedforce and knocks Cassidy out cold! He looks back for Hoover, but he done booked it out the door.

Grail HQ is a hot mess, but Dr. Sputnik thinks she’s nailed the DNA recombination finally. She holds up the combined genes of Thomas Jefferson (bad) and Wayne Brady (good?), called: the Tom/Brady! The next Humperdoo is brought in, injected with that Tom/Brady, and given Genesis. Humperdoo speaks, “Bow to me!” AllFather and Jesse are unnaturally compelled to bow. Genesis has found a new home! Sputnik pops Humperdoo in the dome with the Luger. AllFather commands, “Bring in the messiah.” Jesse looks petrified.

Eugene is swearing up and down that he knows God has a purpose for him. Like, he’s running a soliloquy about the shit, without end. He’s on line at the bus stop to Hell along with The Saint; Hitler, the Angel, and Featherstone. She looks in disbelief at Hitler as he asks her for her phone. Rick from the strip mall electronics shop, with a swastika tat on his wrist, gets a text.

Episode 8 ends.

Watching Preacher? Find BNP’s other reviews of the series here.

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The post Preacher recap: “The Tom/Brady” appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.

Writer: Mariko Tamaki // Artist: Bruce Guice // Publisher: Marvel

All Paths Lead to Dead Ends

Small town Arizona ain’t what it used to be. As the final issue of the “Claws of a Killer” opens, Sabretooth and Lady Deathstrike are trapped in what appears to be the worst of “Lose-Lose” situations. Trapped in a town that is the subject of an experiment by the Soteira agency, their healing powers have been negated, Daken has been killed,  and now two of their assumed dead loved ones have returned to torment them. Sabretooth, ever the king of cats, reaches his boiling point and is ready to level the entire city rather than end up as a mindless zombie.

The issue begins with Sabretooth and Deathstrike caught in their own personal battles. Graydon Creed, human son of Sabretooth and founder hate-ground The Friends of Humanity, returns while Deathstrike fights against her own father.  Sabretooth, eager to abuse his hatemonger zombie son once more, takes more of a beating than expected, but prevails with the help of Deathstrike.  He blames her for leading them into this trap, and he is well justified.  Upon her own battle with her Soteira controlled father, she learns that the adamantium signal that led her to Arizona belongs to him and not Logan. In the ensuing battle, Deathstrike is unable to hold out for long without a healing factor and loses her hand at the blade of her own father.

The agenda of the agency known as Soteira is slowly revealing itself over the course of the various mini-series. In “Weapon Lost” #4, Daredevil’s team recovers a dossier of digital information just before Soteira was able to purge any evidence. When Cypher decodes the contents, they are faced with video and photo evidence that shows Wolverine both very much alive and under the control of Soteira as an assassin. Daken’s body, presumed dead after being impaled in issue #3, is recovered by Soteira and on its way to becoming a new weapon. Meanwhile, Sabretooth, not one for easy deaths or sentimental goodbyes, decides that risking Deathstrike’s and his own life, is worth blowing the entire town to stop the spread of mindless drones.

“Claws of a Killer” ends on a strong note with surprising results. Confident in tone, style, and a hardcore roster of adamantium laced killers, creative team Tamaki and Guice feel right at home.  Visually, Guice’s linework for character details and backgrounds are unmatched amongst the four Hunt for Wolverine miniseries. The interplay between Guice’s arts and Colorist Jordan Boyd’s work creates a distinct comic that feels like “28 Days Later” meets “The Proposition.”  Instead of catering to the tired zombie tropes of late, writer Mariko Tamaki steers the narrative to a place where the major revelations are emotional and character-centric rather than merely a checklist of objectives from additional supervision.   We have not seen the last of the Sabretooth, Deathstrike, or Daken, as their fates are sure to collide in the upcoming conclusion, “Hunt for Wolverine: Dead Ends.”

For more of Tamaki’s work, check out the new X-23 series which features Laura Kinney reclaiming her first codename and mentoring her sister/clone Gaby.

7.9 out of 10 Family Secrets

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The post Hunt for Wolverine: “Claws of a Killer” #4 appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.