SF² Concatenation

Our home page colour this season is brown now that we have the northern hemisphere autumn. 
The leaves are turning....

Advance News November 2026
Doctor Who has a cinematic screening 23rd November 2026 of the David Tennant 'The Satan Pit: Extended Film Cut' with previously unseen footage.  It's a timey-whimey thing.  Don't be spooked but the trailer is here.

Advance News October 2026
The hit BBC TV comedy fantasy series Ghosts has a feature film out 23rd October.  Don't be spooked but the trailer is here.

Advance News September 2026
The latest Alastair Reynolds novel is out: Merlin's Way. We love Reynolds. This is a deep-space romp.

Jonathan's deep-time co-evolution of life and planet science book paperback edition is now out with a special 30% discount offer. Go to global.oup.com/..., then click 'Add to Basket' and there is a promotional code box at the lower left. The 30% discount code is AUFLY30.

New up...

Newscast for the Autumn 2026. This includes within it many key sections. See also the master newscast link index that connects to all its SF/F genre and science news sub-sections.  In the mix are its Film News;  Television News;  Publishing News;  General Science News  and  Forthcoming SF Books from major British Isles SF imprints for the season subsections, among much else.

An item SF Worldcon go-ers may want to check out is the season's editorial that notes that the Worldcon has been subject to a soft coup d'état!

Also in the mix are a couple of convention reports, SF and science articles, plus over 40 stand-alone book reviews!

There should be something for every SF enthusiast and/or science bod.

                ☺

For details of / links to the new content, scroll down to beneath 'Most recently added' below.

Forthcoming

A Best of Nature 'Futures' short story will go up mid-November (2026).  This will be the third of our four short, short stories that will be posted beteween our three seasonal, news, article and reviews editions of the year.  The science journal Nature posts these short, short stories roughly weekly, but they are behind a pay-wall. However, to enable a broader appreciation by the science community (not all of whom will have a Nature subscription) we have a long-standing arrangement with the journal to re-post four stories that we think are the best of the 60 or so stories from the previous year. (Subject, of course, to the permission of the stories authors' permission.)

We will have another short story mid-December to hold you over the festive season. (We look after you.)

Early in January (2027) we will have our informal list of Best Films and Best Books of 2026. This is our annual bit of fun not to be taken too seriously, but we've been doing this now for two decades and some of our choices have gone on to be short-listed, and a few even win, SF awards. (Scroll down the afore link to see how we did.)

Our 'spring'* season edition will be posted in mid-January with its own seasonal news page, other articles and a tranche of standalone book reviews.
* 'Spring' season here being the northern hemisphere, academic year spring.

What's not to like?

Most recently added

v36(5) 2026.9.15 -- New Columns & Articles for the Autumn 2026

• Newscast for the Autumn 2026. This includes within it many key sections. See also the master newscast link index that connects to all its SF/F genre and science news sub-sections.  In the mix are its Film News;  Television News;  Publishing News;  General Science News  and  Forthcoming SF Books from major British Isles SF imprints for the season subsections, among much else.
   
• The 2026 Australia Book Fair – Suzie Eisfelder
  Suzie Eisfelder reports through the prism of an SF/F reader
   
• Iridescence – The 2026 British Eastercon – Mark Bilsborough
  Held at the Hilton Metropole Hotel, Birmingham. Mark Bilsborough reports
   
• Has AI Made SF Press Officers' Jobs Easier? – Jonathan Cowie
  A look at how artificial intelligence (AI) is impacting compiling press lists for PR and marketing roles
   
• How The Future Was Then: Comics portrayal of the future – Julie Perry & Jonathan Cowie
  As was seen at London's Cartoon Museum special 2026 exhibition
   
• Loud aliens with better things to do – Jonathan Cowie
  If alien civilisations are out there, what sort would we detect?
   
• Ten Years Ago Exactly. One from the archives.
  Mancunicon – The 2016 British Eastercon – Peter Tyers
   
• Twenty Years Ago Exactly. One from the archives.
  A Retrospective on the First (1972) European SF Convention, Italy – Thomas Mielke
  
  (This seasonal edition's Facebook alert post should FB users wish to spread the word. Help us help you. :-))

v36(5) 2026.9.15 -- Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Reviews

• A Fugitive’s History of the Known Universe - Nadia Afifi
• Weavingshaw - Heba Al-Wasity
• This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me - Ilona Andrews
• This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me (2nd review) - Ilona Andrews
• Atomic Coffin - Benedict Anning
• Atomic Coffin (2nd review) - Benedict Anning
• Death's Daughter - S. A. Barnes
• Raft (2nd review) - Stephen Baxter
• The Song of Seven Cloaks - Harry Bonelle
• Between Two Fires - Christopher Buehlman
• Enchanting The Fae Queen - Stephanie Burgis
• Incarnate - Ramsey Campbell
• If we Cannot go at the Speed of Light (2nd review) - Kim Choyeop
• The Sentinel - Arthur C. Clarke
• Babylon & Sumer – Myths & Legends - Fiona Collins & June Peters
• Brides - Charlotte Cross
• The Traveler - Joseph Eckert
• The Best of Greg Egan - Greg Egan
• Seasons of Glass and Iron - Amal El-Mohtar
• 2035 - Dmitry Glukovsky
• Red Dwarf: Titan - Rob Grant & Andrew Marshall
• Galahad and the Grail - Malcolm Guite
• The Dog Stars (Update) - Peter Heller
• Doctor Who: Stormcage: A River Song Adventure - Alex Kingston
• Trad Wife - Sarah Langan
• Some Body Like Me (2nd review) - Lucy Lapinska
• Time to Burn - Ellery Lloyd
• Loss Protocol - Paul McAuley
• The Bewitching - Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• Bad Things Happen Here - Mark Morris
• Judge Dredd: One-Eyed Jacks - Ken Niemand et al
• Death of the Author (2nd review) - Nnedi Okorafor
• Mars One - Charlotte Robinson
• Isles of the Emberdark - Brandon Sanderson
• Doctor Who: Jubilee - Robert Shearman
• Doctor Who: The Chimes of Midnight - Robert Shearman
• Anti-State - Allen Stroud
• The Red Winter - Cameron Sullivan
• Green City Wars - Adrian Tchaikovsky
• Pretenders to the Throne of God - Adrian Tchaikovsky
• Children of Strife (2nd review) - Adrian Tchaikovsky
• Batman - Judge Dredd: Judgement on Gotham 35th Anniversary Edition - John Wagner et al
• Judge Death: My Name Is Death - John Wagner et al
• The Staircase in the Woods - Chuck Wendig
• Judge Dredd: A Better World - Rob Williams et al
• Judge Dredd: Rend & Tear With Tooth & Claw Rob Williams et al
• Doomsday Book - Connie Willis

v36(5) 2026.9.15 -- Non-Fiction SF & Science Fact Book Reviews

• Lunacy: Ten False Promises of the New Space Age - Ben Bramble
• Why? The purpose of the Universe - Philip Goff
• Earth & Life: A four billion year conversation - Andrew H. Knoll
• The Fate of the World: A history and the future of the climate crisis - Bill McGuire

v36(4) 2026.7.15 -- A new story from the Nature Futures series

• Medical records from the Center for the Study of Temporal Disorders, Pediatric Department (1-page PDF short story) - Diana Peterfreund
  Time travel is not just a way of getting about the space-time continuum... it can be a medical condition...
   
• The index to all of the Concatenation selection of Nature 'Futures' stories.
• The guidelines for prospective 'Futures' SF short stories authors.

v36(3) 2026.4.15 -- New Columns & Articles for the Summer 2026

• Newscast for the Summer 2026. This includes within it many key sections. See also the master newscast link index that connects to all its SF/F genre and science news sub-sections.  In the mix are its Film News;  Television News;  Publishing News;  General Science News  and  Forthcoming SF Books from major British Isles SF imprints for the season subsections, among much else.
   
• Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die – Jonathan Cowie
  Film that is a dark humorous, gritty SFnal adventure in which a wild-eyed man from the future warns that there's some shιt that's about to come down.  It's gonna try to give you everything you ever wanted.  But in the end, it'll all be a lie!…  Are any of you listening ?
   
• Is the speed of light an absolute limit?? – Steven French
  This is one for our physicist regulars but is genre-adjacent.
   
• Does life on Mars doom humanity?? – Jonathan Cowie
  We do not see alien civilisations, so a 'Fermi filter' may prevent their rise. If we find life on Mars then the rise of life is not the difficult evolutionary step. If the Fermi filter is not in our past, then it must be something in our future that prevents us going to the stars. Recent discoveries on Mars may therefore be worrying!
   
• Gaia 2026
  Annual oddities and whimsy
   
• Ten Years Ago Exactly. One from the archives.
  German Science Fiction since 1945 – Dirk van den Boom
  Germany has an extensive history of science fiction. Dirk van den Boom provides a summary review of some of Germany's landmark SF since the end of World War II.
   
• Twenty Years Ago Exactly. One from the archives.
  Where are the Robots? – Tony Chester
  'The future's here said the pioneer' but where are the robots? It's 2006 after all.
  (Summer edition Facebook alert for sharing/commenting etc)

v36(3) 2026.4.15 -- Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Reviews

• Stone and Sky (2nd review) - Ben Aaronovitch
• Brigands & Breadknives - Travis Baldree
• Raft - Stephen Baxter
• Robots: Past & Future Short Stories - Chris Beckett
• If we Cannot go at the Speed of Light - Kim Choyeop
• The Lighthouse at the Edge of the World - J. R. Dawson
• Hell’s Heart - Alexis Hall
• Fateless - Julie Kagawa
• The Menu of Happiness - Hisashi Kashiwai
• Wolf Worm - T. Kingfisher
• Always Coming Home - Ursula K. LeGuin
• Thirsty - Lucy Lehane
• The Blackfire Blade: The Last Legacy - James Logan
• The Secret of Life (3rd review) - Paul McAuley
• This Bursted Earth - Garth Marenghi
• Cinder House - Freya Marske
• Fever Dreams - Mark Morris
• Buried Deep and Other Stories (2nd review) - Naomi Novik
• The Affirmation - Christopher Priest
• Tailored Realities - Brandon Sanderson
• Crossroads of Ravens - Andrzej Sapkowski
• Monday Starts on Saturday - Arkady & Boris Strugatsky
• Daedalus Is Dead - Seamus Sullivan
• Children of Strife - Adrian Tchaikovsky
• Made Things - Adrian Tchaikovsky
• Fallen Gods - Rachel Van Dyken

v36(3) 2026.4.15 -- Non-Fiction SF & Science Fact Book Reviews

• George Orwell: Life and Legacy - Robert Colls
• Shaking Hands With Death - Terry Pratchett

v36(2) 2026.3.15 -- A new story from the Nature Futures series

• Future Legal (1-page PDF short story) - D. Thomas Minton
  Changes to society and law aee to be expected when awaking from cryogenic suspended animation after over 300 years...
   
• The index to all of the Concatenation selection of Nature 'Futures' stories.
• The guidelines for prospective 'Futures' SF short stories authors.

v36(1) 2026.1.15 -- New Columns & Articles for the Spring 2026

• Newscast for the Spring 2026. This includes within it many key sections. See also the master newscast link index that connects to all its SF/F genre and science news sub-sections.  In the mix are its Film News;  Television News;  Publishing News;  General Science News  and  Forthcoming SF Books from major British Isles SF imprints for the season subsections, among much else.
  (If you are on Facebook and wish to comment/like/emoji any of the following articles then you can do so here.)
   
• Best Science Fiction of 2025: books and films – SF² Concatenation team
  Each Christmas, the team puts forward their suggestions as to the best SF of the year and we list the most suggested. – It is just a bit of fun but scroll down and you'll see, with past years' performance, that it has form.
  (Facebook Alert specifically for this post here)
   
• 2025 SF Film Top Ten Chart and Other Worthies
  (All past annual film charts are archive indexed here)
   
• Sinners – Jonathan Cowie
  Sinners, part historical US racial emancipation story, part blues musical and part traditional vampire offering, is set to take the 2026 cinematic awards scene by storm. It could even possibly get short-listed for some SF/F awards?
   
• Glasgow – The 2024 SF Worldcon – Peter Tyers
  Our previous reviews of the physical convention as well as the online virtual convention (and also here) were covered by newcomers to the Worldcon.  Conversely, this review is by a seasoned veteran of several Worldcons over the decades.
   
• Glasgow 2024: Publications Policy Part 2 - What actually happened – Peter Tyers
  Following on from the 2024 Glasgow Worldcon, and a report on how they were planning to deliver their publications, what actually happened: what worked as they promised, and what did not!
   
• Has the Science Fiction Worldcon shot itself in the foot? – Jonathan Cowie
  The past half-decade the Worldcon has seen multiple failures of adherence to its own constitution. This breakdown in good governance is undermining credibility in the Worldcon brand. The recent history of governance collapse is recounted step-by-step.  It reveals that enough is enough and that many fans may now be withdrawing tens of thousands of pounds worth of financial support!
   
• To Mask or Not to Mask, That is the Muffled Question – Peter Tyers
  Following vaccine roll out four years ago, the worst of the CoVID-19 years are very much over. So what of masking policies at SF conventions?
   
• SF Convention Listing & Film Diary with links to con sites and film trailers
  The list of the major, fan run, national and international level, SF cons and British Isles general release film diary.
   
• Ten Years Ago Exactly. One from the archives.
  British Fantasycon 2015 – Ian Hunter
   
• Twenty Years Ago Exactly. One from the archives.
  Accelerando by Charles Stross (book review)

Full 'What's New' list