Was the year too heavy, deep, and real? Yes, but it was also rich in creativity, humor, and shared adventures. It’s a gift and privilege for me to be continually allowed to publish so many entertaining posts. Thanks to all of you who contributed!

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COLUMNS

CHRIS BARKLEY

• Barkley — So Glad You (Didn’t) Ask #93, A Column of Unsolicited Opinions — For Your Consideration, The 2023 Hugo Awards: A Report On Censorship and Exclusion 
• Barkley — So Glad You (Didn’t) Ask #94, A Column of Unsolicited Opinions — Monumental ConFusion 50: A Pictorial Essay by Chris M. Barkley
• Barkley — So Glad You (Didn’t) Ask #95, A Column of Unsolicited Opinions — Captain America: Brave New World, A (Somewhat Spoilery) Review
• Barkley — So Glad You (Didn’t) Ask #96, A Column of Unsolicited Opinions — “I Don’t Think I Owe Anything”; A Timeline of Why I Decided To Sue Dave McCarty
• Barkley — So Glad You (Didn’t) Ask #97, A Column of Unsolicited Opinions — Star Wars: Andor – Season Two
• Barkley — So Glad You (Didn’t) Ask #98, A Column of Unsolicited Opinions — “I Don’t Believe This Debt is Owed By Me…”; Why I Decided To Sue Dave McCarty, Part Deux
• Barkley — So Glad You (Didn’t) Ask #99, A Column of Unsolicited Opinions — A Long Time Ago, At A Convention Far, Far Away…STAR WARS!
• Barkley — So Glad You (Didn’t) Ask #100, A Column of Unsolicited Opinions — Testify, Live From Chicago: Civil Trial #20251103225
• Barkley — So Glad You (Didn’t) Ask #101, A Column of Unsolicited Opinions — On Being Named the 2027 Montreal Fan Guest of Honor
• [#102 Withdrawn]

• Barkley — So Glad You (Didn’t) Ask #103, A Column of Unsolicited Opinions — Testify, (Not So) Live From Chicago: Civil Trial #20251103225, Part Deux 
• Barkley — So Glad You (Didn’t) Ask #104, A Column of Unsolicited Opinions — An Unsafe Fail Safe; A Review of A House of Dynamite
• Chris Barkley Moves to Dismiss Suit Against Dave McCarty: Here’s Why
• The Panda Has Landed — Barkley’s 2023 Hugo Finally Arrives

• Barkley: Tales from the 2025 Worldcon Fanzine Lounge #1
• Barkley: Tales from the 2025 Worldcon Fanzine Lounge #2
• Barkley: Tales from the 2025 Worldcon Fanzine Lounge #3
• Chris Barkley: 2025 Hugo Award Concession Speech for Best Related Work
• Barkley – More Vignettes from Seattle Worldcon 2025

MICHAEL SWANWICK

Let’s celebrate The Universe Box‘s February 3rd release by Tachyon Press! I have opened the universe box that is my life, and will be sharing a piece of it every Monday.

• a devil stone
• home grown tomatoes
• a martini
• mermaid’s toenails
• a mask
• a song
• autumn leaves
• a hugo award
• a billy club
• a miniature bookcase
• a tarot deck
• a mouse angel
• a grip-and-grin
• a glass sputnik

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FEATURES

STEVE VERTLIEB

• Brian De Palma: Dressed To Thrill
• Remembering Gene Hackman
• Remembering Tommy and Vince De Noble
• Remembering Bramwell Fletcher — “He Went For A Little Walk”
• Remembering John Agar — “Undefeated”
• How I Met… The Blob
• Superman: Origins and “Legacy”
• Remembering Robert Redford (1936-2025)
• On Silencing Jimmy Kimmel And Stephen Colbert
• Eleanor Parker and The Sound Of Music Remembered
• From The Land Beyond Beyond: A Very Personal Remembrance of Ray Harryhausen

Ray and Diana Harryhausen with Steve Vertlieb in 1990.

TERESA PESCHEL

• A Visit to Vortex Books and Comics in Columbia, PA

Teresa with the owner of Vortex Books, Brian Keene

JAMES BACON

• On the Road to Twin Peaks: A Journey to Fall City, Snoqualmie and North Bend
• Greann — Ireland’s First Comic Book, from a veteran of the 1916 Rising
• Op-Ed: Solidarity Not Divisiveness
• Octocon 2025 Report by James Bacon
• Profile: The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye by Sonny Liew

TAMMY COXEN

• Op-Ed: The Worldcon is in Trouble

DARIN BRISKMAN AND BRUCE FARR

• Op-Ed: Looking Forward to a Great Worldcon 2027 in Montréal

CORA BUHLERT

• Cora Buhlert Review: The Secret of the Sword
• Review: Figura Obscura Mouse King Action Figure from Four Horsemen Studios

ERIN UNDERWOOD

• Op-Ed: About Choosing Convention Program Participants
• Erin Underwood: Open Letter to the Science Fiction Writers Association and Community

INGVAR

• A Double Shot of Trigger Snowflake

OLAV ROKNE

• The Gold Standard of What If

DANIEL DERN

• Curmudgeonly Breakfast: A Farewells-And-Learn-More-About Barry Malzberg (Last) Round-Up
• Arisia 2025 Report’n’Pix: My First In-Person Con Since That Pandemic Started
• Deck Us All With Boskone Charlie: Dern’s Boskone 62 (2025) Con Report’n’Pix
• Holy Shadow-y Cross-Overs, Batman (And Others!)
• Yes, Giant Credential Credenza Is (Currently) Digital-Only
• Finding (And Enjoying) Bob And Ray — Still Approximately Coast-To-Coast
• Dern’s (Belated) Readercon 34 (2025) Report’n’Pix: Adding To Our Mounts To-Be-Read

GARY WESTFAHL

• Op-Ed: “No More Worldcons in the United States?”

LEE WEINSTEIN

• Science Fiction Theatre
• Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Airwaves
• Sun Symbolism in Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe
• Remembering Nelson Bond
• The Caretaker of “The Blob”
• To Fly

ARENDSE LUND

• On Tour with Fantasy: Realms of Imagination
• Victor Hugo: Writer, Artist, and Ocean Man

CHRIS BARKLEY

• A File 770 Special: An Evening with Amal El-Mohtar at Joseph-Beth Booksellers Cincinnati
• A File 770 Special: An Evening with Meredith R. Lyons at Joseph-Beth Booksellers Cincinnati
• A File 770 Special Report: SFF Authors at the 2025 Books By the Banks Festival

Left to Right: Meredith Lyons, Shawntelle Madison, Andrea Hairston, Mary Robinette Kowal

• A File 770 Special Convention Report: Starbase Indy 2025, Part One

• A File 770 Special Convention Report: Starbase Indy 2025, Part Two

CAT ELDRIDGE

• What’s Your Favorite Tolkien? – “Yes, It’s the Birthday of J.R.R. Tolkien. So I asked a lot of folks that I knew what their favorite works by him were.”

ERSATZ CULTURE

• Chinese SF Responds to Influx of Foreigners on Xiaohongshu
• Official from Henan Province Moots a Chinese Worldcon Bid
• Ansible Cafe In Chengdu

ARTHUR LIU & FENG ZHANG

• Chinese Science Fiction Database (CSFDB) Recommended List 2024

ROB THORNTON

• AI Tag Team: Dune vs. Popular Music
• Jimi Hendrix, Science Fiction Fan
• Grok Around The Clock: The First Musical Hugo Nomination
• Freakflag Guitar Technology: Way Huge’s Atreides Analog Weirding Module

DANN TODD

• The Star Trek You Never Knew

JOHN HERTZ

• John Hertz at Loscon 50

DENISE DUTTON

• Denise Dutton Review: Marabou’s Schweizer Nöt – chocolate review

JUSTIN T. O’CONOR SLOANE

• Professor Jameson Rides the Intergalactic Range Once Again!
• The Twelve Days of Christmas (Science Fiction Rendition)

RICH LYNCH

On the road to the centerline

• At the Centerline
• It’s a Mystery!
• 25 Years Gone: Remembering Joe Mayhew
• Remembering Bill Danner (1906-2000)
• Broadway at the Ballpark
• A Thumbnail Sketch of DeepSouthCon 63

BRICK BARRIENTOS

• SCANDAL Japanese Band History and Concert Review

BEN JASON

• Ben Jason and the Early History of the Hugo Rocket

DAVE DOERING

• The Launch of Fan SF/F Awards

PÁDRAIG Ó MÉALÓID

• Comics at the National Library of Ireland: Panel Report

IAN RANDAL STROCK

• Where Should I Buy Your Book?

MIKE GLYER

• Royal Mail Issues Chronicles of Narnia Stamps
• Interview with the ‘Double Bills’ from 1966 (Bill Mallardi and Bill Bowers)
• When Bill Mallardi Met Buddy Holly
• When There’s Not Enough Sand in the Hourglass (WSFS proposal)

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BOOK REVIEWS

PAUL WEIMER

• Paul Weimer Review: The Cost of Power: Return
• Paul Weimer Review: Call Me Joe: Volume 1 of the Collected Short Works of Poul Anderson
• Paul Weimer Review: The River Has Roots
• Paul Weimer Review: Written on the Dark
• Paul Weimer Review: The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny: The Road to Amber
• Paul Weimer Review: John Myers Myers’ Silverlock

WARNER HOLME

• Warner Holme Review: The Glass Scientists
• Warner Holme Review: Alex Pheby’s Malarkoi
• Warner Holme Review: The Haunting of Hill House
• Warner Holme Review: The Doom of Odin
• Warner Holme Review: The Corset and the Jellyfish
• Warner Holme Review: The One Ring: Moria: Through the Doors of Durin
• Warner Holme Review: A Call to Cthulhu
• Warner Holme Review: The Tribute
• Warner Holme Review: Tolkien in the 21st Century

LIS CAREY

• Lis Carey Review: The Forgotten Beasts of Eld
• Lis Carey Review: When the Moon Hits Your Eye

MICHAELE JORDAN

• Michaele Jordan Review: Orlando, a Biography
• Michaele Jordan Review: The Ministry of Time

GARY WHITEHOUSE

• Review: Kevin McDermott’s Elephant House or, the Home of Edward Gorey
• Gary Whitehouse Review: The Folded Sky

JOHN HERTZ

• John Hertz Review: The Elements of Marie Curie

DANIEL DERN

• Daniel Dern Review: The Adventures of Mary Darling
• Daniel Dern Review: Stone & Sky

CAT ELDRIDGE

• Cat Eldridge Review: Two Doctor Who Cookbooks

VALENTIN D. IVANOV

• Valentin D. Ivanov Reviews Books From Bulgarian Writers

JENNIFER STEVENSON

• Jennifer Stevenson Review: One Level Down

JONATHAN COWIE

• Judge Dredd Megazine at 35
• Re-visiting a minor classic! Damnation Alley by Roger Zelazny
• Death To You
• Christmas Thrills from Tharg

GREY WALKER

• Grey Walker Review: Absinthe: Sip of Seduction

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MOVIE AND TV REVIEWS

JONATHAN COWIE

• No Howling in the Woods: Wolf Man Review
• Jonathan Cowie Review: Mickey-17
• Sinners: Review by Jonathan Cowie

GARY WHITEHOUSE

• Gary Whitehouse Review: Murderbot (2025)

STEVE VERTLIEB

• Steve Vertlieb Review: Somewhere In Time
• In Search of Alien
• Windows Through Time: the Saga of “The Empire Strikes Back”
• “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” … Childhood Dreams on Flights of Fancy

DANIEL DERN

• A Quickie TV-Series Review: Disney+/Marvel Animation’s Your Friendly Neighbor Spider-Man

N.

• Guest Post: The Best SF/F Television Episodes of 2024

CHARON DUNN

• K-Pop Demon Hunters Conquer The Charts

MIRANDA BARRIENTOS

• Miranda Barrientos Review: My Thoughts on the Wrinkle in Time Musical

JAMES BACON

• Operation Bogeyman: The Folk Horror Landscape of 1970s Northern Ireland – A Film by Simon Aeppli

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TOY REVIEWS

FOLKMANIS

• Cat Eldridge Review: Folkmanis Puppet: The Fiddler

FUNKO POP

• Cat Eldridge Review: Funko Pop! Man-Thing

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CATS SLEEP ON SFF

• Cats Sleep on SFF: Ace Double Action! – (January 12; Chris Barkley)
• Cats Sleep on SFF: Rabbit in the Moon – (January 16; Fiona Moore)
• Cats Sleep on SFF: The Dispossessed — (April 15; Kathe Koja)
• Cats Sleep on SFF: Blight – (April 29; Rachel Rosen)
• Cats Sleep on SFF: Mouseslayer at Baikonur – (May 27; Cyril Simsa)
• Cats Sleep on SFF: Green Eyes – (July 18; Chris Barkley)
• Cats Sleep on SFF: Lessons in Magic and Disaster – (October 8; Charlie Jane Anders)
• Cats Sleep on SFF: Unseen Academicals – (November 11; Nickpheas)

Photo by Juli Marr

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OBITUARIES

[Date of publication]

• Jul Owings Passes Away – by Dale Arnold (January 6)
• Karen Pryor (1932-2025) – by Daniel Dern (February 5)
• Tony Lewis (1941-2025) – by Mike Glyer (February 13)
• Arwen Joy GoodKnight (1972-2025) – Bon Bergstrom GoodKnight (February 18)
• Mark R. Leeper (1950-2025) – by Evelyn C. Leeper (February 23)
• Remembering Pat Sims (1937-2024) – by John Hertz (April 11)
• For Mark Leeper – by John Hertz (July 15)
• Terry Allan Murray (1953-2025) – by George Beahm (August 19)
• Guy H. Lillian III (1949-2025) – by Mike Glyer (August 24)
• Remembering Guy – by Rich Lynch (August 27)
• About Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (1942-2025) – by Tom Whitmore (September 3)
• Remebering Chelsea Quinn Yarbro  (1942 – 2025) – by Peter Tyers (September 16)
• Roger Hill (1941-2025) – by John Hertz (November 10)

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