Charlie Jane Anders, Author at Gizmodo

Watch J.J. Abrams explaining why Star Wars is all about the “Mystery Box”

One of the biggest worries about J.J. Abrams directing Star Wars is that he’ll bring his penchant for mysteries for the sake of mysteries to the relatively straightforward universe George Lucas built. But this clip from his 2007 Ted talk, posted on Reddit yesterday, shows Abrams arguing that Star Wars was always about the “mystery…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders

New Doctor Who comic shows the Doctor’s ultimate weakness

The Doctor has worn many faces and played many roles on Doctor Who, but he has one constant: he always needs traveling companions. Some faceless, nameless superbeing is spying on the Doctor, in all his incarnations, before he stumbles on this crucial weakness in this sneak peek from the comic Doctor Who: Prisoners of Time…

Television Charlie Jane Anders

12 Things That Ruined Superman

Superman is the original superhero, and he’s still one of the most iconic heroes in any genre. But even though everybody loves Superman, everybody also talks about how hard he is to get right. You can practically hear the wheel-and-pulley sound of everybody lowering their expectations for Man of Steel. That’s not just the basic…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders

R2D2 heels probably don’t spit out a tiny holographic Carrie Fisher, but they still rule

We’ve seen a lot of Star Wars shwag lately, but these DIY R2D2 high heels are still something special. Just imagine how excited all the Jawas in your life will be to see tiny astromech droids under your feet. As Instructables explains: The wide heel of these shoes was removed and replaced with a steel…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

New Doctor Who toys may give away Steven Moffat’s next plot twists!

Steven Moffat delights in keeping Doctor Who fans on their toes — but you always know to expect a few things: 1) The Doctor’s fame (or fake death) will be a major issue in his storylines. 2) There’ll be some kind of temporal snafu that causes everybody to have to run around the same handful…

Television Charlie Jane Anders

Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors Who Served in the Military, and How it Changed Their Work

So much of science fiction’s core topics intersect with war, one way or the other. Rapid social change and technological innovation both get supercharged during wartime, and some of our greatest explorers are also warriors. So it’s not surprising that many of science fiction’s most well-known authors served in the military at some point —…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

This gallery proves Frank R. Paul still rules science fiction art

Frank R. Paul did more than almost any other artist to shape the images that light up our collective dreams. He provided the bright, eye-popping imagery for Hugo Gernsback’s vision of science fiction, and his art from the 1920s still feels fresher than a lot of the stuff being created today. A brand new book…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

Please give us a science fiction version of Grand Theft Auto!

You can already get flying cars in some versions of Grand Theft Auto with a cheat code — but will there ever be a straight-up futuristic version, set in some kind of science fiction megalopolis? Rockstar Games VP Dan Houser called the prospect “tempting,” but added, “We will do it the very second we have…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Bow down to the Monkey King, by watching the first trailer for Stephen Chow’s Journey to the West

If you love the classic Chinese adventure story Journey to the West — and you really should — then this teaser trailer for the movie version should make you whoop with delight. They’re all here: the Monkey King, Piggie, and the rest. Brings back hours and hours of reading Arthur Waley’s translation late at night…

Trailers Charlie Jane Anders

This book is like reading Kafka on Ketamine

We’re living in Kafka’s world. Everybody from George Saunders to Terry Bisson has been mining a Kafkaesque seam of alarming strangeness. But what happens when you mix some especially odd story ideas with an almost supernatural sense of dissociation? You get something like The Miniature Wife by Manuel Gonzales, a book which feels as though…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

TV Show Opening Monologues That Are Worth Reciting in the Shower Each Morning

Some mornings, you can barely face the harsh light of day. That whole ordeal of dragging yourself out of bed and cleansing yourself and putting on the required worker garments so that you can go out into the world and deal with the human race just seems… barbaric. Which is why, sometimes, you need to…

Television Charlie Jane Anders

Do not underestimate the awesome power of this Star Wars art

We’ve seen a lot of Star Wars artwork in our time, but this is some of the most dynamic and powerful we’ve come across recently. Artist Darren Tan, aka WraithDT, created these stunning pictures for the Star Wars Essential Readers Companion — and now he’s posted them on his Deviant Art page. Some of the…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

10 Greatest Prison Breaks in Science Fiction and Fantasy

There’s nothing cooler than a test of wits and courage, and there’s no greater test than an escape-proof prison. We’re talking about a big scary prison, with guards and security systems and uniforms and rules and possibly a few deathtraps. The kind of Big House that requires a master plan to get out of, which…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders

The Wackiest and Most Random Roles the Star Trek: TNG Cast Ever Took On

The main cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation ensured their places in science fiction history with their appearances in seven intense seasons, plus four movies. But that wasn’t enough for these genre stalwarts. Almost every member of the Enterprise-D crew has also appeared in some off-the-wall science fiction or fantasy projects at some point.…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders

Can you tell the difference between this Black Mirror trailer and a Microsoft ad?

The intense creepiness of this trailer for season two of Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror is only amped up by the fact that it resembles any number of ads for consumer electronics and internet whizbangery. By the time you get to the slogan — “The future is broken” — you’re already feeling the horrible dystopian vibe.…

Trailers Charlie Jane Anders

One Writing Tip That Really Does Work Most of the Time

Tor UK’s website gathers a ton of writing tips from Tor authors, including a few really good ones. But the standout is from Stormdancer author Jay Kristoff, who offers the following: Never finish a writing session by finishing off a scene. Even if you’re in the grip of the muse and the words are flowing…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

This Week’s TV: The Shocking Truth About the “Superman Curse.”

This week, NBC launches yet another take on the “Jekyll and Hyde” story — and this one might actually be sorta fun. Lemongrab is having children. Seth Gabel is playing a supervillain, and Alaina Huffman is a demon! Obi-Wan Kenobi teams up with Katee Sackhoff! And learn the stories behind the classic superheroes of television.…

Television Charlie Jane Anders

Best of the Week: January 19-25, 2013

THE SKY IS ANGRY | A long-exposure photo of a lightning storm looks downright apocalyptic, and shows how terrifying nature’s assault really is. See more here. https://gizmodo.com/this-long-exposure-shot-makes-a-lightning-storm-look-do-5978058 These Character Names Should be Banned Forever http://io9.com/5977781/these-character-names-should-be-banned-forever So you’re writing a vampire novel filled with interesting, dynamic characters. You’ve worked out the plot, and come up with…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Why the User Interface in Hackers Hasn’t Aged That Badly

A lot of the stuff about the movie Hackers looks really dated now, especially some of the fashions and the way it depicts hacking. But the user interface still looks pretty good, compared to a lot of other stuff from the era. Paul Franklin, the Academy Award-winning special effects designer who’s worked on all Christopher…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Can J.J. Abrams do for Star Wars what he did for Star Trek? And should he?

It’s hard to overstate how boring Star Trek seemed in 2008. A pointless prequel had sucked the life out of it, the movies were crud, and the whole thing become a source of bland jokes on late-night TV. There were comics, games and novels for the die-hard fans, but as far as mainstream culture was…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Charlie Jane Anders

Watch J.J. Abrams explaining why Star Wars is all about the “Mystery Box”

New Doctor Who comic shows the Doctor’s ultimate weakness

12 Things That Ruined Superman

R2D2 heels probably don’t spit out a tiny holographic Carrie Fisher, but they still rule

New Doctor Who toys may give away Steven Moffat’s next plot twists!

Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors Who Served in the Military, and How it Changed Their Work

This gallery proves Frank R. Paul still rules science fiction art

Please give us a science fiction version of Grand Theft Auto!

Bow down to the Monkey King, by watching the first trailer for Stephen Chow’s Journey to the West

This book is like reading Kafka on Ketamine

TV Show Opening Monologues That Are Worth Reciting in the Shower Each Morning

Do not underestimate the awesome power of this Star Wars art

10 Greatest Prison Breaks in Science Fiction and Fantasy

The Wackiest and Most Random Roles the Star Trek: TNG Cast Ever Took On

Can you tell the difference between this Black Mirror trailer and a Microsoft ad?

One Writing Tip That Really Does Work Most of the Time

This Week’s TV: The Shocking Truth About the “Superman Curse.”

Best of the Week: January 19-25, 2013

Why the User Interface in Hackers Hasn’t Aged That Badly

Can J.J. Abrams do for Star Wars what he did for Star Trek? And should he?

Trump Says He’ll Sign Order to Pay TSA

Deadpool Will Deface ‘Magic: The Gathering’ Classics for a New Secret Lair

Apple’s Siri Isn’t Just Going to Use One Chatbot. It’s Going to Use All of Them

Why ‘For All Mankind’ Season 5 Is the Key to the Rest of the Series

ASUS ZenScreen 15.6-Inch Portable Monitor Is Now Cheaper Than Black Friday in Amazon’s Big Spring Sale

Early Wildfires Are Surging Across the US—and Trump’s New Fire Agency Isn’t Ready

INIU Brings Another Power Bank to the Spring Sale as SnapGo Keychain Portable Charger Drops to Its Lowest Price

Attorney Hit With Historic Fine for Citing AI-Generated Cases

Travelers Experiencing the Longest Security Lines in TSA History

Could There Be a ‘Project Hail Mary’ Sequel?

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets

Apple Studio Display XDR Review: It Looks So Good, I Wish It Were an iMac

RayNeo Air 4 Pro Review: My Eyes Love These Video Glasses, but My Nose Disagrees