Charlie Jane Anders

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Books You Can’t Afford to Miss in September!

The summer beach reads are finished—but the book party is just getting started! This month’s science fiction and fantasy must-reads include Terry Pratchett’s final Discworld novel, plus new books from Stephen Baxter, Seanan McGuire, Salman Rushdie and Margaret Atwood. And Star Wars and Star Trek! Xeelee: Endurance by Stephen Baxter Baxter has been busy with…

This Star Wars Casting News Changes Everything. Plus ANOTHER Wild Spider-Man Rumor!

Tatiana Maslany could still appear in a Star Wars film—and there’s one detail that could be huge. Game of Thrones is filming a huge scene from the books, minus one important character. There’s a shocking Walking Dead rumor. Star Trek Beyond reveals another new alien. Michael J. Fox is a robot dog. Spoilers ahead! Star…

Four Storms on the Move | NASA’s GOES-West satellite captured this image of four tropical cyclones all at once in the Pacific Ocean. From left to right, there’s Typhoon Kilo, Hurricane Ignacio, Hurricane Jimena and Tropical Depression 14E.

Your Most Heinous Stories of Role-Playing Games Gone Wrong

Everybody loves role-playing games (unless you’re irrationally worried about Satan.) Escaping into a fantasy world, surrounded by like-minded nerds, is just the best thing ever. Except when it isn’t, because someone is deciding to be a total Gelatinous Cube. Here are some of your worst RPG horror stories. Yesterday, we asked you to share your…

io9 Book Club Is In Session: Let’s Talk About Kim Stanley Robinson’s Aurora!

Welcome to the monthly meeting of the io9 Book Club. This month, we’ve read Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson. Jump into comments to get started talking about it! What is this io9 Book Club all about? We meet once a month to discuss a book we’ve all read together, and then we have an online…

The Final Lessons From This Year’s Hugo Awards Clusterfrak

The Hugo Awards are over, and the result was a dramatic rejection of the two “Puppies” campaigns to pack the ballot with a narrow selection of authors. But what does it all mean, and what happens now? Some of science fiction and fantasy’s leading lights have been offering their opinions. If you’re still not up…

What’s The Worst RPG/Tabletop Gaming Experience You’ve Ever Had?

Playing Dungeons & Dragons or some other role-playing game with your best friends can be amazing. But play a tabletop RPG or other game with the wrong people, and things can take a very dark turn. What’s the worst RPG/tabletop experience you’ve ever suffered through? Please mention the name of the game you were playing,…

Last Night’s Falling Skies Finale Actually Depressed The Hell Out of Me

The human race is doomed. That’s what I take away from the final episode of Falling Skies, in which the human race is saved in such a slapdash and unconvincing manner, you sense that everyone concerned felt as though humanity actually deserves to perish. God, this show. What the hell happened? Spoilers ahead… This past…

io9 Book Club Reminder: Meet Sept. 1 To Discuss Kim Stanley Robinson’s Aurora!

Just a quick reminder—the io9 book club is meeting on Tuesday to talk about Kim Stanley Robinson’s novel Aurora. In the meantime, here’s a video of Robinson talking about the ideas behind the book. Contact the author at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @CharlieJane.

RIP Wes Craven, Iconic Director of Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream

Iconic horror director Wes Craven died today aged 76, of brain cancer. In addition to creating the character of Freddy Krueger in Nightmare on Elm Street and the most famous meta-horror franchise with Scream, he also directed People Under the Stairs, Swamp Thing, and The Hills Have Eyes. The Hollywood Reporter is reporting Craven’s death…

All the Most Thrilling Science Fiction and Fantasy Books Coming This Fall

Your “to read” pile is about to get much more massive. This fall’s science fiction and fantasy books include new titles by legends like Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, Jim Butcher and Tanya Huff. You’re not ready for this! Which is why we’re getting you ready, with our guide to fall books. Note: I…

16 Things You Probably Never Knew About The Short Circuit Movies

Right now, we’re falling in love with BB-8 from Star Wars—and yet, there’s still a special place in our hearts for Johnny Five, the robot from the Short Circuit films. But how much do you actually know about these films? Check out this video, featuring 16 electrifying facts about the making of this duology. 1)…

Please Make This Show About Time-Traveling Crime-Fighters Happen, People!

Seriously, we need this new time-travel cop show (called Time) to be on television now. Or maybe a year or two ago, if the creators of the show have an actual time machine. The series is described as “Mission Impossible meets Back to the Future,” and it’s from two of our favorite creators. Time is…

Scandinavian Children’s Books Get Away With Way More Sex and Violence

Scandinavians are just a lot more relaxed about certain things. Like, one popular Norwegian book for eight-year-olds includes lessons on how to masturbate. Author Ingelin Røssland, writing in the Guardian, explains just how far children’s and young-adult titles can go in Scandinavia. Røssland writes: Traditionally, Scandinavian authors take a child’s world very seriously. Think of…

Ray Bradbury’s FBI File Shows That He Was a Threat To Our Emotional Security

Ray Bradbury’s FBI file is not newly uncovered—it first appeared online in 2012 at Muckrock—but it’s been making the rounds this week. And as Slate’s Future Tense points out, it seems particularly timely given all of the debates over politics in science fiction. The FBI actually investigated Bradbury twice, with more than a decade between…

Which Science Fiction or Fantasy Book Was So Much Fun You Couldn’t Stand It?

Some books keep you turning pages with suspense. Others keep the pages flipping with their deep character studies. But then there are those books that are just so much damn fun, you can’t do anything but keep reading and laughing out loud. But which science fiction or fantasy book is just the most fun ever?…

Michael Emerson Doesn’t Expect Person of Interest To Have a Happy Ending

Person of Interest has been getting darker and darker as the show delves deeper into its premise about artificial intelligence. And even though we want these tortured heroes to find happiness in the end, star Michael Emerson tells io9 it’s probably not going to happen. He also told us what to expect in season five.…

Skynet Wins After All: Terminator Genisys Is a Monster Hit in China!

Terminator Genisys was a flop in the United States, making just $89 million here. But now Arnold Schwarzenegger’s return to the franchise has scored a monster opening day in China, which means it will probably wind up being considered a hit overall. And a sequel just got much more likely. Genisys made $27.4 million on…

Lois Lane Is Getting a Second Thrilling Young-Adult Novel!

Despite getting to reveal one of the biggest secrets in comics, Lois Lane isn’t getting that much exposure in DC Comics lately—it’s been ages since she had her own title. So it’s great news that the acclaimed prose novel, Lois Lane: Fallout by Gwenda Bond, is getting a sequel. Lois Lane: Fallout got a starred…

Cat + Cute Robot = The Absolute Best Thing Ever

A tiny robot comes to life, and immediately is full of curiosity about the world, in our exclusive excerpt from the graphic novel Little Robot by Ben Hatke, creator of Zita the Spacegirl. But maybe not surprisingly, the robot’s explorations start with a cat that gets maybe too friendly. Here’s the official description for Little…