Charlie Jane Anders, Author at Gizmodo

Why don’t readers of Murakami read Mieville? And vice versa?

Japanese literary darling Haruki Murakami and fantasy author China Mieville have a lot in common: their use of language, their thoughtful creation of a “secondary world,” and more. So why don’t people read both? Eric Rosenfield wants to know.

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders Dec 21 '10

Rebel Alliance fighter crashes at Texas airfield?

Check out the markings on this “experimental plane” that “pancaked on the runway” at Dallas’ Love Field. Look familiar? The only question is what the Rebel Alliance were doing trying to sneak into Texas. Check out some video below. Apparently the experimental plane was cleared to land, but its landing gear collapsed. Or was it…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Dec 21 '10

5 things you can do to save Fringe right now

It never fails. Now that Fringe has become the best television show in two universes, it’s getting moved to the Friday-night slot that claimed Firefly and Terminator. How can we save Fringe from Fox’s Friday-night curse? A few ideas below. Fox execs say they don’t want to cancel Fringe, and we believe them. It’s probably…

Television Charlie Jane Anders Dec 21 '10

A gorgeous gallery of the places where our science fiction dreams (and nightmares) were born

What’s Tattooine look like nowadays? Can you walk around David Lynch’s Dune? Is there any geographic logic to Vulcan? Salon.com has an amazing travelogue/gallery of real-life locations where classic science fiction films were shot. Photo: Shara Johnson. [Salon.com]

Movies Charlie Jane Anders Dec 21 '10

Visions of the Dark Knight in unreleased Arkham Asylum concept art

Check out Batman’s power armor! This is just one of the pieces of concept art that artist Carlos D’Anda created for Arkham Asylum, which he’s been posting online. Click through for some awesome villain concepts, plus the Batmobile. Tons more art at the link. [Carlos D’Anda on Deviant Art, via Arkham City] Mr. Freeze Clayface…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders Dec 21 '10

George Saunders’ horrifying tale of sex, drugs and manufactured eloquence, in the New Yorker

This week’s New Yorker features a new story by the master of postmodern alienation, George Saunders. In “Escape from Spiderhead,” a man named Jeff serves as a guinea pig for a love potion… and then things get really weird. “Spiderhead” is in many ways your standard George Saunders story — the protagonist is a guy…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders Dec 20 '10

Winter is Coming! Count down the days with this gorgeous Song of Ice and Fire 2012 calendar

Hugo-nominated artist John Picacio brings the menace and fire of Westeros to life with his draft cover of the 2012 Song of Ice and Fire calendar. We already showed you some images from Ted Naismith’s beautiful 2011 calendar — now there’s a reason to look forward to 2012 as well! [via Not a Blog] https://gizmodo.com/gorgeous-art-brings-the-castles-of-george-r-r-martins-5581996

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Dec 20 '10

So what’s Syfy’s new superpowered action show about?

Around the same time that Syfy cancelled Caprica and Stargate Universe, the network greenlit a new show — Alphas, about a team of superpowered people who solve special cases. We read a ton of pages from the pilot script. Spoilers… Edited to add: I forgot to include the usual disclaimers for this sort of thing.…

Television Charlie Jane Anders Dec 20 '10

The electric ghost of Douglas Adams haunts your screen

Recreating Douglas Adams’ unique, bizarre humor is like catching cosmic rays in a bottle — messy, breathless, and likely to cost you a few fingers. So let’s all celebrate the Dirk Gently pilot’s success in some highly improbable comedy. Spoilers… So the pilot for Dirk Gently, based on the Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency novels,…

Television Charlie Jane Anders Dec 20 '10

The far side of the Moon at its most psychedelic

These are the most detailed relief maps of the Moon’s far side ever created — NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured the surface down to 30 meters. And thanks to false color (red=highest areas, blue=lowest) it’s also our trippiest Moon yet. The pictures are a huge step towards an accurate lunar atlas — including the area…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Dec 20 '10

Doctor Who crashes your Christmas party. Plus Buffy and Star Trek: TNG marathons!

The big event on television this week is the return of Doctor Who, airing in the U.S. and U.K. on the same day. There are also two new episodes of the vastly underrated Tower Prep. Plus some fun marathons! Today: There’s literally nothing on today. Syfy is showing dinosaur movies, including its own Triassic Attack…

Television Charlie Jane Anders Dec 20 '10

Why C.S. Lewis Endures

C.S. Lewis told his attorney he needn’t bother bequeathing his literary earnings in his will, because “After I’ve been dead five years, nobody will read anything I’ve written.” Instead, he’s become the “Elvis Presley of Christian publishing,” says CNN. According to CNN’s Belief Blog, Lewis remains one of Christian publishing’s top selling authors: More than…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Dec 20 '10

Tron Legacy is a colossal failure of movie-making

Back in 1982, Tron zapped us into a whole new world of storytelling. You can still feel the love, and excitement, on every frame of that movie. So it’s sad that Tron Legacy turns those thrills into snoozes. Spoilers ahead. Update: I saw Tron Legacy a second time last night, as part of the io9/Gizmodo…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Dec 17 '10

Urban fantasy author’s novel gets a great book deal — after 50 agents turned it down

A night nurse goes to work at a secret ward, where she treats supernatural creatures, and gets involved in a 300-year vampire feud. Cassie Alexander’s Nightshifted has an intriguing premise… and the story of its road to publication is inspirational. According to Publishers Marketplace, Cassie Alexander’s first novel got a three-book deal with St. Martins,…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders Dec 17 '10

The 10 greatest paranormal teen comedies of the 1980s

The 1980s wasn’t just the golden age of Star Trek movies — it was also the heydey of teen comedies, from Porkys to Molly Ringwald. And what could be better than teenage hijinks with scientific craziness or bizarre supernatural powers? Here are the 10 greatest paranormal teen comedies of the 1980s, in no particular order.…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders Dec 16 '10

“Game of Thrones” isn’t George R.R. Martin’s first fantasy saga on television

We’re all dying to see Game of Thrones brought to our television screens next year — but it’s not George R.R. Martin’s first foray into televised fantasy. In the late 1980s, he was a producer/writer on Beauty and the Beast. The television show, which ran from 1987 to 1991, featured Ron Perlman and Linda Hamilton…

Television Charlie Jane Anders Dec 16 '10

The Clarke Award needs your help!

Over the past several years, the Arthur C. Clarke Award has honored some of science fiction’s most provocative, mind-expanding novels, among its winners as well as its finalists. Now the award’s funding is running out. The award was established by Clarke himself in the 1980s, to honor the best science fiction book published in the…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders Dec 16 '10

Australia making a gay version of the Big Bang Theory?

Australia’s latest sitcom features the members of a gay science fiction club, dealing with being yourself in a harsh world — and wrangling over which Star Trek captain is the coolest. It’s being described as a queer Big Bang Theory. Fingers crossed that Outland lives up to its potential and avoids too much obnoxious stereotyping…

Television Charlie Jane Anders Dec 15 '10

4 clips from Doctor Who Christmas Special will have you grinning from ear to ear UPDATE: Videos fixed!

The long-awaited Doctor Who holiday episode, “A Christmas Carol,” is still ten days away — but four brief clips will make you merry. We miss Matt Smith, and his banter with Karen Gillan. Update: Now with more video! Here are four clips from the episode: And just for fun, here’s a couple of Dalek “idents”…

Television Charlie Jane Anders Dec 15 '10

The 1980s were when science fiction franchises got big

These days, every cool science fiction universe is a “franchise,” meaning that it’s a piece of intellectual property separate from any particular creator or even set of characters. It wasn’t always that way — everything changed in the 1980s. https://gizmodo.com/i-never-want-to-hear-the-word-franchise-again-5342310 Long before the 1980s, there were cash cows that got milked to death. Hollywood has…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders Dec 14 '10

Charlie Jane Anders

Why don’t readers of Murakami read Mieville? And vice versa?

Rebel Alliance fighter crashes at Texas airfield?

5 things you can do to save Fringe right now

A gorgeous gallery of the places where our science fiction dreams (and nightmares) were born

Visions of the Dark Knight in unreleased Arkham Asylum concept art

George Saunders’ horrifying tale of sex, drugs and manufactured eloquence, in the New Yorker

Winter is Coming! Count down the days with this gorgeous Song of Ice and Fire 2012 calendar

So what’s Syfy’s new superpowered action show about?

The electric ghost of Douglas Adams haunts your screen

The far side of the Moon at its most psychedelic

Doctor Who crashes your Christmas party. Plus Buffy and Star Trek: TNG marathons!

Why C.S. Lewis Endures

Tron Legacy is a colossal failure of movie-making

Urban fantasy author’s novel gets a great book deal — after 50 agents turned it down

The 10 greatest paranormal teen comedies of the 1980s

“Game of Thrones” isn’t George R.R. Martin’s first fantasy saga on television

The Clarke Award needs your help!

Australia making a gay version of the Big Bang Theory?

4 clips from Doctor Who Christmas Special will have you grinning from ear to ear UPDATE: Videos fixed!

The 1980s were when science fiction franchises got big

Hollywood Has Finally Made a Hippo Horror Movie. It’s About Time

Before ‘Witch Hat,’ Kamome Shirahama Blessed Us With a Hilarious Romp About Gals Being Pals

Meta Axes Contractors Who Had to Review Explicit Video From Smart Glasses

World’s Slowest Rocket Company Suddenly Wants to Churn Out 60 Rockets a Year

Lego’s May Releases Are Swooshing In

Buying Prescription Smart Glasses Might Not Be Such a Good Idea After All

Spirit Airlines Is Reportedly Moving Forward With Plan to Shut Down

Trump Resurrects Keystone Pipeline Killed Over Climate Concerns

The Old Republic Reigns Supreme in Hasbro’s New ‘Star Wars’ Figures

Everything You Missed From Elon Musk’s Testimony in the OpenAI Trial

The Best Tech Gifts for Mother’s Day 2026

Asus’ Dual-Display Gaming Laptop Will Ruin Your Single-Screen Lifestyle

Steam Controller Review: Trackpads Change Everything for PC Gaming

Soundcore Space 2 Review: A Shockingly Stellar Value for Budget ANC Wireless Headphones

Anker’s UV Printer Can Handle Almost Anything… If You Know What You’re Doing

HP’s EliteBoard Keyboard-Computer Proves We Can Stick a PC in Anything

Sleep-Tracking Earbuds Didn’t Fix Me, but They Did Open My Eyes

I’ve Tested a Lot of Bad Smart Glasses and These Are the Worst Yet

Roborock’s Qrevo Curv 2 Flow Is the Ultimate Robot Mop—If You Don’t Have Corners or Walls

Alienware’s $350 QD-OLED Gaming Monitor Nixes Everything for a Pretty Screen