Charlie Jane Anders

In Seventh Son, Julianne Moore’s Shoulderpads Have Magic Dragon Powers

Seventh Son just does not give a flying dragon fuck. The latest in a long line of fantasy epics that include Season of the Witch, Jack the Giant Slayer and Hansel and Gretel, Witch Hunters, this movie knows exactly what it is. And Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore know what kind of movie they’re in.…

Jupiter Ascending Is A Very Decadent Movie About Why Decadence Is Bad

Jupiter Ascending isn’t just a mediocre film. It’s also self-indulgent, and in love with its own excesses. It’s like the sick love-child of Zardoz and Fifth Element. But what’s really odd about Jupiter is that it wants to criticize opulence and selfishness, and yet it’s a movie that thinks “more” is always “better.” Spoilers ahead……

Mel Brooks Co-Wrote A Musical Based On The Archy And Mehitabel Books

Did you know that Mel Brooks co-wrote an Archy and Mehitabel musical? I didn’t, until after I wrote about the Don Marquis books about the cockroach and catthe other day. Eartha Kitt — Eartha Kitt! — starred in the original stage version. And later, they did an animated movie version. 1957’s Shinbone Alley featured a…

The Most Hilariously Damning Review Of The Original Star Wars

When Star Wars came out in 1977, nobody knew it would become the classic that we all recognize today. Some people were skeptical, for sure. But few reviewers were as hilariously savage as John Simon, with New York Magazine, who called it “a set of giant baubles manipulated by an infant mind.” Top image: New…

The Man Who Invented The Science Fiction Paperback

Many of science fiction’s greatest classics were published as paperback originals — and the genre might never have gotten so much widespread appeal without the cheap paperback format. As a new article in Investor’s Business Daily explains, this was the brainchild of publisher Ian Ballantine. Back in the 1940s and 1950s, when America had only…

The Truth About What Went Wrong With The Third Season Of Star Trek

The original Star Trek was a revolutionary television show… that came to an ignominious end. The classic space opera saw a huge drop in quality in its final season, and then was cancelled. Legend has it the ratings were terrible, and the new producer, Fred Freiberger, ruined it. But the truth is a bit more…

R.I.P. Suzette Haden Elgin: Author, Poet, Verbal Self-Defense Coach

Suzette Haden Elgin, who died last week, was a pioneer of using linguistics in science fiction, creating a whole constructed language in her novel Native Tongue. She was a giant of feminist SF. And she helped bring SF poetry to prominence, while also teaching us to defend ourselves with wit rather than bile. Elgin had…

The Insane Attention To Detail In Interstellar’s Big Spaceship Sequence

One of the things that makes Interstellar look different from other recent space movies is the reliance on practical models instead of CG effects. But that gets tricky — especially in one crucial scene from the movie, where some delicate maneuvering required some equally delicate modelwork and camerawork. Spoilers ahead…. In Thompson on Hollywood, there’s…

The February Science Fiction And Fantasy Books You Can’t Afford To Miss

2015 is already off to a crazy start, as far as science fiction and fantasy books are concerned. And your to-read pile is about to get much bigger. February brings new Neil Gaiman, Kelly Link, Claire North and Joe Abercrombie. Plus tons more. Here are 23 books you can’t afford to miss in February! Top…

The Rise Of Slipstream: “The Audience Is Weirder Than It Used To Be”

Remember Slipstream? It was a huge catchphrase among science fiction authors and readers back in the 1990s, denoting strange works of fiction that blend realism and fantastical elements. And now, thanks to authors like Kelly Link and David Mitchell, it may finally be going mainstream,a new Wall Street Journal article claims. Top image: The Particular…

Last Night’s Episode Of Agent Carter Was Immensely Satisfying

It’s only been a month, but already it feels as though Agent Carter has been putting us through the wringer. Our favorite war hero has been disrespected, double-crossed, and forced to feign incompetence in front of her colleagues. But last night, she finally got to show what she can do. Spoilers… There’s just something immensely…

Here’s What A Dark Reboot Of Power Rangers Could Look Like

It’s been nearly a quarter century, and the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers are still going strong. But what if they had a darker, more edgy reboot? Here’s some fan art from concept artist Eddie del Rio (Godzilla) that imagines what that would look like. We’ve featured del Rio’s work on Godzilla before, and he’s currently…

Self-published authors can join SFWA The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America has opened its doors to independent and self-published authors. If your novel made at least $3,000, you can apply for active membership. More details here.

io9 Book Club Is In Session. Let’s Talk About Rooms By Lauren Oliver!

Welcome to the monthly meeting of the io9 Book Club. In January, we read Lauren Oliver’s Rooms. Jump into comments to get started talking about it! For those unfamiliar with the io9 book club, here’s how it works: You read the book. We create a special book club post on io9 when the meeting is…

Theory Of Everything‘s Felicity Jones Will Star In A Star Wars Spin-Off

Bad news: We don’t get to see Tatiana Maslany star in a standalone Star Wars film. Good news: Felicity Jones, who was pretty darn impressive as Jane Hawking in The Theory of Everything, won the role that Rooney Mara and Maslany were competing for. This is the Star Wars spin-off that Gareth Edwards (Godzilla) is…

The Truth About Truvada: Can One Pill Really Protect You From HIV?

It sounds too good to be real: You take one pill every day, and your risk of contracting HIV is reduced upwards of 90 percent. But the Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) program is an actual thing, which the CDC and the WHO have been recommending since last spring. Is daily Truvada as effective as it sounds,…

A New Glimpse Of Doctor Who‘s “Lost” 5th Anniversary, With Peter Cushing

What if Doctor Who actually had a fifth anniversary special in 1968, featuring original stars William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton… plus the War Doctor, played by movie Doctor Peter Cushing? That’s the premise of this amazing art project by Colin Brockhurst. Brockhurst is selling some “memorabilia” from this story, “The Day of Doctor Who” on…

Women Destroy the Hugo Awards! How much visibility have women authors received in recent years, versus the past? Livejournal user Kalimac did a statistical analysis of Hugo nominations by gender going back to 1959, and found two spikes — one in the mid-1990s, and one from 2010 onwards.

How To Make The King Arthur Stories Interesting Again

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are mainstays of pop culture. But Hollywood never even scratches the surface of the real Arthurian lore. Here are the amazing aspects of King Arthur’s legend that deserve more exploration in big adaptations — which could breathe new life into Camelot.

San Francisco’s Science Fiction Bookstore, Borderlands, Plans To Close

We could be losing another great science fiction bookstore soon. Citing an increase in the local minimum wage and pressures from Amazon.com, Borderlands Books announced a plan to close by the end of March. This would be a huge blow not just to San Francisco, but to science fiction authors who made this store a…