Books & Comics

All the Science Fiction and Fantasy Books You Can’t Afford to Miss in February

Is the publishing industry trying to kill us all? There are so many must-read books coming in February that you may not have time to sleep, or socialize, or possibly go to your job to afford more books. This month’s haul includes Kelly Link and Peter Beagle writing superhero tales, Neal Asher’s brand new dystopian…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

George Saunders’ new book shows just how terrible first world problems can be

George Saunders’ stories have always been fairly depressing — there are decrepit and miserable themeparks, people trapped in miserable and humiliating situations, evil company memos and awful experiments. But his latest book, Tenth of December, feels more desolate and horrible than ever. And it’s like a hilariously dreary status update from 21st century America, where…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

10 Educationally Insane Superhero PSA Comics

For most of their existence, comic books have been perceived as two things: 1) entertainment for children, and 2) terrible, morality-eroding entertainment for children. In order to strike back against these perceived problems, Marvel and DC have frequently produced public-service announcement comics, generally referred to as PSAs, using their superheroes to promote awareness of things…

Books & Comics Rob Bricken

This gif of the Joker putting on lipstick is utterly terrifying

This animated gif created from an illustration out of Greg Capullo’s art in Batman’s”Death of the Family” arc will stay with you for days. It’s fantastically creepy. If you need us, we’ll be spending the rest of the day staring down this gif, hoping it won’t crawl out of the computer and try and make…

Books & Comics Meredith Woerner

The Real-Life Japanese Pop Star Scandal That’s Possibly Too Weird for a William Gibson Novel

In Idoru, William Gibson gave us a story of a Japanese rock star falling in love with a synthetic, virtual pop icon. Now, virtual popstars exist in Japan, and a new pop scandal might be just as weird as anything Gibson dreamed up, writes Miles Raymer in the Chicago Reader. There’s a pop group called…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

What’s the cutting edge of feminist science fiction today? Your chance to sound off!

Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media and Technology is having a special issue devoted to “feminist science fiction,” edited by Alexis Lothian. The call for papers is here, and it reads in part: In the 1985 essay that defined the terms for feminist thinking about science and technology in the decades since, Donna Haraway…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

The sticky truth about Spider-Man’s “web”

Spiders make their webs from silk extruded by special organs known as spinneret glands. But spinnerets are located at the tip of a spider’s abdomen, not its limbs. So is Peter Parker anatomically incorrect? Well… not exactly. We had the pleasure of hanging out with the entomologist known online as Bug Girl this weekend, during…

Books & Comics Robbie Gonzalez

An Anthology of Science Fiction Stories from 80 Different Countries

We’ve seen some collections of science fiction from non-U.S. writers recently, and Japanese SF in translation is making waves in the U.S. But chances are, there’s never been a book quite as international as the one the German publishing house Saphir im Stahl (Sapphire and Steel) is planning — they want to put out a…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

Warren Ellis’ Gun Machine Is a Blood-Soaked Hymn to New York Gun Fetishism

Famed comic book writer Warren Ellis has just published his second novel, Gun Machine, a noir detective tale set five minutes into the future, when private security companies are on the cusp of taking over police departments and mobile phones have become bendy pieces of plastic. A serial killer is on the loose in New…

Books & Comics Annalee Newitz

Could serialized pulp novels actually be the wave of the (retro) future?

Back in the day, all the best writers were doing serialized work, like Dickens. And novels were a lot more like comic books, or soap operas. And now, thanks to e-books, could that day be coming back again? It sure seems like it. John Scalzi’s new Old Man’s War novel is getting serialized by Tor.…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

How Your Microwave Actually Works

Whatever energy you spend fussing with your microwave, testing out different power levels and durations, is wasted. It’s about time you knew that. Because despite all your efforts, your food can only come out one of two ways: ice-cold, or mouth-singeing. That’s just science. [The Doghouse Diaries]

Books & Comics Brian Barrett

A surprisingly great noir-style comic set in the world of Pokémon

Ray Bruwelheide puts the usually colorful Pokémon in black and white, telling the start of a story that isn’t about battling, but about crime. It’s just getting started, but there’s a lot of promise in Bruwelheide’s approach to the superpowered pocket monsters. The first two pages of this brief intro comic are below. You can…

Books & Comics Lauren Davis

Eric Schmidt’s New Book Rails Against China As Being the “Most Sophisticated and Prolific” Hacker

In addition to giving North Korea a what-for, Eric Schmidt has also been working on some other projects. He’s got a book coming out about China, for instance, and after getting some time with the preliminary drafts, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that it’s taking some serious shots at the superpower. The book—The New…

Books & Comics Eric Limer

Saturday Webcomic: Hemlock is the tale of a woodland witch and the monstrous husband she must routinely poison

When Tristan was a little boy, he saw a witch in the woods, an ancient, wild thing who lives in the shell of a giant snail an casts powerful spells from spit and blood. He forgets about the encounter until one day, as a grown man, he falls from his horse, cracking open his skull…

Books & Comics Lauren Davis

What it Means When Someone Tries to Tell You THE Rules of Good Writing

There’s only one rule for how to write a story, and that’s: “Write a good story.” Apart from that, anything goes, as long as you can pull it off. (And some things are harder to pull off than others.) But sometimes, people will try and teach you ironclad rules of fiction writing. Like, avoid an…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

The Woman Whose Pulp Art Was Too Sexy for “Public Decency”

Margaret Brundage broke two taboos at the same time with her iconic covers for Weird Tales magazine in the 1930s. She was a woman working in the male-dominated world of fantasy art, and her covers were racy and titillating, even for the pulp era. Warning: possibly NSFW magazine art below! Now, at last, Brundage is…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

The Best of January’s Short Stories (That You Can Read For Free Online)

Short stories have always been the lifeblood of the science fiction and fantasy genres, even though novels get the lion’s share of the attention. There are hundreds of great stories published every year — and a large portion of them are available for free online — but many people only read the shorts in one…

Books & Comics K. Tempest Bradford

Hot Damn, this Dead Space concept art is stunning

We’re all eagerly awaiting the release of Dead Space 3 — but in the meantime, here’s something to tide you over. A brand new book gives you a look inside the designs of Dead Space, from the beautiful space vistas to the terrifying worlds of the Necromorphs. And we’re lucky enough to bring you some…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

Terry Pratchett and other fantasy authors score at this year’s ALA Awards

On Monday, the American Library Association announced the winners of dozens of book awards. The most famous of these are the Newbery and the Caldecott awards for children’s books and the Michael L. Printz Award for young adult literature. They also include the William C. Morris award for best book for young adults by a…

Books & Comics Michael Ann Dobbs

An Index of Dozens of Maps from Epic Fantasy Novels

Want to kill a couple hours poring over imaginary topography? Over at The Fantasy Reader, there’s an amazing index of maps from fantasy novels, covering everybody from Patrick Rothfuss to George R.R. Martin. Prepare to be drawn into realms of wonder. And mountains. Lots of mountains. [A Fantasy Reader, via Saladin Ahmed and Genreville]

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

All the Science Fiction and Fantasy Books You Can’t Afford to Miss in February

George Saunders’ new book shows just how terrible first world problems can be

10 Educationally Insane Superhero PSA Comics

This gif of the Joker putting on lipstick is utterly terrifying

The Real-Life Japanese Pop Star Scandal That’s Possibly Too Weird for a William Gibson Novel

What’s the cutting edge of feminist science fiction today? Your chance to sound off!

The sticky truth about Spider-Man’s “web”

An Anthology of Science Fiction Stories from 80 Different Countries

Warren Ellis’ Gun Machine Is a Blood-Soaked Hymn to New York Gun Fetishism

Could serialized pulp novels actually be the wave of the (retro) future?

How Your Microwave Actually Works

A surprisingly great noir-style comic set in the world of Pokémon

Eric Schmidt’s New Book Rails Against China As Being the “Most Sophisticated and Prolific” Hacker

Saturday Webcomic: Hemlock is the tale of a woodland witch and the monstrous husband she must routinely poison

What it Means When Someone Tries to Tell You THE Rules of Good Writing

The Woman Whose Pulp Art Was Too Sexy for “Public Decency”

The Best of January’s Short Stories (That You Can Read For Free Online)

Hot Damn, this Dead Space concept art is stunning

Terry Pratchett and other fantasy authors score at this year’s ALA Awards

An Index of Dozens of Maps from Epic Fantasy Novels

JBL Authentics 500 Retro-Style Home Speaker Hits 40% Off, Now at Its Lowest Price as Amazon’s Spring Sale Clearance Begins

ExpressVPN Spring Sale Special: Up to 73% Off + Free eSIM and Password Manager

You Too Will Learn to Fear the XenoFrog

Amazon Echo Dot Sees Its Last Price Drop in the Spring Sale, Final Hours Tick Down Ahead of an Uncertain Prime Day

Artemis 2 by the Numbers: Breaking Down NASA’s Big Return to the Moon

Apple Removes iPhone Vibe Coding App from App Store

China’s Biggest Social Media Celebrity Is… Kris Jenner?

Up to $1,550 Off on pCloud: Pay Once, Protect Data Forever for World Backup Day

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

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

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