Books

Which hero did you want to be when you grew up?

Most of us grew up mainlining heroic stories of brave exploits and fantastical sacrifice. And we dreamed of becoming a version of our most beloved heroes. But which epic hero or champion did you dream that you could grow up to be, when you were a little kid? Please include a picture or clip of…

The io9 Calendar: October’s Can’t-Miss Science Fiction and Fantasy!

What does October have in store for science fiction and fantasy lovers? There are new books by Catherynne M. Valente, Paul Pope and Dan Simmons. Tons of new TV shows make their debuts. And there are loads of author appearances, conventions and new movies. Here’s the io9 calendar! Top image: The Lost Stars by Jack…

Corita Kent: How a Screenprinting Nun Changed the Course of Modern Art

During the 1960s, a woman named Corita Kent transformed a tiny art department in a Hollywood Catholic school into a global center for design and printmaking. She was buddies with Buckminister Fuller and counted IBM as a client. Oh yeah, and she was a nun! The new book Someday is Now: The Art of Sister…

The only review you need to read of Dave Eggers’ new book, The Circle

Dave Eggers’ new novel The Circle hasn’t even been released yet and already there’s plenty of controversy to go around. Kate Losse, a former Facebook employee who wrote a vaguely similar tell-all last year, is shouting plagiarism before she’s even read it. And Eggers quite famously doesn’t even use the internet, leading many to wonder…

David Bowie’s 100 favorite books include George Orwell’s 1984, Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange, Angela Carter’s Nights at the Circus, Peter Ackroyd’s Hawksmoor, Don DeLillo’s White Noise… and Viz, the satirical comics magazine known for characters like “Buster Gonad and his Unfeasibly Large Testicles.” Awesome.

Why Stephen King’s complaints about The Shining actually have a point

Stephen King has made no secret of his dislike for Stanley Kubrick’s acclaimed film adaptation of his novel The Shining, and this is usually seen as evidence that King is a control freak who can’t appreciate Kubrick’s genius. But a brilliant new essay by Laura Miller argues that King actually has a point. In Miller’s…

Step inside the Ender’s Game Battle School with 360° set panoramas

Want to get a much closer look at the space station Battle School from Ender’s Game? We’re exclusively debuting a 360° tour of the barracks for the Dragon Army, plus Colonel Hyrum Graff (Harrison Ford’s) command center. Take a look. Click on the embeds below — you can move your cursor around to move the…

What’s your favorite novel that you hated the first time you read it?

The best science fiction and fantasy books are mind-expanding — but sometimes, you can’t quite get into them on the first read. Sometimes, you’re too young to appreciate a novel, or it just doesn’t work. And then later, you try again… and fall in love. What’s your most beloved novel, that you hated when you…

Robot Separatists: The Best Stories About A.I.s Leaving Humanity Behind

When we finally create artificial intelligences and supersmart robots, everybody expects the very next thing they’ll try and do is wipe out humanity. Right? Maybe not. Some artificial creations just want to be left alone, to do their own thing. Here’s our semi-complete list of stories about robot separatists. Top image: Mass Effect. Note: These…

Which sudden off-screen death left you feeling most betrayed?

Earlier this week, Helen Fielding caused jaws to drop across the planet, because the new Bridget Jones book opens five years after the death of Mark Darcy. But this kind of off-screen (or off-page) death happens all the time. What’s your least favorite example of an unseen character death from science fiction or fantasy? Perhaps…

How L.A.’s “Last Bookstore” evolved from post-apocalyptic to magical

When Josh Spencer decided to open a bookstore called the Last Bookstore in Los Angeles, he pictured it as a post-apocalyptic thing — the Last Bookstore on Earth. But now that he’s moved to a much larger space, an old bank headquarters in an Art Nouveau building, quirky weirdness has taken over. Top image: Robjtak…

Black Kirby and Janelle Monae: The New Cutting Edge of Afrofuturism

Afrofuturism, the movement that puts people of African descent at the center of futuristic and science-fictional ideals, has gotten a new avatar in the form of singer Janelle Monae. But there’s also a new book coming out, two new art shows, an Octavia Butler graphic novel, and much, much more. A terrific article in Ebony…

Amazing Concept Art Shows How We Fixed the World By 2050

There’s tons of bleak, dystopian science fiction about our terrible near future — so instead, author Jonathon Porritt decided to write an upbeat novel about how we dragged the world back from the edge of disaster. Check out a book trailer that’s also an uplifting documentary from 2050. Porritt is the author of The World…

Get an Adorable Book of Your Digital Sketches Delivered to Your Door

If you’re an artist or designer with an iPad, chances are you have come across Paper, the elegant and fun drawing app. Thanks to Paper’s new partnership with Moleskine, you can now free your sketches from digital purgatory and purchase an actual physical book of your art. https://gizmodo.com/paper-for-ipad-hands-on-so-this-is-what-microsofts-for-5897413 The project is called Book, and the…

Ancillary Justice is the mind-blowing space opera you’ve been needing

First-time novelist Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Justice is a tale of war crimes whose astropolitical scope is stunning. It’s a military thriller, a mystery, and a very complicated love story about sentient starships and hive minds in an alien civilization that looks a lot like something out of Earth’s history. What’s immediately impressive about Ancillary Justice…

Which brand new character totally failed to mesh with an ensemble cast?

Sometimes a TV show, movie (or book series) needs to shake things up. So they add a brand new character, or replace an existing character with someone new. And… it doesn’t work. What’s the most glaring example of a new character who just doesn’t work with the existing gang? Please include a picture or clip…

A New Grant to Encourage Science Fiction Writing from Diverse Worlds

Science fiction and fantasy are full of limitless possibilities — so it only makes sense to encourage writers from diverse backgrounds to write them. A new grant aims to help “writers from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in the genre to start and continue publishing.” And you can help! Two publicists with Hachette Group, Ellen B. Wright…

Webcomic biography of Ayn Rand puts her works in context

Ayn Rand is a divisive figure in literature and political thought, and her life story helps us understand a great deal about her philosophy. Cartoonist Darryl Cunningham delivers a brief biography of Rand, from her childhood on. The author of Psychiatric Tales and How to Fake a Moon Landing, Cunningham is adept at creating fascinating…

Don’t Remake These Movies, Film These Books Instead!

Hollywood’s addiction to remakes and reboots continues unabated, with dozens of films in development. And meanwhile, bookshelves are straining with hundreds of original, thrilling novels that have never been adapted to the screen. Here’s a second dose of our list of books that should be adapted instead of yet another remake. Missed our first list…

See these lovely science fiction paintings for yourself

If you’re in New York City this evening, you should swing by the Society of Illustrators, where Hamilton King Award-winning artist Gregory Manchess is giving a lecture to go with a new exhibition of his work. Including some beautiful science fiction (and especially steampunk) images. Manchess’ exhibition “A Life in Paint” includes a ton of…