Books

Amazing fiction mag Strange Horizons is this month’s worthiest cause

Every month, you’re asked to contribute to tons of worthy causes and crowdfunding projects. But this month’s most worthy call for crowdfunding support isn’t a new project — it’s the longest running non-profit science fiction magazine on the Web, Strange Horizons, which is having its annual fundraising drive. If you love good fiction, this magazine…

The Honest Trailer for World War Z has a lot to work with

World War Z gets the Honest Trailers treatment. We’ve been waiting for this moment, Pepsi in hand. Thank you to Screen Junkies for wadding through this slog of a film to cobble together what went wrong on WWZ. Or, as we all know it, Brad Pitt Zombie Movie.

The Real Problem With Logan’s Run‘s Infamous “Sex Teleport” Scene

The weirdest moment in Logan’s Run is probably that bit where we see Logan selecting a sex partner via a remote control, and the chosen partner teleports into his home. But the trouble with that scene isn’t just the weird “dialing for casual sex” vibe — it’s the terrible user interface, argues expert Chris Noessel.…

Breaking Bad inspires George R.R.Martin to make an even worse villain

A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin is an avid viewer of Breaking Bad, but couldn’t help but note on his blog after last weekend’s episode “Ozymandias” that “Walter White is a bigger monster than anyone in Westeros.” His next thought? “(I need to do something about that).” https://gizmodo.com/in-breaking-bad-blood-doesn-t-always-run-thicker-than-1324863782 Holy hell. Given…

How to Turn Real Science Into Great Science Fiction

Science fiction is the literature of discovery — and there are tons of great ways to come up with stories worth telling. But a lot of the most compelling stories are based on actual cutting-edge science. But how do you turn real science into science fiction? To find out, we asked hard SF writers and…

First Left Behind images, fingers crossed for Nic Cage as God

Here it is, the first-ever pictures from the Christian Rapture movie adaptation of Kirk Cameron’s favorite book (besides the Bible) Left Behind. Soooo… which one of these characters is playing God? Is it Nic Cage? We hope it’s Nic Cage. Penned by authors Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, the apocalypse book sold a whopping 65…

Is it really possible for books to “transcend genre?”

The debate over “literary fiction” versus “commercial fiction” (with the latter category including speculative fiction) has gone on forever — but there’s a new wrinkle. New York Times Book Review contributor Christopher Beha has a proposal for how the NYTBR can recognize really groundbreaking works of speculative fiction, among others. Writing in Slate, Beha admits…

All Arguments Should Be Settled With Lightsaber Thumb Wrestling

If a lightsaber can turn a drunken bar brawl into what appears to be an elegant duel, imagine what it could do for the thumb wrestling matches you have with your roommates to decide on pizza toppings. But you don’t have to imagine, because thanks to the ‘never say no’ attitude of Disney’s marketing team,…

It’s a miracle that Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits even got made

Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits is a dark fantasy classic. But nobody would fund his movie about time-traveling robbers, and George Harrison had to mortgage his office to get the film made. That’s just one of the secrets of Time Bandits in this exclusive excerpt from the book Very Naughty Boys: The Amazing Story of HandMade…

America’s First Bookless Public Library Has Arrived Right On Schedule

America’s first completely bookless public library opened in San Antonio this past weekend. That is, if you define a “book” as words printed on paper pages which are bound together with glue. But if you define “book” a bit more liberally, the new library has plenty them. Over 10,000 ebook titles, in fact. All of…

How to measure the power of a science fiction story

Too often, we hear that a science fiction story has “succeeded” if it predicts the future accurately. But that’s the wrong measure of success. The most powerful works of SF don’t describe the future — they change it. It’s true that SF stories predicted things like satellites, smart phones, and gay marriage before they happened.…

Fore-Edge Paintings: The Secret Works of Art Hidden Inside Book Pages

Sometimes the greatest artworks are hidden in plain sight. Case in point: the University of Iowa recently discovered a four-volume set of scientific books from 1837 contains hidden paintings on the edges of the pages, which only show up when you fan them part-way open. These “Fore-Edge Paintings” are everywhere, and they’re beautiful. As Flavorwire…

What’s the most messed-up family in all science fiction and fantasy?

Larger than life adventures are hard on your family life. So maybe it’s no wonder that so many families in science fiction and fantasy are torn by betrayal, time-traveling incest, regular incest, monstrous transformations and deadly feuds. What’s your pick for the most screwed-up family in the universe? Please include a picture or clip of…

Read Richard Feynman’s physics lectures for free online

Physicist Richard Feynman was particularly famous for his lectures, which were known for being an engaging and accessible introduction to a number of scientific topics. Now Volume One of The Feynman Lectures is available in its entirety online. Videos of several of Feynman’s lectures are already online, but now Caltech and The Feynman Lectures Website…

The Swedish Prime Minister’s science fiction novel becomes a hit play

You can’t buy The Sleeping People by Fredrik Reinfeldt in a bookstore. The dystopian science fiction novel by Sweden’s current prime minister isn’t in libraries. But Reinfeldt’s novel about the welfare state gone amuck is available on the Internet, and now it’s been turned into a stage play that sells out every show. In Reinfeldt’s…

Which character started as an awful stereotype, then got humanized?

Sometimes, you meet a character and he or she is a total one-dimensional caricature. Maybe it’s the embodiment of an ethnic stereotype, or a gender one. Or maybe a stereotypical nerd, or jock. And then, over time, a miracle happens: he or she becomes a living, breathing person. Who’s your favorite stereotype who became a…

James Gunn says we can still “save the world through science fiction”

Author and science fiction scholar James Gunn has a new book out, Transcendental. And he gave a fantastic interview to SFSignal, in which he talks about the history of the genre. Including the never-ending battle between optimism and pessimism in science fiction. Gunn says: Science fiction always has had strains of pessimism and optimism weaving…

Anno Dracula‘s Kim Newman explains why there’s not just one Dracula

At long last, Kim Newman is publishing the fourth volume of his Anno Dracula alternate-history series, Johnny Alucard. In an exclusive essay, Newman explains why a late-20th-century Dracula story had to encompass the many Draculas of pop culture. Plus there’s an exclusive book excerpt! I’ve often described my book Anno Dracula as ‘literally, a vampire…

Dream Team. Robert Zemeckis directing a film version of Patrick Ness’ The Knife of Never Letting Go, with a screenplay by Charlie Kaufman? Yes please.

What’s the best out-of-canon story you’ve ever read or seen?

Our favorite characters go on and on forever. But sometimes, it’s fun to see them reach a final ending. And sometimes, you want to see your favorite character in a story that would ruin everything if it happened in real life. What’s your favorite story that’s out of continuity? Please include a picture or clip…