Books

Author Nathaniel Rich is here answering your questions, 12-1 PT today!

In July, the io9 book club read Nathaniel Rich’s near-future disaster novel Odds Against Tomorrow. Now, Rich is here today from 12-1 to answer your questions about this book, his previous work, and anything else (on topic!) you want to ask. https://gizmodo.com/io9-book-club-is-in-session-lets-talk-about-odds-agai-965016402 Start posting your questions in comments below, and Rich will get to as…

Ender’s Game trailer shows the epic space war our children will fight

A brand-new trailer for Ender’s Game is out, showing a whole lotta new footage and a much larger look at the space war the future human race is fighting. There are lots of swarming bug ships attacking Earthly jets, but our big takeaway is the above shot — holy crap, the Battle Room just keeps…

How Often Cities Appear in Books From the Past 200 Years, Visualized

Google’s N-Gram Viewer is a wonderful and under-appreciated thing: At the click of a mouse, it lets you search Google Books’ huge corpus of material for specific words and combinations of words. This N-Gram analysis, for example, maps the mention of ten different cities in every book written between 1800 and 2000, charting the wax…

11 Splendid Roald Dahl Illustrations Let You Revisit Your Childhood

Let’s be honest: Roald Dahl books don’t really need illustrations. The famed British author was such a visual and visceral writer that you could just close your eyes and see Matilda skipping off to school or the Fantastic Mr. Fox plotting his next act of mischief. That said, when illustrators do take on the subject…

What’s the best system of magic in any fantasy world?

Every fantasy book or movie treats magic differently. Sometimes, magic is a totally unknowable force, and controlling it is like steering the ocean. Sometimes, magic is logical, and you just need to know the rules. But which fantasy story has the absolute best system of magic of all time? Please include a picture of your…

The io9 Calendar: Your Ultimate Guide to August’s Science Fiction!

Time for another heady glimpse into your future. There’s almost too much amazing science fiction and fantasy for anyone to handle in August, which is why we’ve compiled this indispensible calendar. There are tons of conventions, mind-bending books, television shows… plus Elysium and Kick-Ass 2. It’s the io9 calendar! Top image: Cover detail of Satan’s…

Warren Ellis is publishing a book in 2014 called Spirit Tracks about “the future of the city,” based on this talk. He wants us to get back to talking about “the city as haunted space” and “the present as haunted by the future.”

All the Science Fiction and Fantasy Books You Can’t Miss in August!

Summer movie season is pretty much over — but books are just getting started. This month’s books include bracing space opera, poignant magical realism, dark subversive futures, epic fantasy. And most of all, lots and lots of mind-blowing action. Here are all the books you can’t afford to sleep on in August. Image: Jon Sullivan…

Kazu Kibuishi’s Awesome Challenge: Creating New Harry Potter Covers

Eisner Award-nominated comic book artist and author Kazu Kibuishi admits that he was “surprised” when Scholastic approached him about designing brand-new covers for all seven “Harry Potter” books. He needn’t have worried: The founder of the stunning “Flight” comic book anthology series has brought a whole new dimension to J.K. Rowling’s enduring series. Although Mary…

10 Paranoid Science Fiction Stories That Could Help You Survive

It’s not just paranoia. They really are watching you. The world we’re living in is getting weirder and more dangerous all the time. So it’s a good thing science fiction has been stockpiling dark mind-fraks for decades, full of smart survival strategies. Here are 10 paranoid science fiction tales that could keep you alive. 10)…

Sinister director grabs Drew Magary’s Postmortal for the big screen

Chopped enthusiast, Gawker columnist, and parenting advice-giver Drew Magary’s immortal novel could be made into a movie. Set in the near future where the cure for aging has been discovered, The Postmortal citizens don’t have to age, but can still die from accidents, sickness, stabbings etc. https://deadspin.com/our-drew-magary-applied-for-a-spot-on-chopped-this-is-5924495 Magary announced the deal on twitter: Also revealing…

We can’t believe there’s a Hobbit deleted scene! But here it is.

No lie, there was footage from Peter Jackson’s 3-part Hobbit film that didn’t make it on screen. And what we missed out on was a cute scene between Bilbo and Elrond. Check it out. The clip is from The Hobbit DVD release, which promises BUCKETS of behind-the-scenes stuff. And if you’ve seen Peter Jackson’s vlog,…

In the latest Temeraire novel, only Chinese dragons can save Europe

Naomi Novik’s beloved Temeraire series is about to come to an end. Her penultimate novel of the alternate history series, Blood of Tyrants, comes out August 15. In it, we witness some of the last battles of the Napoleonic Wars — from the backs of dragons who aren’t just weapons anymore. They’re generals. Spoilers for…

Four Years of Amazing Japanese Science Fiction

Just four years ago, Haikasoru started as an imprint of Viz Comics, publishing Japanese science fiction books in translation. Now Tom Cruise is starring in a movie of All You Need is Kill, and there have been a slew of award nominations. Over at the Haikasoru site, editor Nick Mamatas takes stock of all the…

She survived future wars, but can she survive her own fancy brothel?

In Kieran Shea’s novel Koko Takes a Holiday, Koko Martstellar has retired as a mercenary after living through some of the most intense warfare imaginable. Her reward? Running a luxury brothel full of simulated violence and weirdness. Until it all starts going south. Here’s the first ever excerpt. Titan Books, which is putting out Koko…

What science fiction author best describes the world we live in now?

The world has moved so fast, our nightmares and fantasies can barely keep up. Science fiction becomes alternate history, or just plain history, at the blink of an eye. But which science fiction author really captures the world we live in today? Please include a book cover or some other illustration, so we can see…

Here’s How Designers Reimagined the Cover Art For 50 Classic Novels

Classic novels tend to have equally classic cover art. For example, when you think of The Great Gatsby, your mind likely goes to a pair of half-closed eyes floating over a glittering, cobalt city. But what if designers were given a chance to rethink these covers entirely? That’s the concept behind Recovering The Classics, a…

Another as-yet-unpublished novel sparked a Hollywood bidding war, as Sony won an auction for the movie rights to Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Thomas Sweterlitsch, set 10 years after a deadly attack on Pittsburgh in a digital reconstruction of the city that hides a deadly secret. The book comes out a year from now.

io9 Book Club is in session! Let’s talk about Odds Against Tomorrow.

Welcome to the monthly meeting of the io9 Book Club. In July, we read Nathaniel Rich’s Odds Against Tomorrow. Jump into comments to get started talking about it! Illustration via Slate 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…

Could Walter Mitty be the Eternal Sunshine fix we’ve been waiting for?

Ben Stiller is lost in a dreamworld in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, adapted from James Thurber’s famous short story of the same name. Just a tiny glimpse of this movie created a ton of buzz at CinemaCon last spring. Fingers crossed this will be the next Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The…