Books

Small Beer Press is Kickstarting a Four-Century-Old Science Fiction Novel

Many people point to Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein as the first science fiction novel, but Small Beer Press thinks that they’ve got one better: The Chemical Wedding by Christian Rosencreutz: A Romance in Eight Days by Johann Valentin Andreae in a New Version by John Crowley, written in 1616. This year marks the 400th anniversary of…

Books & Comics Andrew Liptak

A Harry Potter Theory That Both Explains Harry’s Tiny Class and Will Ruin Your Day

Ever wonder how there could only be about 18 Gryffindors in Harry’s Hogwarts class and that J.K. Rowling has said there were 1,000 students at the school? Well, a fan theory has an answer… a depressing, depressing answer. Buzzfeed did the math and, assuming that all the houses have roughly equal numbers of students, there…

Movies Katharine Trendacosta

The Many Ways George R.R. Martin, J.K. Rowling, and Other Creators Defend Killing Their Characters

We live in a time where it is easier than ever to complain about a plot development you don’t like. Writers, directors, creators—they’re all asked constantly about the deaths of their characters, but they all have their reasons. It’s just some are more acceptable than others. For Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the reason to kill…

Movies Katharine Trendacosta

Bestselling Scifi Author John Scalzi Is Beginning a Brand New Space Opera

Earlier this year, John Scalzi announced that his next book would be coming out in 2017, and now we finally know what it is: a brand new space opera called The Collapsing Empire. Scalzi is probably best known for his military SF series, Old Man’s War, where the Colonial Defense Force worked to ensure a…

Books & Comics Andrew Liptak

Check Out The Incredible Art In The Folio Society’s New Edition of The Shining

We’ve really been enjoying The Folio Society’s special editions, and the incredible artwork that they’ve been including in each one. Their latest edition is Stephen King’s The Shining with illustrations from Edward Kinsella. Sheri Gee, the Folio Society’s art director, noted that she had come across Kinsella’s artwork as a judge an artist contest: “I…

Books & Comics Andrew Liptak

It Looks Like We Will Be Getting Scott Lynch’s The Thorn of Emberlain This Year

Ever since we picked up The Republic of Thieves, we’ve been itching for a new novel from Scott Lynch. According to his publisher, the next installment of his Gentleman Bastards series, The Thorn of Emberlain, will be released in September. Starting with The Lies of Locke Lamora, Scott Lynch’s Gentleman Bastards series had gained considerable…

Books & Comics Andrew Liptak

Rob Boffard Throws Down His Recommended Reading List in These Epic Raps

If you’re like us at all, you’ll have a reading list that’s as long as your arm. Instead of doing your typical list of books on a guest blog, Rob Boffard turns to an unconventional medium: rap video. Boffard, who throws in a plug for his recently-released books Tracer and Impact, noted that he had…

Books & Comics Andrew Liptak

Here Are the Winners of the 2015 Stoker Awards

The Nebulas weren’t the only major awards handed out last night. In Las Vegas, the Horror Writer’s Association awarded their own major award, The Stoker, to the best horror stories published in 2015. Here’s the recipients: (Winners are in bold) Superior Achievement in a Novel Paul Tremblay – A Head Full of Ghosts (William Morrow)…

Books & Comics Andrew Liptak

Paul Tremblay’s A Head Full of Ghosts Will Scare the Shit Out of You

There are some books that end leaving you utterly shattered: you reach the last page and think to yourself: did that just fucking happen? That’s exactly what ran through my mind when I finished Paul Tremblay’s blockbuster of a novel, A Head Full of Ghosts. A Head Full of Ghosts is a brilliant book that…

Books & Comics Andrew Liptak

If These Are the Four Houses of America’s Hogwarts, They Are Completely Insane

I just want to love you, Harry Potter universe. So, in my mind, I have to believe this story about the four houses of Ilvermorny, the American wizarding school we’ll be seeing soon in the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them spin-off movies, isn’t true. Because, if it is, wow did America screw up…

Movies Katharine Trendacosta

Flipping Through This Pop-up Book Is More Relaxing Than a Thousand Zen Gardens

Sitting back with a good book is a popular way to help relieve stress. But artist Tauba Auerbach has created an incredibly intricate pop-up book, devoid of any words, that will totally relax you simply by opening and closing each page. Watching these 2D pages transform into 3D structures is better than tending to an…

Sploid Andrew Liszewski

House Martell Makes Its Move in a New Excerpt from The Winds of Winter

When Game of Thrones returned for its sixth season, House Martell and Dorne’s plot… well, it certainly went some places, didn’t it? Well, in the next installment of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels, the Martells are also preparing to strike, as you can read thanks to this newly released excerpt…

Books & Comics James Whitbrook

Jazz Music and Physics Have a Lot More in Common Than You Think

It might not seem like music has much to do with cutting-edge physics at first glance. In his new book, The Jazz of Physics: The Secret Link Between Music and the Structure of the Universe, Brown University physics professor Stephon Alexander argues that using music as an analogy can shed light on some of the…

Physics & Chemistry Jennifer Ouellette

Sylvain Neuvel Tells us How Anime Grendizer Jumpstarted Sleeping Giants

Sylvain Neuvel’s debut novel, Sleeping Giants has gotten quite a bit of attention since it hit bookstores, and Neuvel tells us how watching robot shows with his son helped get the novel started. The novel begins with a girl falling through the ground and onto a giant hand in a hidden chamber. Nearly two decades…

Books & Comics Andrew Liptak

io9 Book Club: The Rebirth! Meet June 5th To Discuss Linda Nagata’s The Red!

After several months off, we hereby reconvene io9 Book Club. This month, we’re going to be reading The Red: First Light, by Linda Nagata! What is this io9 Book Club all about? We meet once a month to discuss a book we’ve all read together, and then we have an online chat with the author…

Books & Comics Andrew Liptak

There’s a Sci-Fi Novel Secretly Unfolding in Reddit’s Comments

For the last two weeks, strange, violent, or seemingly nonsensical comments have been appearing across unrelated Reddit threads. A mysterious user named _9MOTHER9HORSE9EYES9 (MHE) has been posting pieces of what appears to be a novel that draws heavily on historical events and religion, and show up in apparently random order. The piecemeal nature of the…

Books & Comics Avery Ellis

Either Josh Boone Is Trolling Us or Jared Leto Is Interview With the Vampire‘s New Lestat

Apparently all news about the new Vampire Chronicles movie adaptations will now come to us via social media. Writer-director Josh Boone tweeted the below photo of Jared Leto with the caption “Lestat – there can be only one. #JaredLeto.” Here it is: This follows an Instagram post of Boone’s that showed a completed script for…

Movies Katharine Trendacosta

All the Major Star Wars Secrets Revealed in the New Novel Bloodline

Even with all the books and comics out there right now, Disney’s new Star Wars canon is still in its earliest days, especially when it comes to the time period between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. However, Claudia Gray’s new Leia-centric novel Bloodline, out this week, uncovers that mysterious era in some…

Books & Comics James Whitbrook

The Star Trek: New Frontier Series Proves How Great Tie-In Books Can Be

If I were to rank Star Trek series—which I could spend the rest of my natural life debating myself on—I would have to include Peter David’s Star Trek: New Frontier in the list. Because these books are not only more consistently great than some Trek TV series, but than many TV shows, period. Minor spoilers…

Books & Comics Katharine Trendacosta

Now Everyone Can See Tolkien’s Annotated Map of Middle-Earth in All Its Glory

Last year, a map of Middle-earth, annotated by Tolkien himself, was unearthed in a copy of a book owned by illustrator Pauline Baynes. The map’s now been purchased by Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries, who very kindly put a full, authorized, version of the full map online, which is sure to be pored over by fans forever…

Books & Comics Katharine Trendacosta

Small Beer Press is Kickstarting a Four-Century-Old Science Fiction Novel

A Harry Potter Theory That Both Explains Harry’s Tiny Class and Will Ruin Your Day

The Many Ways George R.R. Martin, J.K. Rowling, and Other Creators Defend Killing Their Characters

Bestselling Scifi Author John Scalzi Is Beginning a Brand New Space Opera

Check Out The Incredible Art In The Folio Society’s New Edition of The Shining

It Looks Like We Will Be Getting Scott Lynch’s The Thorn of Emberlain This Year

Rob Boffard Throws Down His Recommended Reading List in These Epic Raps

Here Are the Winners of the 2015 Stoker Awards

Paul Tremblay’s A Head Full of Ghosts Will Scare the Shit Out of You

If These Are the Four Houses of America’s Hogwarts, They Are Completely Insane

Flipping Through This Pop-up Book Is More Relaxing Than a Thousand Zen Gardens

House Martell Makes Its Move in a New Excerpt from The Winds of Winter

Jazz Music and Physics Have a Lot More in Common Than You Think

Sylvain Neuvel Tells us How Anime Grendizer Jumpstarted Sleeping Giants

io9 Book Club: The Rebirth! Meet June 5th To Discuss Linda Nagata’s The Red!

There’s a Sci-Fi Novel Secretly Unfolding in Reddit’s Comments

Either Josh Boone Is Trolling Us or Jared Leto Is Interview With the Vampire‘s New Lestat

All the Major Star Wars Secrets Revealed in the New Novel Bloodline

The Star Trek: New Frontier Series Proves How Great Tie-In Books Can Be

Now Everyone Can See Tolkien’s Annotated Map of Middle-Earth in All Its Glory

Trump Says He’ll Sign Order to Pay TSA

Deadpool Will Deface ‘Magic: The Gathering’ Classics for a New Secret Lair

Apple’s Siri Isn’t Just Going to Use One Chatbot. It’s Going to Use All of Them

Why ‘For All Mankind’ Season 5 Is the Key to the Rest of the Series

ASUS ZenScreen 15.6-Inch Portable Monitor Is Now Cheaper Than Black Friday in Amazon’s Big Spring Sale

Early Wildfires Are Surging Across the US—and Trump’s New Fire Agency Isn’t Ready

INIU Brings Another Power Bank to the Spring Sale as SnapGo Keychain Portable Charger Drops to Its Lowest Price

Attorney Hit With Historic Fine for Citing AI-Generated Cases

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

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets

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