Books

Games Wizards Play Is a Book That Rewards Fans More Than Anyone

On Tuesday, the tenth book in Diane Duane’s Young Wizards series was published. It is not for casual readers. It is really just for fans. Games Wizards Play concerns a competition called “the Invitational,” which takes place every 11 years and is explicitly compared to a science fair, but with wizardry instead of science. Nita,…

Books & Comics Katharine Trendacosta

Oh, So That‘s Why Leia Doesn’t Trust the New Republic in The Force Awakens

The zillions of tie-in stories for The Force Awakens revealed there was going to be a scene in the movie where Leia acknowledged that her former colleagues in the Senate were just as likely to want to have her killed as they were to ignore her. A new Star Wars novel is going to explore…

Books & Comics James Whitbrook

The Young Octavia Butler Shaped Her Own Future Success Through Sheer Force of Will

When she was still a struggling writer, Octavia Butler vowed that she would become successful, no matter what it took. Her handwritten affirmation about her own future success is amazing to read, now that it’s come true. The Huntington Library was given a collection of Octavia Butler’s papers after her death, and they’ve catalogued 8000…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

If Your Father Was a Pulp Science Fiction (and Porn) Writer in the 1970s, Life Got Pretty Weird

Andrew Offutt was a prolific author of pulpy science fiction and fantasy stories, along with porn, under a variety of names. Now his son Chris has written a memoir called My Father the Pornographer. And he’s been writing some fascinating essays about growing up with a dad who wrote cheap paperbacks. According to the Science…

Television Charlie Jane Anders

I Wrote a Weird Book About Two People Who Belong in Different Stories

A young witch and a wild science genius—the characters in my new novel All the Birds in the Sky don’t even belong in the same book together. They’re misfits in the eyes of the world, but they’re also weird to each other. And that turns out to be the most fun thing to explore. Read…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

George R.R. Martin Made Me Feel Unspeakably Depressed Yet Again

Few authors have as much power to draw you in with fun characters and thrilling adventures—and then crush your spirit utterly—as George R.R. Martin. But the latest way that Martin managed to make me lose all hope for humanity was especially sneaky. And just tremendously soul-shredding. Here’s your spoiler warning—if you’re not up to speed…

Television Charlie Jane Anders

V.E. Schwab’s Magnificent Darker Shade of Magic Could Be a TV Series!

V.E. Schwab’s novel A Darker Shade of Magic is a thrilling story of magical journeys to alternate universes—there are four different versions of London, each with its own relationship to magical forces. We loved it. [Full disclosure: Schwab’s editor also worked on my own novel.] So it’s fantastic news that this book is in the…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders

There Are Just Too Many Amazing Science Fiction and Fantasy Books in February

Keeping up with all the amazing science fiction and fantasy books this month may actually be a full-time job. Alastair Reynolds, Patricia McKillip, Yann Martel, Iain Pears, Lois McMaster Bujold and a ton of your other favorite authors have new books. Here are the books you absolutely must not miss in February! As usual, there…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

Two Fantasy Novels Just Won The People’s Choice Awards

For the first time ever, the People’s Choice Awards opened a new set of categories for books, joining television, movies, music and online media categories. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard won Best Young Adult Novel and An Ember in The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir won Best Fantasy Novel. (Weirdly, there’s no Best Science Fiction category.)…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

Here’s an Enchanting Excerpt from Catherynne M. Valente’s Final Fairyland Book

Catherynne M. Valente’s fantasy novel The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making broke the internet and then became a publishing sensation. Now the sixth and final Fairyland book is coming out, The Girl Who Raced Fairyland All the Way Home. And here’s an exclusive excerpt! This section is one of…

Books & Comics Catherynne M. Valente

Relive Memorable Movie Scene Munchies Through This Scratch and Sniff Book

Movies and food will forever be intertwined—just try and imagine a trip to the theater without a tub of popcorn or a box of gummy bears. Some of Hollywood’s most memorable scenes involve food too, which you can now relive—at least through their smells—with this new scratch and sniff book. Palatable Pictures, from publisher Belly…

Movies Andrew Liszewski

I’m Still Trying To Make Sense of Infinite Jest

Infinite Jestby David Foster Wallace turns 20 today, and I’m still confused by it all these years later. I’ve seldom been more engrossed in a novel, and more willing to put in the time of obsessively studying footnotes. But what the heck happens in the end? One of the ways that Infinite Jest grabs you…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

Ian McDonald Explores What It Takes To Develop A Society On The Moon

What will a future look like with an inhabited moon? That’s the focus of Ian McDonald’s latest novel, Luna: New Moon, and we recently had the chance to chat with him about how the story developed. We loved Luna: New Moon when we recently reviewed it. It’s the story of five families who control the…

Books & Comics Andrew Liptak

I Miss the Heroes of the 80s Who Got Their Asses Kicked All the Time

The 80s were a simpler, more macho time. It was the era of Ronald Reagan, Rambo, and Bruce Springsteen’s patriotic denim buttcheek. But when I think about 80s pop culture, I think about heroes who got their asses handed to them. I miss that vulnerability and determination to keep going after a horrendous defeat. When…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders

What It Means To Be a Science Fiction Writer in the Early 21st Century

I believe that science fiction’s best days are ahead of it, because I have read a lot of science fiction. And if this genre has taught me anything, it’s optimism about human ingenuity—along with a belief that the unexpected is just around the corner. I’m not alone: Many people seem to feel like science fiction…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders

I Wrote 100 Terrible Stories That I’m Glad You’ll Never Read

Several years ago, I was getting burned out in my high-stress newspaper job, and I came across a fancy hardcover book listing science fiction publishers, agents and editors. I paged through it on my lunchbreak, until I found a part of the introduction which proclaimed: “Many writers now make a decent living just from writing…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

Read This Before the Next Time You Get Sucked into the ‘Hard Science Fiction’ Debate

The distinction between “hard science fiction” and “soft science fiction” means many different things to different people—but that doesn’t prevent people from turning it into a status game. Which science fiction has the most real science, or the most serious scientific discussions? Depends whom you ask. Over in Tor.com, a bunch of authors weigh in…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

Wake of Vultures Will Kick Your Ass Up One Page and Down The Other

There are fast-paced thrill-a-minute novels where the plot twists and wild action just. Keep. Coming. And then there are introspective books about someone searching for their identity and untangling deep issues of race, sexuality and gender. And then occasionally, you get a book that manages to do both. Wake of Vultures by Lila Bowen is…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

The Weirdest Stories Are Sometimes the Most Real

For years, I thought of weirdness and personal storytelling as sort of opposites. You can have surreal, cartoony, acid-trippy, logic-melting insanity, or you can tell a grounded emotional story about people. But the big epiphany I had while writing All the Birds in the Sky is, sometimes weirdness is intensely personal. I don’t know why…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

22 Fantastic New Star Wars Characters (Who Weren’t In The Force Awakens)

The Star Wars universe is bigger than ever, thanks to Disney’s new mandate that everything that gets published is in canon, along with the movies. But if all you’ve done is watch the movies and TV shows, there’s a whole half of the universe you’re missing. Here are all the new, notable and most interesting…

Books & Comics Rob Bricken

Games Wizards Play Is a Book That Rewards Fans More Than Anyone

Oh, So That‘s Why Leia Doesn’t Trust the New Republic in The Force Awakens

The Young Octavia Butler Shaped Her Own Future Success Through Sheer Force of Will

If Your Father Was a Pulp Science Fiction (and Porn) Writer in the 1970s, Life Got Pretty Weird

I Wrote a Weird Book About Two People Who Belong in Different Stories

George R.R. Martin Made Me Feel Unspeakably Depressed Yet Again

V.E. Schwab’s Magnificent Darker Shade of Magic Could Be a TV Series!

There Are Just Too Many Amazing Science Fiction and Fantasy Books in February

Two Fantasy Novels Just Won The People’s Choice Awards

Here’s an Enchanting Excerpt from Catherynne M. Valente’s Final Fairyland Book

Relive Memorable Movie Scene Munchies Through This Scratch and Sniff Book

I’m Still Trying To Make Sense of Infinite Jest

Ian McDonald Explores What It Takes To Develop A Society On The Moon

I Miss the Heroes of the 80s Who Got Their Asses Kicked All the Time

What It Means To Be a Science Fiction Writer in the Early 21st Century

I Wrote 100 Terrible Stories That I’m Glad You’ll Never Read

Read This Before the Next Time You Get Sucked into the ‘Hard Science Fiction’ Debate

Wake of Vultures Will Kick Your Ass Up One Page and Down The Other

The Weirdest Stories Are Sometimes the Most Real

22 Fantastic New Star Wars Characters (Who Weren’t In The Force Awakens)

This Winter Fly Is Doing Something Scientists Didn’t Think Was Possible

Acer’s Mac Mini M4 Docking Station Drops to an All-Time Low, Supporting Up to 8TB Storage

Sony Is Hiking PS5 Prices for the Second Time in Less Than a Year

This Amazon Smart Plug Deal in the Spring Sale Makes Alexa Smart Home Setup Almost Too Easy and Cheap

Ryan Coogler’s ‘X-Files’ Reboot Has Found Its Other Big Star

Anker’s 100W Power Bank Hits Its Lowest Price of the Year on Amazon, Packing 25,000mAh and 3 Ports

Beats Solo 4 at 40% Off Is Now Apple’s Lowest-Cost Headphone Pick During Amazon’s Spring Sale

Now the Oscars Aren’t Just Moving to YouTube, They’re Moving Out of Hollywood

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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