Books

Go to Amazon.com right now, and you’ll probably find a book that you’re looking for for $.01. Even with shipping, that’s a steal. The New York Times takes a look into the industry of buying books in bulk (sometimes from the trash) and reselling them for a penny.

io9 Newsstand: Here’s a Great, Mind-Bending Story for Time-Travel Geeks

This week’s stories are about the perils of time travel, resisting and embracing change, and coming of age on a distant planet. And they all come from the December issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact. If you remember, last week I talked about how all of the “Big Three” digest magazines have changed editors…

The Difference Between a Great Story and a Shitty Story Is Often Really Tiny

Hollywood people often say that it’s a miracle there are any good movies at all. Because so much can go wrong, and so many random things have to go right, for a movie to avoid being a hopeless disaster. I can believe this, because in general the difference between the good and bad versions of…

Get One of The Most Acclaimed Space Books In Recent Years For Just $1.99

The self-published novel A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers got nominated for the Golden Tentacle Award for best SF debut, and got tons of praise from some of science fiction’s most respected critics. Now it’s coming out in a fancy new edition from Harper Voyager, and for today only it’s…

One Of The Scariest Aliens In Film History Gets An Adorably Cute Makeover

The Xenomorph from the Alien series has got to be one of, if not the, most terrifying creatures ever in film history. Even in the bad films of the franchise, the alien looks awesome. But one author imagined, what if he wasn’t so scary? Enter Alien Next Door, a picture book by artist Joey Spiotto.…

I Used To Be Too Scared To Check These Books Out of the Library

I remember the exact place where they were kept. They hovered together, trapped tightly between two wood slabs until they could be freed. I tried to ignore them, but they called out to me, over and over, in a deep low-pitched moan. Aliiiiiiiiissa. Aliiiiiiiiiissa. In third grade I discovered these three books of short stories…

Which Epic Book Series Would Benefit From Being Shortened and Combined?

Everybody loves to dive into a pile of books that spin out an epic, immersive storyline. There’s nothing more satisfying than a trilogy or series with deep worldbuilding. But some book series could stand to be a bit shorter—and maybe also fewer books. Earlier today, we had an essay from Kim Stanley Robinson about the…

What I Learned From Cutting 300 Pages Out Of My Epic Trilogy

Kim Stanley Robinson’s Science in the Capital trilogy is revered as a classic of environmentalist science fiction, years ahead of its time. Now it’s being re-released as a single volume, calledGreen Earth. He explains how, and why, he cut three books down into one. Peter Matthiessen, who died in 2014, was a great writer. His…

Two Science Fiction Novels You Must Read to Deal with Election Season

The US presidential debates are eroding our souls, and the partisan mudslinging has only just begun. That’s why it’s time to escape into the world of the future, or alternate history, to see how truly twisted politics can get. Two new novels will take you there. Austin Grossman, author of the melancholy gamer novel YOU,…

Diane Duane’s Young Wizards Is The Fantasy Book Series Everyone Should Be Reading

Diane Duane’s Young Wizards series is a truly great fantasy universe. It’s so perfect, I actually don’t want anybody to adapt it for TV or movies. Instead, everybody should hunt these books down and experience their greatness firsthand. The series currently stands at nine books (a tenth is due out in February), plus a number…

Gary Oldman Is Co-Writing A Book That’ll Redefine What We Think Of Vampires

Time and time again, Gary Oldman proves there’s nothing he can’t do. However, his latest project takes that statement to a whole new level. He is co-writing a book called Blood Riders which will “reinvent the rules and realities of vampires and sex and the power of love.” “The power of love,” huh? It’s a…

The Cover of This Fairytale Anthology Tells a Whole Story of Its Own

Here’s the first look at the cover art of a brand new fairytale anthology from Saga Press, The Starlit Wood. What do you think is even happening in this picture? There’s a tree with glowy light inside it, and weird contraptions and scaffolding outside, and what the heck is this? The Starlit Wood: New Fairy…

This Never-Before-Seen Ghostbusters Concept Art Is Completely Incredible

Ghostbusters is a series jam-packed with iconic designs an amazing creatures. Those designs had to start somewhere of course, and that somewhere is in the amazing concept art of Henry Mayo, Thom Enriquez, John Deveikis and more. Now you can see some of that fantastic art for the very first time in a brand new…

Behold This Stunning Edition Of Ursula K. Le Guin’s A Wizard Of Earthsea

Recently, The Folio Society has been putting together some beautiful science fiction and fantasy books: Dune and The Man in the High Castle each came out earlier this year. Now, Ursula K. Le Guin’s fantasy A Wizard of Earthsea will be getting its own special treatment, and will correct a long-standing issue that Le Guin…

Johnny Depp In Talks To Join Neil Gaiman’s Fortunately, The Milk Film 

This is neat: Johnny Depp is in discussions to join Edgar Wright’s adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s children’s book Fortunately, The Milk. Written by Gaiman and illustrated by Skottie Young, the short book follows a brother and sister as they discover that their house is missing milk. When their father goes out and returns, his story…

RIP Harriet Klausner, The Web’s Most Prolific Book Reviewer

If you’ve ever perused book reviews on Amazon.com, you’ve probably come across a name on just about every novel out there: Harriet Klausner. By the time she passed away on October 15th, she amassed an incredible 31,014 reviews. A self-described speed reader, Klausner was a former librarian who tore through four to six books a…

This Literary Horror Tale Will Reawaken Your Love For H.P. Lovecraft

H.P. Lovecraft is a polarizing figure nowadays—even if you ignore all the hugely problematic elements of his writing. But he still pioneered so much of what we love in horror and science fiction. So award-winning author Victor LaValle decided to create a literary tribute to the Master. LaValle has written a brand new novella called…

Exclusive Doctor Who Concept Art Reveals the Earliest Visions of the Cybermen!

Cybermen! Ruthless, implacable cyborgs who have replaced emotion with logic, they are among the most deadly villains on Doctor Who. And despite being men in suits, they manage to look other-worldly, creepy and menacing. This took a lot of design savvy, as this exclusive concept art shows. This artwork comes from a brilliant new book…

io9 Book Club Reminder: Meet Nov. 3 To Discuss Matthew De Abaitua’s If Then!

This month, the io9 Book Club is reading If Then by Matthew De Abaitua. We’ll meet on Nov. 3 to discuss it. Join us! 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…

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Will Be a Sequel About Harry and His Middle Child

Along with the first official artwork, details about the plot of the forthcoming two-part Harry Potter play have been revealed. It sounds like Albus Severus has inherited a few too many things from his father. From Pottermore comes this description: It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he…