George Orwell

Science Fiction vs. Fantasy: Dystopia, Mad Science and Magic!

This year’s edition of io9 March Madness is dedicated to finding the greatest, most classic work from all of science fiction and fantasy. Today we wrap up the Round of 64 with the likes of George Orwell, Doctor Who, Harry Potter, and the Dread Lord Cthulhu. The competition is fierce! Top image: ZachSmithson. After deciding…

This map describes the world of George Orwell’s 1984—or does it?

This map shows the global superpowers described in George Orwell’s 1984, but does this map truly reflect the political state of the world in the novel or is it just another form of Party propaganda? User LupivTheGreat posted this map to reddit, and fellow redditor dr_van_nostrand_MD provides an apt description of its reality within the…

Science Fiction Book Cover Redesigns We Wish We Could Put on the Shelf

Over at Artsy Musings, there’s a great roundup of science fiction book cover reimaginings that ought to be actual book covers. Including this beautiful design by Luke James. Check out a few more of our favorites below. Left: Hannes Beer. Right: Wayne Dorrington. Left: Kevin Tong. Right: Paul Murray. Both images by Kevin Tong. Check…

David Bowie’s 100 favorite books include George Orwell’s 1984, Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange, Angela Carter’s Nights at the Circus, Peter Ackroyd’s Hawksmoor, Don DeLillo’s White Noise… and Viz, the satirical comics magazine known for characters like “Buster Gonad and his Unfeasibly Large Testicles.” Awesome.

The Most Frequently Banned Book of 2012: Captain Underpants?

Yep. Self-appointed guardians of morality aren’t trying to protect our kids from To Kill a Mockingbird nearly as often as the Captain Underpants books, which to be fair have “underpants” in their title. That’s the shocking revelation from this year’s Banned Books Week. The American Library Association released its list of the most challenged books…

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.…

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)…

Iconic Black and White Photographs, Colorized

A sizable number of history’s most unforgettable images were photographed in black and white. Now, through the digital process of colorization, we can see how these scenes might have appeared in person. The picture above was taken by Joe Rosenthal in 1945 during the Battle of Iwo Jima. Hoover Dam Turbine Construction, early 1930s (via…

New edition of 1984 will feature a “censored” blacked out cover

Penguin is releasing new editions of five of books by George Orwell, with covers by designer David Pearson. Perhaps the best of the new designs is Pearson’s simple but brilliant idea for 1984, with the title and author’s name apparently censored with black foiling. The black bars only obscure the text at a glance, however;…

Andy Serkis is directing a family-friendly, motion-capture version of Animal Farm

Andy Serkis’ stunning grasp of motion capture acting is one of the reasons Peter Jackson made him a second unit director on The Hobbit. Now the Gollum actor plans to apply those directing skills to a motion-capture project of his own: a new adaptation of George Orwell’s political fable Animal Farm. The Hollywood Reporter has…

The ‘Banned Books’ list is a hilariously depressing history of people missing the point

Educators thought Orwell’s 1984 was promoting Communism. They thought Huxley’s Brave New World made promiscuous sex “look like fun,” and the book is “centered around negative activity.” They thought the point of Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-5 was to promote “deviant sexual behavior.” People burned Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings outside a church because they thought it was…

Great Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors Who Lived Abroad

Science fiction and fantasy are all about reaching beyond the horizon — so it’s not surprising that many of the greatest speculative fiction authors have broadened their own horizons. And you can see it in their writing, because the experience of negotiating a very different culture and learning another language reshapes the way you think…

Street Artist Shepard Fairey Convinces Hollywood to make another 1984 movie

Break out your overalls — there’s a new adaptation of George Orwell’s 1984 on the horizon. The world’s most famous dystopian narrative is coming back to the big screen. Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s production company (Imagine Entertainment) is teaming up with LBI Entertainment to bring back the Ministry of Truth. But the real mastermind…

Read Aldous Huxley’s review of 1984 he sent to George Orwell

Several months after George Orwell’s dystopian classic 1984 was published in 1949, Aldous Huxley sent a letter to his former French pupil. The Brave New World author had received a copy of 1984 from the publisher at Orwell’s behest, but his poor eyesight prevented him from finishing the book for several months. In his letter…

“Better Book Titles” has been rocking the hell out of science fiction classics lately

The “Better Book Titles” blog is one of the internet’s great treasures — and if you haven’t checked it out lately, you’ve missed some total gems. The blog is just what it sounds like — people post their versions of books with more appropriate titles. Above are Twilight as reimagined by Liz Lay, Dune as…

Great Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Who Never Wrote Sequels or Trilogies

Sometimes it seems like science fiction, and especially fantasy, are genres that lend themselves exclusively to trilogies and long-running series. But some of the greatest writers in speculative fiction have only written standalone novels, not series or trilogies. Here are some of the greatest writers in the genre who never wrote sequels to their work.…

Judge calls location-tracking Orwellian, while Congress moves to legalize it

A federal judge’s decision requiring the government to get a court warrant before obtaining mobile-phone location data is one of a string of conflicting opinions on the topic. It comes as lawmakers and the Supreme Court weigh in on the hot-button issue of locational privacy. U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis ruled on Tuesday that the…

10 Science Fiction Books That Changed the Course of History

Many science fiction books imagine strange new worlds — but only a few science fiction books have actually changed the world we live in. A few visionary authors have managed to make such an impression that they left the world a vastly different place. Here are 10 seminal science fiction novels that changed the world…

10 Classic SF and Fantasy Books That Were Originally Considered Failures

Some of science fiction/fantasy’s classic books failed to win over readers at first. And the publishers of some of SF’s most beloved works were convinced they had a disaster on their hands. Here are 10 masterpieces that were deemed failures. Top image: Lord of the Rings watercolor by David T. Wenzel Little, Big by John…

Best television adaptations of science fiction and fantasy novels

Can a book really become a decent television show? Yes, and here’s the proof! Here are 12 shining examples of science fiction and fantasy books that actually got turned into television series that are worth watching in their own right. The other day, we listed the worst TV adaptations of SF books, now here are…