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obituary
RIP JG Ballard
The Guardian newspaper has reported that author J.G. Ballard has passed away after a long battle with prostate cancer. His agent, Margaret Hanbury, announced that Ballard died this morning. He was 78. -
Cardboard Universe
The Third Fictional Coming Of Philip K. Dick
He's Hollywood's biggest source of books to adapt. He's revered as a science-fiction visionary. And now it seems like Phliip K. Dick is increasingly popular as a fictional character, starring in his third novel. More » -
spring mating season
10 Authors Who Put Sex In Their Science Fiction
Sex and science fiction have not always been the most obvious partners; combining the two has occasionally defeated even the genre's greatest luminaries. But here are ten authors who successfully brought sex into the future. More » -
philip k. dick
Philip K. Dick's Widow Sues His Daughters Over Movie Rights
Could a movie of Philip K. Dick's trippy Ubik be delayed by a new lawsuit filed by his widow, Tessa Dick? She's suing the production company run by two of his daughters, over movie rights. More » -
book review
Terry Pratchett vs. the Global Economic Crisis
Making Money, Terry Pratchett's Nebula-nominated, thirty-somethingth novel in Discworld series, could be a subtitled, "a comic fantasy on contemporary themes," ie the large-scale consensual fraud that is a banking system. More » -
book review
House Of Suns Is A Flawed Far-Future Thrill Ride
Alastair Reynolds' House Of Suns, shortlisted for the Clarke Award, is a novel of ideas, with all that implies. The space-opera epic throws a dizzying blizzard of concepts at the reader, sacrificing character-development. Spoilers below. More » -
Fred Saberhagen
A Host Of Alternate Timelines Where The Incas Thrashed The Europeans
If you're starved for alternate-universe stories (or just wish there were more stories about Incas trying to erase the Conquistadors from history) then a new anthology based on a Fred Saberhagen novel is for you. More » -
triviagasm
10 Unsinkable Science Fiction Stories About The Titanic
The RMS Titanic sank almost a century ago, but it's still sailing through the imaginations of science-fiction writers and artists. Here are 10 Titanic tales, including Douglas Adams, Arthur C. Clarke, and Doctor Who. More » -
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pre-golden age
The Mad Mentalists of Pre-Golden-Age SF
Paving the way for Vulcans, Slan, Espers, Professor X and Babylon 5's Lyta Alexander, SF writers of the Pre-Golden Age (1904-33) dared to imagine how normal people might react if telepaths were discovered among us. More » -
agent to the blargh
Would You Be This Science Fiction Author's Agent?
If you think a lot of drek appears on science-fiction bookshelves every year, imagine the stuff that passes across a literary agent's desk. Just check out one writer's particularly horrendous query letter. More » -
john carter of mars
Michael Chabon Signs On To Write John Carter Of Mars
Andrew Stanton's adaptation of the Edgar Rice Burroughs pulp legend John Carter of Mars just got a new screenwriter… and it's one of the writers who best understands pulp science fiction. More » -
book review
The Woman Who Saves Humanity From Itself in "The Margarets"
In Sheri S. Tepper's The Margarets, nominated for the Clarke, a woman's identity is shattered into seven parts, each going on interplanetary missions to save humanity. This is magical space opera mixed with hardcore eco-politics. More » -
quote of the day
Why Science Fiction Still Doesn't Get Into The Inner Circle
"There's probably an element of snobbism," McClatchy said, adding that other members may not share his taste for "thrillers, detective stuff, hard-boiled noir stuff.""I don't know, but it may simply be unfamiliarity, that people here don't sit around reading science fiction. They're rereading Flaubert, or they're rereading Richard Price. There's a man who has raised the underworld to Parnassus."
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books
Our Latest Award-Winners Have A Murder Mystery Theme
This year's Philip K. Dick Award goes to Adam-Troy Castro's detective story Emissaries From The Dead and David Walton's Terminal Mind. And meanwhile, Ken McLeod's intricate murder mystery The Night Sessions won the BSFA Award. -
books
As Our World Crumbles, Readers Clamor For Science Fiction
In these troubled times, whether you're looking for some simple escapism or a vision of how things could be even worse, science fiction has the answer. And book sales are starting to reflect that. More » -
hackers
SFWA Website Comes To Life, Starts Attacking Web Browsers
The Science Fiction And Fantasy Writers Of America website was hacked by someone who installed malicious code into its pages. When anyone visited the SFWA site, it would try to launch a Trojan against your browser — which mostly affected older browsers and unpatched machines. The attack was aimed at gaining users' bank-account details and other personal information. SFWA says it's removed the malicious code from its site now. [SF Crows Nest] -
stephenie meyer
Stephenie Meyer Was The Book Industry In The First Quarter
USA Today's newest quarterly best-selling books list is out, and those abstinence-loving vampires from Stephenie Meyer's Twilight books took the first four spots. But what was the best-selling proper science fiction book, you ask? Well… More » -
books
Amazon.Com Banishes Queer SF Writers To A Null Dimension
Online books retailer Amazon.com erased untold numbers of books with mature or queer themes from its site, apparently in a drive to remove "adult" material. And some science-fiction authors were hit hard. More » -
monster lit
Pride & Prejudice & Zombies Author Takes The Money And Runs
Turns out Pride And Prejudice And Zombies was only the beginning; author Seth Grahame-Smith has signed a big-bucks deal for two more books that shoehorn monsters in where you'd least expect. More » -
Author David J. Williams has premiered some amazing art from his upcoming future-thriller book The Burning Skies on his blog, including this fantastic Phoenix Space Elevator. Click through to see a gorgeous space station. More »
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books
Margaret Atwood's Latest Deals With Financial Crisis, Horrific Floods, Hymns About Al Gore
Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid's Tale, The Blind Assassin) tackles the economic crisis in her upcoming novel The Year of the Flood with a sprawling tale of social decay and environmental ruin. And hymns. More » -
dune
Why Dune Is The Perfect SF Novel For People Who Only Read Fantasy
Over at Tor.com, Douglas Cohen has a great explanation for why your friends who only read fantasy - the ones who don't like a book unless it's got dragons and swords - will like Frank Herbert's classic space epic Dune. -
books
Science Fiction Put Words In Our Mouths
Science fiction doesn't just glimpse the future - it invents the scientific vocabulary of the present, according to an editor from the Oxford English Dictionary, who's listed nine scientific terms that came from science fiction. More » -
book review
German SF Through Two World Wars And The Berlin Wall
How did Germany's dreams (and nightmares) of the future shift over a century or so, including two world wars and the Berlin Wall? A new anthology takes us inside the history of German science fiction. More » -
quote of the day
The Best Green Technology Is Population Control
"I don't see our environmental ills as a failure of technical capacity. Many technologies can have a positive effect on the environment; the problem is us, and where we tend to focus our innovative energy. More » -
rick brant
Rick Brant: Making Mysteries (Sort of) Scientific Since 1947
You ever find yourself thinking how much better the Hardy Boys would be if they were a little more like Tom Swift? Yeah, me neither. Yet Rick Brant did just that. And he completely rocks.
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story-telling
What's The Difference Between Story And Plot?
People always say the story is the most important thing in good science fiction. But excessively "plot-driven" science fiction is dismissed as mindless or worse. What's the difference between story and plot anyway? More » -
psychohistory
Asimov's Psychohistory May Yet Save Us From Ourselves
Could a "Theory Of Mind" predict future history, based on looking at how people think and behave? It may have helped forecast World War II and our current econom-ick. Is psychohistory finally coming to pass? More » -
afternoon listening
Listen To Disembodied Alien Voices All Afternoon
Starship Sofa has uploaded all seven Nebula-nominated stories from 2008 as podcasts, including Gwyneth Jones' "Tomb Wife," James Patrick Kelly's "Don't Stop," and Ruth Nestvold's "Mars: A Traveler's Guide." Good way to spend your afternoon. -
Reader Mike Felkins sent us an image of the actual Slow Train To Arcturus cover, including the alleged helmet-condom. On the right, the sanitized/misspelled online version. Meanwhile, another site boasts a wealth of bad covers. More »
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exclusive
The 3 Laws May Not Be Enough To Guide Robot Warriors
What does the Pentagon think about a possible robot uprising? Is Star Trek's view of combat realistic? We asked P.W. Singer, senior fellow at the Brookings Institute and author of Wired for War. More » -
morning spoilers
Brilliant New Terminator Salvation Pics, And A Sarah Connor Chronicles Clip!
Robot carnage has never looked as amazing as it does in new Terminator Salvation pics. Also, clips from Lost and Sarah Connor show mind-bending questions. Plus Transformers, Life On Mars, Fringe and Supernatural. Spoilers rule! More » -
book review
If Nothing's A Game, Then Everything Is
This Is Not A Game, Walter Jon Williams' new novel, shows how "reality" and Alternate Reality Games blend and become more and more indistinguishable - just as our culture, money and society melt down. Spoilers... More » -
The "Judge A Book By Its Cover" blog has so much to teach us about science fiction. Like the condom-headed cover that got sanitized online... only to misspell the word "Arcturus." More »
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triviagasm
Guns, Bugs and Powered Armor: The Most Realistic Military Science Fiction
Military science fiction has often explored the ethical and cultural effects of war in the future. Here's a guide to some notable entries in the field that do the best job depicting realistic warfare. More » -
books
Science Fiction Book Sales Went Up As The Economy Tanked
So is it true that science fiction book sales have dropped since the economy went dystopian? Not according to one publishing industry insider, who has access to actual Bookscan data. Apparently, the data show a slight increase in science-fiction book sales for 2008 over the year before, and no evidence of a steep plunge so far in 2009. More » -
book review
Superpowers Is A CW Show On Paper
With his first novel, David J. Schwartz attempts to imagine ordinary people, in a realistic setting, who gain Superpowers. It's one of the finalists for the Nebula Award. More » -
This cover art for Andre Norton's Three Against The Witch World crackles with eldritch insanity - and that's before you realize that artist Harry Borgman used himself and his wife as the models. More »
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quote of the day
Have Science Fiction Books Become Too Self-Referential?
"Science Fiction has become an exclusively literary genre, with books inspired less by new scientific research than by previous science fiction books, and, regrettably, movies. Ideas turn into tropes, and instead of extrapolation, we get variation: of the generation star ship, the space alien, the artificial brain, the parallel universe. More »