Charlie Jane Anders

io9Books & Comics

The Top 10 Science Fiction Stories By Women Authors

Want to find some great reads? Check out White Queen author Gwyneth Jones’ list of the top 10 science fiction novels written by women, in today’s Guardian. Her selections range from classics like Ursula LeGuin’s Left Hand Of Darkness and Kate Wilhelm’s Where Late The Sweet Birds Sang to new releases like Justina Robson’s Natural … Continued

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Tron’s Light Cycles Could Have Looked Much Stranger

As sleek and cyber-looking as the light cycles were in VR-game epic Tron, some of the original light-cycle concept art looks even more arresting. Some of the light cycles look almost industrial, like machines made out of pixels, while others look abstract and chaotic, just squiggly lines moving around. Even though the light-cycle concept art … Continued

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Don’t Middle-Panic! Middleman Not Canceled, Says ABC Family

Contrary to reports on message boards, the awesome Men In Black-style show The Middleman has not been cancelled, a rep from ABC Family tells io9. “No decision has been made” as to the show’s future, but all of the show’s first season episodes will air as planned. “We stand behind this show” and the network … Continued

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Serial Killer Joss Whedon Faces His Public

As you probably know, something dreadful happened in the last episode of Dr. Horrible’s Singalong Blog, Joss Whedon’s internet supervillain musical. Online critics were somewhat dismayed, and when Whedon went on a live chat at the Washington Post, he found himself facing his critics. Whedon’s response to the neigh-sayers, plus other Horrible tidbits, after the … Continued

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Dragonball’s Goku Dons His Costume, Watchmen’s Sally Jupiter Doffs Hers

Some new photos are both spoilery and shiny this morning, including our first look at Goku in costume from the Dragonball movie, some 1940s Watchmen pictures (including a Sally Jupiter pinup), and a new Land Of The Lost still. Ronald D. Moore spilled some details on his new pilot Virtuality, and Jamie Bamber mentioned a … Continued

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Trailer Proves Caprica Shouldn’t Be Tied To BSG

The Sci Fi Channel just released its first trailer for Caprica, the prequel to Battlestar Galactica that shows the origins of the Cylons. The trailer shows glimpses of some of the issues the show will raise: about cyber consciousness versus “real” consciousness, and faith versus the randomness of the universe. But watching the trailer, I … Continued

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Tilda Swinton Finds Her Husband In A Shocking State Of Undress

This is probably the weirdest moment in Possible Worlds, the alternate-reality-hopping movie from 2000. It’s a bizarre, dreamlike story of the relationship between George (Tom McCamus) and Joyce (Tilda Swinton) across various realities. It reminds me of The Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, especially with Tilda’s hair changing color across each timeline. And then … Continued

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Michael Crichton: Evil, Or Just A Crazy Luddite?

Arguably the science fiction writer who’s achieved the most mainstream success in the past few decades is Michael Crichton, whose works include the Andromeda Strain, Westworld and (most famously) Jurassic Park. So it’s too bad Crichton achieved his success by being an evil luddite, writes Star Dragon author Mike Brotherton. A common theme in Crichton’s … Continued

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X-Files Movie Proves Some Things Are Better Left Buried, Say Critics

The first early reviews of the new X-Files movie have shown up online… and they’re not encouraging. Phrases like “Where’s the action?” and “nothing more than an extended episode of the TV series” are being bandied about. But the truly horrifying part is the explanation of Billy Connolly’s weird character — the one with the … Continued

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Drag And Drop Kirk’s Scary Bedroom Eyes

Want Captain Kirk leering lasciviously from your computer desktop while you work? Then you’re in luck. The official Star Trek movie site has put up high-res images of the four Trek posters that’ll be handed out at Comic-Con. The site also has a discussion forum, where the hot topic at present is “Why is Captain … Continued

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Terraforming A Barren Planet — With Your Bare Hands

Once again, the best thing in the current Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction is a very political novella about spying during wartime. Like Robert Reed’s “Five Thrillers,” which we praised a few months ago, “The Political Prisoner” by Charles Coleman Finlay features spies, political turmoil and genetically altered human colonists at odds with the … Continued

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Once You Know How BSG Ends, You’ll Revisit Its Past. And Middle.

The final episode of Battlestar Galactica could be spread out over as much as four hours, allowing for a full explanation of the robot-apocalypse show’s complex mythology at last. And the BSG TV movie that’s in the pipeline wouldn’t air until after the final BSG episode — which could allow it to revisit some events … Continued

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Bat-Mania, Destructo-Robots And A Doctor Who Reunion, On This Week’s TV

There’s a lot of great stuff on TV this week, if you know where to look. For one thing, there are more attempts to cash in on Bat-fever with some fun-sounding Batman shows. For another, The Middleman is finally clearing up all your nagging questions about boy bands. Doctor Who cranks it up to 11 … Continued

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Find Out How X-Files 2 Ends

Welcome to the spoiler mothership. Now that the American remake of British cult hit Life On Mars has a totally new team in charge, it sounds like they’re taking some liberties with the story of a cop who travels back in time to 1973 — and everything you know from the British version may turn … Continued

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Doctor Who’s Year (And A Half) Of Hell

The Doctor Who episode “Turn Left” aired last night for the first time in the U.S., and you can read my recap here. I liked it almost as much as last week’s episode, in spite of some very puzzling diction from a certain returning character. Oh, and a weird ethnic stereotype. But in general, I … Continued

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Dr. Horrible’s Tag-Along Sidekick?

Joss Whedon’s singing, TMI-dispensing supervillain, Dr. Horrible, may not be doing such a great job of winning the girl of his dreams. But at least he has one secret admirer. A British comedican calling himself Dr. Dreadful has put up a Youtube video applying to be Dr. Horrible’s sidekick. Click through to see his supervillain … Continued

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Brace For Impact! A Turbulent Video Compilation

Everybody loves a crazy ship-shaking moment. Whether your starship is entering a temporal anomaly or your battlestar has taken multiple hits from Cylon missiles, there’s just something awesome about watching people bounce — or fly — around the bridge of their spaceships. Here’s our compilation of the greatest moments of space turbulence, to the tune … Continued

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Wonder Woman Casts A Long Shadow

I haven’t been terribly excited about the Wonder Woman direct-to-DVD movie, not least because all the art I’ve seen from it has looked bland and unexciting. But this early version of the Wonder Woman poster, which director Lauren Montgomery posted on her blog, totally works for me. It looks classic and sleek in a way … Continued

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Get Fired Up For Watchmen With Some New Pics

Mega-classic graphic novel Watchmen sounds sort of like a soap opera when you try to explain it to mainstream people. That’s the lesson I’ve learned from reading Entertainment Weekly’s first big article about Zack Snyder’s movie adaptation. Sally’s mom forced her into the spandex life! She’s trapped in a dead-end relationship with the blue guy, … Continued

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Spock Till You Drop, With New Star Trek Posters

Here’s our first look at Zachary Quinto as Spock, from J.J. Abrams’ new Star Trek sequel/prequel/reboot-apalooza. This is one of four posters that will be available at Comic-Con next weekend, representing the only official Star Trek presence at the event. The posters, which premiered in the new Entertainment Weekly, also include Chris Pine’s Kirk, Zoe … Continued