io9Sci-Fi

23 Weeks of Star Trek Reminded Me of the Simple Pleasure in a Job Well Done

For the past 23 weeks, every Thursday a new episode of Star Trek has appeared on CBS All Access, delivering us Lower Decks’ surprising debut season and the third, strongest chapter of Discovery. A lot happened in nearly half a year of boldly going, but looking back, all I can think about was how refreshing … Continued

io9Games

Dungeons & Dragons‘ New Adventure Book Brings Fresh Voices to the Forgotten Realms

Typically, a Dungeons & Dragons adventure book is all about creating a world for your heroes to go on epic campaigns—detailing the vast settings of places like Eberron or Icewind Dale, or setting up cities like Waterdeep or even the Magic: The Gathering land of Ravnica. While its newest adventure revisits a classic D&D location, … Continued

io9Sci-Fi

Star Trek: Discovery‘s Co-Showrunner Talks Defying Expectations With Season 3’s Big Michael Moment

The season three finale of Star Trek: Discovery was a big one for Michael Burnham. She had to retake the Discovery from the villain of the season, try to stop some of her closest friends from dying of radiation, and prevent kickstarting a galaxy-wide cataclysm—just to name a few of her recent exploits. But its … Continued

io9Games

Hades Is Life

While playing through Supergiant Games’ Hades I kept asking myself, why is this game so freaking good? Sure, it’s just a flat-out fun game. You play Zagreus, son of Hades (that Hades, but not that Hades), an immortal prince of the underworld with mythical weapons who hastily kicks the crap out of demons on his … Continued

io9Television

American Gods‘ Season 3 Won’t Stop, Even Though You’ve Heard This One Before

American Gods spent trying to claw its way out of production hell before coming to Starz. Now, it’s one of the shows returning in 2021 after weathering the ongoing covid-19 pandemic that continues to devastate the entertainment industry. It’s almost miraculous to consider, given the on-set upheavals and exits that rocked American Gods over the … Continued

io9Toys and Collectibles

Topps Is Bringing High-End Pop Culture Brands to Blockchain

From bike-spoke decoration to glass-case collectible, the world of trading cards is always evolving. In recent years they made a jump from physical to digital with the help of companies like Topps, and now the next evolution will see those cards spread out in a whole new way. Earlier this year Topps, the company behind … Continued

io9Television

Fate: The Winx Saga Isn’t for Winx Club Fans, and I’m Not Sure Who Else It’s For

It’s hard to adapt a children’s show—especially when you’re trying to “age it up” for an older audience. Netflix has tried to do exactly that with Fate: The Winx Saga, a tale about fairies trying to balance their magical destiny with romance and homework. But can you really turn a fairy show for preschoolers into … Continued

io9

Big Mouth‘s Code-Switching Story Was a Fun, Wild Mess

After three filthy seasons of poking fun at the gross realities of being a stressed-out, hormonal teenager navigating the treacherous waters of junior high, the creative team behind Netflix’sBig Mouth finally came to their senses last year. They realized that Missy, one of the show’s leading characters of color, embodied one of its biggest blind … Continued

io9Books & Comics

LIGHTSPEED Presents: “The Incorruptible World” by Anjali Sachdeva

io9 is proud to present fiction from LIGHTSPEED MAGAZINE. Once a month, we feature a story from LIGHTSPEED’s current issue. This month’s selection is “The Incorruptible World” by Anjali Sachdeva. You can read the story below. Enjoy! The Incorruptible World That first autumn it felt as if the whole world had been made for them—which, … Continued

io9MoviesStar Wars

The Rogue Squadron Pilots We Want in Patty Jenkins’ Star Wars Movie

In 2023, Patty Jenkins will deliver (pending future ramifications of the world in which we live) Rogue Squadron, the next major theatrical release in the Star Wars saga: a tale of the bravest squadron of pilots in the galaxy far, far away. The Rogues have a long history within canon and a longer one out … Continued

io9Movies

Bedknobs and Broomsticks Turns 50 This Year and It’s Way Weirder Than You Remembered

Congratulations to Disney classic Bedknobs and Broomsticks, not just for making it to the half-century mark, but for having a tone of oddball whimsy that feels just as weird today as it probably did in 1971. Witchcraft, orphans, Nazis, dance routines, animated animals, Angela Lansbury? Just a few of its extraordinary ingredients. You’d be forgiven … Continued

io9Sci-Fi

Star Trek: Discovery Earned Its Sound and Fury This Time

Star Trek: Discovery is three seasons in now, and we have a sense of the sort of big stakes and dramatic action it likes to hang its endgame scenarios on. So far, they’ve been an uneven affair, leaning heavily on big, explosive action, gambling on big shocks at the expense of really satisfying the ideas … Continued

io9

The Best Sci-Fi Trips to Help You Escape…at Least for a Little While

What I wouldn’t give to travel again. To see someplace new. Visit someplace exotic. In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy may say “There’s no place like home,” but she didn’t have to stay home for almost a full year during a pandemic. That desire to travel gets even stronger around the holidays. This is the … Continued

io9

Transformers Just Shook Up Its Lore in a Wild Way

Transformers is a franchise that from the get-go has almost been ceaselessly fascinated with its past. The long shadow of the fabled “G1” era—from its design sensibilities to its origin deep-dives—has cast a long shadow over so much of what has come since, including Netflix’s latest re-litigation of the War for Cybertron. But its newest … Continued

io9Sci-Fi

A Dramatic New Expanse Examines the Difference Between Feeling Right and Being Right

The Expanse season five has somehow already reached episode six with “Tribes,” a somewhat calmer installment that’s still packed with action and incredible character work, especially for Cara Gee’s Drummer and Wes Chatham’s Amos. Tensions are sky-high as the season enters its second half. If you haven’t watched “Tribes” yet, stop right there and go … Continued

io9

The Digimon Reboot’s Warp Speed Take on Evolution Is Keeping the Show Fresh

Though the Digidestined’s emotional connections to their Digimon have consistently been depicted as the true source of the heroes’ strength, almost every Digimon series has involved massive arcs in which characters were tasked with discovering external power sources that represented key aspects of their personalities. The trope may be played out within genre fiction, but … Continued

io9Books & Comics

Dungeons & Dragons & Novels: Revisiting The Legend of Huma

Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman’s original Dragonlance novels aren’t just considered some of the finest Dungeons & Dragons books ever written, but are some of the most beloved fantasy stories of all time. Richard A. Knaak’s The Legend of Huma is also a Dragonlance novel, but the similarities stop there. Written in 1988, The Legend … Continued

io9

7 Things We Liked (and 4 We Didn’t) About Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’s Final Season

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is finally closing the spellbook. Part 4 of the Netflix horror series has the Fright Club battling the long-awaited Eldritch Terrors as Sabrina Spellman deals with the consequences of creating a dual identity. It’s a solid way to go, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. Part 3 ended with Sabrina (Kiernan … Continued

io9Sci-Fi

On Doctor Who Change Is What You Make of It, Unless You’re a Dalek

Or maybe especially if you’re a Dalek. “Revolution of the Daleks” does, well, exactly what it says on the TARDIS-shaped tin. It’s a story of revolution, giving us a brand new kind of Dalek—Earth-grown thanks to a disconcerting combination of the fallout of keeping last year’s New Year special hush-hush and the return of Chris … Continued

io9

Cobra Kai Season 3’s Big Spoiler Questions Answered by the Producers

The third season of Cobra Kai has now been out four days. How many times have you watched the whole thing? Six? Seven? We’re kidding of course but you’d better have finished it if you want to read what’s below. io9 did a Zoom chat with creators and executive producers of the Karate Kid show, … Continued