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Now that we officially know the 100 greatest science fiction and fantasy books, according to NPR's fine readers, there's some great reading material waiting for all of us. But which of these great books is best for you? It's a dazzling amount of options, after all. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5844991&view=rss&microfeed=true Neal Stephenson has always specialized in producing dense, challenging works, peppered with equations and ideas. But his latest book, the thriller Reamde, is being touted as his most "accessible" to date. Andrew Leonard at Salon.com worries that Stephenson is going too mainstream. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5842006&view=rss&microfeed=true If you like the 1980s pop group Duran Duran, you'll also love China Miéville's latest novel, Embassytown. At least, Embassytown is the latest pick from Duran Duran's Simon Le Bon, who writes a passionate (and awesome) defense of reading science fiction: More »
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The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction leapt into the e-book age with both feet — and came out with a deal that could win the beloved print digest a whole new generation of fans. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5827214&view=rss&microfeed=true Here's another chance to get people talking about great science fiction books — NPR is focusing its summer readers' poll on science fiction and fantasy books. (Except for horror, paranormal and YA books.) More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5813804&view=rss&microfeed=true Over at Jeff VanderMeer's Ecstatic Days blog, VanderMeer asked his readers to name the "craziest or most experimental" science fiction novels of all time — and the answers are pretty diverse and fascinating. If you've been feeling the need for more novels along the lines of Dhalgren or House of Leaves, you could do worse than sifting through the lengthy comment thread on VanderMeer's post. There's a pretty great reading list in the making over there. [Ecstatic Days] More »
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Iain M. Banks' novel Consider Phlebas helped recharge the genre of space opera, and launched the Culture series. And now you can read it for just 99 cents. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5789214&view=rss&microfeed=true Over at The Innocent Flower, a prison librarian named Emily is talking about how important the library at her prison is for prisoners. And she says the male prisoners especially love science fiction and fantasy books: More »
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Most long-time science fiction fans consider the Golden Age to have started with the July 1939 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. That issue contained Isaac Asimov's first Astounding story ("Trends") as well as A.E. Van Vogt's first story, "Black Destroyer." More »
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Novelist Terry Pratchett has lost both of his parents in the past two years, and he's also dealing with the degeneration of his mental faculties. In a wistful interview with the Guardian, he talks about how that's affected his fantasy. More »
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We've shared our summer book suggestions already, but Nisi Shawl has three suggestions we missed, featuring new voices from independent publishers. The Writing The Other co-author's picks include sexually-transmitted zombies, probability-altering powers and a world where mammoths still roam. More »
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We've been excited about Samuel R. Delany's new novel, Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders, since we talked to him about it a year ago. And now, at last, you can read an excerpt from it online. More »
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The trend of literary authors veering into science fiction shows no sign of slowing down, as science fiction remains the best way to talk about our weird era. Ian McEwan and Rick Moody both have SF books in the pipeline. More »
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In Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury envisioned a future where society had abandoned literature in favor of watching their screens. According to writer Philip Roth, we're getting closer to that future, and in 25 years, hardly anyone will be reading novels. More »
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Could reading Kafka make you smarter? A recent study suggests that reading surrealist stories that don't make immediate logical sense can sharpen your cognitive functions and make you better at recognizing patterns. More »
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Fantasy author Neil Gaiman's personal library is a book lover's dream, stuffed to the gills with all manner of novels, reference books, and anthologies, with the occasional gargoyle or mounted stuffed head for good measure. More »
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The technological development that's going to change the way we read forever isn't ebooks — it's footnotes. For the past few months, if you really wanted to understand DC Comics' big crossover series Final Crisis, you basically had to read each issue alongside Eisner-winning critic Douglas Wolk's blog "Final Annotations." Each time a new issue in the series comes out, Wolk goes through page-by-page, carefully documenting what you need to know. Final Crisis contains such an embarrassment of obscure DC heroes and fannish references that it actually requires a highly-trained reader to give you adequate back story. This practice of exhaustive online footnoting is one of the less-talked about ways that the internet is profoundly changing the way we read books — and not just comic books. More »
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Books on tape might be extremely dead technology, but iPods and eBook readers like the Amazon Kindle have reanimated the medium and turned audiobooks into the commuter's wonder drug. When the book is read well, you'll find yourself sitting mesmerized in your parking space just listening, instead of heading into work. Check out our list of eleven classic scifi audiobooks, and listen up. More »
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NPR's Nancy Pearl, who has probably written enough words about science fiction to fill a couple of Del Rey compendiums with, has laid out of a list of her recommended reading. While technically only two of the books on her list are science fiction, you can't really argue with Frederik Pohl and Joe Haldeman. Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon is a borderline inclusion. Sure, it's fiction, yes there's science in it, but is it science fiction? More »
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