Mailshine - TV & Books

TV & Books #6

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #6

r/fantasy

Why I can't finish Malazan after 9 books

1087 comments • reddit.com

Sadly, I’m putting this series down for good after 9 books. It has been a rocky ride with ups and downs and I felt the need to share my experience.

It’s difficult to talk about this series because any form of critique is inevitably met with ‘it’s written that way on purpose!’ Erikson has been open on how Malazan is a meta-commentary on the fantasy genre. All writing is meta to some extent - taking the tropes of the past and innovating on them to produce something new and exciting. Other series like Dune and Game of Thrones subvert many of the same tropes as Malazan, but I’ve never seen them described as post-modernist philosophy. Discussions around this series feel like they turn all of its faults into an philosophical test that you fail if you don’t ‘get it.’ Just because something is opaque and confusing on purpose doesn’t make it good (and I’m still not sure if its on purpose, or a post justification).

Malazan …
I need a fast paced (addictive) fantasy series to get me out of my reading slump

680 comments • reddit.com

I used to be an avid reader but this year I barely read 5 books. Since reading has been a part of my identity for a really long time, now I feel like I don’t even know myself anymore. Partly I can blame my low attention span, being spent on doomscrolling for at least 11 hours a day but I really want to get out of this and start reading again. Which series would you highly recommend?

P.S. I might be moving out of my home soon so I won’t be able to buy or take much books with me until I settle down. So if you have any recommendations that would be easier to read as an ebook (as I’m the kind of person who reads certain books only in paperbacks because I know it’s so good and I’m going to love it and I don’t want to waste that experience on the e format. I don’t know if this makes sense or just a weird habit of mine)
I think “plot armor” has become one of the most overused criticisms in fantasy.

422 comments • reddit.com

I feel like “plot armor” has become one of those terms that gets thrown around so often that it’s started to lose its meaning. It seems like any time a protagonist survives something dangerous, people immediately call it plot armor, but I don’t think that’s what plot armor actually is. To me, plot armor is when a character survives solely because the plot demands it, and the story has to bend or outright ignore its own rules to keep them alive. A character surviving impossible odds by itself isn’t plot armor. People survive situations in real life that seem completely unbelievable, and history is full of stories that sound like they were made up. Fiction can absolutely have moments like that too as long as the story earns them. If a character survives because they’re skilled, because they prepared, because another character saves them in a believable way, or even because they get lucky, I don’t automatically see that as plot armor. Luck exists, and sometimes people beat the odds. I …
Anyone else have problems with how authors imagine distances?

334 comments • reddit.com

This has happened in many books, but currently I’m just starting book three of The Queens of Renthia. Fun books, no high stakes, interesting concepts, won’t read again.

And the first sentence of the third book says the Queen is on the highest tower of her castle and can see so far distant that she can see the “untamed lands” beyond her border.

And in the series the surrounding environment is surrounded by really tall trees, like taller than normal, that people build entire towns in.

Yet this lady can see beyond these massive forests hundreds/thousands of km to some mysterious beyond.

And like…I’ve been to the top of Taipei 101. It’s not the tallest building anymore, but it’s really fucking tall. Like insanely high up. And even so you can’t see the fucking Taiwan Straight from it, even though it’s on the western plain where it’s flat.

So either this country is the size of a postage stamp, that castle tree is higher than the Burj Khalifa, or the author doesn’t know how to imagine …
My Spite filled Review of "Empire of the Vampire" (Spoilers for whole series)

83 comments • reddit.com

SPOILERS FOR WHOLE SERIES OF “EMPIRE OF THE VAMPIRE”

“There we were, freezing our pantaloons off in the mountains of buttfuck nowhere. The darkness was so fucking dark it was like a sinner’s prayer. The kind of fucking sinner who knows there’s no fucking heaven waiting for him at the end of this fucking dark road. A sinner like me. I grimaced at the thought, thinking about how much I hate fucking potatoes.

‘Fuck!’ I shouted. I was all out of my fucking vampire meth, and the withdrawals were about to fucking come down on me like an evil bitchy she bitch on her moonblood, who is also a bitch. To top off this fucking fuck festival, vampires were chasing us. Mean ones. And they were probably going to suck us dry like when a prostitute whore bitch on her period moonblood does a fucking fellatio.

”‘Oy, Silversaint,’ said one of the other characters of this book. ‘Vampire tracks.’

“Indeed there were. There in …
Blacktongue Thief "The Pull" Will not forget that chapter anytime soon.

52 comments • reddit.com

Removed so rewriting for ya’ fatherless karks!

I’ve read my fair share of grimdark (Abercrombie, Lawrence, Bakker, etc.), so I don’t get unsettled very often, but “The Pull” in The Blacktongue Thief hit me hard.

Until this chapter, I saw the goblins as the typical fantasy horde monsters. Horrible? Yes, but not breaking any dark fantasy rules, you expect monsters to do monstrous things. Then “The Pull” happens, and my take on the goblins shifts from horde monster to existential dread. In a blink, tough guy postering escalates into senseless violence. Malk’s arrogance and hatred were apparent, and the goblins saw a mark immediately.

The kicker was how the townsfolk reacted to the aftermath. This was just another day for them, and everyone went back to what they were doing. Even the human kid that barely survived just got his hair tousled and was off to the pub.

This wasn’t the goriest or bleakest scene I’ve ever read, but …

r/books

A group of major publishers have filed a lawsuit against Google, accusing the company of illegally using millions of copyrighted books to help build its Gemini artificial intelligence models

209 comments • theguardian.com
'Kiki's Delivery Service' Illustrator Akiko Hayashi Dies at 81

61 comments • animenewsnetwork.com
Nine out of ten bestselling novels in UK have one thing in common: a woman is murdered

601 comments • theguardian.com
Utah just banned another Stephen King book from all public schools — The collection of Stephen King novellas inspired classic films like "Stand by Me" and "The Shawshank Redemption"

384 comments • sltrib.com
Reading a 3,000-Year-Old Poem to a 3-Year-Old Boy • The Odyssey is not, strictly speaking, a children’s book. I thought my son might enjoy it anyway.

215 comments • theatlantic.com

In Book 12 of Homer’s Odyssey, a band of war-weary sailors is navigating home when a narrow strait appears on the horizon. The ship, captained by their king, Odysseus, is blocked on one side by a high cliff where a six-headed monster named Scylla is waiting to devour those who pass beneath. On the other side lies a whirlpool called Charybdis that could swallow the ship whole. Odysseus orders his men to row on. Scylla pounces, snatching members of the crew between her jaws. As she consumes them, Homer writes, they shriek, stretching out their arms in “horrifying death-throes.”

It’s a gruesome scene, one of many in this confusing, archaic poem composed some 3,000 years ago. One night this winter, hearing Scylla’s tale read aloud to him for the first time, my 3-year-old son, bundled in his pajamas before bedtime, had a request.

“Read it again!” he said.

The Odyssey is not, strictly speaking, a children’s book. The poem’s structure can confound even an adult reader. It does not open …
I really hate when books update their references to make them modern

642 comments • reddit.com

This is something that really bothers me.

If I wrote a book today and it was set in the present-day, then it won’t always be set in the present day. It will always be set in 2026, and the further into the future someone reads it the more historical it will become.

I think this is important no matter what the story is about. The era you live in and what’s happening in wider society always impacts your personal life and your relationships. There isn’t any combination of events that would happen exactly the same in a different time period. If my embryo had been frozen so that I could be born later, I might be genetically the same person but I wouldn’t be me. Too much of my identity is shaped by the time period I grew up in, the friends I had when I was a child and what was going on in the wider world. (I think in particular in my case, the fact that ⁹⁄₁₁ happened when I was seven and the Iraq War when I was nine shaped the way I saw the world quite …

r/printsf

Is “Rendezvous With Rama” okay to read as a standalone?

156 comments • reddit.com

Just picked up a copy at a used bookstore and have been wanting to start it, but don’t want to get bogged down by the entire series. Does the first stand well on its own?
The Looting of Science Fiction (Article)

119 comments • aeon.co

Hey everyone, I’ve seen various forms of this argument around the internet over the past few months, but none as eloquently stated as this article does.

Namely, that Tech Titans have been ideologically weaponizing certain works of science fiction - divorced from the actual meanings of these works - in order to recreate those works’ more dystopian aspects. In other words, using works like Neuromancer as a blueprint for the type of society (or ‘utopia’) they want to see.

It’s something that has really irked me personally, both as someone who loves and appreciates these works, but also as someone who once was once an enthusiastic supporter of the Tech Industry back when it at least ‘felt’ like it was in support of egalitarian and humanitarian progress.

And I’m really glad that people like the author are starting to call out this hypocrisy.

What are everyone else’s thoughts on the conversation? Is it enough to call out this nonsense …
Children of Strife - Adrian Tchaikovsky

66 comments • reddit.com

If you haven’t read the Children of Time series yet, consider this your sign.

I’m partway through the fourth book - Children of Strife, and it’s everything I love about scifi books: wildly imaginative, funny, genuinely thought-provoking, and still a page-turner.

Few authors can put you inside the mind of something so alien and make it feel this effortless.

Adrian, if you’re accidentally reading this - thank you!.

- Mobile sushi artillery platform. 🙃
Would you recommend Revelation Space?

120 comments • reddit.com

As title says. I love sci-fi, more grounded one, not Star Wars-esque, and I really, really enjoyed The Expanse and I am looking for some other space opera. Would you recommend Revelation Space? Or something else from Reynolds? Or even different series from different author?

I would love to hear your thoughts! Thanks!
Immensely disappointed by Seveneves, and confused by it's reputation

245 comments • reddit.com

Tldr: I don’t understand how people can claim this is hard science fiction. Not even getting to the third act, the fundamental premise is absurd.

The first red flag is largely just Mary Sue style engineering - one or two engineers think “uhhh, biomimicry!” And somehow just reprogram a bunch of complex robots without support from the ground with absurdly complex behaviours. How this is possible isn’t even addressed, the reader is just meant to assume it’s easy.

Things get worse from there - somehow it’s now possible to fabricate and deliver new ISS modules within a month with hand-wavey “ah well everyone on earth is working on it”. The author seemingly feels no need to reconcile that with his crater lake ramblings of how the vast majority of earth can’t help with space construction as they lack the relevant competencies.

And that’s just the stuff the author shows - he then just expects us to not question how a complex …
Something like Mass Effect, specifically the found-family, elite military unit and life-in-a-spaceship vibe and NOT the Reapers

89 comments • reddit.com

Mass Effect is one of my favourite stories in any medium, and part of the reason is that even outside the main storyline dealing with the Reaper threat, I just loved the hangout vibe of large portions of the game. You know, the sections when you’re just chilling in the Normandy, talking to the crew and building your relationships, doing some side missions as an elite badass military unit etc. I also loved the Normandy itself, and how homey and cozy it felt. There’s something so moody and atmospheric about chilling in your comfy captain’s quarters with the endless void of space outside.

Any books that capture that vibe and feel? I honestly prefer something that’s not as grand-scale as a galactic threat like the Reapers…but with a little more oomph than a Becky Chambers book (not that I don’t like those either).

r/television

A Coalition of 12 States Have Sued To Block The Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery Merger

230 comments • deadline.com
Lena Headey Rips Hollywood for Protecting ‘Predatory Men,’ Says ‘Game of Thrones’ Toxic Fans Got Mad She Didn’t Go Nude: ‘I Was Shocked by the Anger’

886 comments • variety.com
Sam Neill, star of Jurassic Park films, Peaky Blinders and The Piano, dies aged 78

237 comments • theguardian.com
'Ted Lasso's Cristó Fernández Makes U.S. Pro Soccer Debut

109 comments • deadline.com
'God Of War' To Recast Lead Kratos After Ryan Hurst Was Injured On Set

801 comments • deadline.com
‘The Daily Show’: Jon Stewart Leads Comedy Central’s Late-Night Staple To Best Ratings In Years

145 comments • deadline.com

r/movies

Jurassic Park Actor Sam Neill has died

2593 comments • stuff.co.nz
Man Binge-Watches Entire Movie In One Sitting

943 comments • theonion.com
Official Poster for 'Spaceballs: The New One'

1264 comments • i.redd.it
‘Moana’ Could Lose at Least $100 Million in Theaters. Does Disney Need to Rethink Its Live-Action Remakes?

3668 comments • variety.com
Backrooms Devs Reportedly Hit With Copyright Claims From A24

1261 comments • kotaku.com
The Onion: Bat-Wielding Christopher Nolan Confronts Man Using Bathroom During ‘The Odyssey’

337 comments • theonion.com

TV & Books #5

Sat, 11 Jul 2026 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #5

r/fantasy

Paramount's New Epic Fantasy Movie Children Of Blood And Bone Loses Support From Author

549 comments • screenrant.com

That’s disappointing. I wonder what happened.
Susanna Clarke: ‘I had been ill for 11 years. I felt like I was about to fall off the world’

106 comments • theguardian.com
Brandon Sanderson explains why Fourth Wing became such a huge hit

378 comments • polygon.com
TL;DR: "A Sorceress Comes to Call" by T. Kingfisher is an excellent Regency comedy of manners urban fantasy by way of Death Note. Highly recommend.

52 comments • reddit.com

TL;DR: “A Sorceress Comes to Call” by T. Kingfisher is an excellent Regency comedy of manners urban fantasy by way of Death Note. Highly recommend.

Cordelia is an unfortunate girl. She lives alone with her mother, in a sort of genteel poverty. Her mother permits no disobedience and allows no privacy, to the extent of mandating all doors inside their house remain open. And when Cordelia disobeys, she is made obedient, becoming a mere puppet of her mother’s will.

Because her mother is a Sorceress. Not one of the frauds who can barely glamour hair color or make a lame horse look healthy, but the kind out of old fairy tales, the kind no one believes in these modern days.

And she is cruel. The only character I can really compare her cruel, narcissistic vanity to is Regal from the Farseer trilogy. But unlike Regal, she’s also cunning. Cunning enough to decide that, when her current ‘ahem’ patron tires of her, to aim for marriage with some lightly landed …
What is the best fiction you’ve ever read?

593 comments • reddit.com

Out of all of the reading that you have done in your life what is hands down the best book and storytelling that you’ve ever come across? Now obviously I understand most answers are going to be fantasy but if there’s a book outside of fantasy that you think answers this question and was excellent please do mention it. I’m interested to see what you regard as the best of the best.
How does Empire of the Vampire has such good ratings?

370 comments • reddit.com

At the time im’ writing this, the book is sitting at a wooping 4.33 in goodreads, with a lot of comments hamming in how it is not a children’s book; the own author has a review stating multiple times it’s not a book for kids… Well, it is.

Despite being marketed as an adult and mature vampire story, if you took the book, ran a text filter to delete the profanity and cut the explicit sex, it would instantly become a standard book for 14-year-olds. I learned this in the hard way, which was reading it until the end.

To it’s credit, Kristoff’s fight scenes look good and well coreographed, but that’s the only good thing i’ve noticed reading the book.

There’s a terrible voice inconsistency between narration and dialogue in a first-person frame. In third-person omniscient stories, the split between the voice narrating and the protagonist’s voice is completely normal and often good — the narrator’s descriptive voice can be lush and …

r/books

The End of Reading Is Here: Optimists once believed that universal literacy was inevitable. Now it seems that the age of reading might be a short anomaly in human history [gift link].

1013 comments • theatlantic.com
Article: Reading for pleasure builds empathy in children, but fewer kids are picking up books just for the fun of it

190 comments • theconversation.com
Too Many Books? Mendel Uminer faced a crisis when his landlord objected to the 10,000 volumes in his New York studio apartment

476 comments • nytimes.com
"Smut" seems to be increasingly synonymous with "any sexual content" for a large number of readers these days. How do you define "smut?"

695 comments • reddit.com

It was fairly understood when I was a kid (I’m over 40 now) that “smut” was pornographic romance novels. But in the many books threads I follow, I’ve seen more and more readers decrying books as smut even if there’s a mention of nudity or a single sexual scene. I’m wondering if the meaning is being shifted, which words do now and then, or if I’m just running into people who didn’t know the older definition. I think there should be a big separation between “sexual content” and “smut.”

I define smut the old way. It’s porn. And I think it’s very odd to call something smut because there’s a genital mentioned in there. And there are a ton of fantastic books out there that newer readers might miss just because some character fucks and the book is thrown out for a half of a page worth of content.

Though I guess I shouldn’t be surprised with how intimacy-averse young folks are becoming to sexual …
Brandon Sanderson explains why Fourth Wing became such a huge hit

445 comments • polygon.com

TL;DR: it’s due to a 20 year nostalgia cycle about dragon books, at least according to him.
Am I dumb or are the classics really that hard?

675 comments • reddit.com

I started with Rebecca and felt like it was pretty straightforward as it wasn’t really that difficult to read and I read this pretty quickly and loved it. I wanted to continue reading classics as I wanted to be more well read and find more books that scratched a similar itch Rebecca did. I figured a good second one to try was Jane Eyre and oh boy am I struggling. I thought her childhood and Lowood was pretty straightforward and easy to get through but now I’m at the part where her and Mr Rochester are having conversations and getting to know each other and I’m really starting to struggle.

The dialogue is so so dense, Mr. Rochester makes me feel like an idiot because I can barely understand what he’s saying, I have been able to pick apart the gist most of the time but it’s hard to keep up. I’m also at the point where it’s getting a bit hard to find myself wanting to keep reading as the dense Victorian dialogue is getting to me. I don’t want to give up reading this but if my brain keeps …

r/printsf

The Best Science Fiction: The 2026 Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist

172 comments • fivebooks.com
Tanith Lee on Humble Bundle!

34 comments • reddit.com

You can get 26 Tanith Lee titles for a very good price on Humble Bundle right now.

Lee is one of the classic dark fantasy writers, though not as well known as she ought to be.

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/tanith-lee-collection-daw-books-books?mcID=102:6a4c2d791ec9bee40108862d:ot:58f97f44c0bdae8c14061094:1&linkID=6a4c2f2d5bc915e94b00f49c&utm_source=Humble+Bundle+Newsletter&utm_content=cta_button&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tanithleecollectiondawbooks_bookbundle
Books like Anathem

90 comments • reddit.com

I am looking for other books like Anathem by Neal Stephenson, which is probably my favorite book of all time. I have reread it a few times, and may reread it again depending on how the book search goes…

What I like about Anathem and what I am looking for (this contains spoilers for Anathem):

I like that Anathem is a fictional book but it contains real, in depth, philosophical and mathematical principles. I feel like I am learning something while reading fiction. In fact, I feel like I learn more because the narrative helps reinforce the concepts. When I read Origen or Philo it is harder immerse myself into what is being discussed.

Magic as science. I love how Anathem ends! It is a long book for the payoff, but I love that the quasi-arcane philosophies of that mundane world has resulted in something akin to magic.

Those are the two primary things I am looking for in a novel: real philosophy, math, and/or hermeticism; and magic/manipulation of the real world because of the concepts …
Looking for sci-fi where the protagonist is just... doing their job

185 comments • reddit.com

I’m in the mood for science fiction where the main character isn’t the chosen one, the captain, the genius who invents everything, or the person who accidentally becomes the most important human in history.

I’d love stories where the protagonist is an engineer, maintenance tech, mechanic, cargo handler, station operator, repair specialist, or someone in a similar role who’s just trying to do their actual job. The stakes can still be huge, but I’d like to see them from the perspective of someone who normally wouldn’t be the focus of the story.

Bonus points if the technical work actually matters and isn’t just background flavour. I really enjoy competent characters solving practical problems without suddenly turning into action heroes.

I’ve already read Project Hail Mary, The Martian, and most of Becky Chambers’ work.

Any recommendations?
Our Best Possible Future - Kim Stanley Robinson interview

15 comments • skepticspath.org
Sirens of Titan

25 comments • reddit.com

Just finished Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut the other day and wow what a story. Still felt very relevant in 2026. Random thoughts and spoilers ahead.

Salo describes a university on Tralfamadore without buildings where there’s a cloud that does the heavy thinking for everybody and it sounds like the internet and cloud computing. I’m amazed Vonnegut actually used the word “cloud”. Wikipedia says the concept of cloud computing dates to the 1960s and the term cloud was coined in 1994. The book was written in 1959. He was so prescient.

There were warnings about technology. On Tralfamadore the legend said beings made machines to serve higher purposes. That reminds me of people using to AI generate art now instead of making it themselves. Those machines end up controlling humanity on Earth to unwittingly do their bidding. With how much AI is susceptible to misinformation and hallucinating facts, I wonder how using it will influence what we know and what we do. The Martian army was …

r/television

Rob Reiner Receives Posthumous Emmy Nomination for The Bear

126 comments • consequence.net
Ricky Gervais fails to mention ‘The Office’ co-creator Stephen Merchant during his hour-long 25th anniversary special for the series

664 comments • metro.co.uk
Emmy Rossum Says Years-Long ‘Shameless’ Pay Battle Only Ended in Season 8 After Salary Dispute Leaked to the Public: ‘It Was Resolved Within a Day’

250 comments • variety.com
Widow’s Bay has received 19 Emmy nominations

498 comments • televisionacademy.com
Netflix keeps producing second-season bombs because it's a tech company

896 comments • avclub.com
A Message From Mike Ehrmantraut — “Right v. Wrong”

275 comments • youtube.com

r/movies

TV & Books #4

Sat, 04 Jul 2026 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #4

r/fantasy

Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Season 1 Episode Count Confirmed

645 comments • screenrant.com

Will 10 episodes be enough for Way of Kings do you think?
Lord of the Rings still feels very fresh in 2026, it's not as reliant on now common tropes as its thought to be

172 comments • reddit.com

I don’t frequent this sub so I’m sorry if this is a common topic of discussion, I was just thinking about this after having read it and I didn’t know where else to post my thoughts.

It seems to be common knowledge that LotR is the originator of all the tropes and cliches you see in fantasy media. Everything that followed cribbed everything from LotR, and if you read it now you’ll just find an outdated story that’s been done a million times since then. Except I’ve found that this is not actually true at all.

LotR doesn’t rely on common fantasy tropes, and I still found it a refreshing read even today. There’s an evil dark lord, but he doesn’t actually do anything during the story and the heroes never even meet him. The evil wizard villain doesn’t get a big scene where he uses his magic powers and is eventually heroically defeated, he gets shanked by a random hobbit in the epilogue after having become a pathic, vengeful gang …
Just finished the first Mistborn trilogy, and I can honestly say that I didn’t know novels could be this well crafted. [Hero of Ages Spoilers Hidden]

347 comments • reddit.com

So, as a young reader who stopped reading as many others have, only to pick it back in their late 20s, this trilogy has blown my mind and created an insatiable desire to consume more fiction.

When finishing the final page of HoA, all I could think about was how did we get here? >!This was a cool magic heist book with these cool magic powers and a fantastic characters that we get to watch take down the big bad guy to free their fellow enslaved people.!< >!Then, we culminate by merging with the cosmic entity of preservation to destroy the other cosmic entity of ruin, sacrificing our beloveds, and allowing the real hero of ages to rebuild the world through a balance of both aspects.!<

I have never felt emotional while reading, aside from the slight pang in the gut when a loved character dies…. But I was full on crying, tears and snot while finishing chapter 81 of HoA.

I know Sanderson isn’t for everyone, but this style of world building and pace, culminating in dozens of …
Review: Animal Farm (the 2025/2026 movie). TLDR: If you've never read the book, it's 5/10, so skip it. If you HAVE read the book, and liked it, it's -1000000/10 and you need to gather your friends to go hate watch it right now

96 comments • reddit.com

By certain measures, you might have thought Animal Farm stood a chance of being a good movie. After all, it’s an adaption of George Orwell’s classic work, Animal Farm; it has an all-star cast, including Seth Rogen, Gaten Matarazzo, Steve Buscemi, Glenn Close, Laverne Cox, Kieran Culkin, Jim Parsons, Woody Harrelson, Andy Serkis, Kathleen Turner, Iman Vellani and more. And it’s directed by Andy Serkis who, sure, is mostly known as a voice actor. But he was, after all, a main character in one of the most successful book-to-film adaptions of all time (LotR), and as an audiobook reader, he always seemed like someone who would respect the text.

But as rumors about the movie began to leak, I started to have my doubts. First, I heard (but have not bothered to verify) it got dropped by it’s initial distributor… It then got picked up by Angel Studios, which caters to right-wing conservatives… But then the right-wing conservatives started howling because …
What book/series made you go ‘Oh that’s where X got it from!’

338 comments • reddit.com

Hi everyone, I was reading Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell a few days ago and I didn’t know anything going into it except that it was widely beloved and respected in SFF spaces. I’m only 200 pages in since I’ve just started it, and yet even in that small page count, I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve thought to myself, “Wait a minute, this element(s) is also there in the Emily Wilde books!” or “Oh, did V. E. Schwab take this idea and turn it into a novel?” or “Oh so that’s where Babel got this idea from!”

To be clear, I’m not saying that this is a bad thing or accusing these authors of plagiarism or anything like that. It’s totally natural to be influenced by the books which you have read and all the authors I’ve mentioned have been upfront about how JSAMR inspired them. But from my perspective, I’ll admit it was kinda humbling to realize that a lot of the worldbuilding and magical elements that I found so interesting and surprising in my favorite books had already been done …
The Hero of Ages | Brandon Sanderson (9.5/10)

122 comments • reddit.com

‘I am, unfortunately, the Hero of Ages.’

You know, I had a review planned. I had a very well versed format I was going to adapt. Things I was going to write, like chapters in a book. Halfway through the book, that changed. 80% through the book, it took a shape of its own, one I was kind of hesitant to write about. But then came the final part.

Trust.

And I guess that pretty much sums up this book, and my experience with it. It was a thing of beauty, the way the story flowed. I had my doubts about where the plot would go. And for the most parts I was right. Though I will admit, those two deaths at the end …

For a long, long time I despaired about fantasy books being too lenient to their characters, being too forgiving. You know what they say, seek and ye shall find, one of little faith. In a way, this book taught me more about religion, about the very essence of there being so many, about the importance of having faith. Especially when things seem dire.

I had …

r/books

Retired 3 years ago and just finished my 500th book. Most of my recommendations came from this community. Here's are the 10 best in my opinion.

396 comments • reddit.com

I wrote a short essay after each book I read and finally hit 500 today as I finished a book on The Dreyfus Affair (interesting stuff!). I was reflecting back on my essays (which I can share if folks find it worth discussing any of the titles further)

I gathered most of my reading list from here (reddit r/books) but very often followed certain themes and threads that were related to whatever wavelength I was in at the time. I spent like 4 months on nothing but biblical apocrypha and then another detour into Opera for a good 6 weeks. I read all the Raymond Chandler books in between all of Virginia Wolf’s books to keep an oscillating variety because of ADD)….

Speaking of: ADD sufferer for 40 years+ w other fun cognitive comorbidities. Quite intense that manifests in impulsivity which causes my thoughts to dart ²⁴⁄₇ unless I’m completely regimented about overcoming it. I had to train my brain completely to become a good reader, to the point where I kept a sharp …
Japan’s Eiko Kadono, author of ‘Kiki’s Delivery Service,’ still believes in the magic of books at 91

42 comments • independent.co.uk
Texas makes Bible passages required reading for millions of public school students in a move that critics say gives preference to Christianity over other faiths

763 comments • theguardian.com
Russell Brand settles £220,000 lawsuit over "wasted expenditure"after failing to write two books

148 comments • the-independent.com
Short story widely accused on social media of being written using AI wins overall Commonwealth prize

552 comments • theguardian.com
Dungeon Crawler Carl. WOW.

1725 comments • reddit.com

I kept seeing all the hype about this book everyone on Reddit and other online spaces and wondered how good could it be. Could it live up to all the praise and positive reception?

Well after finally reading it, I can safely say that the answer is a resounding no. In fact I can’t remember being this disappointed and underwhelmed by a hyped genre book on Reddit since Project Hail Mary and everything written by Brandon Sanderson.

I suppose it’s somewhat better than your bog standard lit rpg but that’s honestly a very low bar and DCC just about barely clears it. The premise is interesting enough but nothing unique in the realm of this sub genre. It’s just written in such a grating, juvenile style. It feels like you’re reading a Reddit comment thread where each poster is trying and failing to be funnier than the last.

I wasn’t really expecting anything from a prose standpoint because this is a litrpg we’re talking about. in that sense, I can’t say I was disappointed because I expected …

r/printsf

The Ursula K. Le Guin prize for fiction 2026 shortlist, have you read any of these books?

59 comments • reddit.com

The short list for one of my favourite sff fiction prizes was just released, and for the first time ever I have not read any of the books. Would love to hear your thoughts on the ones that are sci-fi if you have read any of them. I think I’m looking forward to reading Slow Gods by Claire North the most.

This is all the shortlisted books:

** Audition* by Pip Adam.
** Sunward* by William Alexander.
** Call and Response* by Christopher Caldwell.
** Midnight Timetable* by Bora Chung.
** The Works of Vermin* by Hiron Ennes.
** Notes from a Regicide* by Isaac Feldman.
** Mad Sisters of Esi* by Tashan Mehta.
** One Message Remains* by Premee Mohamed.
** Slow Gods* by Claire North.
Looking for left-leaning MilSF

235 comments • reddit.com
I have been craving military scifi recently, but I find the typical authoritarian bent distasteful. Can anyone recommend something that won’t irritate my left-wing sensibilities quite so much?
- Interstellar society, not limited to our solar system.
- Things are okay and we’re working to make them better, not starting with a straight up dystopia.
- The protagonist is either part of a team, or is supported by a team.
- There is a chain of command that leads to the government - it doesn’t need to be military specifically.
- There is a problem solving focus that is more sociological and psychological and figuring things out, rather than just using force better than the other guy.
- Written after 1980 or so.
Things I’ve read and liked that had most of the things I’m looking for:
- The Ecolitan Matter by LE Modesitt
- The March North by Graydon Saunders
- The Fourth Fleet Irregulars by SJ MacDonald
- The Constabulary Casefiles by Eric Thompson
- Planetside by Michael Mammay …
The Ministry for the Future by KSR

104 comments • reddit.com

I finished this book 3 weeks ago, I really liked it and it was a good read, especially after finishing AP environmental lol. But a lot of the stuff mentioned in the book is happening now, most notable being the heatwave in Europe. Has anyone else who has read the book been thinking of it constantly now?
Reading Every Book in my Late Dad's Library #7: Startide Rising

11 comments • reddit.com

In his debut novel, Sundiver, David Brin gave us an imaginative story about first contact, large-scale species engineering, and the ethics of fitting into an imperfect galactic culture, but as I tried to show in my review, I think its reach exceeded its grasp and some of its ideas were distinctly undercooked.

Startide Rising, on the other hand, is a fully mature sequel, taking place over a century after the events of Sundiver and mostly disconnected from them. It was also a roaring success that bagged a Hugo and Nebula in 1984. Its story is self-contained, but the wider conflict and mystery it sets up was the basis for the rest of the books in the Uplift Saga. I don’t usually think it’s wise to skip entries in a series, even if they are disappointing, but Sundiver is far enough in the background from Startide Rising and enough of the basic ideas are recapitulated that I don’t think much would be lost if you just started here.

To restate briefly, civilization across …
Stories about hive mind where the hive mind isn’t the enemy or supposed to be viewed as bad

138 comments • reddit.com

EDIT: thank you all!! Took me a while to read everything so far and add books to my list. Did not realize that there would be this much to parse through. Really appreciate it all.

Basically the title. The concept of a hive mind or collective consciousness is used periodically but it’s usually portrayed as either bad/evil or at best undesirable.

Are there any stories that try and flip this concept that convince the reader that the hive mind is good? Or the hive mind is the protaganist? Maybe invert the survival story and instead of someone trying to avoid being assimilated it’s a hive mind trying to avoid being dismantled by someone who thinks they’re doing good.

Really just curious to see how an author might try and take this concept.
"A Logic Named Joe," by Will F. Jenkins, published in Astounding Science Fiction (March 1946), predicted personal computers, the Internet, search engines, FaceTime, AI assistants, and the need for content moderation.

11 comments • s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com

“A Logic Named Joe,” by Will F. Jenkins, now better known by his pen name Murray Leinster, predicts the modern personal computer stack: a screen, a keyboard, a network connection, a search engine, a video service, a phone system, a database, an advice engine, and the need for content moderation.

Joe is a “logic,” (a personal computer as mass household appliance) serviced by Ducky, the narrator. Ducky encounters what we would today call an alignment problem. I won’t spoil the story, but it’s worth reading.

r/television

Danny Glover reveals he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease

424 comments • usatoday.com

“I could live with it, in a sense,” Glover said, but added that as the disease progresses, “things are going to be different and changing.”

“I still have my daughter, I have friends,” he told the outlet. “I want to just say, your life continues.”

“I’m still not accepting in my mind all parts of it,” he also said. “There are the moments that you keep remembering that validate the fact that you can remember stuff. And there are moments I’ll never forget.”

Glover’s daughter, Mandisa, told People that her father is “aware sometimes and then sometimes not,” and she described the diagnosis as a “change in the core of who you think you are or don’t think you are.” But the actor said he doesn’t feel it’s “the end of my life,” telling People, “There’s work to do.” Glover shared the news of his diagnosis weeks before his 80th …
Josh Peck Says He Only Took Home Around $500,000 for ‘Drake and Josh’ After Four Years and 60 Episodes

883 comments • variety.com
Wonka Netflix show faces backlash for AI-generated Gene Wilder voice

511 comments • bbc.com
Eva Green Rushed to Hospital After Accident on 'Wednesday' Set

257 comments • tvinsider.com
‘Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2’ Premieres Fall 2026 on Netflix, New Characters Revealed

227 comments • animecorner.me
‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ Season 2 Debuts With 8.7 Million Views in Four Days, Down 59% From Season 1

934 comments • variety.com

r/movies

22 Jump Street (2014) | Dir. by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller | Captain's daughter scene

603 comments • v.redd.it
Walton Goggins Saved Olivia Wilde From Being Stampeded to Death by Horses on ‘Cowboys & Aliens’ Set

626 comments • variety.com
‘Blazing Saddles’ Named Funniest Film of All Time by AFI in Honor of Mel Brooks Turning 100

734 comments • deadline.com
Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale Are in for ‘Heat 2,’ Filming Starts in November

774 comments • thewrap.com
Official Character Posters for 'The Social Reckoning'

797 comments • i.redd.it
WERWULF - Official Trailer [HD] - Only In Theaters Christmas Day

1179 comments • youtube.com

TV & Books #3

Sat, 27 Jun 2026 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #3

r/fantasy

Hot take: The obsession with "Hard magic system" and glazing it and explaining everything has ruined fantasy. For me at least.

537 comments • reddit.com

I know this is extremely controversial opinion. And yet for me it’s something fundamental.



But think about it. What is fantasy like? For me, it’s like being a kid again, when you know nothing about how the world works and you are curious to find it out, and the process of discovering the facts and the knowledge and the experience is what makes it beautiful. And then you grow up and become an adult and everything becomes known and boring.



It’s also like installing a new game, (and preferably when you’re a kid) where everything is beautiful and wonderful to you. You don’t see the codes and the graphics and the bugs and the development. You get lost in it.



Fantasy, for me, is that. It’s throwing you to a new world, and trusting you to find and discover the world, and be amazed and exited by every creature and plant and person and race.



Nowadays, many preferences has turned into info dumping and …
Prime Video reboots Conan the Barbarian with the creator of The Clone Wars

73 comments • polygon.com
Dragons in fantasy are either gods or pets and almost never an actual animal, and it kinda bugs me

407 comments • reddit.com

Ive been thinking about this for a while and i cant unsee it now. In most fantasy the dragon is either basically a god, some ancient cosmic force that speaks in riddles and hoards gold for no biological reason, or its a glorified pet that the chosen kid rides into battle. What i almost never see is a dragon treated like an actual apex predator that exists inside an ecosystem, and the more i think about the logistics the more questions i have.

Like the feeding alone. A creature that size, if we go by square cube law it would need an absurd amount of calories just to not starve. Were talking entire herds of livestock on a regular basis. One dragon settling near a village wouldnt be a cool mysterious threat, it would strip the entire region of sheep and cattle and deer in a season and then either move on or starve. And nobody ever shows the aftermath of that, the famine, the empty hills, the farmers who are genuinely ruined not because the dragon burned anything but because it ate …
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson (10/10)

203 comments • reddit.com

‘I worry about what they will say of me. Historians can make what they wish of the past. In a thousand years’ time, will I be remembered as the man who protected mankind from a powerful evil? Or, will I be remembered as a tyrant who arrogantly tried to make himself a legend?’

Now, this is how you write fantasy.

Okay, so I confess: after the latest strings of fantasy books I’d read being more or less a hit or miss depending on the day (apparently), I did not go in with high hopes for this one. I mean, yes, I have heard great many things of this book, and also yes, before you come at me: blame my healthy apprehension for anything being too highly regarded and I immediately become of the mindset that it might not be the second coming as people keep saying it is. Also, coming over from Islington’s books, I really did not have much hope in the way of falling in love with the characters all that much.

And well, when the tears fell down my cheeks at the end of the …
Sad ASoIaF milestone

197 comments • reddit.com

I meant to post this the day before yesterday, on 21 June, but then forgot! 🙈

That day marked a sad milestone: we were then as far removed from the publication of A Dance with Dragons than Dance was removed from the publication of A Game of Thrones.

The first installment in George R. R. Martin‘s series A Song of Ice and Fire was published on August 1, 1996. 5458 days later, on July 12, 2011, the latest installment was released.

21 June, 2026 was the 5458th day after the release of Dance.
Bored of the Swords: The Rebirth of Sword & Sorcery and the Death of the Weird - Cynthia Ward, Reactor

67 comments • reactormag.com

r/books

r/printsf

Is Adrian Tchaikovsky consistently good?

204 comments • reddit.com

Something I was wondering today because there’s a big discussion about Brandon Sanderson going on over on X. Basically, Sanderson is known for very simple, kind of dumbed-down prose and he releases at stupidly fast speeds. He makes good worlds, and he’s the magic systems guy. But opinion overall is divided. Sanderson is, at my count, 75 books deep right now (split between novels, novellas, short story collections etc.). His debut was in 2005.

In the sci fi space, Tchaikovsky is known for being incredibly prolific too, but not quite to the same level. He’s a few years older, his debut was 2008, and (at my count) he’s at 43 novels and 14 novellas. But I’ve never seen the same criticisms of Tchaikovsky, that I see of Sanderson (very simple prose, kind of dumbed down, scared of adjectives etc.). In fact, he gets award noms & wins left, right & center, he gets critical attention, he gets strong reviews. Sanderson moves units, but every time he comes up …
Is there cozy sci-fi in the same way there is cozy fantasy?

271 comments • reddit.com

I interviewed Rebecca Thorne about her new book Moss’d in Space, and during the conversation, she said she wants cozy sci-fi to become a sub-genre like cozy fantasy is. I love the idea of more sci-fi books in general, but also especially with a cozy feel to them.

I have to assume that some are already published, and I either don’t think of them as “cozy” (which is subjective) or I just don’t know about them.

So I guess my question is, what are some “cozy sci-fi” books?

I’ve found a few self-published ones, but they can be pretty hit or miss for me.
Father's Day in The City and The City

8 comments • reddit.com

My favourite book is The City and The City by China Miéville and I’ve explained the plot to my 10-year-old. So for Father’s Day, he divided our house into Besźel and Ul Qoma and gave me a Breach badge. Then he and my partner dressed in opposite colour clothes and made a little mystery about a stolen dress I had to solve.

The moral of the story is that you should tell your kids the plots of your favourite scifi books.
Most "punk" cyberpunk?

74 comments • reddit.com

Hey all,

I was having a discussion with some friends about Ghost in the Shell, specifically the first season of the TV series Stand Alone Complex, with one friend complaining that it was “cyberpunk, hold the punk”. We haven’t finished the series yet, but so far I think this is a valid critique of what is basically a very roboty police procedural with not much substantive commentary. It got me thinking about what is at the other end of the spectrum, though: what is, in your opinion, cyberpunk that focuses more on the “punk”? Something more interested in the human resistance and struggle in the digital dystopia than the technology that pervades it.

For reference, I’ve read Neuromancer and the Kovacs trilogy, but I’m otherwise pretty inexperienced with the genre in print. Thanks in advance for any recommendations or insights!
What's on your DNF list and why?

399 comments • reddit.com

I dropped Android at Arms by Andre Norton. It not an epic story, but it started off mysterious and interesting. There’s a prison escape, android body doubles, blaster fights, and betrayl! It was all go go go until about half way through and then it’s just pages and pages of campfire talk. I couldn’t make it through to the other side.
The Strugatskys - Gritty & Realistic Settings

20 comments • reddit.com

I just finished reading Hard to Be a God yesterday, which is the second of the Strugastskys’s novels that I’ve read (the first being Roadside Picnic).



Outside of the social commentary and thought provoking aspects of their writing, the thing that stands out the most to me is their ability to write gritty settings that feel tactile and real.



There were passages in Hard to Be a God that made me feel like I needed to take a shower, to clean away the musk and grime that oozed out through the pages. Roadside Picnic was similar with the town of Harmont and The Zone with its rundown and dilapidated feel.



I don’t really know what I’m trying to say other than I think the Strugatskys are exceptional at writing realistic settings that feel lived-in and that pop off the page. It’s really incredible stuff.



I’m really looking forward to reading more of their work. I found a used copy of The Doomed City …

r/television

r/movies

Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ to Skip Social Media Influencer Screenings

1199 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
Jemaine Clement confirms a sequel to the original 'What We Do in the Shadows' movie is officially being written

414 comments • dreadcentral.com
First Image of Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Robert Eggers' 'Werwulf'

925 comments • i.redd.it
PlayStation is Deleting 551 Movies From Customers’ Accounts / Movies like 'First Blood', 'Terminator 2', 'Total Recall' and 'Evil Dead' are all being unceremoniously removed

1269 comments • kotaku.com
Jordan Peele has reportedly finished the script for his next movie with Universal

760 comments • gizmodo.com
Robert Eggers Reveals The Dialogue In 'WERWULF' is written with the help of 2 Oxford Professors and is in 1300s Middle English

717 comments • esquire.com

TV & Books #2

Sat, 20 Jun 2026 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #2

r/fantasy

Dungeon Crawler Carl series officially announced at Peacock

386 comments • variety.com
For anyone that still hasn't read Cradle or picked it up on Amazon, all 12 books are free right now

185 comments • reddit.com

Originally saw this on r/ebookdeals: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0753FP6SP
Jane Yolen has died (1939 - 2026)

52 comments • file770.com

Saw no posts on this yet here, but this news arrived a few days ago. She was one of the greats.
To celebrate the release of my newest books, I'm making all of my work free for today only. I'm Sarah Lin, author of various series including The Weirkey Chronicles and Throne of Time... AMA!

185 comments • reddit.com
Hello, r/fantasy! I’m Sarah Lin, author of a variety of books. I’ve written a lot because A) I enjoy writing and B) I enjoy having enough money for food.

To keep this post from getting too jumbled, here is the free content promised in the title:
- Anybody can read Throne of Time online for free.
- Almost all my past books are free on Amazon this week only! (Only .com and .uk, sorry; I’d do more, but Amazon doesn’t allow it.)
- Everyone commenting here will be placed into a drawing for free Audible codes for the Depthless Hunger audiobooks (unless you say you’re not interested in your comment).
If you know me, it’s probably from my longest ongoing series, The Weirkey Chronicles, or one of my finished series, like Street Cultivation. These are the books that are 100% free on Amazon right now, to celebrate the most recent book:

Deadgold

Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H51F4DJ8

Description: Betrayed. Murdered. Reborn. One last chance, to make it …
Underrated almost forgotten fantasy books from the 70s, 80s, 90s

641 comments • reddit.com

What older fantasy books you liked, but you don´t see them being recommended here?

It can be a hidden gem or just a obscure fantasy novel you remember for some reason.
This subreddit is outstanding

21 comments • reddit.com

I just want to say this community is fantastic! I started reading about a year ago due to playing magic and realizing I needed to read more and come across more unfamiliar words and get better at processing and decoding them. I’ve discovered many books and series I otherwise would have never read. I just wanted to thank the members of this community. Sorry if this breaks community rules. Cheers

r/books

The Massachusetts House has passed a bill that would shield schools from attempted book bans

98 comments • masslive.com

“Lawmakers in the state House overwhelmingly approved a bill aimed at shielding public and school libraries from the book-banning efforts that have swept the nation over the last few years.”
The Obama and Trump libraries are going digital. Historians aren’t sure that’s a good idea.

253 comments • news.northeastern.edu
Missouri cut funding for Dolly Parton’s free book program. What it means for kids in KC

91 comments • kansascity.com
Jon and Kate Gosselin’s Son Collin, 22, Announces Bombshell Memoir, Says He Will Reveal ‘Hardest Moments of My Life’

234 comments • people.com

“The 22-year-old son of former reality TV stars Jon and Kate Gosselin announced on Instagram that he is releasing a memoir titled In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood, which is scheduled to be published on Oct. 13, 2026.”
Little Queer Libraries offer banned books across the Pittsburgh region

147 comments • post-gazette.com

“Inspired by those colorful outdoor boxes that invite you to take books or small objects for free, the Pittsburgh Equality Center has launched a network of Little Queer Libraries in time for Pride Month.”
Kazuo Ishiguro announces 1930s spy caper to be published next year

133 comments • theguardian.com

r/printsf

Okay, Stanislaw Lem might be the GOAT. Finally got around to reading him.

83 comments • reddit.com

I read Solaris, then The Invincible, and now His Master’s Voice. This dude clearly influenced TONS of modern sci-fi. And his aliens are actual aliens… like so weird and different that it’s not even clear how you could communicate with them.
Just finished Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson

56 comments • reddit.com

This is the first book I’ve read by him and it’s so incredible. Just finished it and have been thinking about it for 30 mins straight without doing anything else. Didn’t expect the conversation between devi and the ships computer to be so funny specifically in the beginning. Didn’t expect the end of chapter/section 6 to hit so hard. Just all around incredible. Kim Stanley Robinson has a new fan in me
Most thought-provoking printSF you have ever read?

130 comments • reddit.com

Love sci-fi since it introduces ethics and existentialist questions. Looking for books/novellas/short stories that really made you think long after reading it. NOT looking for books that end with no conclusion and you wonder what happens next or have to come to your own conclusion. Looking specifically for interesting thought concepts.
SF Masterworks need to reprint some Barry Malzberg novels.

26 comments • reddit.com

I’ve heard a couple of my favourite booktubers talk about Barry Malzberg very highly, so I figured I’d check him out. I purchased an old paperback copy of his novel, The Destruction Of The Temple on ebay for about £20. It was utterly fantastic and on another level. Told with immaculate prose, it was like if you combined the grittyness and decay of a 70s JG Ballard novel with a delirious and mindbending plotline that made Ubik seem straightforward. Anyway I checked on Goodreads and it only as about 100 ratings, and I was stunned.

But then again it’s no wonder that this book only got 100 ratings, because nobody in the right mind would ever pay that price for a 50 year old paperback. In fact nearly all of his books are overpriced as they are all out of print; some fetching as much as £45. In this modern world of ours where every everyone is tight for cash, it’s no wonder that nobody is talking about him anymore.

I just find it so tragic that an author who was so …
Authors with a large body of quality work?

145 comments • reddit.com

Within SF, who would you think has written the most novels that are more than just worth a read? Like, really good A tier stuff. I’m not talking about the Kevin J. Andersons with 100+ books that go straight to the TBDNF shelf.

I get that that it’s hard to consistently churn out gold, and burnout will almost always catch up to a good writer. I’d just like something that will keep my attention for a good while, and not just read their seven books or so and be done with them forever.
Elizabeth Bear Is A Master of Introspective First-Person Narration

14 comments • reddit.com

I recently stumbled across Elizabeth Bear’s White Space trilogy. By that I mean I plunged into it without any prior research. I was expecting a sprawling galactic scale and hard-ish futuristic world building, and the books delivered, but I was not prepared for the intensely introspective narrative voice.



For the first 50 pages or so of Ancestral Night, I was somewhat irked by how preoccupied the main character was with her own internal state. Plotwise, the book gets into action and mystery pretty quickly, but it doesn’t feel fast-paced because every event is accompanied by a minute account of how it is affecting the main character psychologically.



When I say psychologically, I don’t mean just subjectively or emotionally, but also biologically. We’re told about hormones and neurotransmitters as much as or maybe even more than emotions. A lot of the prominent technology in the series is tasked with moment-by-moment fine-tuning of …

r/television

r/movies

Daveigh Chase, 'The Ring' Star & Voice of Lilo in 'Lilo & Stitch', Dies at 35

1050 comments • justjared.com
Hi r/movies! I’m Robert Hays, star of Airplane! and Airplane II: The Sequel. AMA!

912 comments • i.redd.it

Hi reddit, I’m Robert Hays.

You may recognize me as Ted Striker in Airplane! and Airplane II: The Sequel. I’ve also starred in things like Starman, Angie, Homeward Bound, Take This Job and Shove It, Stephen King’s Cat’s Eye, and as the voice of Iron Man.

I’m out on tour now with Airplane! doing screenings and onstage Q&As with my co-star Julie Hagerty, you can find tickets/showings here, this week we’re in San Francisco - come see us! In the meantime, Ask Me Anything!

Airplane! trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07pPmCfKi3U

After the crew becomes sick with food poisoning, a neurotic ex-fighter pilot must safely land a commercial airplane full of passengers.

-———-

Bio:

Since his debut as Ted Striker in the comedy classic Airplane! where he immortalized movie lines including “Surely you can’t be serious”, Robert Hays has starred in more than 20 films, numerous television series, and continues to work across …
‘KPop: Demon Hunters’ Makes Netflix History - The film has officially become the first title to spend 52 consecutive weeks in Netflix’s global Top 10 charts

502 comments • whats-on-netflix.com
Clashing Over ‘Indiana Jones’: Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg Were Not 100% on Board With ‘Crystal Skull’ and Fought George Lucas Over Adding Aliens

1005 comments • variety.com
Sean Penn To Direct Bradley Cooper In Story Of January 6th Cop

932 comments • deadline.com
Nation Proud Of Self For Watching, Enjoying Original Movie | Patting themselves on the back, the U.S. populace announced Wednesday that they were proud of themselves for watching and enjoying an original movie — only to later be devastated to learn it was an adaptation of a novel by the same name

552 comments • theonion.com

TV & Books #1

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 05:16:06 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #1

r/fantasy

Jane Yolen has died (1939 - 2026)

47 comments • file770.com

Saw no posts on this yet here, but this news arrived a few days ago. She was one of the greats.
We need to talk about Adrian Tchaikovsky.

225 comments • reddit.com

How does he do it? He is just one man, right? He has at least 6 books published this year - as well as a collection and 3 stories in other collections. Its not like he just crapped them out either - his stuff is very good - he was nominated for a locus and a huge the last time they were up - and 2 of his works were finalists for locus awards.

Looking back, it seems he’s won Hugos and Arthur C Clarke awards and has had this machine like publication schedule for the past few years. How is he putting out quality books so fast?
China Miéville's latest book "The Rouse" is 1,264 pages long, coming out on Sept 17 2026

39 comments • panmacmillan.com
Subterranean Press will be closing at the end of 2027 possibly beginning of 2028. Bummer.

125 comments • reddit.com

I had heard that Bill was going to be retiring after reading the first announcement on the Readers/Resell facebook group site that Bill and other employees post to which was a leak. However, I had it in my head they’d be looking for a successor to continue things and I thought that’s what he said. Whether that would be an ownership, partnership, or they’d be purchased outright I didn’t know. However it looks like they’ll be closing.

While their prices have increased Subterranean Press and Grim Oak have been the small presses that have had excellent quality and decent taste at an affordable price point. Oh and they’re not one of those presses that sell out in 1 minute so if you gave a shit you had a minimum of 2 days to get your books and often a lot longer. I just don’t see any other small presses at this price point, publishing the type of authors I like, with this quality and availability other than Grim Oak and possibly Folio right now. Sucks. Looks like they’ll be finishing …
What Are Books That Are Written As A Response To The Lord Of The Rings, Or In Conversation With It?

374 comments • reddit.com

I’m following along a podcast and reading The Lord of the Rings for the first time. I’m reminded that I’ve read that Jacqueline Carey’s The Sundering series was based on LOTR and Victoria Goddard’s The Bone Harp was written to process the author’s thoughts on The Silmarillion. And recently The Door on the Sea by Caskey Russell was advertised as a Tlingit response to LOTR. Please, if you know of any books, or even other media like comics or poetry, by writers who were clearly inspired by LOTR and wrote their stories because they had something to say about the series or Tolkien’s writings at large, list them in the comments.
How did Sword of Truth become so popular?

391 comments • reddit.com

Sword of Truth is frequently criticised online as one of the worst fantasy series out there. And while i do have a soft spot for it, i agree with most of the complaints. However, that makes me wonder how did it become so popular in the first place. The books sold in millions, they get good ratings on Goodreads, Goodkind pumped out a lot of them and they got adapted into a tv show. What happened? Was the series well liked when it first released and just aged badly?

r/books

Uptick in children and teenagers enjoying reading for first time in 5 years

211 comments • bbc.co.uk

Children and young people’s enjoyment of reading has risen for the first time since 2021, according to new research.
Boys' reading remains in crisis as gender gap widens, report shows

1189 comments • itv.com
Massachusetts may soon join a dozen other US states in enacting a law aimed at standardizing the process for removing books from a public or school library known as an anti-book ban law

293 comments • wgbh.org
Dad Books Are a Dying Breed: Sales have been sliding for nonfiction titles about politics, biographies and other books often aimed at men (Archive link in oldest comment)

1170 comments • wsj.com
Sales of the whistleblowing memoir Careless People increased by more than 300% in the UK the week after its author was “silenced” during an appearance at Hay festival following legal action by Meta

79 comments • theguardian.com
Silent reading clubs are giving like-minded bookworms a brain boost

106 comments • cnn.com

r/printsf

Jane Yolen (1939-2026)

11 comments • file770.com
Clarkesworld 20th Anniversary Subscription Drive

20 comments • bsky.app

To celebrate the magazine’s upcoming 20th Anniversary, Neil Clarke and the team at Clarkesworld are running a subscription drive. All new subscriptions will be used to improve the pay of their staff and contributors.

It’s my (biased) opinion that Clarkesworld consistently publishes the best short science fiction in the industry. Their commitment to open submissions means that they usually get first pick of the best stories. And it shows–Clarkesworld produces more award-winning stories, novelettes and novellas than any other magazine.

If you have neglected short science fiction lately, there has never been a better time to subscribe to Clarkesworld. And if we want this amazing magazine to be around for another 20 years, they need our support!
Subterranean Press to Close - Locus

25 comments • locusmag.com
Books/stories where a civilization has forgotten its past

101 comments • reddit.com

Reading Octavia Butler’s Lilith’s Brood and I’m really fascinated by Oankali being so ancient that they have no idea if their home solar system still exists.

So now I really want to add to my reading backlog some novels that feature a civilization/society which has lost touch with their origins or with a significant part of their past. Maybe, like Oankali, they are so ancient that records of their old history are simply lost to time. Or maybe a large-scale cataclysm which took place a long time ago has left a gaping hole in following generations’ understanding of their own past.

Would be even better if the story was focused on said civilization recovering relics of their ancestors and trying to make sense of them.

I’m aware about Le Guin’s Hainish Cycle so it’s already in the list, but maybe you guys know any other novels or even just short stories which fit the concept I described?
Is A Canticle for Leibowitz really underrated?

71 comments • reddit.com

I’ve been going through the popular posts on this sub and keep seeing people say that A Canticle for Leibowitz is underrated, almost every time it’s mentioned (in posts and comments). But it doesn’t feel very underrated to me.

I don’t see many/any people saying it’s bad. It won the Hugo is 1961 and I’ve seen it talked about as one of the greatest sci fi novels in other places. So where does this idea it’s underrated come from? Anyway, how highly rated is a book if all discussion about it is about how it’s underrated?

I love this book, it’s in my top three, I’m confused about how people talk about it here.
The City & The City by China Miéville: Did anyone else find the second half disappointing?

53 comments • reddit.com

[Spoilers ahead for the book] I really loved the world-building and unique premise in The City & The City. it led to a ton of cool plot points and situations. But I couldn’t help feeling let down by the second half, especially with Breach. They were built up as this super-powerful, ominous force in the first half, but once the main character gets captured, he basically just joins them and does their job for them, without much pushback. They lose that ominous shadow vibe, and it kind of took the wind out of the story for me. Curious if anyone else felt the same way.

I loved the premise of the story, but couldn’t help but feel by some of the execution

r/television

r/movies

’24 Jump Street’ in the Works With Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum and Ice Cube in Talks to Return

1085 comments • variety.com
Official Poster for Pixar’s new original film ‘Gatto’. The film follows a black cat in Venice with a love of music who is shunned by locals due to superstitions. In theaters on March 5, 2027.

659 comments • i.redd.it
‘Obsession’ Crosses $200M Globally to Become Focus’ Top Movie of All Time

704 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
Movie critic Gene Shalit dies at 100

389 comments • nbcnews.com
THE SOCIAL RECKONING – Official Teaser Trailer

1615 comments • youtube.com
The Rock, starring Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage, and Ed Harris is 30 years old as of today -- first released into theaters on June 7, 1996.

609 comments • uk.news.yahoo.com