Mailshine - TV & Books

TV & Books #61

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

Mailshine - TV & Books #61

r/fantasy

Throne on Glass is the WORST fantasy series I have read in my lifetime!

707 comments • reddit.com

I started Throne of Glass a few weeks ago and DNF’d Queen of Shadows at around 300-400 pages in and this post will explain why (or maybe not. I tend to word vomit while my mind jumps around, so try to stick with me).

Before I start ranting I want to clarify I am an avid—and decently read—fantasy enjoyer. Ive read Erikson, Abercrombie, Nemisin, GRRM, Tolkien, Hobb, Sanderson, Lynch, and many more. My favorite series are Gentleman Bastards, The Ill-Made Knight, and Farseer. I am not saying that I am some higher power when it comes to reviewing fantasy, but I have a really solid base to go off of.

Let’s begin.

Sara Maas writes the first two books in a very simplified, utilitarian prose very similar to Brandon Sanderson. So why does her writing fail where his succeeds?

Structure.

There is no structure in these books. There is no steady build to rising action, because the main plot is constantly being sidelined for a romance plot. This happens in every single book. She does not know …
Liveship Traders is the only series that’s been able to scratch my ASOIAF itch.

91 comments • reddit.com

My god, what an incredible trilogy.

Since forever, ASOIAF has always been my favourite series. It just has everything I absolutely love about fantasy. The multi POVS, the battles, the politics, the characters, the villains etc.

I’ve just finished Ship of Destiny and I’m feeling those highs again, if not more so. I don’t think I’ve read more satisfying character arcs. The people in this series feel like genuine people, with real problems and fears. The growth. The GROWTH. I cannot put into words how good this was.

I really loved Farseer, but this was just even better and I’m legitimately heartbroken that this story has come to an end. I love Fitz, and am excited to follow him again, but there was just something magical about this trilogy in particular, something that I’ve really only felt when I read ASOIAF ages ago.

Just so so good.
Fantasy books with mature protagonists

235 comments • reddit.com

I kinda tired of most fantasy books I get having extremely young protagonists. Coming of age stories have it’s merit, but I am not so young myself anymore and I got bored of reading about the adventures of 20-years olds. Can someone recommend me good fantasy books where the main characters are in their 40-ths or 50-ths? Men or women, I don’t care. I’d also really prefer if they actually feel mature and expirienced and don’t act like teenagers in older bodies.

I really like Terry Pratchett books, because he wrote about the characters of all ages extremely well. But the most books that got advertised to me this days feel more like young adult stuff.
Victoria Elizabeth Schwab, why won't you let me love you.

168 comments • reddit.com

I know this isn’t a rare sentiment but VE Schwab’s books often have a great premise then fail to deliver on execution. I first learnt about her during the YA fantasy heydays of Booktube. Someone recommended Vicious as X-Men meets Flat liners. I enjoyed it, especially the rivalry between Eli and Victor. However, there are some choices made that left me scratching my head like Serena’s power not having an off button. After that I tried to read A Darker Shade of Magic and Lila Bird’s not like other girls energy and the plot being all over the place made me DNF it. I tried to read Vengeful and Marcella was another NLOG character. I was also very bored by any plot that didn’t involve Eli and Victor. By that point I realised while I do want to enjoy Schwab’s books, she’s just not for me. Then came 2021. The Invisible Life of Addie Larue took over the zeitgeist. A friend convinced me to read it because they said Addie wasn’t like Schwab’s …
The Blade Itself is a lot cozier than I imagined

70 comments • reddit.com

The First Law is obviously one of the most popular recommendations on this subreddit, so I was really excited to start this series.

I don’t think any of the series I’ve read before have been described as “grimdark” other than perhaps ASOIAF, but many fantasy worlds nonetheless feature extraordinary violence and evil. In that sense is partially perhaps that skulls are caved in more often than not, but moreso, our erstwhile protagonists think and behave in very unheroic ways. Of course, Glokta is ostensibly a villain, Ferro is almost feral, and Jezal is obviously flawed, but Logen’s troubled-past-killer-turned-apolitical-wanderer attitude generally actually quite aligns with more optimistic works like Rurouni Kenshin. We do have some small moments that veer darker for sure, such as >!Logen’s crew killing the captured boy soldier!<. The one thing that shocked me in terms of its darkness happened toward the end of the book - >!Major West …
A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold is quite possibly one of my favorite books ever

131 comments • reddit.com

I have been reading Vorkosigan saga since last year - instead of binging through it, I have been reading a book, parking the series and coming back to it after some break, because I wanted to stretch this out. For those who don’t know Vorkosigan saga is the story of Miles Vorkosigan, a man born incredibly weak and very deformed, but makes up for it with his incredible charisma, wit and forward momentum.

The first book, warrior’s apprentice, was one of the most enjoyable sci-fi books I have read, because it is just a non stop fast paced adventure, with Miles being hyper and barreling through any and every obstacle infront of him, like an avalanche gahtering momentum ever step of the way. It is full of action, space ships and fights and what not, and it set the tone for the subsequent books for me.

Now we come to A Civil Campaign. This is like the 7th or 8th book in Miles story. It has no action, no space fights, Miles is not hyper in the slightest. Practically every …

r/books

Kobo “rejected nearly 45 per cent of the books submitted to its self-publishing program in 2025” because of suspicions around content being AI generated

144 comments • cbc.ca
Americans still opt for print books over digital or audio versions; few are in book clubs.

305 comments • pewresearch.org
Thousands of AI-written, edited or ‘polished’ books are being sold – an eerie echo of Orwell’s ‘novel-writing machines’

277 comments • theconversation.com
More than 100 writers quit French publisher in protest against rightwing owner Vincent Bolloré

71 comments • theguardian.com
I miss the Barnes and Noble (and other bookstores) of my childhood: an essay

455 comments • reddit.com
I know everyone and their mother has talked about this but I sincerely feel that we have in the US at least, experienced the death of the third place, and for me no other place is as emblematic as B&N. I still enjoy going there (as I do other bookstores) but unlike in my childhood, bookstores have really lost their magic and I never spend more than an hour in one nowadays. I’m not sure if this is an attempt to compete with places with Amazon, but bookstores now, just like coffee shops, seem incentivized to get you in and out as fast as possible. This doesn’t make any sense since I think the one advantage bookstores offer is a place to physically enjoy books and be in a community of readers.
1. No more comfortable seating. I know B&N employees have explained that this is for hygenic reasons but even small independent bookstores don’t even offer a single place to sit. I’m sorry, but there is nothing relaxing about having to literally stand or crouch to take …
Colson Whitehead: "The point is, I’m not [criticizing AI] to defend humanity. Humanity sucks. It’s totally terrible. I’m saying this because I believe in an old-fashioned virtue called Doing the Freakin’ Work." [gift link]

192 comments • nytimes.com

r/printsf

Dungeon Crawler Carl has absolutely horrific prose.

1274 comments • reddit.com

I saw plenty of discussion about the characters and plot of this series, but not really much at all about how it’s written. Does it get any better?

Let me first preface this: I’m a snob. I can’t help it. Whenever I develop an interest, I devour whatever the snobbiest, most pretentious stuff available even if the hobby doesn’t typically lend itself to snobbery. Pro wrestling, comic books, sci-fi, sitcoms, etc. I’ve been savoring Gene Wolfe’s Solar Cycle over the course of several years because I don’t want it to be done. Even a snob like myself sometimes gets a craving for pablum, if only to pad out my enjoyment of the good stuff. I’m in the middle of Long Sun right now and want to let it sit and read something light during my break. Dungeon Crawler Carl caught my eye mostly by being on the recommended shelf at a bookstore but also because I’ve never read or even really heard of LitRPG.

I’m about 75 pages in. I went in …
The Shrike from Hyperion is the most effective monster in sci-fi and I think the sequels slowly killed what made it work

99 comments • reddit.com

The first time the Shrike appears in Hyperion it does almost nothing. It’s just there with four arms, blades where fingers should be, eyes like blood rubies, moving in ways that don’t connect between moments without explanation and motivation you can parse, it just exists and people die and that’s all you get and it works completely.

The Shrike in the first book is terrifying because Simmons commits to never letting you understand it and it doesn’t want anything you can name. It doesn’t communicate. It doesn’t have a plan you can follow. The Tree of Thorns exists and people are on it and the Shrike puts them there and the why is just absent. Your brain keeps reaching for a framework and finding nothing and that nothing is where the horror lives.

But then Fall of Hyperion starts explaining things. The Shrike has an origin and a purpose. It’s connected to the TechnoCore in ways that make structural sense within the plot and with every …
'Neuromancer' by William Gibson is a seminal work even if you don't like it now

186 comments • reddit.com

I grew up watching and loving films like The Matrix. It was so original to my eyes (and obviously so exciting). Being a computer scientist just enhanced my experience of watching that film later on. The world we live in today is no different - agents everywhere, controlled by AI, devolving human minds day by day. Neuromancer set out to portray today’s world 40 years ago. The main characters had selfish motivations, all driven by AI’s commands and barely got of the trap. And this choice of living in illusion (artificial construct) vs reality was even shown in Inception too (with Cobb and his wife). Great minds do think alike (or are probably inspired by each other).

I know some people don’t rate this book very highly now (Don’t want to imagine what people will think of The Matrix in a few decades time), but imagine writing this in early 80s with just some shards of tech at your disposal and nothing but visions of the future and power of your writing. Salute to …
Found this SF anthology from the 80s in a secondhand bookshop near me... and that line-up! (swipe for the full list)

57 comments • reddit.com

I got it for £3 - you’ve gotta love a bargain. I’ve read a handful of these stories before in other collections but damn I couldn’t resist this quality roster.

Who are some of your favourites featured here? Any stories in particular that catch your eye or that you’ve previously enjoyed and found memorable?

I am very much looking forward to jumping in.
The first Warhammer 40k author, Ian Watson, has died

18 comments • wargamer.com
A Fire Upon the Deep: The First 100 Pages

85 comments • reddit.com

Over the past few months, I’ve seen recommendations for this book practically everywhere, it’s like the Baader phenomenon, and I want to share my thoughts specifically on the first hundred pages, because I almost put it down twice, and it seems to me that no one warns you about that

The opening is just a lot and I don’t mean that in a bad way now but at the time I was genuinely confused about what kind of book I was even reading, like there are these children on a medieval planet with dog creatures and then there’s this whole galactic usenet thing and then there’s cosmic horror that apparently threatens all higher intelligence in the universe and I kept waiting for these threads to connect in a way that felt earned and for the first chunk of the book they just kind of don’t and I remeber texting a friend who recommended it like “is this actually going somewhere” and he just said “keep reading” which is the most annoying thing you can say …

r/television

r/movies

TV & Books #60

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

Mailshine - TV & Books #60

r/fantasy

John Flanagan, the author of the Ranger's Apprentice book series has passed away

84 comments • reddit.com

Per the official Ranger’s Apprentice Facebook page, John Flanagan has passed away. Like so many here, these books were a major piece of my childhood. I loved the characters and stories he created so much. Rest in peace to a great storyteller and world builder. My sympathies go out to his family and friends.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19CfpyDYJ2/
What is the single most brilliant fantasy novel series you've ever read?

822 comments • reddit.com

Hi everyone!

What is the best fantasy book series you’ve ever read in your life? Or, if not a series, perhaps just a single stand-alone novel?

I’ve read Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit way back in the day. It is what it is. I’ve also read the first 3 books of A Song of Ice and Fire way before it became the popular show it became. I’ve heard about Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson but never got myself to read those. I remember reading Name of the Wild awhile back but wasn’t into it. Out of everything I read in the fantasy genre, I’d put A Song of Ice and Fire at the top of my list above everything I’ve read so far.

I’m looking for moral ambiguity and truly great character development and writing as well as realistic and unpredictable story and plot. Sorta like where you can’t tell who really are the good guys or bad guys. I don’t like the standard typical good vs evil tropes especially where the villains are …
Legends & Lattes ...Overhyped (at least for me)

221 comments • reddit.com

I went into Legends & Lattes with pretty high expectations. It gets recommended everywhere in cozy fantasy threads, so I figured I was in for something special.

And yeah…considering the author’s background, it is a decent book. But top tier¿ I just don’t see it.

This is obviously personal preference, but here’s why it disappointed me,

1) Low stakes is shouldn’t be equal to low effort storytelling. I actually wanted the low-stakes vibe ..that’s why I picked it up. But if you remove tension, you have to compensate with something else: strong character work, immersive daily life, or meaningful interactions.

Instead, a lot of it felt… summarized.

2) Too much telling, not enough showing One example that really stood out: when Viv is under pressure from the stone thief, we’re told she’s snapping at coworkers constantly and feeling guilty.

But we don’t really see those moments.

That’s a big miss for a cozy story. The appeal is in those small, lived-in …
Piers Anthony Xanth Books Aged Badly

290 comments • reddit.com

I read Piers Anthony as a teen and into my 20s (80s and very early 90s) Firefly and first book of Tyrant series turned me off.

So last week I got a Kindle so came across Piers Anthony and it had free Xanth books. I downloaded Question Quest. I am halfway through and his creepiness is so apparent.

A) A female demon D Metria is always truthful but she can lie about her age since a woman lying about her age is not considered a lie.

B) Looks and intelligence of women are linked. Plainer you are smarter you are with some exceptions.

C) Again obsession with teenage girls panties. It comes across as a fetish Anthony has that he puts on paper.

D) Innocence is tied to sex. This disturbs me a lot. Maybe it’s the era we live in but we have seen this idea weaponized against women especially children. I know he is from the Silent Generation but even then it’s a problematic concept and more so now. I know in 40s cartoons with Betty Boop she wouldn’t have sex since she would lose her Boop which …
Fantasy Reader complains about litrpgs, gets told to read Dungeon Crawler Carl over and over again. Here's the review.

185 comments • reddit.com

If you go to my profile, you will see my latest post about trying to get into the litrpg genre. Overwhelmingly, comments told me to read Dungeon Crawler Carl, even after I said I would get to it. But, with enough convincing, I figured I would bump it up my TBR and see what all the fuss was about.

I finished in 3 days.

This book is addictive. I don’t know what it is, but holy cow, all I wanted to do was read more and more and more. Every scene moved the plot forward, and even the exposition bits didn’t feel too much. The only thing I felt confused about was all the syndicates and kingdoms and whatnot, but I’m sure the next books will clear that up.

I think what made this litrpg work and not others was the inclusion of Princess Donut. Other than the fact that she is an incredible character and I love her, and her few moments of vulnerability, she adds something much needed to the litrpg protagonist: a friend. Most of the time, our heroes enter their new mysterious …
Red Rising: There Are No Reds in the Room

212 comments • reddit.com
I’ve read about halfway through Book 3 of Red Rising and then dropped it. I’m trying to understand something that’s been bothering me throughout the series.

My main issue is this: there are no Reds in the actual decision-making spaces where the revolution is shaped.

What I mean is:
- The story is about a Red revolution on the surface
- But the people making strategic decisions about it are almost entirely Darrow and Gold or Gold-adjacent characters, just about every other colour but red
- Darrow, after his transformation, operates fully within Gold’s identity and systems
- I don’t see sustained Red presence in leadership or in the rooms where the direction of the revolution is decided
So my question is simple: when do Reds actually get into the room where decisions are made about their own liberation?

What also confuses me is the inconsistency in how Reds are portrayed:
- On one hand, Reds are shown as capable of running underground networks, smuggling, organizing resistance, and …

r/books

Amazon to end support for older Kindles, prompting user outcry

746 comments • bbc.com
Starting in May, pre-2013 Kindles won't be able to buy or download new books

810 comments • arstechnica.com
What Playboy got right about men: Lust and literacy can coexist

226 comments • unherd.com
‘The Housemaid’ Author Freida McFadden Reveals Her True Identity: ‘I’m Tired of This Being a Secret’

444 comments • variety.com
Iowa can restrict LGBTQ+ books and topics at schools, as per appellate court ruling

214 comments • theguardian.com
Article: Judy Blume is the patron saint of teen girl readers

37 comments • theconversation.com

r/printsf

Reading Diaspora by Greg Egan and I cannot process that someone just invented working physics for a six dimensional universe as a side note

116 comments • reddit.com

I’m about 200 pages in and I had to put it down yesterday because I hit the section where Egan describes the geometry of a universe with six spatial dimensions and I made the mistake of trying to follow the actual math and now I’m just here.

So like this isn’t “and then the ship went through hyperspace” handwaving, like usually in ither books and shows, but there are actual equations like the way physics works in a six dimensional space is different in specific ways that Egan works out properly, the way gravity falls off, the way atomic structures would or wouldn’t be stable, the way light behaves and he’s not using these as decoration, the plot depends on characters understanding and navigating these differences and if the math were wrong the story wouldn’t work. I went down a rabbit hole two days ago trying to verify some of it and the parts I could check against real physics papers actually hold up and the parts that go beyond current …
Ursula K. Le Guin wrote a short story in 1973 that describes the internet better than most things written after the internet existed

99 comments • reddit.com

The story is “The Ones Wh o Walk Away from Omelas” and I know most people read it as an ethical thought experiment about complicity, which it is, but I want to talk about something slightly different in it that I’ve been sitting with since a reread last week. The premise is a city of perfect happiness that depends on the suffering of a single child kept in a basement. Everyone knows. The happiness is real and it requires the suffering to be real. Le Guin is not subtle about what she’s asking you to consider.

What I keep returning to is the section where she describes how the citizens of Omelas process their knowledge of the child. Most of them, she writes, feel something terrible when they first learn about it. Then they rationalize. Then they go on. They do not forget. They have simply found a way to hold the knowledge and continue functioning. She describes this not as moral failure exactly but as a kind of psychological necessity, which is what makes it so …
The Measurements of Decay (2018) might be the most ambitious SF novel nobody has read

42 comments • open.substack.com

I read this book a few years ago after a Starburst review called it possibly the best SF novel of 2018. It’s a strange, demanding, 588-page debut that mixes philosophical fiction with space opera. One storyline follows an unnamed philosopher on Earth who gradually becomes something monstrous, the other follows a rebel in a far-future galaxy where everyone’s consciousness is managed by an implanted device. There’s also a woman who can move through time. The three storylines converge at the end in a way that completely reframes everything you’ve read.

The novel engages seriously with Kant, Hegel, Levinas, Milton, Dante. The prose has been compared to McCarthy and Melville, which is fair in places, though it’s uneven. It got good reviews from Kirkus and some other glowing reviews, but beyond that there’s almost nothing written about it. No Reddit threads, no essays, nothing.

I started obsessing over it after a recent reread and the result is this …
Looking for a mind bending Sci-Fi read that will re-awaken my love for the genre

363 comments • reddit.com

Hi, I am pretty starved for a new interesting sci fi novel. In the past I’ve enjoyed the classics (Clarke, Bradbury, Hainlein, Dick, Asimov), the more metaphorical SF (LeGuin), the popular (Culture, Murderbot, Children of time) and now Im looking for the next big thing which will give me that feeling of wonder of dread that only sci fi can.

I could not get into space operas (I’ve tried with Excession and Ann leckie) but I’m willing to give it another go! Now I’m looking for a SF book i can read over the summer that will grip me

I enjoy eerie stories and cosmic horror. I already own Blindight after reading Freeze Frame Revolution (which had very cool ideas but ultimately was kind if disappointing); I’ve enjoyed some of Philip Dick (the ideas, not the characters).

Loved Invincible by Lem.

I have always had a soft spot for the AI trope (the Minds in the Culture are really cool and fun), or first contact (Story of Your life is one of my favourite of all time); truly alien aliens, …
Books where the most interesting idea is almost a throwaway detail

203 comments • reddit.com

I keep thinking about a thing some SF writers do where the actual plot is fine, maybe even very good, but then somewhere in paragraph three of a random chapter they casually mention a completely wild idea and just keep moving like nothing happened.

Not even the big headline concept of the book. I mean the side stuff. A weird legal system that only exists because memory can be copied. A religion built around time dilation. A city designed around some obscure biological constraint. A form of labor, family structure, punishment, or education that clearly comes from a huge amount of thought, but the book only needs it for half a scene so it never gets fully unpacked.

Sometimes I love this because it makes the world feel much larger than the story I’m reading. It gives me that feeling that the author knows ten times more about the setting than I ever will. But sometimes it has the opposite effect and I get kind of stuck on the “wait, go back” detail and care more about …
Dark mature space opera that ISN'T Revelation Space, 40K, The Gap Cycle or The Expanse.

286 comments • reddit.com

I’ve had this itch for a while-specifically a more grim and nasty version of the typical space opera setting. The federation is corrupt or falling to pieces, the empire is gaining power rapidly, the rebels are on the backfoot or vicious murderers, and the general tone is “survival of the fittest”, with a spaceship crew just trying to survive.

r/television

r/movies

TV & Books #59

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

Mailshine - TV & Books #59

r/fantasy

'Dungeon Crawler Carl' TV Series Lands at Peacock (EXCLUSIVE)'Dungeon Crawler Carl' TV Series Lands at Peacock (EXCLUSIVE)

381 comments • variety.com
A Report from A Recent T. Kingfisher Signing

85 comments • reddit.com
Hi all! I had the pleasure of attending a Q&A / book signing for T. Kingfisher in NYC this week, and thought the sub hive mind may appreciate a brief recap.

First: she is hilarious. The format of the event was essentially “bookstore employee gingerly hands her a microphone and backs away, and away she goes.” I learned a lot about all sorts of things, to include botflies, the demeanor of roadrunners, and antique devices that let you reinflate deflated caterpillars.

Of particular interest to sub-goers, she dropped some hints and information on her upcoming books:
- The sequel to Swordheart is titled Daggerbound, and comes out this August. There will be a third book titled Shieldborn.
- Judith gets the last Paladin book.
  - She doesn’t know what Judith’s deal is yet but is excited to find out.
  - “After the first book came out, people kept on telling me they wanted to know how the god died. I asked, ‘you care about that?’ And it turns out they …
OFFICIAL r/Fantasy 2026 Book Bingo Challenge!

400 comments • reddit.com
WELCOME TO BINGO 2026!

It’s a reading challenge, a reading party, a reading marathon, and YOU are invited!

r/Fantasy Book Bingo is a yearly reading challenge within our community. Its one-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new authors and books, to boldly go where few readers have gone before.

The core of this challenge is encouraging readers to step out of their comfort zones, discover amazing new reads, and motivate everyone to keep up on their reading throughout the year.

You can find all our past challenges at our official Bingo wiki page for the sub.

RULES:

Time Period and Prize
- 2026 Bingo Period lasts from April 1st 2026 - March 31st 2027.
- You will be able to turn in your 2026 card in the Official Turn In Post, which will be posted in mid-March 2027. Only submissions through the Google Forms link in the official post will count.
- ‘Reading Champion’ flair will be assigned to anyone who completes the entire card by the end of the …
Lois McMaster Bujold announces 16th Penric novella, Darksight Dare, to be released this April.

82 comments • goodreads.com
Steven Erikson (writer of Malazan) writes some of the best comedy in fantasy I’ve ever read, and doesn’t get enough credit for this aspect of his writing.

148 comments • reddit.com

Title pretty much says it all, I just wanted to shoutout Steven Erikson for yet again making me laugh out loud while reading the most in depth, complex fantasy series I’ve ever read. I’m reading Reaper’s Gale right now (book 7 of the main series) and the amount of times I’ve been dying laughing from Tehol and Bugg is ridiculous. I don’t think any other fantasy or sci-fi author that I’ve read other than Pratchett has made me laugh as consistently or as hard. Feels like a good reward as well for how hard this series makes you work sometimes.
I think the reason so many people bounce off Malazan isn't the complexity, it's the emotional distance in the first book

427 comments • reddit.com

Hello everyone, I wanted to share something I’ve been thinking about for a while after recommending Malazan to probably a dozen people over the past few years and watching almost all of them drop it before book two.

The common explanation you hear everywhere is that Gardens of the Moon is just too complex, too many characters, too much worldbuilding with no hand holding, and while that is all true, I dont think that’s actually why most people quit. I’ve read a lot of dense fantasy and most readers who enjoy the genre can push through complexity if they feel emotionally invested. The thing about GotM is that it was written before Erikson had a publishing deal, and it reads that way. The characters are introduced at a speed that makes it genuinely hard to care about any of them before the plot has already moved on. You’re asked to process a lot of grief and weight for people you’ve barely met.

Compare that to book two, Deadhouse Gates, which I think is one …

r/books

Sweden goes back to basics, swapping screens for books in the classroom in attempt to reverse declines in reading, math, and science.

411 comments • arstechnica.com
Tennessee library director fired after refusing to remove LGBTQ books

225 comments • wpln.org
Andy Weir Says Paramount Rejected His ‘Star Trek’ Pitch, Proceeds to Blast Modern ‘Trek’

1707 comments • gizmodo.com
Penguin to sue OpenAI over ChatGPT version of German children’s book

32 comments • theguardian.com
The New York Times drops freelance journalist who used AI to write book review

85 comments • theguardian.com
‘Soon publishers won’t stand a chance’: literary world in struggle to detect AI-written books

473 comments • theguardian.com

r/printsf

The Left Hand of Darkness is 50 years old and still asks questions about gender that most contemporary fiction is too scared to actually engage with

140 comments • reddit.com

Just finished it two days ago as part of a Le Guin readthrough I’ve been doing and I need to talk about this because I wasn’t ready for how current it would feel.

The thing that gets me is that Le Guin isn’t making an argument. She’s not telling you what to think about gender or identity or any of it and that restraint is what makes the book so much more effective than most contemporary fiction that tackles the same territory because the second a book starts explaining its own themes to you it stops being literature and starts being a lecture.

What she does instead is put you on a planet where the biological foundation of gender just. Doesn’t exist the way it does here and then she watches what happens to everything that’s built on top of that foundation and the answer is that almost everything we think is fundamental turns out to be contingent and that observation lands differently depending on who you are when you read it and I think that’s …
Roadside Picnic does something most first contact stories are too afraid to do and I think about it constantly

92 comments • reddit.com

Most alien contact fiction is secretly about us. The aliens are a mirror, a threat, a lesson, a gift. Strugatsky brothers did something different: the aliens just stopped by, left their trash, and left. They were not interested in us. They did not come to communicate or destroy or uplift. We were not significant enough to warrant any of those things. The Zone is not a message. It is litterally a roadside picnic site, and we are the animals sniffing around the abandoned firepit trying to figure out what the strange shiny objects do.

What makes this so uncomfortable and so good is that it removes the assumption that has been underneath almost every contact narrative since Wells: that encountering something vastly more advanced than us would at least mean something. That we would be noticed. Roadside Picnic says maybe not. The Stalkers aren’t decoding a mystery with cosmic significance, they’re scavenging. The most honest character in the book is Redrick, who never …
In Dune, do the Fremen just have really good toilets or does nobody ever talk about it

307 comments • reddit.com

Okay hear me out. The Fremen live in the deep desert. Water is the most precious resource in existence. They recycle everything. Every drop of moisture from dead bodies, from breath, from sweat. They wear stillsuits that capture every bit of water their bodies produce.
So what happens when someone needs to poop. Like seriously. The stillsuit recycles urine into drinking water. Thats mentioned multiple times. But solid waste has water in it too. Are the Fremen just… carrying little bags of dehydrated poop around? Do they have stilltent bathrooms? Is there a secret Fremen composting ritual that Herbert just glossed over.
I mentioned this to my book club and now nobody will look at me. But I think its a valid question. Paul becomes Emperor of the known universe but did he ever have to dig a hole in the sand and bury it like a cat. Someone who knows the extended lore please explain.
Flowers for Algernon is the only SF book that made me grieve someone who never existed

49 comments • reddit.com

Everyone knows what happens, like actually everyone, it’s one of those books where the twist is just cultural knowledge at this point and I went in completely aware of where it was going and Keyes still got me and I’m a little annoyed about it honestly.

The thing I didn’t expect is that the intelligence doesn’t just show up in what Charlie says or thinks, it shows up in the writing itself, in the sentence structure and the way he observes things and the vocabulary and so when it starts reversing you feel it happening in the prose before you’ve consciously registered what’s going on and by the time you put it together it’s already well underway and there’s nothing you can do with that information.

And the part that really got me wasn’t even the ending which I think surprises people when I say it, it was somewhere in the middle when Charlie is at his absolute peak and you’re reading and you can see with complete clarity …
Bobiverse as a HATER

448 comments • reddit.com

I picked up We Are Legion as a light read and thought I knew what I was getting myself into but STILL wasn’t prepared. This is the most Elon-core book Ive read since Ready Player One and Im struggling mightily, my eyes hurt from the eye rolling.

My question is this: given how fanfic ultimate STEM mary sue handwavy everything style the writing is I genuinely cant comprehend how this series could be more than one book, and yet Ive seen infographics about the huge scope and there seems to be smart people who actually like this. So does it like… do something? Have a purpose? Or just idk get better? Or is it just what it seems to be: pure 2010s reddit geekslop; and I should bazinga myself out of there
Just finished A Canticle for Leibowitz - blown away

45 comments • reddit.com

What a brilliantly harrowing read that was.

The fact this was published nearly 70 years ago makes it even more harrowing - a very poignant read indeed.

Almost screaming at the book at some parts for them to stop doing what they’re doing re making ‘discoveries’.

I was a little confused at first at the purpose of the wanderer, but I think I understood at the end - aside from the obvious religious influence of the character, he was a representation of the human conscience, the human awareness of what we are and what we will always continue to do. Thought the contrast between him and Rachel was brilliant, true innocence, young in every aspect of her life, a signal of hope against the wanderer’s brutal way of life, who has seen it all happen time and time again and who appears destined to walk the same path over and over as we humans likely will.

The scene at the end where the abbot finds the skull of Brother Francis really hit me, just ties it all together that small decisions made …

r/television

'Bob's Burgers' Voice Actor Eugene Mirman Hospitalized After Fiery Car Crash

660 comments • tmz.com
Tubi Adding 250 Episodes of ‘Sesame Street’ to Free Streaming Service

217 comments • variety.com

Starting Wednesday, April 1, Tubi will add 250 episodes of “Sesame Street” spanning from the beginning of the series to Season 38 under a deal with Sesame Workshop. Tubi said that on a quarterly basis, 10% of the episodes will be replaced with additional episodes.

“Few brands have shaped young minds and sparked imagination quite like Sesame Street,” said Adam Lewinson, chief content officer at Tubi. “By bringing hundreds of episodes to Tubi for free, we’re giving today’s kids access to joyful, foundational learning while inviting parents to share a piece of their own childhood with the next generation. It’s a powerful example of how Tubi connects audiences through stories that stay with you for life, making meaningful, educational entertainment accessible to all.”

Joseph Giraldi, chief operating officer at Sesame Workshop, said that bringing “Sesame Street” to Tubi “allows us to expand our reach and impact — and we are thrilled that our beloved characters and proven educational media …
‘Project Hail Mary’ Author Andy Weir Says Paramount Rejected His ‘Star Trek’ Pitch: Their “Shows Are Sh**”

1058 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
Sophie Turner back injury shuts down filming on Lara Croft reboot

676 comments • uk.news.yahoo.com
‘Bob’s Burgers’ Actor Eugene Mirman Speaks Out After Surviving Fiery Car Crash: I’m ‘On the Mend’ and ‘Thankful Beyond Words to Be Here’

138 comments • variety.com
King of the Hill referenced my real-life farm accident—this is actually me.

384 comments • reddit.com

I recently found this clip from King of the Hill and didn’t even realize they were referencing my story.

I lost my arms in a farm accident years ago, and I actually did call 911 using my nose at first, then a pencil with my teeth.

Just thought it was wild to see it mentioned in a show like this.

r/movies

Ryan Gosling Recalls Preparing For ‘Project Hail Mary’ By Consulting Astronaut Katy Perry: “My performance of a man adrift in space wouldn’t have been nearly as believable if Katy hadn’t been there to answer all my questions”

396 comments • theonion.com
New Posters for Kane Parsons' 'Backrooms'

937 comments • i.redd.it
‘Project Hail Mary’ Becomes Amazon MGM Studios’ Highest-Grossing Film Worldwide With $300 Million Overtaking ‘Creed III’

1291 comments • deadline.com
Barry Caldwell, ‘Animaniacs’ and ‘Osmosis Jones’ Animator, Dies at 68

301 comments • variety.com
New Poster for 'Supergirl'

1220 comments • i.redd.it
Backrooms | Official Trailer | A24

1346 comments • youtube.com

TV & Books #58

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 07:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #58

r/fantasy

I'm Mark Lawrence - this is my AMA - Daughter of Crows is out today!

262 comments • reddit.com

Daughter of Crows is my 20th published novel and starts The Academy of Kindness trilogy.

It’s my first grimdark work since The Broken Empire trililogy, and the first grimdark I’ve written in 15 years. So you can go back to calling me grimdark author Mark Lawrence … if anyone ever stopped :D

You can read all about my work in this handy Guide to Lawrence

I have a second book coming out this year in October, The Bookshop Book.

This one is a standalone loosely associated with The Library Trilogy.

Daughter of Crows is a whole new thing not connected to any of my other works - jump in here.

Since “what’s Daughter of Crows about?” hasn’t been among the first 100 questions … it’s in part a dark academia book, but VERY dark, and it features as its lead, an old female character. A type of character which people say is under-represented in fantasy.

I’ve delivered 20 books in 15 years, so you’re pretty safe starting now. …
Why non-human races are not popular in fantasy anymore?

459 comments • reddit.com

I’ve spotted an interesting tendency in recent years - we have less and less non-human races in fantasy. There were interesting times when everyone wanted to be like Tolkien (publishers especially), due to what we have our lovely standard ‘DnD’ setting with elves/dwarves/gnomes/orcs/halflings etc. There is a lot of fantasy using this set of races - some more blatantly, some with deviations, but it was logical and, to be honest, a good thing that it started to meet it’s end.

So finally, we could get a new era of fantasy, where each author could express themselves and create totally new, unique, non-Tolkien inspired races… Wait, what? What do you mean there is no more races now?

Let’s just too at this list of most popular epic fantasy https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/50.The_Best_Epic_Fantasy_fiction_ . As you can see, in 90’s-00’s everything shifted and the most icon fantasy of time like ASOIAF, The Wheel of Time, The Realm of …
Problematic Names: Elversult

131 comments • reddit.com

Just wanting to share.

I’m reading Temple Hill by Drew Karpyshyn. There’s a little that’s off here and there, the prologue is a bit long-winded and the action sequence drags, but altogether I’m having fun.

However.

The main city in the book is called “Elversult.” And I have unfortunately learned, as I read, that I read words as a whole. My brain says “Everslut” every time.

“We have some of the finest ale in Everslut”—wait, no, it’s “Elversult”! Ok, back to reading…

“In Everslut, that life was particularly harsh”—Elle-vuhr-sult! Elle-vuhr-sult! In ELLE-VUHR-SULT, that life was particularly harsh! Ok, back to it…

I keep getting pulled out of the text because it’s fun and lovely and D&D adventuring, and then the stupid city name pops up again. I’m about to give up and let it be Everslut. Whatever.

Anyone else experience this with a story? 🤣
The Thrice-Bound Fool by Christopher Buehlman Cover Revealed

77 comments • torpublishinggroup.com
How do you guys read so critically? (Babel discourse)

146 comments • reddit.com

I really enjoy reading, but am not really good at critically paying attention to themes, characters, and ultimately forming an opinion on a book. Eg, I recently finished Babel; I remember feeling like it fell a little flat for me, but I overall really liked at least the first half.

I wanted to see some discourse, but saw that a lot of people were pretty critical about the novel. I actually agreed with a some of the critique but didn’t even realize it until seeing other people explicitly voicing it; I also was a bit surprised that so many people felt bored by the first half of the book, which was the part that drew me in the most.

I’m fine not having the same opinions as others when it comes to lit, but I want to be better about reading more thoughtfully, just wanted to see if anyone had thoughts on how I could improve my reading habits!
Does it annoy you when female led Fantasy books still do a bad job of writing female characters?

249 comments • reddit.com

Seriously, you think if a Fantasy book had a female MC the author would try to write other female characters who they have a complex relationship with but no.

Spoilers for the first two Poppy War books.

just finished the Dragon Republic and it annoyed me how many female characters were killed off when they were so few compared to male characters. Qara, the Sorquan Sira, that female military officer who was kissed when she got killed by that Wolf Meat General (seriously, what was that about) and Niang.

Yes, male characters died too but when your cast is male dominated the deaths of female characters sticks out more.

Most of the characters the female MC has complex relationships with are male. Kitay her best friend, Nexha her frenemy (how else should I describe him) her mentor Jiang, Altan, Chaggan, Vaisra and most of the Cike.. In comparison, for women, there’s Su Daji and Sister Petra and that’s it. Maybe Aunty Fang, though Venka looks to be shaping up to have a bigger role. No …

r/books

Librarian 'gobsmacked' after school uses AI to remove 200 books from shelves including Orwell's 1984 and Twilight

317 comments • lbc.co.uk
We are living in a period of political anti-intellectualism. But in pop culture, clever is the new cool

244 comments • theguardian.com
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: “If more men read books about women’s lives, literature could improve communication”

472 comments • wmagazin.com
Boys ditch books when schools close—girls keep reading: Study

324 comments • phys.org
Tennessee librarian faces discipline for refusing to move more than 100 books from juvenile shelves

220 comments • tennessean.com

Rutherford County Library Director Luanne James said moving the books constitutes a violation of the First Amendment.

Some of the books which were supposed to be moved, in order to protect children from “gender confusion”:

The Airless Year” by Adam Knave: flagged for “female empowerment”

“Desert Queen” by Jyoti Rajan Gopal: flagged for LGBTQ themes, “strongly” promoting “gender equality, female empowerment, following one’s dreams and challenging rigid social roles.”

“We Belong” by Laura Purdie Salas: flagged for “diverse children in urban setting”

“Bodies are Cool” by Tyler Feder: flagged for “boys shown bare-chested; a woman nursing a child is depicted.”

“Answers in the Pages” by David Levithan: flagged for “classroom discussion of books bans and censorship.”

“Harlem Hellfighters” by J. Patrick Lewis: flagged for “graphic depiction of lynching.”

“What was Stonewall?” by Nico Medina: flagged for “LGBTQ community’s fight for equality”

“You are not Alone” by …
Stephen King’s Next Dark Tower Book Gets Official Release Date

314 comments • screenrant.com

r/printsf

"If people are fighting for an orb you are reading fantasy. If people are fighting for a cube you are reading sci-fi." How well does this hold up?

251 comments • reddit.com

As seen here: https://xcancel.com/rifflexielian/status/2036286051388461363
The Priest's Tale is the best thing in Hyperion and nothing else in the book comes close

114 comments • reddit.com

I know the Scholar’s Tale gets all the emotional credit and fairly so, it’s devastating in a way that’s hard to argue with, and the Soldier’s Tale has the best action and I get it.

But the Priest’s Tale does something none of the others do because it starts as a fairly conventional SF story about a mission to a remote planet and then about two thirds in it just becomes something else entirely and Simmons doesn’t warn you it’s happening. The moment with the crosses on the hill genuinely made me put the book down for a few minutes, not because it was shocking but because I needed to process what kind of book I was actually reading and the horror in that story works because it’s not explained. The Shrike is at its most terrifying in the Priest’s Tale specifically because Simmons resists the urge to make it make sense. Later in the series that restraint disappears and the Shrike becomes something you can understand and categorize and …
Six books in I finally realised what holds me back from loving The Expanse

182 comments • reddit.com

Don’t get me wrong, I’m really enjoying the series. It has an incredible sense of scope and a nuanced plot that still feels focussed and well planned. But something has always “annoyed” me about it.

I can’t believe it took me this long to figure it out but it finally dawned on me: it’s the wise-cracking.

Almost all of the characters, regardless of which faction they are from, speak in a brash, bantery kind of way. Something like:

“Sir, the lasers are pointed right at us. We either scram now, or sure as shit our ship boutta grow a thousand new assholes.”

I understand this makes the action scenes pithy and I guess some people might find it.. witty ? But the effect it has on the series as a whole is a kind of flattening of the characters into a homogenous blob. Avasarala comes off the worst here.

Does anyone else feel the same way? Maybe this is a common complaint.
Takeshi Kovacs is one of the most interesting protagonists in SF!

96 comments • reddit.com

I just finished the book, and Takeshi Kovacs might be the most deliberately broken protagonist in SF and I dont think he gets nearly enough credit for it, becausr most complex SF protagonists are complex in a way that’s designed to be readable and even likeable and you always feel like the author is guiding you toward understanding them but Kovacs is different because Morgan genuinely does not seem interested in making him sympathetic in any conventional sense.

He’s an Envoy, which means he’s been trained to adapt to any body and any situation so completely that his sense of self has basically been weaponized into a tool and then the tool got damaged and then he kept using it anyway. The thing that makes him interesting isnt the violence or the cynicism, it’s that he operates from this position of almost total detachment and every rare moment where something actually gets through to him hits completely different because of it.

What I find underrated is how …
Great haul tonight

47 comments • reddit.com

Checked out a local shop tonight that I thought only sold comics and they’re sitting on an absolute gold mine. Tons of Ballard, Dick, Lafferty, Vance, even some Strugatsky brothers. Not proud of the noise I made when I saw The Instrumentality of Mankind… But man I’ve been looking for a copy for so long. 4 bucks and it looks brand new like it’s never even been read. I can’t wait to go back when I have more time.
Xenogenesis Series by Octavia Butler

56 comments • reddit.com

This series was INCREDIBLE. Deep, thoughtful, quite strange, and insidious is a subtle way. Just pure brilliance all the way through. But after the third book I wanted more. This was my first encounter with Butler and will definitely be reading more. The Patternist series especially interests me, Parable of the Sower not so much (not that attracted to post-apocalyptic/dystopian stuff despite the fact you could somewhat characterize Xenogenesis in that way).

Can we talk about this series? And is there anything else out there with that sort of biopunk feel?

r/television

r/movies

Hello reddit! I'm James McAvoy. Ask me anything!

4627 comments • i.redd.it

Hello reddit! I’m James McAvoy. AMA!

my directorial debut, CALIFORNIA SCHEMIN’, is out in UK theaters on April 10.

Two Scottish lads from Dundee conned the music industry by pretending to be an established Californian rap duo, bagging a record deal and appearing on MTV until their scam unraveled.

Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUTSyu4Ovcc

Tickets/other things:

http://www.californiaschemin.co.uk/

I’ll be back at around 1-2 PM ET/5-6 PM GMT today, Friday ³⁄₂₇, to answer questions.
Disney Exits OpenAI Deal After AI Giant Shutters Sora

1480 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
New Poster for 'Scary Movie'

1387 comments • i.redd.it
New ‘Lord of the Rings’ Movie From Stephen Colbert and His Son in Development at Warner Bros.

1541 comments • variety.com
‘Project Hail Mary’ Becomes Amazon’s Highest-Grossing Film Debut

1688 comments • bloomberg.com
Netflix Raising U.S. Prices for Second Time in a Year

105 comments • variety.com

TV & Books #57

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 07:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #57

r/fantasy

Fantasy keeps giving us villains who are logically right and then refusing to follow that logic anywhere interesting

584 comments • reddit.com

This has been sitting with me since I finished a reread of a series I won’t name to avoid spoilers, but it applies broadly enough that I think it’s worth discussing.

There’s a specific type of villain that appears regularly in epic fantasy. Not the cackling power-hungry type, not the traumatized antihero. I mean the villain whose central argument is actually coherent. The one who looks at the world the protagonist is defending and says “this system is broken and here is exactly why” and is not wrong.

The best versions of this archetype are genuinely uncomfortable to read. You follow the hero through three books learning to love this world and then the villain delivers a diagnosis of it that you can’t refute. The poverty is real. The corruption is real. The cost of maintaining the status quo falls entirely on people who never chose it. The villain saw all of this and decided to burn it down.

And then the author panics.

Because at some point the …
New ‘Wheel of Time’ Animated Series, Feature Films and Video Game in the Works From ‘Arcane,’ ‘League of Legends’

153 comments • reddit.com

https://variety.com/2026/gaming/news/wheel-of-time-animated-series-movies-video-game-thomas-vu-1236693410/
Which fantasy series started incredible and then just...fell apart?

1313 comments • reddit.com

I need to vent about Mistborn because Era 1 is literally one of the best things I’ve read in fantasy. The allomancy system alone is worth the price of entry cuz its logical, it has real limits, and Sanderson actually uses those limits to drive the plot instead of just making his characters look cool. The world is this ash-covered dying place where the villain already won a thousand years ago and you feel that hopelessness on every page.

Then Era 2 happened, same world, but different era, completely different vibe. Suddenly its a western with guns and a detective plot. And characters who feel like they belong in a YA novel I didnt sign up for. I get that Sanderson wanted to show how the world evolved but the tonal shift hit me like a wall and I never recovered from it. The thing that really got me is that Era 2 is clearly written for people who love Sanderson’s other Cosmere stuff and want all the connections and references but I just wanted more of what Era 1 made me feel. …
Dungeon Crawler Carl not at all what I expected in the best way

265 comments • reddit.com

I put off giving Dungeon Crawler Carl a go for ages because I naively thought the gaming / litrpg elements would mean characters and plot took a backseat and that the humour and tone wouldn’t be ‘serious’ enough for what I enjoy (I love books by Joe Abercrombie, John Gwynne, Adrian Tchaikovsky, George R.R. Martin, etc).

I finally started Dungeon Crawler Carl in December and I’m now on the 5th book. Every assumption I had about it was wrong to some degree. The first book definitely leans into the litrpg side and can be quite mechanically heavy from a game systems perspective, especially if you’re not a gamer, but I felt this becomes a lot less prevelant as the characters and story evolve. I’m not going to mention any names or spoilers but I’m blown away by the level of depth and how well written almost all the characters are, even minor ones. I didn’t expect this series to cover themes and topics as dark or serious as it has, but …
Which fantasy character shaped who you are as a person?

327 comments • reddit.com

For me, it’s Druss the Legend by David Gemmell.

As a teenager, I became a violent person. I grew up in a dysfunctional family (calling it a “family” is generous), and I had no clue how to navigate the world. I was the kind of guy you’d cross the street to avoid.

Reading Gemmell gave me the moral compass no one had ever provided. And Druss, more than any other character, is the one who shaped me. Even today, when I’m unsure about something, I ask myself: “What would Druss do?”

(Setting aside the absurdity of picturing a warrior with a battle-axe in a work meeting about a dashboard that just went live, it works pretty much every time.)

I’m curious if any of you have a character like that :-)
Worlds that feel lived in

311 comments • reddit.com

One of my biggest gripes with many fantasy books I’ve read and didn’t fully enjoy is that, sometimes, the worlds do not feel ‘lived in’. The action concentrates so much on a few individual characters, that the world they inhabit sometimes feels empty or artificial. I like action as much as the next guy, but one of my favorite things about fantasy is getting to see the world and worldbuilding through exposition. For those of you who have read ASOIAF, some of my favorite chapters were those where Brienne and Pod were just walking around, meeting people, it made the world feel alive. In a similar way, I greatly enjoy when the author shows us all the different ways in which the world works - the laws, the bureaucracy, the everyday food, the description of the streets, the seemingly mundane interactions between the characters, the political system in its everyday life (not just in civil war/breakdown), and a long etcetera.

I believe this is why I sometimes struggle …

r/books

Utah Bans 28th Book for All Public School Students

418 comments • bookriot.com
How a High School Librarian in Abilene Fought Back Against Moms for Liberty

102 comments • texasobserver.org
Horror Novel ‘Shy Girl’ Canceled Over Suspected A.I. Use

441 comments • nytimes.com
Margareta Magnusson, Swedish ‘death cleaning’ author, dies age 92

46 comments • theguardian.com
The enshittification of Amazon paperback books

255 comments • alexerhardt.com
"all human wisdom is contained in these two words -"wait" and "hope"" - Guys, The Count of Monte Cristo is peak fiction 🔥🔥🔥

99 comments • reddit.com

I have just finished Alexandre Dumas ‘ 1250 page epic “The Count of Monte Cristo” and I did NOT think I would love it nearly as much as I did: it is everything you could ever want in a novel.

At its core, it is the ultimate revenge story, and the book also perfectly blends genres of romance, mystery, thriller, and historical fiction/drama.

The characters that we see, whose lives and families we observe are well written and explored, and the transformation of the innocent, jovial, youth of Edmond Dantès at the peak of his happiness, to the aged, cold, unrelenting vengeance of The Count of Monte Cristo is some of the most compelling character development I have ever seen (especially towards the end where he contemplates whether his revenge was even worth it or not).

Some conversations, mainly those where Edmond talks to Abbé Faria, those where the count reveals himself to his enemies, or when Mercédès begs him not to kill his son (there are more examples but these …

r/printsf

Le Guin's The Dispossessed made me realize I had been reading science fiction wrong for about fifteen years

142 comments • reddit.com

I want to be careful about how I say this because I don’t mean it as a criticism of other books or the way other people read. I just mean that something shifted for me with this one and I’ve been trying to understand what.

I’ve read a lot of science fiction since my early twenties. I tend toward the harder end of the spectrum, enjoy the worldbuilding, the problem-solving, the way a well-constructed future can make you think differently about systems and technology. I’ve gotten a lot from that kind of reading. But I think I had developed a habit of treating the human characters in those books as somewhat secondary, as vehicles for experiencing the ideas rather than the point of the thing. The ideas were the payload and the characters were the delivery mechanism and that felt fine because the ideas were usually very good.

The Dispossessed broke that for me. Shevek is doing physics and doing politics and doing revolution and also just trying to figure out how …
I read a few hundred submissions while helping put together the next issue of a speculative fiction magazine and some patterns surprised me.

48 comments • reddit.com

I read about 250 submissions in February while building the next issue of a speculative fiction magazine, and once you read enough stories in a row you start noticing patterns (as a survival mechanism probably).

Not saying these are trends or anything, but instincts a lot of writers seem to have right now (or they’re leaning toward).

1. A lot of transformation.
I expected some shapeshifting and body horror, and there was definitely some of that. But more often the transformation was quiet or subtext. A lot of stories seemed to be about that middle moment where someone realizes they’re not the same person they were before. Obviously “change” is key to a lot of storytelling, and I will probably explain this badly, but the idea of transformation was in a lot of stories. Largely where the character wasn’t driving it. The world forcing a change. That kind of thing.

2. Super small scale.
I assumed we’d see a lot of galaxy-spanning plots and giant worldbuilding …
C. J. Cherryh is incredible!

136 comments • reddit.com

Over the last few months I’ve been FINALLY diving back into the Alliance-Union series by CJ Cherryh. I read Cyteen about 10 years ago but never came back to her stuff. In November I decided to read Hellburner and oh my gosh what an absolutely fantastic book.

I finish the 3rd book (chronologically) Downbellow Station a week ago and it’s been the strongest one yet. A space opera so deeply about war but with honestly very little WAR in it. It’s more about the political and social ramifications of war and the displacement of refugees. Especially with everything going on in the world, I thought it really brought to the forefront how refugees are immediately seen not just as undesirables but as criminals just because some much higher power decided to destroy their homes.

For all the love (much deserved) I see for Ursula K. Leguin, I’m really surprised I don’t see anyone talking about CJ Cherryh.

Edit: Also, Slow Time, Hellburner and Downbellow Station …
Which sci-fi world sounds amazing in the books but would actually be miserable to live in?

204 comments • reddit.com

After reading many different book series, I’ve put together a short list of worlds that scare me a little

The Culture from Iain M. Banks breaks me every time I think about it seriously.Post-scarcity, near-infinite lifespan, no compulsory work, the Minds running everything perfectly. Sounds incredible until you sit with what you actually are in that world. A biological curiosity. A pet the AIs find charming but don’t need for anything. Every project you take on is essentially a hobby because nothing you do affects whether civilisation keeps functioning. The Minds would barely notice if you spent your entire thousand year lifespan watching old movies and eating.

The only Culture citizens who seem to have real stakes are the ones recruited into Special Circumstances - doing the morally compromised work the Culture pretends it doesn’t do. Everyone else is just very comfortable and quietly losing their mind about it in ways the novels occasionally acknowledge and then move …
What's the most engaging sci fi you've read recently?

322 comments • reddit.com

Something that drew you in immediately and you couldn’t put down?

I’ve gotten out of the habit of reading, and I really miss it, but I need something engaging to get me back into it. So, I’m casting a wide net in hopes of finding something that piques my interest!
Why decided that books have to be huge now?

152 comments • reddit.com

I’m not talking about length or word count. Just physical size. I’m trying pretty hard not to spend time on my phone anymore, so I’m at a point where I’m almost exclusively reading vintage mass market paperbacks. Something I can put in my back pocket and read them when I have free moments during the day.

I’m sure I would enjoy the Tree Body Problem, but there’s no way I’m carrying around that monster 9.5x6.5in trade paperback all day.

r/television

Chuck Norris Dead at 86

1742 comments • tmz.com
'19 Kids and Counting' star Joseph Duggar arrested on child molestation charges

1024 comments • ew.com
Louis Theroux on the Manosphere: ‘It’s Highly Profitable to Be a Dick on the Internet’

869 comments • wired.com
Nathan Fillion Says ‘Firefly’ Animated Series In Development With Co-Stars Set To Reprise Roles; Concept Art Revealed

676 comments • deadline.com
‘Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood’ Getting YouTube Channel For First Time

178 comments • deadline.com
‘Saturday Night Live’ Sets Jack Black as Next Host, With Jack White as Musical Guest

328 comments • variety.com

r/movies

Chuck Norris, Action Icon and ‘Walker Texas Ranger’ Star, Dies at 86

3893 comments • variety.com
First Image of Timothée Chalamet in ‘DUNE: PART THREE’

3011 comments • i.redd.it
Michael B. Jordan Wins the Academy Award for Best Actor for 'Sinners'

3211 comments • i.redd.it
Official Character Posters for 'Dune: Part Three'

2155 comments • i.redd.it
Dune: Part Three | Official Teaser

3095 comments • youtube.com
Amy Madigan Wins the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for 'Weapons'

691 comments • i.redd.it

TV & Books #56

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 07:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #56

r/fantasy

The most unrealistic part of cozy fantasy isn't the magic — it's the romance

320 comments • reddit.com

I’ve been deep in Sarah Beth Durst and similar cozy fantasy authors lately (The Enchanted Greenhouse, etc.) and I love everything about the genre EXCEPT one thing that’s started to haunt me:

The love interest is always a brooding, barely-verbal man who communicates exclusively through shrugs and meaningful silences. The heroine is a whimsical, high-energy social butterfly who talks to plants and befriends every sentient mushroom she meets.

And I’m supposed to believe this couple is thriving five years later?

Like yes, opposites attract, I get it. But I need someone to explain to me how Year Three looks when she wants to talk about her feelings for two hours and he responds by handing her a cup of tea and staring meaningfully at the wall.

The enchanted greenhouse is sustainable. The relationship? I have questions.

Anyone else think about this too much, or is it just me? And does anyone have recs where the cozy fantasy romance is between two people who are… …
Which fantasy hero would actually be insufferable to know in real life?

720 comments • reddit.com

I’m not talking about villains, but about real heroes, the ones you’re supposed to root for, according to the plot.

I have two such characters from books I’ve read recently, and the first is 100% Kvothe, and I think most people who have read the books already know why.

I just imagine that in real life, Kvothe is the guy at every party who has a story that surpasses yours. You remember having a difficult childhood, but he was an orphan on the streets. You learned to play an instrument, but he mastered it in a few weeks. You had a complicated relationship, but his was a tragedy of cosmic proportions. And he’ll tell you all about it, in detail, under the guise of modesty, as long as you listen…

And the second character is Rand al’Thor. I thought that Rand in real life was a man who had gained enormous power, and then for years he made disastrous decisions and processed his feelings about them while everyone around him absorbed the consequences. In …
Who are some fantasy authors that were really popular during their heyday, but are more or less forgotten now?

1011 comments • reddit.com

As the title states, I’m curious to know of any fantasy authors that were well-known at one point, but whose names have faded over time.

EDIT: Wow! I did not expect this to blow up the way that it did! Thank you all for posting your comments.
James Islington is releasing a new Cyberpunk novel titled Scion on September 1, 2026!

83 comments • jamesislington.com
Powder Mages, aka Cocaine Musketeers

72 comments • reddit.com

I just started Promise of Blood and am enjoying it. Having dabbled with recreational substances in my youth, I chuckle every time McClellan writes how so and so “snorted the powder,” which gave them these incredible extrasensory powers that let them do stuff normal humans could only dream of. LOL

Yeah man, Red Bull gives you wings.

Anyways the idea is just… so on the nose. Too funny to sit with by myself haha
The Gunslinger by Stephen King... What did I just read?

375 comments • reddit.com

I honestly have no idea where to start other than WTF? It is written like a poor translation of a Dostoevsky novel. The scenes are thrown willy nilly around. Women aren’t merely sexualized in a way like “and she looks hot.”, but rather “she’s dripping below with lust.” or “her breasts stood firm”. Phrases like “a huge mountain of flesh” about a big titted curvy woman, and her parts below the waist as “the secret flesh”. Like wtf - I knew King had a weird and off-putting way of writing about women, but geez this is so much worse than I expected.

Besides that, what is going on with the narrator? At some points, he instructs us about information, at other times he just doesn’t know stuff and there does not seem to be any rhyme or reason to what he knows and not. And the shifting perspective, like he’s inside two peoples head at the same time? Also the skips in time were jarring.

I enjoyed the scene where …

r/books

Article: In Emerald Fennel’s Wuthering Heights, domestic abuse has been recast as consensual kink

467 comments • theconversation.com
A writer is suing Grammarly for turning her and other authors into 'AI editors' without consent

80 comments • techcrunch.com
Thousands of authors publish ‘empty’ book in protest over AI using their work

331 comments • theguardian.com
Meta's latest legal wheeze is to insist that pirating books is fair use, actually

185 comments • pcgamer.com
Readers Are Embracing a Shift in Perspective in Books. It Could Reshape Literary Culture.

1077 comments • slate.com
Grammarly pulls AI tool mimicking Stephen King and other writers

105 comments • bbc.com

r/printsf

I think Ursula Le Guin's The Dispossessed might be the most quietly devastating sci-fi novel ever written, and I've been sitting with this thought for two weeks now.

202 comments • reddit.com

I picked it up because someone here mentioned it in a thread about political science fiction, and honestly I went in a little skeptical. I’d read The Left Hand of Darkness and liked it but never felt that “wow” moment people describe. So I started The Dispossessed expecting a dry thought experiment about anarchism and capitalism, two societies on twin planets orbiting each other, and sure, that’s what it is on the surface. But what actually happens is Le Guin spends 300 pages slowly, methodically dismantling every comfortable assumption you brought to the book. Both societies are shown to be compromised. Neither utopia works the way it promises. The anarchist moon Anarres, which should be the “good” option, turns out to have its own suffocating social conformity, its own way of punishing people who think differently. It’s just less visible because there’s no government to point at.
What wrecked me is Shevek, the physicist at the center …
Which science fiction book contained the most amazing idea you've ever read?

302 comments • reddit.com

Because I just finished reading Blindsight, and I understand if, for most people on this forum, it will be something from that book. The idea that consciousness may be an evolutionary dead end that self-awareness is metabolically expensive, strategically disadvantageous, and that the universe may be full of intelligence that never evolved really turned my worldview upside down. And I love science fiction, so I’ve read a lot of stuff that, for example, makes humanity feel small, but this idea, I don’t know, makes it feel like humanity and its consciousness are a mistake.

And after that, I remembered a few theses/theories from A Fire Upon the Deep, where the concept that the laws of physics are not universal in themselves, that closer to the core of the galaxy, intelligence is impossible, that further away from it, faster-than-light travel becomes possible, that the universe has a literal geography of what is possible, and what is not possible sounds like a plot device, but …
I wasn't sold on Kim Stanley Robinson. But then I read Ministry for the Future.

121 comments • reddit.com

Folks, I’m going to level with you. I was not initially a Kim Stanley Robinson fan. This broke my heart because KSR is such a key figure in leftist science fiction, but I seriously had trouble getting into his stuff. I started with Red Mars--I found myself absolutely frustrated with the characters and rather impatient with the long, scientific descriptions of Martian landscape and the engineering responses to it. This is not any objective measure of the quality of the book, but rather personal preference; I tend to lean “softer” rather than “harder” science fiction, more invested in drama, imagination, and sociological speculation than I tend to be in the realist details of the science, which KSR excels so beautifully in. Similarly, I had difficult vibing with *Aurora,* though I think I also may be crashing out on generation ship narratives in general.

BUT…

All that changed with Ministry for the Future. I feel like this is one of the most …
Why is genuinely alien intelligence still so rare in sci-fi despite being the most interesting question the genre could ask?

304 comments • reddit.com

I’ve been thinking about this after finishing Blindsight, and I keep coming back to the same frustration.

Because most sci-fi aliens are humans with different aesthetics. They have motivations we recognize, communicate in ways we understand, and want things that map onto things we want. Even the “scary” ones are usually just humans with aggression turned up, like the Klingons want honor, the Borg want order, and Predators want sport and fun. These are all human concepts wearing rubber suits.

Genuinely alien intelligence, something that processes reality in a way that doesn’t translate into human frameworks at all, is vanishingly rare. Blindsight does it better than almost anything I’ve read. The Scramblers aren’t evil, aren’t curious, aren’t hostile in any way we’d recognize. They’re something that operates on a level where our categories simply don’t apply. That’s frightening in a completely different way than a …
Space Fantasy that isn't secretly Dune?

186 comments • reddit.com

I recently read and enjoyed the first few books of the Sun Eater series, which is very unabashed about its influences, but it did get me thinking about some of the typical conventions in works that I enjoy and how many of them are linked to Dune.

Despite the title, I’m mostly looking for recommendations and discussion of space opera or space fantasy that you found particularly unique (even if it is a little bit Dune).

I’m particularly looking for settings that either aren’t focused around a central Space Empire or have a Space Empire that isn’t either pseudo-Roman or pseudo-Medieval. I liked Yoon Ha Lee’s Ninefox Gambit as an example of the “space empire with a calcified state religion” trope that drew from Korean folklore and numerology to do something a bit different.
Does anyone do it better than Banks?

200 comments • reddit.com

I haven’t read anything better than the culture series and I’m actually worried that nothing will ever scratch that itch the same way. I’m about half way through the series, just finished excession and about to start Inversions.

Banks characters are just so good, they absolutely carry the story and I practically never feel bored. I just can’t get enough of all the snarky minds and drones quipping back and forth. Peter Kenny does a great job with the voices in the audiobook and keeps me entertained.

Is there anyone or anything better?

r/television

YouTube now generates more ad revenue than Disney, NBC, Paramount, and WBD — combined

966 comments • businessinsider.com
Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair | Official Trailer | April 10 on Hulu

786 comments • youtube.com
BBC: Lost Doctor Who and the Daleks episodes discovered in 'ramshackle' collection

221 comments • bbc.com
Temuera Morrison thought ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ would run up to 4 seasons, confirms the character is “shelved”

858 comments • winteriscoming.net
Guillermo Del Toro is Coming Back as Pappy McPoyle in ‘It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' Season 18

98 comments • cracked.com
‘Rick and Morty’ Season 9 Gets May 24 Premiere Date, Promises Best Episodes Yet, “No AI Slop”

443 comments • hollywoodreporter.com

r/movies

TV & Books #55

Sat, 07 Mar 2026 07:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #55

r/fantasy

Struggling with the Wheel of Time

460 comments • reddit.com

I’m on book 4 of the Wheel of Time, about a third of the way through it, and I am struggling so hard to find the motivation to keep reading this series for one singular reason:

The War between the Sexes.

Don’t get me wrong, I knew this was a central plot element going in, but holy shit, it’s way worse than I prepared myself for. Men and women fucking hate each other in this series. Even those characters that are in a committed relationship feel like they can’t stand to be in the same room as each other. A character can be having a very interesting internal monologue relating to their arc, and then someone of the opposite sex comes in, and the plot has to be put on pause so we can have the required 5 minutes of pointless arguing this chapter. Everyone is so goddamn stubborn when it comes to the opposite sex and it’s making every character become unlikable.

When I read book 3 and Perrin was slowly falling for Faile, I was filled with genuine dread. …
Protector of the Small by Tamora Pierce

76 comments • reddit.com

I made a post on this sub asking for recommendations for books with noble characters doing noble deeds, emotional stories, and wholesome friendships, and someone suggested The Protector of the Small series by Tamora Pierce.

For some reason, I can’t find that comment anymore - either I’m somehow overlooking it, or the redditor who recommended the books deleted it.

Whatever the case, I just want to thank the person who suggested this series to me. I’ve just finished First Test, and I absolutely loved it. It was exactly what I was looking for.
fantasy books where the magic system actually has a cost that feels real and not just a minor inconvenience

561 comments • reddit.com

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately after going through a bit of a reading slump and trying to figure out what kinds of books pull me back in. One thing I keep coming back to is magic systems where using magic genuinely costs the character something that matters. Not just “he was tired afterward” or “she got a headache” but something that creates real tension and forces actual choices. Sanderson does this well in a few places but I think the Stormlight Archive softens it significantly as the series goes on and the characters just become more and more capable with fewer tradeoffs. The example that’s stuck with me most is the Powder Mage trilogy by Brian McClellan, where the cost felt embedded in the character’s identity and relationships rather than just their stamina bar. I’m also thinking about the Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix, where Charter magic and Free Magic both carry genuine weight and danger that you feel througout the …
I just finished the first Dungeon Crawler Carl book

124 comments • reddit.com

Wow was this an insanely fun read. I had seen a lot of praise for it on this sub and finally decided to jump in and purchase the first book. I was not prepared for how fun of a read this would be, I absolutely zoomed through it. As someone who is a huge cat lover I fell in love with the character of Princess Donut. Just an insanely fun book with the humor of the Borderlands video games. I just ordered the rest of the series that is currently out and cannot wait to dive into them!
A Long Epic Series Where The Final Book Is One Huge Final Battle (Bonus if the book is the longest in the series)

301 comments • reddit.com

I love reading a long epic series where the final book is the biggest battle EVER fought in the history of the world. The culmination of all the battles/fights throughout the series. Bonus point if the book is also the longest book in the entire series. I prefer the fight against a Dark One and A Chosen One. But anything works!! It can be indie and trad. But I prefer indie to support indie authors.

The most obvious answer will be Wheel of Time. And yes I’m making my way through it and can’t wait for the final book.
What series did you finish reading due to the "sunk cost fallacy"?

951 comments • reddit.com

I”m not talking about books you hated and DNF, but series you thought was just ok enough to keep reading, since you already got halfway or put time into it, but at the end realised it was not worth it to have kept reading and were better off DNF it?

For me it was The Soul Thief Trilogy, zero mentions of it online, by the way it looked, being a complete finished trilogy and how often I saw it advertised I thought it was a very popular series, but after reading it you can clearly tell it was a debut series (the author is actually a nurse primarily!)

I honestly think many people might have picked the book up because it is similar in name to The Assassin’s Apprentice and The Queen Thief series. It was overstuffed getting longer with each book yet less was happening, clearly ripping off the Throne of Glass series, setting up events and repeating phrases for ages about the FMC’s motivations and the MMC’s smell, but then fading to black when the hyped up events …

r/books

Pettiest reason you’ve DNF’d a book?

3934 comments • reddit.com

As an avid reader and perfectionist A type personality, I find it hard to not finish books, even when I struggle to like them.

I started reading The Circle and my wife noticed that I’d been going to the bathroom without my kindle (tmi but read a lot on the throne). I told her that the book I was reading just failed to keep me interested and connected. First 100 pgs, pretty good. Over all theme, understandable.

Everything else, and I do mean everything, is completely flat.

She asked me why I didn’t just stop. Verbatim, “You’re never going to be able to read everything you want in this lifetime if you waste time on the books you don’t.”

My mind was blown. Screw this book.

I recently started another book that was set in St. Louis, MO. While this isn’t my hometown I’ve spent a decade there. GEOGRAPHICAL NONSENSE. Do authors even bother to research the areas??? The main characters were struggling to find a landmark to explore. UM, THE ARCH???????

I wondered, what are reasons/most …
Christina Applegate on life with multiple sclerosis: ‘I won’t lie and say any of this is a blessing’

102 comments • theguardian.com

From the author:

“I’ve had fun in life, but I’m not sure it was ever happiness, not ever a zephyr that lasted. You can have fun and then everyone leaves, and you’re left with yourself and your thoughts and your feelings of loneliness and failure in the world and that overriding fear: “Does anyone really love me? Or will I ever love someone? Will I ever love myself? And why doesn’t anyone really know me?” All those questions you have when it’s quiet. That’s why I always have the TV on: to drown out the noise inside my head. And that’s why I’m writing to you now, to tell you who I am, so that at least someone knows before it’s too late.”
Beware of "new translations" of classics sold as Kindle ebooks, which are actually AI translations without even a human revision

153 comments • reddit.com

As a fan of Jules Verne, it’s an unfortunate fact that many of his lesser known works (and he has a lot) do not have a good English translation. Many of the old, public domain translations are deficient, while modern translations tend to be good, so I’m alway interested in new translations.

There are now plenty of “new translations” being sold as ebooks in Amazon. But looking through them, it’s the original French text (which is in the public domain) passed through an automatic AI translator tool, without even a revision afterwards, which allows you to follow the story but makes many sentences awkward to read. As the original books are in the public domain and not under copyright, scammers do this to try to trick people into buying without being aware that they are buying an automatic AI translation.

I’m not linking, because I think it might break the sub’s rules, but for example, if you search amazon for “David Petault”, which is …
Jonas Allooloo, key translator of first Inuktitut Bible, dead at 79. Translating the Bible into Inuktitut was a massive endeavour that began in 1978 and took 34 years

135 comments • anglicanjournal.com
What proper nouns from books did you realize you were mispronouncing the whole time?

1692 comments • reddit.com

Off the top of my head, I know many people pronounced Hermione wrong. The would pronounce it like “Her-me-one”. I was completely guilty of that.

When I read Twilight back when I was a teen, Carlisle became “Car-liz-le”. It wasn’t until I made a friend during a vacation who turned out to be from Carlisle, Massachusetts that I realized I was really off.
What am I missing with Wuthering Heights?

468 comments • reddit.com

I’m currently on Chapter 12 (where’s Cathy’s locked herself in her room after fighting with Heathcliff and Edgar), and I’m suddenly not sure *why* I’m reading this.

What am I suppose to be getting out of it? What do the people who like it enjoy about it?

I knew going into it that it’s not a romance, that it’s more about obsession, toxic relationships, etc. I also knew it’s not a story with heroes and people you want to root for. So my expectations weren’t off.

And I did enjoy it for a while. But now I’ve hit a point where I’m like “ok, they’re all troubled, immature and toxic- what else?”

Is there anything else going forward beyond these people just being awful to each other?

I’m gonna take a break from it regardless, but I’m just trying to understand what I’m “missing,” if anything at all?

r/printsf

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep asks a question Blade Runner deliberately avoided

59 comments • reddit.com

Blade Runner is a great movie, and I just love it. But this week, I finished reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? They’re really different, and both are worth your time.

And the main question in Blade Runner is whether androids beings deserve moral treatment. It’s a profound question. But ultimately, it concerns replicants specifically, their inner essence, and their right to exist.

Dick’s question concerns us. Namely, what happens to human empathy when it becomes a performance. In the novel, empathy literally becomes a commodity, people use mood organs to tune into appropriate emotional states, participate in collective empathy rituals through mercerism, which can be either fiction or reality, and the humanity test is literally a measurement of empathy. Androids fail it not because they cannot imitate empathy, but because they cannot feel it spontaneously.

And then there’s Deckard, who by the end of the novel has killed so many beings that feel, …
Ender's Game is one of the darkest heroic stories in the scifi genre that I have ever read

132 comments • reddit.com

I recently read it for the first time since I first saw the movie when I was probably thirteen, and my impressions were completely different. I remember that as a child, Ender was a genius to me, misunderstood and overly pressured by adults who did not appreciate him. The scenes in the battle room seemed cool. The ending seemed triumphant and unexpected, after which I recommended this film to all my 12-13-year-old friends…

Reading it now as an adult, it all comes across as a horrific story of child abuse disguised as the aesthetics of coming-of-age adventures.

It seems as if the adults in this book only do terrible things (certainly in relation to children). They deliberately isolate the child, traumatize him, manipulate all his relationships, and systematically destroy his ability to trust anyone, all in order to create a weapon with enough conscience to feel guilty about what he has done. The whole project of Ender’s upbringing is to break him with precisely calibrated …
Just finished Neuromancer, really enjoyed it

52 comments • reddit.com

Usually older sci fi doesn’t really hit for me, it just feels dated. But I listened to the audiobook of Neuromancer on a whim, and I was pleasantly surprised. The story does feel a bit generic now that cyberpunk is a popular thing, but I thought it was still engaging and enjoyable. Also his cyberpunk has this menacing mystery to it that I can’t really put my finger on, but it just feels like it has a more complex tone and texture than other cyberpunk.

I really love Gibson’s writing style. It’s super sharp, rich, and fun to read, with no wasted words or sentences. He has a way of finding these perfect metaphors. It feels like he meticulously crafts each sentence, packing it with information without making it too overwhelming or ostentatious. It’s cool how the tight, quick writing matches the vibe of the chaotic, fast-paced world.

A lot of older important works are hard to enjoy for a modern reader because of the “Seinfeld isn’t funny” …
God Emperor reads less like science fiction and more like Nietzsche mixed with Dostoevsky (spread on a layer of Jung with a sprinkling of Homer on top). That's why it's Herbert's best.

111 comments • reddit.com

*God Emperor of Dune* is the book that divides Dune fans. After the action and intrigue of the first three novels, Herbert gives us a 3,500-year-old worm-man having philosophical conversations in a desert palace. So many readers bounce on it (understandably). I believe *God Emperor* is the most ambitious and profound book in the entire series, and in my mind it remains the completely absolute best of the cycle. It reads less like science fiction and more like Nietzsche mixed with a little bit of Dostoevsky. It is thick, it is heavy, it is not an adventure. There is no hero, there is no protagonist. There is an antagonist and the antagonist is the star of the show. Herbert pushed himself in ways he never could have with the earlier books. He is a poet whose poetry happens to look like prose. *God Emperor* is his most poetic by far.

I believe most readers miss this: the Golden Path is not a strategy. It is Leto’s vow. He has seen all possible futures, and he knows that without his …
Upcoming Peter Watts Book

23 comments • reddit.com

I havent seen much chatter on this anywhere so I figured id post this for those that might be interested.
Has anything actually surpassed Hyperion in scope and ambition or has it just been sitting there unchallenged for 35 years?

252 comments • reddit.com

I ask this question as someone who has just read the book and been greatly impressed.

The structure of Hyperion remains extraordinary. Six different narrative voices, six different genres operating simultaneously within a single story, a mystery that deepens rather than unfolds, and a universe filled with ten thousand years of history. It’s as if the author literally trusted readers to be able to keep six completely different tonal stories in their heads at the same time and catch the hype.

The books I’ve most often seen compared to it in terms of ambition are Fire Over Deep and The Malazan Book of the Fallen, but I’m not sure either of them does quite the same thing.

So I think Hyperion still remains the pinnacle of a very specific combination of literary ambition and genre storytelling, and books that have tried to match it have either leaned too far in one direction or the other, without achieving that perfect balance.

Or maybe I’m wrong about this and …

r/television

r/movies

TV & Books #54

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 07:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #54

r/fantasy

I am Matt Dinniman, author of the newly released Operation Bounce House and the Dungeon Crawler Carl book series. AMA.

2141 comments • reddit.com

Hi r/fantasy! AMA. I will let this simmer a bit before I start answering questions around 9 am pst. Please ask me anything.
I read a fantasy book to win a bet and it's the only book in years that made me actually cry. I don't know what to do with this information.

270 comments • reddit.com

For context: I’m not a big fiction reader. I gravitate towards history, philosophy, the occasional long-form journalism piece. My friend has been pushing fantasy on me for about two years and I kept saying it wasn’t really “my thing.” Eventually we made a stupid bet over something completely unrelated and the punishment for losing was reading a book of his choice, no skipping, no summaries.

He picked The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune.

I went in fully prepared to be bored and slightly smug about it. I was going to finish it, report back that it was fine, and move on with my life and my correct opinions about fiction.

I finished it in three days. On a work week. I cried at the end, not like a single tear moment, but actually had to put the book down and sit with it for a bit. And I genuinely cannot fully explain why because on paper the plot is pretty quiet? Nothing explodes. There’s no massive battle. It’s just this slow build of a person …
Dan Simmons has passed

214 comments • reddit.com

Man thats a legend gone….
The Wandering Inn doesn't get better after the first few chapters or hundred or 1000 pages

720 comments • reddit.com

Someone recommended it to me saying it was peak fantasy and since then I’ve seen people online absolutely rave about it, but it was pretty clear straight away that it has no actual literary value. It just seems like a comfort read for people who don’t like saying goodbye to a universe or a set of characters, like yeah, you can read it for weeks without feeling challenged, and that’s fine, but why do people keep saying “keep reading it gets better” when IT DOES NOT GET BETTER. Maybe there is a slight improvement beyond the first chapter but the writer does not develop any kind of prose that is in any way interesting. And the fantasy setting is generic to the point where most of the creatures barely get a description beyond “it was a goblin”, “a wolf but giant and red”. Ok, I get it, all of your elements are pulled straight from well establised fantasy worlds but why not try to pull me in with some in-depth description? Frankly, …
Which fantasy couple has the most absurd age difference - and why does it no longer surprise us?

695 comments • reddit.com

I was talking to my girlfriend about this the other day and we both started laughing because we realized neither of us even blinks anymore when a fantasy romance reveals the love interest is like 800 years old.

But when you actually stop and think about it? A being who watched empires rise and fall, who has seen every war, every plague, every century of human stupidity - and his great love story is with a girl who just graduated college and still texts her mom when she’s sick. The power imbalance alone should be terrifying. The life experience gap is unsurmountable. He’s seen literal history happen and she’s still figuring out her skincare routine.

The one that always gets me is Rhysand and Feyre in ACOTAR. Rhys is 500+ years old and Feyre is like 19 when they meet. And we’re all just fully on board, myself absolutly included. I’ve read those books twice. But if someone described that dynamic to me without the fantasy context I’d have serious …
Which fantasy series had the strongest possible opening and then just lost it completely?

647 comments • reddit.com

I want to talk about The Kingkiller Chronicle and I know this is not a new conversation but I think it’s worth having again because I genuinely believe The Name of the Wind is one of the best first books in the genre. The prose, the framing device, the way Kvothe tells his own story with this unreliable narrator energy, the University sections, Auri. All of it. I reread that book probably four times.

And then The Wise Man’s Fear exists… It’s not bad exactly, it’s just sort of… sprawling in a way that feels unearned. The Ademre sections go on forever. Kvothe becomes increasingly difficult to spend time with. The narrative momentum that made the first book feel urgent just kind of dissolves. And then it ends and we’ve been waiting for book three for over a decade with no real end in sight.

But honestly the one that dissapointed me more personally was The Stormlight Archive. First two books are some of the most ambitious fantasy I’ve …

r/books

The Trump administration is illegally gutting NASA’s largest research library.

441 comments • lithub.com

The Trump administration is dismantling NASA’s Goddard Library and discarding decades of irreplaceable, non-digitized space and climate data despite legal protections.

Does prioritizing “government efficiency” justify the permanent destruction of unique scientific and historical archives?
Dan Simmons, author of The Terror and the Hyperion Cantos, has passed away

862 comments • dignitymemorial.com
Only 10% of boys aged 14-16 read daily for pleasure, National Literacy Trust finds

762 comments • theguardian.com
Children’s vocabulary shrinking as reading loses out to screen time, says Susie Dent

278 comments • theguardian.com
George R. R Martin announces Game of Thrones stage play The Mad King based on the "final years before the events of the novels"

874 comments • gamesradar.com
Thomas Jefferson loathed Plato. In 1814, he wrote to John Adams that he had been reading the Republic and came away unimpressed

306 comments • theatlantic.com

r/printsf

Dan Simmons, author of the Hyperion Cantos, has passed away

188 comments • reddit.com

Source: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/longmont-co/daniel-simmons-12758871
Paul Atreides from Dune is the best example of a “chosen one” who made everything worse

256 comments • reddit.com

I explained to my girlfriend why Dune is cool and unique, and one of the main points is the main character and his actions. Most chosen one narratives are fundamentally comforting - the special person arrives, fulfills the prophecy, saves the world, everyone goes home happy. Dune does something much more unsettling. Paul sees exactly what his “victory” will cost and follows the path anyway.

By the end of the original Dune he has essentially triggered a galactic holy war that will kill billions. He knows this. He watches himself do it. The framing isn’t “hero saves the day” - its “traumatized kid gets swallowed by forces bigger than himself and the universe becomes measurably worse as a direct result of his choices.”

What makes it genuinely uncomfortable is that Herbert never lets Paul off the hook by making him evil. He’s not a villain. He’s someone who believed in his own exceptionalism just enough to keep walking forward when he …
Sci-fi where aliens do NOT act like humans, i.e. colonise and invade. What I often described as 'intelligence' is just aliens whose desires are no different from cavemen/humans.

255 comments • reddit.com

Please recommend me some sci-fi where aliens are truly more intelligent than humans. We’re in the 21st Century and people have not moved on from war. Are there any depictions of aliens who have risen above all that?
Is there actually any sci-fi book that comes close to Dune in terms of worldbuilding depth?

320 comments • reddit.com

I’ve been thinking about this for a while and I genuinely can’t find a satisfying answer.

I re-read Dune last month for the third time and what keeps hitting me is how layered everything is. The ecology, the religion, the politics, the economics of spice - it all feeds into each other in a way that feels like Herbert spent decades just building the underlaying systems before writing a single page of plot. You can feel the weight of thousands of years of history in every conversation.

I’ve tried a lot of the “if you liked Dune read this” lists. Hyperion comes closest in terms of ambition and I love it, but the worldbuilding feels more like a collection of brilliant set pieces than one coherent living system. The Left Hand of Darkness has increadible cultural depth but it’s a much smaller scale. Asimov’s Foundation has the scope but honestly the world itself always felt a bit thin to me, more like a backdrop for the ideas.

The book that …
Dragon's Egg by Robert Forward (hard SF, not fantasy, despite its title)

65 comments • reddit.com

Is anyone else familiar with this book? I read it as a kid and it embedded itself in my imagination for years, so I recently went back and gave it another read.

It’s phenomenal. If you like what Adrian Tchaikovsky did with Children of Time, you’ll love what Forward did in Dragon’s Egg with his alien race called the Cheela, which are tiny creatures that are nuclear-based, not carbon, and evolved on the surface of a neutron star.

Not only that, but the neutron star going nova is also tied deeply to the evolution of life on Earth, as it kick-starts the mutations that spur simple life to evolve here.

But most of all, it’s an absolutely epic story of a race not only evolving physically and technologically, but sociologically as well, with all the evolution in beliefs that involves.

Several SF TV shows and novelists borrowed the concept for their own lesser versions of the story, including a Voyager episode thst was clearly inspired by Dragon’s Egg.
Not enjoying Project Hail Mary

317 comments • reddit.com

I’ve just started Project Hail Mary and I’m up to chapter 5 and I’m discovering that it’s not my cup of tea.

My big issue is that I’m struggling with the voice of the MC. I even tried the audiobook for two chapters and it made it worse..

I know I’m not the only one. I did a search in this sub and there’s some readers (a minority) who, like me, found the prose to be a bit dull and immature. Not saying he’s a bad writer, just not my taste. Not to pass judgement if you enjoy it but to me, it reads very YA, verging on pulp.

I’m close to putting it down but for those who’ve persisted, is there enough in the plot to carry the rest of the book?

Otherwise, can anyone recommend something else? I’m looking for a space adventure that doesn’t have Netflix dialogue.

I’m a novice when it comes to SF. I’ve read some of the classics and the usual suspects that are recommended here: I most enjoyed Three Body …

r/television

r/movies

War of the Worlds (2005, Dir. Steven Spielberg) | The tripods start attacking humanity

2590 comments • v.redd.it
Netflix ditches deal for Warner Bros. Discovery after Paramount's offer is deemed superior

2538 comments • cnbc.com
Christian Bale Confirms Role in Michael Mann's 'Heat 2', Joining Leonardo DiCaprio

1026 comments • theplaylist.net
Paramount Posts Q4 Loss of $573 Million

825 comments • thewrap.com
Hi reddit! I'm Seann William Scott. You might know me from the American Pie franchise, Goon, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Road Trip, Role Models, The Rundown, Dude Where's My Car?, and other things. Ask me anything!

2498 comments • i.redd.it

Hi reddit. I’m Seann William Scott. You might know from me the American Pie Franchise, Goon, Dude Where’s My Car?, Role Models, Old School, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, The Rundown, Southland Tales, The Dukes of Hazzard, Final Destination, Road Trip, Lethal Weapon, The Wrath of Becky, or other things.

Or maybe you don’t know me at all! Either way, I’m here to answer your questions, so ask me anything!

Back later today around 2-3PM ET to talk to you all.

-——————————————

My upcoming film, DOLLY, is out in theaters March 6 via IFC and Shudder. It’s a horror directed by Rod Blackhurst, who’ll also be doing an AMA here the week of release.

Synopsis:

Chase and his girlfriend, Macy, take a hike in the woods when they encounter a hulking, monstrous figure who abducts Macy to raise her as his own child.

Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LALT2B-Ubpk …
Teens Are Over Superheroes, Want To See More “Connected Masculinity” Onscreen, Says Survey

1476 comments • deadline.com

TV & Books #53

Sat, 21 Feb 2026 07:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #53

r/fantasy

I read exclusively non-fiction for 15 years and just finished my first fantasy novel. I don't really know what to do with myself now.

665 comments • reddit.com

I’m a pretty practical person. I’ve always justified my reading as “useful” — history, economics, science, biography. Fiction always felt like a indulgence I couldn’t quite allow myself. My partner has been trying to get me to try fantasy for years and I kept brushing it off.

Last month I caved and picked up The Name of the Wind mostly just to stop the conversation. I figured I’d read 50 pages, confirm it wasn’t for me, and move on.

I finished it in four days. I haven’t read anything in four days since college.

What got me wasn’t the magic or the world, it was Kvothe narrating his own story and being an unreliable mess about it. As someone who reads a lot of memoir and biography I’m very used to people constructing their own legends, and watching that happen in real time inside a fantasy novel was genuinely surprising to me. I didn’t expect the genre to be doing that kind of thing.

Now I’m in this weird place …
I'm halfway through The Bonehunters (Malazan Book of the Fallen) and this might be the greatest work of fiction I've ever read...

426 comments • reddit.com

Anyone else feel this way? I never thought that something would come along that would challenge my sentiment that Lord if the Rings has the deepest and richest lore in fantasy, but along comes something that I can’t even fathom how this story was constructed and communicated…

Nothing, stormlight, mistborn, ASOIAF, red rising, name of the wind, literally nothing else comes close and there are more emotional and more mind-blowing moments in Malazan than I thought possible. I just don’t get how Erikson did this. AMA

I just want to talk about these books, honestly
Discworld by Terry Pratchett in Humble Bundle

95 comments • humblebundle.com

39 books in total. Not the first time that Humble Bundle have them, but if you missed them in the past this is a good deal.
Announcement from Robert Jackson Bennett (Tainted Cup/Divine Cities)

89 comments • imgur.com

RJB posted to Bluesky the release date, cover art and plot synopsis for his third Ana and Din book. Link!
Are the rest of the Dragonriders of Pern books as… rapey?

209 comments • reddit.com

I’m usually a big fan of “classic” fantasy, and I can usually recognize/understand that when a book is published matters but… Dragonflight is rough. It’s not explicit, but wow is there just so much abuse, rape, and consent issues in this book. At times it feels far too nonchalant, and at others like some weird fetish the author had.

I guess my question is: Should I keep going with the series? Do these issues get better?
I wish fantasy series had "Previously On" recaps like TV shows

223 comments • reddit.com

Just picked up the third book in a series I started last year and I am completely lost. I remember the broad strokes but all the details are gone. Who betrayed who? What was the magic system again? Why are they going to this city?

TV shows figured this out ages ago. You get a quick 30 second recap before each episode and you’re caught up. But with books, especially long fantasy series with months or years between entries, you’re just expected to remember everything. Some authors put a summary at the start which is amazing, but most don’t.

I’ve started keeping a notes doc for each series but honestly it takes the fun out of it. Reading shouldn’t feel like studying for an exam. How do you guys manage this, especially with longer series like Malazan or Stormlight?

r/books

George R. R. Martin Is 'Not in the Mood' to Finish 'The Winds of Winter'

4805 comments • esquire.com
Hugh Hefner’s Widow Voices Alarm Over Playboy Founder’s Explicit Scrapbooks Being Made Public

699 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
‘I felt betrayed, naked’: did a prize-winning novelist steal a woman’s life story? | Books

102 comments • theguardian.com
If you’re always listening to an audiobook, you’re not alone. As audiobook listening explodes in popularity, some users can’t do a mindless chore without pressing play.

707 comments • washingtonpost.com
In digital-first era, NJ librarians demand more affordable e-books

49 comments • newjerseymonitor.com
Michael Silverblatt, 'genius' host of KCRW literary show 'Bookworm,' dies at 73

16 comments • latimes.com

r/printsf

Embassytown by China Mieville is an engrossing literary work

86 comments • reddit.com

My first China Mieville novel. It took me some time to get into it but once in, it was just one beautiful word after another until the end. I have seen some rudimentary treatment of Language in other novels but nothing of the sort Mieville describes here. The twin voice and the stark difference from human language was so absorbing. Showed how Language can effect change in society vis-a-vis thoughts and behaviours (maybe other way around but still reflects in language?). The connection is real. The aliens were really alien (little naive?) but humans were not very human-like either. In fact, everything seemed distorted for most of the novel. Nonetheless, the concept and literary aspect of it was top notch. Reminded me of Ursula K Le Guin time and time after.
Book haul

62 comments • reddit.com

Just got back from the VNSA book sale in Phoenix, AZ. Happens once a year, and it’s overwhelming. I was on a time crunch (probably a good thing) or I would have bought more. Everything was $2-3.
Favorite Spaceships in Literature

326 comments • reddit.com

Hi, I’m looking for books where the ships are part of the story rather than a means of getting from a to b with very little other description. Does anyone have any favourites or recommendations?
I just hate read all 24 Undying Mercenaries books so you don't have to.

113 comments • reddit.com

Okay let me preface this by saying I don’t like just shitting on someone or something for no reason. It is not a hobby of mine, and it takes a lot for me to publicly type something critical up. I’m literally doing this out of a sense of duty after I got sucked (suckered?) into reading these.

Because I like a good military sci-fi romp, or a light ‘airplane’ read, I was browsing the sub for some recommendations. That’s how I found the “Undying Mercenaries” series by BV Larsen, along with Marko Kloos’ “Frontlines” series.

I read “Frontlines” first. Highly recommended. Good stuff.

Then I moved over to “Undying Mercenaries”. When I saw BV Larsen has pumped out more than 50 books I should have known better. Absolute slop.

I got 3 or 4 books into UM (book 1 was passable for a kick-off book) when I realized this stuff is awful, and for some stubborn reason ($0.00 per book via Amazon btw) I decided to plow …
Space Opera military and adventure scifi recommendations?

166 comments • reddit.com

So l love sci-fi books with space opera, military or adventuresque themes. Especially if they involve spaceships or space flight. I love themes of military honor, Galactic/alien civilizations, Empire, facing impossible odds, tactics/diplomacy, disgraced captains brought back into service, “band of losers against the world”, and “being pursued by the enemy”

So I’m hoping you guys can recommend some books for me to add. I’ve listen to many of my collection over dozens of times. The series I’ve read/listened to so far that contain some of these themes are as follows:

The Lost Fleet series - Jack Campbell (favorite series)

Star Carrier series- Ian Douglas

Grimm’ War series - Jeffery H Haskell

Vatta’s War & Serrano Legacy - Elizabeth Moon

Honor Harrington series- David Weber

Duchess of Terra series- Glynn Stewart

Decline and Fall of the Galactic Empire series - Andrew Moriarty

Space Team Universe - Barry J Hutchison

The …
Are there any books that feel like Disco Elysium?

55 comments • reddit.com

Disco Elysium feels very somber and melancholic, a sense of the world going away (literally), and sadness for a revolution failed.

I’m curious if anyone can think of books that have a similar melancholic feel to the game. Thanks.

r/television

r/movies

Robert Duvall, Oscar-Winning Acting Legend, Dies at 95

1539 comments • thewrap.com
‘Predator: Badlands’ Best Film Premiere On Hulu Since ‘Prey’ With Near 9M WW Views

906 comments • deadline.com
New Poster for Lee Cronin’s ‘The Mummy’

477 comments • i.redd.it
‘Sonic 4’: Kristen Bell to Voice Amy Rose

577 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
New Poster for 'Toy Story 5'

1024 comments • i.redd.it
Leonardo DiCaprio Confirms Martin Scorsese’s ‘What Happens at Night’ Starts Shooting in “Two Weeks”, Co-Starring Jennifer Lawrence & Mads Mikkelsen

422 comments • indiewire.com

TV & Books #52

Sat, 14 Feb 2026 07:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #52

r/fantasy

I read 3 Malazan Books, I will not continue on

732 comments • reddit.com
So I finished the first three Malazan books and I’m probably tapping out.

I did enjoy parts of them. The world is massive, the battles are incredible, and the lore is genuinely fascinating (although sometimes a bit goofy with “undead dinosaurs with goofy names”). There are a lot of rule-of-cool moments that absolutely land.

But I don’t think I’m continuing, for a few reasons (spoilers included):
1. The tone is just… relentlessly dark.
People on reddit told me Malazan isn’t grimdark, that it’s about hope, compassion, humanity, etc. And sure, those themes are there. But reading it? It’s 80-85% brutality, death, suffering, SA, purges, genocides, death marches, horrific torture. After finishing Deadhouse Gates and Memories of Ice, I felt drained.

I didn’t even feel that hopeless after finishing The First Law, which is basically the poster child for grimdark. Malazan feels like it avoids the “grimdark” label on a technicality. And I’ve heard the SA content only ramps up in later books, …
I'm probably dumb to realize this too late, but people that mispell character names all the time probably only listen to the audiobook

307 comments • reddit.com

I would get confused as how someone could misspell a main character’s name that is mentioned like 70 times in a book (unless it is like John or Adam).

But that’s because I’ve never listen to audiobooks, and a lot of people do. They just kinda know how the name sounds, but not really the correct spelling.

Edit: So I misspell “mispell”. English is my 2nd language and this word is weird.
I hate when the protagonist is so dumb for the sake of dragging it out

205 comments • reddit.com

I’m reading this book, and the big evil guy basically has shadow superpower (or he is shadow itself), and he has been terribly hurt before. We know this through the protagonist. Then the protagonist went to an old prison with only one jail cell and found a journal that says “the prisoner keeps screaming”, “they tortured him with light” and “he likes the dark”. And still the MC was asking himself “What were they keeping down here? hmm.”

Why do authors love dragging stuff out? Just let him think “So this was what they do to him”. That’s it. Why make him seem so dumb just to prolong the mystery for another 2 pages?

Edit: I’m enjoying this trilogy, and this is the last book. But the more you read, the more you get annoyed with stuff.
Series Where It's Obvious The World Is Highly Advanced But The Population Treats It Like It's From Gods/Ancient Civilization Because It Has Been Reduced To A Medieval One

266 comments • reddit.com

So I’m referring to worlds where the characters see their world as your typical fantasy landscape but the cities and weapons are so powerful they think it must be from an ancient civilization or just simply work from the Gods. But it’s actually just ancient technology that has warped to fit the modern society because of apocalypses/war.

So something like Shannara and there’s another series but I don’t want to say in case new readers don’t know. Hell I didn’t know till I watched a video recommending it. (Yes, that one). I only mention Shannara because mostly everyone knows it’s set in a post-apocalyptic Earth.

But are there any other series like that? Especially if we the reader are already given the information beforehand and experiencing the world from characters who don’t know. So maybe don’t recommend a series where the reveal is that it’s actually Earth thousand of years in the future. But a series where we already know …
Help for a 19yo who has never read a book. Not a fantasy book, a book

550 comments • reddit.com

I’ve got a 19yo male renting a room at my place. He’s seen the (literally) thousands of books I have, and thinks he might like to finally read one.

I’m delighted to introduce someone to reading, but there’s a problem. I doubt I’ve got a single book suitable. He’s unsophisticated, not super mature, his English isn’t great and he’s not well-versed in Western culture. YA fantasy would probably be ideal, but this is something I know next to nothing about.

Can anyone help with suggestions for YA fantasy that doesn’t need ANY background knowledge of Western cultural tropes? Bonus points if there’s something that has an Indian background.
Which fantasy book immediately gripped you from the very first chapter and never let go?

459 comments • reddit.com

For me it was The Will of the Many. What was it for you?

r/books

"Novelist" Boasts That Using AI She Can Churn Out a New Book in 45 Minutes, Says Regular Writers Will Never Be Able to Keep Up

1921 comments • futurism.com
Sydney author guilty of child abuse after book, Daddy’s Little Toy, depicted adult role-playing as toddler

2858 comments • theguardian.com
US judges dismiss lawsuits accusing fantasy author Neil Gaiman of sexual assault in New Zealand

1403 comments • independent.co.uk
Gisèle Pelicot calls on victims to ‘never have shame’ in her first TV interview ahead of her book release

184 comments • theguardian.com

Gisèle Pelicot’s memoir ‘A Hymn to Life’ will be released on Tuesday (17th Feb).
Arizona bill could make librarians felons for giving minors access to “sexually explicit” books. Critics say classics could be affected.

399 comments • eu.azcentral.com

An Arizona bill (SB 1435) is being considered today and would expand restrictions on what minors can access in pubic libraries. If passed it would make it a Class 5 felony (up to 2.5 years in prison) for librarians or school employees to refer or facilitate access to material defined as sexually explicit.

The bill’s definition is much broader than typical obscenity law. It includes textual descriptions of sexual conduct or even touching someone’s clothed buttocks. Legal experts quoted in the article say that under the wording, books like Romeo and Juliet, the Bible and encyclopedias could all technically fall under the ban. The bill doesn’t include the usual exemption for works with serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value (although maybe that still wouldn’t help).

First Amendment scholars argue the felony penalties are likely unconstitutional and would chill librarian speech. Similar legislation in Idaho led at least one small library to effectively …
A really fun book I was reading turned out to be written by AI in the later pages :(

549 comments • reddit.com

So I got this indie book from a book fair, because I’m always looking to support new authors being one myself.

It was quite fun in the beginning. Clearly written by an amateur, but the writing style was fun. But some pages later, something felt … off. I tried my best to ignore it. If I could pretend hard enough, I could make myself believe it wasn’t AI.

But more pages in now, I can’t pretend anymore. It’s just paragraphs and paragraphs of word salad and cringey generic AI phrases.

The first few chapters were written by a human. Then the later chapters were pure AI generated crap. Most of which doesn’t even make sense.

I literally feel like crying. Idk why. This is the first time it happened to me, and I now know why readers are always complaining about finding an AI written book. I have never felt so betrayed in my life. Never.

I dunno why I’m reacting so harshly but I was looking forward to re read the book with my little sister once …

r/printsf

I just wanted to share something about what I saw today.

33 comments • reddit.com

I built a small collection of sci-fi novels and donated a handful to my local library. They were put on the catalogue on exactly a week ago and today I had a look to see if they were on the shelf while I was looking for something else.

Two of them were not there and when I checked the online catalogue, it was confirmed they were borrowed within days of being made available.

Now, this might seem like a pointless thing to post about, but it made me realise that somewhere in a town as small as mine there was somebody who jumped at the chance to read a work once access to it was provided and that made me happy.

We take libraries for granted, I think. If we ever lose them, what will we have?
[spoilers] Just finished A Fire Upon the Deep. Wow. Easily my new favorite book.

53 comments • reddit.com

it was so imaginative and i could not have expected one book to hold so many wonderful ideas. the best part for me was definitely the aliens. the tines and the skroderiders are so fascinating. the idea of the packs using group think almost like distributed computing is so wonderfully new (to me). everything in this books screams that it was written by a computer scientist. the prologue was impeccable, the introduction of the tines unveiled as a wonderful puzzle, never being described more than necessary. the net of a million lies is so cool, and all the (few) descriptions of stellar systems so vivid.

i wish the blight was explored more deeply, i never did feel like i knew what they wanted. but i was more interested in the tines storyline anyway. i will miss scriber forever. the ending was a bit deus ex machina but it was built up to be that way from the beginning so who cares. the final part about greenstalk riding the thrashing surf, to remain a low rider eternally, i loved it all. …
William Gibson's only short story collection "Burning Chrome".

41 comments • reddit.com

So at last I finally got around to reading this collection. William didn’t write a whole lot of short stories. He’s written at least 11 stories in his career, with one from the early nineties. If anything, he’s best remembered for his novels, but, and many would agree with me on this one, this collection should not be missed out.

“Burning Chrome” collects ten of those of those stories, which are also some of his earliest, from 1977-1985. These stories are still peak Gibson at his best, even with a few collaborations with others like Bruce Sterling, John Shirley and Michael Swanwick.

Much of the material in it is still very much in the cyberbunk style, which includes the first stories set in the Sprawl like “Johnny Mnemonic” (in which Molly Millions makes her first appearance!), which is really good.

But you also get a couple of pretty surreal stories like “The Gernsback continuum” and “The Belonging Kind”. Now those …
What from 2025 should be nominated for a Hugo/Nebula/Sturgeon award?

40 comments • reddit.com

Hugo voting opened, so I’m back again to inquire what everyone here read from last year and what’s good. I’m interested in what all of you found. What was great from 2025? I’ll throw my own suggestions below, though I add an additional rule not to include anyone who has already won a Hugo.

Novel

There Is No Anti-Memetics Division by QNTM – A meme is something that gets stuck in people’s heads whether they like it or not. An anti-meme is therefore something that refuses to be remembered. QNTM throws out a great many wild ideas about what an anti-meme could be and what it could do as the Anti-Memetics division tries to learn more about them and survive them. It’s a fast read, throwing out interesting concepts and a lot of action. The only problem with this novel is that it’s probably ineligible because it was previously self-published. BUT maybe some places allow for the proper publication to count for something. In any case, highly worth …
RIP Jeffrey A. Carver, 2002 Nebula Nominee for Best Novel

6 comments • reddit.com

From Robert Sawyer on Facebook: “My great friend and hard-SF colleague Jeffrey A. Carver passed away yesterday at just 76. Rest in peace, brother.”

Jeffrey’s website: Science Fiction Worlds of Jeffrey A. Carver

His Nebula nominated novel was Eternity’s End

From the biography on his website:

“I was also, in 1995, the host of an educational television series, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing, aimed at teaching junior high school students the basics of science-fiction writing. That material later grew into the online course “Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy,” originally published by MathSoft, Inc., and aimed primarily (but not exclusively) at younger aspiring writers. Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy is now online and free to the public at WriteSF.com.”
Books featuring megastructures

135 comments • reddit.com

What are some good books or short stories featuring megastructures? It’s one of my favorite concepts in sci-fi and I’m always on the lookout for more. My favorites so far are Wolfe’s Book of the Short Sun, Banks’ Matter (which got me into his Culture books! Have since devoured them all!), and Nehei’s BLAME!. I tried to get into Ringworld by Larry Niven but it really wasn’t my cup of tea although I know it is a classic example in the genre.

r/television

Bad Bunny Stuns the Super Bowl With Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin and a Real Wedding Ceremony as Pedro Pascal, Jessica Alba and More Party on Stage

1281 comments • variety.com
Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime Show Hits 128.2 Million Viewers, Breaks NFL Social Media Records

557 comments • variety.com
James Van Der Beek Dead at 48

1294 comments • tmz.com
Doctor Who icon Christopher Eccleston criticises current lack of regional and working class actors such as himself and Jodie Whittaker

347 comments • radiotimes.com
Ryan Gosling to Host ‘Saturday Night Live’ on March 7 with Musical Guest Gorillaz

260 comments • variety.com
‘Muppet Show’ Revival Special Draws 7.58 Million Viewers in First 8 Days on Disney+, ABC

281 comments • variety.com

r/movies

TV & Books #51

Sat, 07 Feb 2026 07:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #51

r/fantasy

‘Baldur’s Gate’ HBO Series in the Works From ‘The Last of Us’ Co-Creator Craig Mazin

303 comments • variety.com
Sales of George R.R. Martin's A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE series pass 100 million

197 comments • reddit.com

It’s been a long time coming, but sales of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire sequence (better known to some by the name of its TV adaptation, HBO’s Game of Thrones) have finally and officially passed the 100 million mark.

The news was buried in The Hollywood Reporter‘s recent article on Martin, although the main focus was elsewhere (yes, *The Winds of Winter* still isn’t out yet, and yes, the fall-out from Martin’s public dissatisfaction with House of the Dragon continues to reverberate).

The series started off a little sluggishly, with *A Game of Thrones* only doing okay on its first publication in August 1996 (the series turns thirty this year) and it taking until the paperback was released before sales picked up, something Martin attributed to the cover quote from fellow fantasy author Robert Jordan, of Wheel of Time fame. Sales and critical acclaim grew with the release of *A Clash of Kings* in 1998 and *A Storm of Swords* in 2000. By …
A fan subreddit actually republished a big fantasy series: The Chronicles of an Age of Darkness by Hugh Cook

86 comments • reddit.com

I’ve never heard of this happening before: a fan subreddit actually got the rights to a big fantasy series and republished them. Maybe someone can correct me.

The Chronicles of an Age of Darkness is written by Hugh Cook (who sadly passed away early). It’s a big ten book series set on multiple continents and has a cult-like following (including me). It sold hundreds of thousands of copies in the late 80s and early 90s.

If you read the first book you’d think it’s normal epic fantasy with heroes, wizards and magic items with a dash of humor. But the series gets more and more unusual (and funny) with each book having a different style, until you get to the sixth book, which might be the most unique and bizarre fantasy book I’ve ever read.

Anyway, members of r/hughcook got the rights off Hugh’s family and the series is now available again. Hooray for reddit! Has that ever happened before? Hopefully more fantasy subreddits of out-of-print books get the …
I’m the trash man

330 comments • reddit.com

Anyone else struggling to read traditional / epic fantasy? I used to love the big chunky series. I tore through every big fantasy series from the 90s to the mid 2010s. But everything coming out lately is just…..underwhelming. Cookie cutter. A new skin on an old body.

I forced myself to read the books the echo chamber that is bookstagram recommended. The first 3 Red Rising were ok, but left me with zero desire to keep reading. Sun Eater gets hyped to be an incredible new space epic, but I couldn’t convince myself to start the third book. I have 10 John Gwynne books unread on my bookshelf because I’d rather read about a guy punching things in his boxers with his ex’s talking cat.

I dipped my toes into the litrpg and progression fantasy kiddie pool and I don’t want to come out. It’s fresh and doesn’t take itself seriously. But mostly it’s just fun. Almost reminds me of reading diskworld for the first time after the sword and sorcery era of the 80s/90s. If someone asked me what my …
Death of the Author - When you absolutely disagree with a story's intended read

479 comments • reddit.com

I think the first time I became aware of my brain working different than other peoples’ was when I read THE TIME MACHINE when I was eight and wondered why the Time Traveler was so mean to the Morlocks. After all, they were the sentient people not the mindless but pretty Eloi.

That got me thinking, what are books you’ve read where you absolutely do not gel with the intended message or interpretation of the story.
Suggest me Actual Military Fantasy Books

318 comments • reddit.com

Fantasy books that actually focuses on the military aspect of military fantasy and not just background flavoring or a small part in their story(looking at you Malazan). With main characters that is part of the army from the very beginning and not just join in when the war actually start.

Sorry if this post comes out as hostile and needy, it just the number of times I saw people label a book Military Fantasy despite the military element not playing a major part in the narrative is baffling. I mean I’ve seen people recommend The Broken Empire Trilogy as military fantasy.

P.S. Don’t recommend me Black Company already read it

r/books

John Lithgow says he finds JK Rowling’s stance on trans rights ‘ironic and inexplicable’

1200 comments • theguardian.com
Author who co-wrote two books with Noam Chomsky condemns scholar’s ties to Epstein

631 comments • theguardian.com
Neil Gaiman Speaks out on Sexual Misconduct Accusations a Year Later

1866 comments • variety.com
Majority of books in Amazon's ‘Success' self-help genre likely written by AI : Study

207 comments • yahoo.com
Frankenstein’s monster is articulate and I’m floored!

605 comments • reddit.com

Every adaptation I’ve ever seen as a movie watcher has been a brainless groaning zombie type guy. To read the book and find out he’s articulate and actually quite tragic really upsets me. It makes me wonder what other common stories have had their origin misrepresented. I also think reducing Frankenstein to a mad scientist when he’s the picture of self loathing is interesting. I feel like I have been bamboozled by popular culture’s representation.
WaPo does away with books section via Zoom meeting

180 comments • boston25news.com

The Washington Post said that a third of its staff across all departments was getting laid off, so it is not just affecting the newsroom, The Associated Press reported.

Employees were told that they would get an email with one of two subject lines telling them whether or not they still had a job at the Post, the AP reported.

The newspaper, which was founded in 1877, is doing away with its Sports section, Books section and is canceling the Post Reports podcast.

It is also restructuring the Metro desk, which covers Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia and will scale back international coverage, CNN reported.

ETA: Ron Charles has now posted about being laid off on Substack

Becca Rothfeld on substack

Article archived here

r/printsf

Max Brooks shares excerpt from his next novel

43 comments • maxbrooks.com

The First One Hundred Hours, an oral history of an alien invasion.
Tell me about “There is no antimemetics division”

155 comments • reddit.com

Just saw it recommended by a person whose taste record is somewhat sketchy. The concept of the book sounded interesting.

Have you read it?

Would you recommend it?

What other books/authors would you feel it closely resembles in style?
Locus 2025 Recommended Reading List

8 comments • locusmag.com
Recommendations for works by male authors featuring well written female PoV characters

183 comments • reddit.com

When I was reading yet another excellent Cherryh novel recently (Cuckoo’s Egg) I started thinking how many excellent male PoV (point of view) characters she has written throughout her career. And I can easily come with numerous examples of this in books written by other female writers in science fiction - works by Bujold and Le Guin being the most obvious ones. But I really struggled to come up with the opposite examples - well written and memorable female PoV characters in science fiction books written by men. So I’d love to get some examples and recommendations for this. Novellas and short stories recs are also welcome.

A few examples from me off the top of my head (some of these I’ve read a long time ago and I am not sure if they will hold up on a reread):

Random Acts of Senseless Violence - Jack Womack

Story of Your Life - Ted Chiang

Thorns - Robert Silverberg

Venomous Lumpsucker - Ned Beauman

Ian McDonald’s Luna series

Gradisil by Adam Roberts

I am …
Michael Swanwick's Newest Collection "The Universe Box" Releases in 2 Days. My Thoughts

23 comments • reddit.com

I got an ARC copy and here are my thoughts:

The Universe Box. by Michael Swanwick. 2026

#ARC

THE UNIVERSE BOX

RATED 92% POSITIVE. STORY SCORE 4.0 OF 5

19 STORIES : 4 GREAT / 13 GOOD / 1 AVERAGE / 0 POOR / 1 DNF

This is Michael Swanwick 20th appearance in a book that I’ve reviewed: beaten only by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg. When you notice that one of those books was a large single author collection, Swanwick becomes the author I’ve reviewed more than any other. Any for good reason. He is on the short list of greatest science fiction writers and one of the very few who are still producing an ocean of good short stories. And this collection shows that he hasn’t lost a step. The stories in this collection cover 2012 to 2026, but that vast majority of them around from the 2020s

One thing I noticed reading Swanwick this time was how good his first sentences were. More than once, I finished a story, thinking I’d goto bed, and that first sentence pulled me all the way into the …
Sci-fi as classroom literature?

168 comments • reddit.com
Lately I’ve been thinking about how people learn to enjoy reading — especially through sci-fi.

I read a lot less in middle and high school than I did in elementary school, and I think part of the reason was school-required reading. Many of the books we had to read felt disconnected from anything I cared about, so reading started to feel like a chore. In college, without much mandatory reading, I’ve rediscovered reading for pleasure.

A lot of the sci-fi I’ve read recently — Scalzi, Le Guin, Butler — is intellectually demanding, morally complex, and absolutely something you could analyze and write about in an English class. These books ask big questions about identity, power, technology, and society while still being engaging to read. It makes me wonder whether speculative fiction could sit alongside traditional “classics” in school curricula, and get more students excited about reading.

Curious what others think:
- Would you have wanted to read more sci-fi in English class? Or would …

r/television

Everyone is stealing TV. Fed up with increasing subscription prices, viewers embrace rogue streaming boxes.

964 comments • theverge.com
Harrison Ford Loves ‘Shrinking’ So Much It’s “Sufficient” End to His Career

539 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
Fifteen Years Ago Today, Craig Ferguson Spends his Entire Show Interviewing Dr. Cornel West about Black History Month

164 comments • youtu.be

I try to watch this every year. Hearing Dr. West talk about race, identity, what it means to be human, and why we have Black History Month opened my eyes when I first this live in college. Craig is an incredible interviewer, allowing his own ignorance to be nakedly seen so that he and his audience can be educated. Craig doesn’t just ask questions, he knows when to respectfully challenge Dr. West.

This interview is beautiful and I would love it if you joined me in watching it this year!
Bill Nye to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at the 4th Annual Children’s & Family Emmy Awards

148 comments • variety.com
John Lithgow on Playing Dumbledore in ‘Harry Potter’ Series and J.K. Rowling’s Trans Views: ‘People Insisted I Walk Away From the Job. I Chose Not to Do That’

2814 comments • variety.com
‘Schitt’s Creek’ To Stream All Six Seasons On HBO Max (U.S.) Starting Tomorrow, February 7

137 comments • deadline.com

r/movies

Kristen Stewart has purchased Highland Park’s historic 100-year-old movie theater Highland Theatre, saving it from permanent shutdown.

466 comments • architecturaldigest.com
Brandon Sanderson will write the screenplay for Apple TV's ‘Mistborn’ movie

1455 comments • winteriscoming.net
Ian McKellen Confirms Return as Gandalf in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum', Filming Begins in July

1268 comments • consequence.net
Official 20th Anniversary Poster for 'V for Vendetta', Returning to Theatres on 5th of November

431 comments • i.redd.it
Steven Spielberg Achieves EGOT Status After Landing First Grammy Win

430 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
I deleted scrolling apps and started watching a movie a day. It changed my life.

600 comments • reddit.com

Not only do I no longer feel the urge to consume content every spare second – watching or continuing on a movie demands a little more time and focus than that. But my mental well-being has also changed dramatically.

Scrolling videos made my brain feel like porridge. I’d suddenly realize after 5 seconds that I was watching an obnoxious ad. No focus at all. Totally spaced out.

Watching a movie actually makes me feel good. Being engaged in a storyline, maybe watching a feelgood movie like I did yesterday (The Intern) … It makes me happy and relaxed. It makes me enjoy life more afterwards.

Reading and working out is great as well, but it never made me not want to scroll. Watching a movie fulfills my desire for easy entertainment, without making it impossible to do something productive after.

Tomorrow marks a month of watching a movie every single day. Well, sometimes I watch half one day and the other half the next. I still think it counts.

Edit: Yes, I know I’m on reddit. …

TV & Books #50

Sat, 31 Jan 2026 07:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #50

r/fantasy

Brandon Sanderson’s Literary Fantasy Universe ‘Cosmere’ Picked Up by Apple TV (Exclusive)

1073 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
What historical event reads exactly like "Bad Fantasy Writing" or "Plot Armor"?

521 comments • reddit.com

We often criticize fantasy books for having “unrealistic” plot twists or characters with too much plot armor. But the more I study history, the more I realize reality has terrible writing.

My favorite example is from WWII: The US Navy (the “Good Guys”) is losing ships in their own harbor. They are desperate. So what do they do? They literally go to prison, find the “Dark Lord” of organized crime (Lucky Luciano), and cut a deal to have him run security for them.

If I read that in a fantasy novel, I’d roll my eyes. “Oh, sure, the King just hires the head of the Thieves Guild to save the kingdom? Too convenient. Too edgy.”

Yet, Operation Underworld was 100% real.

It makes me wonder: What other historical events sound like they were written by a fantasy author who had too much coffee?

(Caesar getting kidnapped by pirates and demanding they increase his ransom comes to mind too).
Why do so many fantasy worlds forget how old things should feel

215 comments • reddit.com

I was reading a new epic fantasy last week and once again there was this ancient empire that fell five thousand years ago but somehow everyone still uses the same language, the same symbols and even the same laws. It always pulls me out of the story a bit. In real life stuff changes fast. Even a few hundred years makes places feel unrecognizable. But in fantasy you walk into some ruined city and it’s basically a dusty version of what people still live in today. Same scripts on the walls, same gods, same political borders, just broken. I get that it makes worldbuilding easier and keeps things readable, but sometimes it feels like time has no weight in these settings. Like history is just a backdrop instead of a force that shapes cultures and people. Does this bother anyone else or am I just overthinking something most readers dont care about?
Recommend me books like The Name of The Wind, but with better depiction of women please

300 comments • reddit.com

Hi there,

So I am just rereading The Name of The Wind after over 10 years (about 500 pages in). I remembered it as one of the best books I had ever read, but now that I am almost finished, I found myself having to rescind that opinion.
Don’t get me wrong, I still love the prose, the magic system is phenomenal to me and I don’t mind a character being very good at what they do (though it is borderline in this case). I greatly enjoyed the music aspect and enjoyed whenever Kvothe played the lute, I liked the coziness of many settings. I found many character interactions very charming, some nice bantering here and there… but I just can’t with the depiction of women, of which there aren’t that many mind you. I guess going from teenager with no real experience in love and no female friends to near thirty with very many female friends changed my perspective quite a bit on that, who would’ve thought!

I still like the book and I will read the second one …
Blacktongue sequel out Oct 2026

47 comments • reddit.com

New sequel to the Blacktongue Thief is out October 2026 and I’m only finding this out now. For anyone else late to the party I’ve included the blurb below.

Can’t

F*cking

Wait

The Thrice-Bound Fool is the epic, rollicking next chapter in the bestselling and “awesome as hell” (Nicholas Eames) fantasy adventure series that began with The Blacktongue Thief.

Professional thief and inveterate trickster Kinch Na Shannack has always enjoyed a good book. But now his life, and the future of all of Manreach, depends on him deciphering a very bad book indeed; a stolen, sentient tome that tries to kill him every time he opens it—and often when it’s closed.

Galva, veteran of the goblin wars and death’s sworn handmaiden, has vowed to protect Kinch while he mines the book for its dark magic and even darker secrets. She does so not for Kinch’s sake—though the cheeky bastard is growing on her—but because the book is the key to stopping the shadowy tyrants out to kill the queen she serves, and …
looking for an original copy of The Princess Bride

98 comments • reddit.com

So- I downloaded The Princess Bride 30yr anniversary edition on kindle the other night. it’s one of my all-time favorite movies and i wanted to finally read the book. However within this copy there’s constant author interjections and anecdotal paragraphs about the editing process, personal stories from reading etc. I was wondering if a version I can purchase where this all doesn’t exist is available. I want to be fully immersed in the story like you are in the movie and the constant interjecting doesn’t help. i figured this would be a pretty good sub to start my search in as it’s so broad. thanks!

edit: my bad y’all had no idea it was part of the bit, was genuinely curious blame the ‘tism

r/books

Minneapolis bookstore owner Greg Ketter emerges as a symbol of protest against ICE actions

286 comments • thepopverse.com
Oklahoma teacher lost teaching license after protesting laws pressuring teachers to remove books from classrooms

594 comments • nytimes.com

When Oklahoma passed laws that pressured teachers to remove books on race, gender and sexuality from their classrooms, she refused. Other teachers resisted, too — but Ms. Boismier did so loudly. She plastered her 10th-grade English classroom with signs of protest, posted to social media and advised her students on how they could find books online. Eventually she resigned.

She knew that in her conservative state she would be criticized, but the reaction was much more severe than she expected. And in 2024, the state took away Ms. Boismier’s teaching license.
English professors double down on requiring printed copies of readings | Amid the rise of artificial intelligence and concerns about distraction, more English professors are turning to no-technology policies that prioritize physical books and reading packets.

662 comments • yaledailynews.com
Many preschool age children don't know how books work; try to tap or swipe them like electronic devices

734 comments • futurism.com

In a new survey of primary, or elementary, school staff conducted by the UK charity Kindred Squared, the teachers estimated that nearly a third of students in reception class — the equivalent of pre-school in the US — did not know how to correctly use books. At times, some children even tried to swipe or tap the pages like a smartphone.
Tennessee county public library pulls nearly three thousand books from shelves for review at request of TN secretary of state

284 comments • tennessean.com

Books were flagged by librarians for possible violations such as:

“unclothed anthropomorphic animals, violence”

“Adam and Eve nude in the Garden of Eden; Violence”

“underpants shown during cartwheel”

“An image capturing an affectionate gesture where a girl gives a boy a kiss on the cheek on the school bus during Valentine’s Day.”

“Fictional male rabbits get married”

“Civil War Hero, Mary, dresses in pants, history of undergarments present and modeled by chickens”

“Kissing”

“Words “ass” appears for donkey and “cock” for rooster”

“2 male neighbors speaking to one another, one has a rainbow and his produce bag”

“LGBTQIA+ rights”

“implied breastfeeding”

“nude mummified body”

“classroom discussion of book bans and censorship”

“discussion of teen getting period”

“woke”

Popular titles flagged and pulled include Aesop’s Fables, two Magic Treehouse books by Mary Pope Osborne, multiple Harry Potter books by J.K Rowling, and a Charlie Brown book by …
Terry Pratchett’s novels may have held clues to his dementia a decade before diagnosis, our new study suggests

380 comments • theconversation.com

r/printsf

As a casual reader, Ted Chiang's Exhalation opened my eyes to what sci-fi can be

69 comments • reddit.com

I’ve gotten back into reading a few months ago after five years or so of not reading books and brainrot. Been reading mostly sci-fi, and Exhalation was the second book in my current run of literacy.

My short review: just banger after banger. I really like the writing process of introducing a piece of sci-fi tech to one aspect of a character’s life and seeing what happens. I can’t glaze it enough. Written in creative ways, one story didn’t have any dialogue, one was a plaque on a museum exhibit, one was just two pages, and another was half the book. The Life Cycle of Software Objects changed the way I view (the prospect of real) AI. Each story left me with stuff to chew on. The first story set the tone nicely, I thought we were gonna start in some spaceship or something, but nah, we’re in ancient Iraq. And it was beautiful.

It’s refreshing. Before, when I consumed sci-fi media, I’d subconsciously expect decades old stale themes. Like uploading …
Just finished Children of Time. What an amazing book that makes me sad about real life

76 comments • reddit.com

I just read this book about spiders and humans, and internally I wished they would co-exist in the end and live together on the green planet. And they did. They found a way to communicate.

And then I think about humans in real life and how we’re killing each other for literally no reason at all. It’s either black or white; one side or the other. People placing themselves in a group and sticking to that group even if it goes against their morality, or against all morality.

It’s just sad to think about real life after you read a good book sometimes.
Disappointed with how few alien aliens there are in SF

191 comments • reddit.com

So often, aliens end up with similar values, and psychology, and want to have nice conversations with humans. They come across essentially as the elves and dwarves of sf. A good counterexample is Roadside Picnic: the aliens might not even know we exist, and if they do, there’s no evidence they care, and if they care, there’s surely no evidence of communication or coherent motives or even what they are. I recognize it’s hard to build a narrative, and therefore to sell commercial fiction, around aliens like this (they aren’t really “characters”) hence its rarity. If there’s even a conflict, it’s most appropriately described as man vs nature.

Posting this to look for recommendations, as well as to see how common this complaint is.
Detective/Crime Stories on a Generation Ship

85 comments • reddit.com

I’ve often seen recommendations for science fiction detective/crime stories, and I’ve read many of the more modern ones: Altered Carbon, Titanium Noir, Leviathan Wakes and lots of indies. I’ve only run across one indie set on a generation ship, however, but it was largely a thriller.

I thought I was rather clever when I launched my own hardboiled detective series set on a generation ship in 2023. Then, late last year, Alastair Reynolds’ Halcyon Years came out (in the US tomorrow–still waiting to get my hands on it), and today I read there are two others due out in 2026: A Hole in the Sky by Peter F Hamilton and The Republic of Memory by Mahmud El Sayed.

Considering that traditional publishing moves much more slowly, this probably means we were all thinking about this concept at the same time, and I find it a little eerie if this isn’t a more common trope than I realize.

So, I’m wondering: is 2026 the year of the detective/crime story on a …
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is a great example of a writer getting a bit too distracted by his own worldbuilding.

64 comments • reddit.com
When Paolini isn’t stuffing the novel with out of place Aliens references and mashed-together sci-fi tropes, he’s taking the narrative on tangents just to explore some neat worldbuilding detail he came up with. Some examples (not necessarily bad examples):
- There’s an entire sequence at least 100 pages long where the main characters travel months to a never-explored planet chasing a McGuffin, only to find out it’s broken. Said McGuffin is barely mentioned again, and the only lasting effect is one crew member is injured, and a new enemy is introduced (who also never appears again).
- The backstories of multiple supporting characters are exposited to the main character back-to-back.
- We also get detailed backstories for several characters, who then go on to die right quick without affecting the plot.
- Starships aren’t managed by an AI, but by “ship minds”: humans who have had their entire bodies replaced with a life support coffin, save for their …
What is the most action-packed, over the top action to beat all action SF book you know?

136 comments • reddit.com

I’m looking for books that just go and never stop until the last page. Like if Hardcore Henry was a book. I looked, it’s not.

r/television

r/movies

First Images of Henry Cavill in Chad Stahelski's ‘HIGHLANDER’

2076 comments • i.redd.it
Catherine O’Hara has died at the age of 71

1272 comments • the-sun.com
‘Melania,’ the First Lady’s New Documentary, Abruptly Pulled From Release in South Africa

1114 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
New Image of Jaafar Jackson as Michael Jackson in 'Michael'

1492 comments • i.redd.it
Amazon Blocks Mainstream Press From Watching ‘Melania’ Documentary at Kennedy Center

1141 comments • variety.com
First Official Images of Paul Mescal, Barry Keoghan, Joseph Quinn and Harris Dickinson in Sam Mendes' 'Beatles' Biopics

1710 comments • i.redd.it

TV & Books #49

Sat, 24 Jan 2026 07:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #49

r/fantasy

As a history fan, the "3,000 Year Stagnation" trope breaks my immersion more than dragons do.

1327 comments • reddit.com

I love the genre, but looking at timelines in major fantasy series like LOTR or Wheel of Time always trips me up. You often see histories where an Empire has lasted for 3,000+ years, or a “Dark Age” has lasted for a millennium, and the technology or society looks exactly the same at the end as it did at the start.

In our real-world history, 3,000 years took us from the Bronze Age Collapse all the way to the iPhone. Empires in reality rarely last longer than 250-400 years before collapsing or evolving into something unrecognizable. So when I see a “Kingdom of X” that has stood unchanged for five millennia, it just feels wrong to me.

Is there a widely accepted “Watsonian” (in-universe) reason why technology and society freeze in these worlds? Is it just that Magic suppresses Technology? Like, why would anyone invent a steam engine if a wizard can just teleport? Or is the existence of long-lived races making cultural evolution slower because the …
The Poppy War Trilogy (it’s bad)

418 comments • reddit.com

A grim, ambitious fantasy that tackles war, trauma, and power with absolute seriousness… and somehow still made me bored.

Rin is a protagonist I never connected with and rarely enjoyed following; three books with her felt less like an epic and more like a test of stamina. The prose doesn’t help, especially the dialogue, which is so heavy on “she said” and “he said” that it reads like a first draft that never quite found its rhythm.

Yes, the themes are dark. Yes, the historical parallels are important. But importance doesn’t equal engagement, and this trilogy often feels like it wants credit for being harrowing rather than actually compelling.

2.⁵⁄₅ — worthy, weighty, and determinedly unfun to read, almost in spite of itself.
I'm Shen Tao and my debut epic fantasy THE POET EMPRESS released today, ask me anything!

117 comments • reddit.com

Hi everyone, I’m Shen Tao and my debut standalone epic fantasy, The Poet Empress, was published today! (Jan 20, 2026)

I’ve seen it described elsewhere as “grimdark”, “historical fantasy,” and “anti-romantasy” although those are not officially-endorsed terms. :)

The short blurb is that in a world with poetry magic but women are forbidden to read, the daughter of a rice farmer-turned-court-concubine must learn to read in secret—and write a poem to kill the cruel and otherwise unkillable son of the emperor. It’s a story of survival, court politics, and duty, and of course the power of words.

Bramble cover of The Poet Empress

Gollancz cover of The Poet Empress

The red edition is the North American version from Bramble (Tor) and the blue version is the UK and ANZ version from Gollancz/Hachette. For the multilingual among us here, there is a German edition from Ullstein publishing Jan 29 and various other translations coming later.

Content warnings can be found at: …
What are some post apocalyptic books that are actually AFTER the apocalypse has ended?

363 comments • reddit.com

Most post apocalyptic books just keep the destruction and chaos going forever. Hundreds of years after bombs fell and people are still living in a deserted wasteland, unearthing twinkies from ruins. Which books have a setting that has started rebuilding and has working cities and infrastructire and even nation states? Stuff like early Fallout and post Alexndria Walking Dead.
Anyone else start to really dislike the protagonist when they become too powerful?

193 comments • reddit.com

Feel like its a common thing in SFF to have the hero become some king/general of a huge army in the penultimate book. Thats ok, although if the story relied heavily on underdog trope it can suffer.

But then theres the stories where the protagonist starts to believe their own hype, that just makes me hate them. Even if they maybe should feel great about themselves, just something about it ticks me off. I start to actively–futilely–root against them.

Dune is probably the best subversion of this trope, showing the true horrors of a god king, are there any others? Not necessarily like dune, but stories where the protagonist is punished if they ever get too full of themselves?
What is in your opinion the next big fantasy series in any medium?

391 comments • reddit.com

When I say big. I mean ASOIAF, Wheel of time, Cosmere, first law, One Piece big, Malazan.

Many big series seem to come and go, but it feels like a while since a truly huge maginificent bomb fell in any medium.

I just love good series that have not released yet and to burn with the fanbase.
What will be the next big thing?

r/books

RIP to the mass market paperback book

710 comments • inforum.com

Publishers Weekly last month reported that ReaderLink, the largest full-service distributor of hardcover, trade and paperback books to booksellers in North America, will stop distributing mass market paperbacks at the end of 2025.

“Having worked at a bookstore since 2016 and reading different things that we get from publishers, I wasn’t surprised. I knew that it was coming,” said Anne Paulson, manager/bookseller at Cherry Street Books in Alexandria, Minnesota. “It’s been on the table for a while now. Yeah, I feel sad, because they’re more affordable. It may take brand new books out of people’s hands who could maybe not otherwise afford a brand new book. You could pick up a paperback in line at the grocery store.

ETA: archived article link

ETA #2: one librarian’s take in the comments on recent changes in the wholesale mmpb book market:

https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/1qiyvub/comment/o0w10bv/?context=3
There Is No Comfortable Reading Position

574 comments • slate.com
Readers are returning to physical books

607 comments • westernmassnews.com

The digital age has opened remarkable doors for book consumption. Readers can listen to audiobooks during commutes and download entire author collections to single devices with just a few taps.

Yet despite this convenience, physical book sales are surging as readers choose to step away from screens and pick up something tangible. Joan Grenier, owner of Odyssey Books in South Hadley, said customers are seeking authentic community connections. “People are looking for that experience in their community and to know their booksellers by first name and know something about their family…it’s a rootedness that, I think, people are looking for,” she explained.
Judge orders Anna’s Archive to delete scraped data; no one thinks it will comply

157 comments • arstechnica.com
AI Can’t Replace Critical Thinking: Reading Is How You Build It

280 comments • forbes.com
The one thing I've learned about book readers is that they move 10 times a year apparently

726 comments • reddit.com

So, every time the subject of e-readers comes up, no matter what context, no matter what is being talked about, there will be 40 replies saying, “It’s much easier to move with an E-reader.”

It’s such a common reply, it’s become a trope it itself.

Even in real life, someone will see me with a kindle, and – without knowing anything about me – they’ll say to me: “It’s so much easier to move with a kindle”

Like, okay? How often are most people actually moving? Is this a commonality among all book readers?

Here’s the thing: I HAVE actually moved three times in the last two years, funny enough, and the books were the LEAST annoying part of it. It was actually fun, getting a new chance to arrange them. Now KITCHEN stuff, THAT was annoying. I hate moving kitchen stuff. Can I have an e-Kitchen Aid?

But I absolutely have no problem moving books. Knick-knacks are annoying. Random pantry stuff is annoying. But books pack …

r/printsf

Dark, horror/cosmic horror SciFI

117 comments • reddit.com

There’s this subset of horror sci-fi that has always fascinated me, but I’ve never been able to find enough of it. I’d describe it as follows:

The universe is lonely and dark, with no known species apart from humanity. If there are, they’re either extinct or disturbingly incomprehensible and hostile. Tech is highly advanced but life is hard for most people (cyberpunk elements?) and humanity has not expanded very far, eking out a fragile existence across ludicrous distances. Space is a desolating, unexplored and crushing frontier, in it only exists cold, hard vacuum or mind-shattering horrors. There’s nobody to hear you scream. Apocalyptic themes aren’t necessary but very welcome.

The Alien movies and their extended universe pretty much have all the features I’ve mentioned. Other examples are the Revelation Space series (Chasm City was my first read and I loved it, the rest of the series not so much but it was enjoyable.) The Gone World, Ship …
What do we call this genre…and how do I find more of it?

96 comments • reddit.com

So I stumbled onto Bobiverse by Dennis E. Taylor and when that ended I found Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir and now I just finished Kitty Cat Kill Sat by Argus/Forrest Taylor.

It’s a lot about technology, about building and salvaging stuff, some space battles and a lot of aliens. The all have a kind of dry humor and are hopeful of the future. Are they any more stories like this out there in the universes?
Looking to scratch a strong itch for unsettling, bleak, haunting SF horror!

146 comments • reddit.com

The central theme being an unknowable force, an alien or cosmic entity, or even a mysterious creature. But it needs to be legit unsettling. I’m going to mix in a bunch of inspiration and what I’m looking for hits somewhere in between all these:

Blindsight (book)

The X-Files (show)

Annihilation (both book and movie)

Event Horizon (movie)

The Thing (movie)

Under the Skin (movie)

Solaris (book)

Signs (movie)

Thanks for your suggestions!
My "Witty List": A review of books with "witty" characters suggested by this sub.

40 comments • reddit.com

A little more than a year ago, I asked this sub for a list of recommendations. I wanted some books with witty characters, and from responses, I managed to compile quite a list! It took me a long time to read (almost) everything that people suggested (and I’ve done some other reading besides), but yesterday I finished the last book on what I called “Witty List”.

Here’s a rating of the books I’ve read. Strap in, this is going to be a long post.

Note: for every book, I give two ratings: how I liked the book overall, and how witty I found it. This is because some books on the list are actually very good, but I’m not sure that I and the person who suggested it have the same definition of “witty”. Also, note that I use mostly Goodreads-like rating system where 1 = “I didn’t like it” and everything higher ranges from “it was OK” to “I loved it”.

Books are roughly in order of reading.

“Dungeon …
Any stories where baseline (aka current) humans no longer exist in favour of different trans/posthumans

160 comments • reddit.com

Hey all, been hankering for some weird and wonderful future depictions of humanity. Whilst lots of examples certainly exist, there always tends to be some pesky bog standard humans around to act as an audience surrogate of sorts. I’m wondering which authors have attempted to tackle futures where homo sapiens as we know them today have entirely made way for transhumans or posthumans.
Links to interesting SF book blogs

19 comments • reddit.com

I’ve just been updating my old bookmarks folder, mostly cool little blogs that review old science fiction books. Hope it’s useful to some of you!

Luminist (Downloadable PDFs of most of the old science fiction pulp magazines): http://www.luminist.org/archives/SF/

Blackgate: https://www.blackgate.com/category/editors-blog/

Strange at Ecbatan: https://rrhorton.blogspot.com/?m=1

Science Fiction & Other Ruminations: https://sciencefictionruminations.com/

Featured Futures: https://featuredfutures.wordpress.com/

Worlds Without End: https://blog.worldswithoutend.com/

Dark Worlds Quarterly https://gwthomas.org/

Classics Of Science Fiction: https://classicsofsciencefiction.com/best-science-fiction-short-stories/

Rob Hansen’s Fan Site: https://www.fiawol.org.uk/fanstuff/index.htm

Mporcious Fiction Log: https://mporcius.blogspot.com/?m=1

Sci-fi At Dark Roasted Blend: http://www.scifi.darkroastedblend.com/2008/01/wonder-timeline-sf-retrospective.html?m=1#Time_1930s …

r/television

Matt Damon Says Netflix Wants to Restate the ‘Plot Three or Four Times in the Dialogue’ Because Viewers are on ‘Their Phones While They’re Watching’

993 comments • variety.com
Dame Prue Leith leaves The Great British Bake Off

441 comments • bbc.com
Jeopardy! tournament runner-up invited back after producers admit they incorrectly ruled on Daily Double response

184 comments • tvinsider.com
'Fallout' Season 2 Ranks as Prime Video's 6th Most-Watched Season Ever, Amazon Says

437 comments • thewrap.com
How British comedy series 'Taskmaster' is taking over the US

677 comments • eu.usatoday.com
Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord | Official Trailer | April 6 on Disney+

1109 comments • youtube.com

r/movies

Matt Damon Says Netflix Wants Movies to Restate the Plot Three or Four Times in the Dialogue Because Viewers are on Their Phones While They’re Watching

4002 comments • variety.com
Ryan Coogler's 'Sinners' has made history as the most nominated film of all time at the Oscars with 16 nominations

4254 comments • bbc.com

PREVIOUS RECORD HOLDERS:

‘Titanic’ (1997)

14 Nominations (and 11 Wins)

‘La La Land’ (2016)

14 Nominations (and 6 Wins)

‘All About Eve’ (1950)

14 Nominations (and 6 Wins)

‘Gone with the Wind’ (1939)

13 Nominations (and 8 Wins)

‘From Here to Eternity’ (1953)

13 Nominations (and 8 Wins)

‘Oppenheimer’ (2023)

13 Nominations (and 7 Wins)

‘Shakespeare in Love’ (1998)

13 Nominations (and 7 Wins)
Director Gore Verbinski says Unreal Engine is 'the greatest slip backwards' for movie CGI

1393 comments • pcgamer.com

“I think the simplest answer is you’ve seen the Unreal gaming engine enter the visual effects landscape,” Verbinski said. “So it used to be a divide, with Unreal Engine being very good at video games, but then people started thinking maybe movies can also use Unreal for finished visual effects. So you have this sort of gaming aesthetic entering the world of cinema.”

“I think that Unreal Engine coming in and replacing Maya as a sort of fundamental is the greatest slip backwards,” he said.

He pointed out the types of visual effects made with Unreal aren’t necessarily bad. “It works with Marvel movies where you kind of know you’re in a heightened, unrealistic reality. I think it doesn’t work from a strictly photo-real standpoint,” he said.

“I just don’t think it takes light the same way; I don’t think it fundamentally reacts to subsurface, scattering, and how light hits skin and reflects in the …
‘Marty Supreme’ Becomes A24’s Highest-Grossing Film Domestically With $80 Million

1056 comments • variety.com
Warner Bros. Discovery Says Over 93% of Shareholders Have Rejected Paramount’s Takeover Offer

335 comments • variety.com
First Images of Olivia Colman and Peter Dinklage in 'Wicker' - Follows an isolated, mocked woman who commissions a basket maker to weave her a husband (played by Alexander Skarsgård)

353 comments • i.redd.it

TV & Books #48

Sat, 17 Jan 2026 07:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #48

r/fantasy

I'm Jim Butcher, Ask Me Anything!

1253 comments • reddit.com

My name is Jim Butcher, the author of the Dresden Files, the Codex Alera, the Cinder Spires, and a Spider-Man book for Marvel!

My latest Dresden book, Twelve Months, comes out this Tuesday! Ask me anything!

****************************************

Okay, my laptop is running out of power and I have a couple of written interviews to get done before I knock off for the day!

Thank you so much for your questions and your time today! I know I couldn’t get to all of them, and if I missed you, I hope you’ll come back for more next time around! For the folks planning on being at my signings, I look forward to seeing you in the next couple of weeks!

Jim
Katherine Applegate - Animorphs getting a 30th anniversary rerelease with new covers

90 comments • facebook.com
Anyone else has a setting they dislike reading?

436 comments • reddit.com

I profoundly dislike stories that take place in deserts or sandy cities for some reason. To the point I actually try to avoid reading any middle eastern-inspired fantasy because I just don’t like the setting. Started reading Deadhouse Gates, the second Malazan book, and man, while I’m liking the characters, the change of continent was not it for me.

Do you have an irk with a particular setting when reading a book?
Locke Lamora and the Art of Not Losing Your Mind

85 comments • reddit.com

I just finished re-listening to The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch.

This series was recommended to me by a coworker many, many moons ago—back when I was a young(er) man newly released into adulthood, reading novels, and, frankly, an actual moron.

That first book lit the fuse. It sparked a love of fantasy and kicked off an adventure that’s carried me through some truly terrible life lessons alongside moments of absolute, incandescent beauty. Right now, I’m firmly in the former camp, and winter has never really been my favorite liquid in a tea-shaped vessel.

So I went back to my “happy place”—you know, the Adam Sandler-with-a-golf-club kind—where you fend off grief and rage by focusing on something sharp, funny, and alive. For me, that meant returning to Locke.

I’m making this post for two reasons.

First: if you’ve been on the fence about this series, or if it’s been sitting on your list while you tell yourself “soon”—stop.
Stop what you’re doing and read this damn book. Read …
Literary Fantasy

428 comments • reddit.com

Hey guys,

The fantasy genre seems to have veered pretty hard into action (LitRPGs) and romance (Romantasy). I would say that even popular ‘regular’ fantasy, like Abercrombie or Sanderson, doesn’t have much to really SAY beyond the stories they’re trying to tell. Even when attempted, I think they’re either beating you over the head with it, or offer little nuance and depth.

Now that isn’t necessarily bad. I enjoy a Marvel movie here and there too, but it would be pretty disappointing if all cinema was different flavors of Marvel films. And lately fantasy has been feeling exactly like that to me, and it has become stale.

So I wanted to ask, are there any newer fantasy books that actually explore deep themes, whether psychological, political or philosophical, and do it well? Tolkien did it, Lewis did it, Le Guin did it, Gene Wolfe did it, but I struggle to name any modern authors that have done it at that level.

I’ve not read Robin Hobb or Sun …
Books with unattractive/ugly female main character.

261 comments • reddit.com

I haven’t read any fantasy books with an unattractive female main character. I have read a few with unattractive main male character though(Light bringer, first law).

So I would love some recommendations! It’s fine even if it’s not the main character but at least a somewhat important character. Romance also isn’t necessary, but I would like it. As a below average looking woman I would love to read about female characters who aren’t attractive.

r/books

Gen Z are arriving to college unable to even read a sentence—professors warn it could lead to a generation of anxious and lonely graduates

3398 comments • fortune.com
I joined a local bookclub, the gender balance is wild

2440 comments • reddit.com

So I recently joined a local bookclub, mainly to chat about books and also get given different genres to try out that I’d never choose normally.

It’s been awesome so far, but the one thing that really stood out was the extreme gender imbalance.

I kinda expected there to be more females than males, but out of 42 current members 40 are female. A 20:1 split is far more extreme than I expected.

Is this normal in general? Or just a local quirk or something? 🙂
Arkansas inmates can no longer receive physical books, newspapers, etc.

371 comments • ktlo.com

The Arkansas Board of Corrections approved the change, which a Department of Corrections spokesperson said takes effect on Feb. 1. Prison officials said the restriction was needed in order to tamp down on contraband being smuggled into prisons.

Critics say such restrictions, however, severely limit access for people in prison to reading materials since the offerings in prison libraries and on prison-issued tablets can be limited or outdated.

The issue of sending books to inmates came up for me once or twice when I was a used book seller. The person wanting to have a book sent to an inmate needed to come to me, the bookseller, to send the book from my store, along with assurances that it didn’t contain contraband.

ETA: wow, thanks to all the contributors here! Searching the phrase “books to prisoners” may be able to get you into contact with a local non profit organization which will likely be up on the latest rules in your state.

In other news, happy 150th …
In interview, George R.R. Martin says that he doesn't want to abandon Winds of Winter

1180 comments • hollywoodreporter.com

“I would hate that,” Martin says [of giving up on the series]. “It would feel like a total failure to me. I want to finish.”

He also says that he has about 1,100 pages done and is constantly re-writing; that nobody will finish the books for him if they are unfinished upon his death; and that he is working on Dunk and Egg as well. “There’s supposed to be another Fire and Blood book, too. I do think if I can just get some of these other things off my back, I could finish The Winds of Winter pretty soon. It’s been made clear to me that Winds is the priority, but … I don’t know. Sometimes I’m not in the mood for that… I’m so far behind on everything.”

Largely another check-in on things we already know, as far as ASOIAF is concerned; but people interested in the ongoing shows will find some interesting tidbits.
Breaking: Acclaimed author Craig Silvey charged with child exploitation offences

424 comments • abc.net.au

Very shocking news, can’t believe it.
Extracting books from production language models - Researchers were able to reproduce up to 96% of Harry Potter with commercial LLMs

227 comments • arxiv.org

r/printsf

Thank you to the community for recommending The Children of Time series.

43 comments • reddit.com

I’ve read a lot of SciFi books over the years and I’ve of all the modern SciFi (last 30 years) I’d say the first three books of the Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky, are the best I’ve read, especially book three. Simply great books. Three great books that do what SciFi should which is push our thinking and imagination.

Thank you to whomever made a comment in 2025 recommending this series to someone else and I happened to catch it. Thank you.
The r/printSF best Sci-Fi books of all time BookGraph - 2026 Edition

359 comments • reddit.com

The BookGraph is an interactive network map that is built in real time (almost) using your comments. Contribute by leaving a comment with your top five science fiction books of all time in the correct format and come back in 20-30 minutes to see your place in the interactive map. You can think of the BookGraph as a community preference map, you can use it to look for titles and authors that have been enjoyed by members of the community with similar tastes to yours.

https://bookgraph.shinyapps.io/printSF_all_time_2026_ed/
(if you’re feeling brave you can try out the new features like user clustering and sortable rankings in the unstable version )

Your five votes need to be at the top of your first comment and follow the format “Book Title by Author’s Name”, with each vote on a new line. Only the first 5 lines are read, and only the first comment for each person is checked for votes. That means you’re perfectly able to stick around and comment after you have voted without …
I own basically every SF novel that was published between the 1950s and 2000. Give me your recommendations.

186 comments • reddit.com

I may have gone a bit overboard with book buying.

After a few big hauls I now own a lot of science fiction mostly stuff from the 1950s through the early 1990s.

I love collecting and I love reading, but at this point I’m basically standing in front of my shelves without an idea where to go from here.

So I’m looking for recommendations from you all. I’m especially interested in niche picks, overlooked gems, or just books you personally love from that era. Hard SF, New Wave, weird stuff, forgotten classics, Soviet SF, space opera i’m open to all.

If there’s a specific book you’re curious about, feel free to ask and I’ll check if I’ve got it. And if people are interested, I can also post shelf pics or photos of specific covers.

EDIT: Sorry I may have been exaggerating, let’s say there are around 5-6000 books I assume. Sorry for maybe giving fales hopes. I will post some pictures later, sadly it’s not that orgnanized yet and the books are all German translations. Most of …
'Blindsight' Ramble

96 comments • reddit.com

I just finished “Blindsight” by Peter Watts. This seemingly unremarkable passage from “Blindsight” keeps nagging at me. It may actually be incredibly revealing…

“I tried to brake. My stupid useless legs kicked against vacuum, obeying some ancient brain stem override from a time when all monsters were earth-bound, but by the time I remembered to use my trigger finger the lab-hab was already looming before me.”

The central question of the book, “What is consciousness good for?” is never really answered. And the obvious theme is that consciousness is a liability. The more self-aware each actor is, the less agency they have — the less rapidly they can react to situations, the less brainpower they can bring to bear on complex problems.

This passage seems to suggest a more subtle differentiation between the self-aware consciousness (ego/superego) that we humans experience and a less-self-aware form of human consciousness (ego death), …
Space books featuring unconventional warfare

121 comments • reddit.com

Hey all, been growing a bit weary of the usual space operatic warfare that permeates a lot of science fiction over the years. You know the type, big space navies battling it out in orbit, flinging autocannons, missiles, lasers and what have you at each other. I’m looking for more imaginative approaches to warfare amongst the stars.
I am looking for books that either take place on the Moon or are about the Moon

179 comments • reddit.com

I love our Moon. Just looking at it, my mind is filled with possibilities. I think near-future or (relatively) low-tech books are probably closer to what I am imagining. I am not looking for books that are merely set on the Moon, but rather for stories that interact with it in meaningful ways.

Thanks!

r/television

r/movies

Zoe Saldaña Becomes Highest-Grossing Actor of All Time With ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’

1268 comments • variety.com
Star Wars Shake-Up: Kathleen Kennedy Steps Down as George Lucas Protégé Dave Filoni, Exec Lynwen Brennan Take Over Lucasfilm

2935 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
James Cameron Says He Must Find a Cheaper Way to Produce the Avatar Movies in Order to Continue With Avatar 4 and 5

2157 comments • ign.com
Hey /r/movies! I'm Sam Raimi. Ask me anything!

3537 comments • i.redd.it

Hey reddit. I’m Sam Raimi. You might know me as the director (and sometimes writer) of The Evil Dead Trilogy, the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man Trilogy, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Drag Me To Hell, Darkman, A Simple Plan, For the Love of the Game, The Gift, and other things. I’ve also produced and/or acted in a few things!

I’m here today to answer your questions.

My new film, SEND HELP, is out in theaters January 30 via 20th Century Studios. It stars Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien. More info:

Synopsis:

Two colleagues become stranded on a deserted island, the only survivors of a plane crash. On the island, they must overcome past grievances and work together to survive, but ultimately, it’s an unsettling, darkly humorous battle of wills and wits to make it out alive.

SEND HELP is directed by genre-bending visionary Sam Raimi and stars Oscar-nominee Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien. The film is produced by Raimi and Zainab Azizi, …
The Oscars Can’t Pretend Anime Doesn’t Exist Anymore - After decades of snubs, massive global hits like 'Demon Slayer' and 'KPop Demon Hunters' are forcing the Academy to rethink what counts as award-worthy animation.

1353 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
Indy the Dog wins Best Performance in a Horror or Thriller at 2026 The Astra Film Awards for ‘Good Boy’

353 comments • dexerto.com

TV & Books #47

Sat, 10 Jan 2026 07:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #47

r/fantasy

I'm really enjoying Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, but I cannot get over the courtroom scene

181 comments • reddit.com
I’m not the first to whine about this - this thread on r/books three years ago raises the same issue. But where the op in that thread got frustrated by the continuity issues, my issue is the actual courtroom stuff. It bugged me enough to pause my audiobook, look up a PDF of the novel, and go back through to count the number of times Weir got it fundamentally wrong. In the span of about 3 pages, there are at least 9 serious errors about how US federal courts work:
- The district court is referred to as Justice Meredith Spencer. The correct title is judge. The only federal court justices are in the supreme court.
- Some kind of “Intellectual Property Alliance” would almost certainly not have standing to sue. You can’t sue unless you personally are harmed (with some very very narrow exceptions). An individual entity - an author or publisher or something - could sue someone for infringing on specific IP. I could imagine a bunch of these publishers banding together to …
The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow is the best book I have read this millennium (no spoilers)

129 comments • reddit.com

I honestly don’t remember the last time I stayed up all night reading a book, but I couldn’t put this down. I’m struggling to find the words to describe how good it is, possibly because I’m terrible at putting my thoughts into words lol. I’ll keep it simple - the prose is incredible, and the story is brutal and beautiful all at once.

Here’s the blurb:

Sir Una Everlasting was Dominion’s greatest hero: the orphaned girl who became a knight, who died for queen and country. Her legend lives on in songs and stories, in children’s books and recruiting posters―but her life as it truly happened has been forgotten.

Centuries later, Owen Mallory―failed soldier, struggling scholar―falls in love with the tale of Una Everlasting. Her story takes him to war, to the archives―and then into the past itself. Una and Owen are tangled together in time, bound to retell the same story over and over again, no matter what it costs.

But that story always ends the same way. If they want to …
How to Write Absurdly Well — Adrian Tchaikovsky

111 comments • youtu.be

Probably the best Sci-Fi/Fantasy author interview I’ve ever seen. Gives great insight in how Adrian Tchaikovsky approaches his novels. Warning: Containts spoilers about some of his books.
I would much rather have a basic, by-the-numbers fantasy world that is tightly woven and consistently feeds back into itself than a ‘unique’ fantasy setting that throws new ideas at the wall without considering how all of these elements fit together.

88 comments • reddit.com

What basically prompted this was me playing Final Fantasy XVI for the first time, and the setup for this world is so freaking played out, it’s almost satirical.

“There’s these big crystals that people mine for smaller crystals and people use the smaller crystals to cast magic that have different elemental properties.”

That exact fantasy world has been done a million times over.

But where Final Fantasy XVI excels at is taking that super basic foundation and then asking ‘Okay, now what does that *mean?*’ and then answering that question over and over and over again.

It asks:

• Who controls the crystals?

• What happens when they run out?

• How does this shape borders and wars?

• How do religions interpret them?

• How do rulers justify their power through them?

• What does daily life look like for people who depend on them?

• What happens when access to magic is unequal?

And suddenly, you have a world that feels very lived in.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Kitchen Sink fantasy …
I just realized that the Goblin Emperor is not the story that I've thought it was.

52 comments • reddit.com

For years I’d see The Goblin Emperor get recommended on here and I’d get confused as to the context of where it got recommended as all this time I thought it was a YA romance, not a tale of political fantasy.

Turns out that I’ve accidentally been thinking of The Hollow Kingdom by Clare B. Dunkle instead whenever I’d come across the title of The Goblin Emperor.

Oops.
Are trilogies becoming 5 book series as a new trend?

239 comments • reddit.com

Both Fourth Wing and The Black Witch series are on record stating that they were originally a trilogy, and got stretched out to 5 books (whether it be author or publisher decision). And they both have seemed to suffer for it with the books becoming overly padded and decreasing in quality.

ACOTAR is also awaiting its 5th book after being a trilogy, and it is generally accepted that the Throne of Glass Series is of better quality having been a planned out 8 book series. Is this a new trend just to make money, or a bad decision by authors? Has this been happening for a while or is this just a coincidence?

r/books

Ex-Nickelodeon star opens up about ‘twisted’ age-gap relationship that started on set and inspired debut novel

737 comments • independent.co.uk
Nothing snaps me out of a book like repetitive use of a unique word

2850 comments • reddit.com

Reading Shadow of What Was Lost, and in the span of a single 10 page chapter, the author used various iterations of the word “gape” seven times. I had already been struggling with the book, finding much of the writing sophomoric. But that sequence of use might have been the final nail…

I’ve had this issue before. I can’t think of any examples, but it drives me absolutely batty and really speaks to the lack of editing - which I think this book suffers from elsewhere. But is this just a me problem?

I’ll try to stick it out, because everyone raves about the series. It just reminds me of a lesser Rothfuss.
Is America Becoming Illiterate?

1646 comments • reddit.com

A recent Atlantic article (pay walled but I will summarize below) suggests America is not as literate as it once was and warns of a sharp decline in reading habits.

From 2022, a *Survey of Public Participation in the Arts*^(1), found ‘less than half of Americans had read a book in the previous 12 months and a study from the University of Florida and University College London^(2) found that, year-on-year, the number of Americans reading daily declined 3% each year from 2003 to 2023.’

In another revealing statistic, only ‘14% of 13-year-olds read for fun, down from 27% a decade earlier.’^(3)

The article goes on to talk of the need for people to read more challenging books, approaching reading in a ‘growth mindset’ manner but suggests these kinds of arguments often fall on deaf ears and rarely persuade people to do so.

The author then posits it would be better to treat reading as a ‘vice’, shrouding it with counter-culture undertones, making reading ‘cool’ again. The …
AI-generated isekai novel that won a literary contest Grand Prize and Reader’s Choice award has its book publication and manga adaptation cancelled

827 comments • automaton-media.com
HarperCollins will use AI to translate books - they think you won't notice

456 comments • reddit.com

I came across a video covering this news and was absolutely in shock. All links will be shared below in the comments. [Edit 2: I never withheld the links. It seems the Mod bot might have removed it. I tried sharing them in parts.]

HarperCollins has apparently ended the contracts of their English-to-French translators for their Harlequin imprint books and will now use AI for translation instead. When I looked for other sources for this, I noticed there was one article from 2024 “quietly” announcing HC would be using their books to train third-party AI models for 2500 USD, with the authors’ permission. And now they’re using AI for translation.

We need more eyes on this issue to stop this practice and avoid Al slop books from taking over. It’s not just HarperCollins. It takes a lot of practice, experience, cultural understanding, and sheer dedication to bring a work into translation.

Edit: We’ve already seen what a disaster AI translation is in the …
Utah Begins 2026 by Banning Three Books at All Public Schools Statewide, Leads U.S. In Bans

711 comments • bookriot.com

r/printsf

Help, I need more SF competence porn 😭

281 comments • reddit.com

I get turned off by plots that rely on the protagonist making dumb decisions or being conveniently clueless just to drive the story forward.

I know Project Hail Mary isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it was good competence porn at least. Same goes for The Martian and House of Suns.
Ursula Le Guin in Kim Stanley Robinson's "Mars Trilogy"

43 comments • reddit.com

In Kim Stanley Robinson’s “Mars Trilogy” there’s a character called Ursula Kohl, one of the first people to settle on Mars.

The word “kohl” refers to a black powder and dark substance, typically used to darken the skin.

The surname “Le Guin”, meanwhile, means “white” or “fair”, and is derived from the Celtic/Old French gwenn or guin, a nickname for fair-complexioned people.

So Stanley’s “Le Guin” is like a reflected version of the real life Le Guin, who was his professor, friend and mentor. Fittingly (or coincidentally), Ursula Kohl is also the co-inventor of a gerontological treatment in the “Mars Novels”, which allows her to extend her life, which in a sense Stan does as well by letting his friend live on to the late 22nd century.

EDIT - Some people are saying that this surname is coincidental, and I agree that it may be. But note that Stan does have a history of …
New Scifi By Alastair Reynolds and Stephen Baxter - this month!

36 comments • reddit.com

I check the io9 site monthly to see if there are going to be any interesting Scifi releases in the sea of YA fantasy. Turns out new books are going to be released by two of the most popular authors, both on Jan 27.

Halcyon Years by Alastair Reynolds

“A private investigator is hired to look into a mysterious, high-profile death aboard the starship *Halcyon* in this fresh new science fiction masterpiece from the creator of the beloved Revelation Space universe. Strap in for a gripping murder mystery.” (January 27)

Hearthspace by Stephen Baxter

“Thousands of years ago, a massive colony ship arrived at the Hearth—the celestial birthplace of millions of planets, ranging from habitable earth-like worlds to unimaginable hellscapes of pressure and heat. Using lightsails to navigate, humanity has spread itself across dozens of these worlds. But they have also forgotten their beginnings, where they came from… and a terrible secret is about to be unveiled.” (January 27)
The best new (or most high profile) science fiction books of 2026

80 comments • newscientist.com
Looking for recommendations of Space Opera with large scale, varied species and well written alien perspectives

113 comments • reddit.com

My wife and I love well written space operas. We love Adrian Tchaikovsky who does a great job with non-human POVs, and Vernor Vinge, whose Zones of Thought were of glorious scope. We loved the Vorkosigan universe but want more aliens. I liked Honor Harrington at first but the thinly veiled polemics got old quickly. We’re looking for suggestions of writers and series we might enjoy that are new to us, any thoughts?
Yet Another Review of Peter F Hamilton's "Pandora's Star" - TLDR; loved it a lot

46 comments • reddit.com

Background - read lots of Adrian Tchaikovsky, House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds, the entire collection of Hyperion novels, Snow Crash, 3-body problem series

Thanks to this forum, I ordered Pandora’s Star a few weeks ago and now – I would rank Pandora’s Star as probably the most engaging

In a way its a mishmash of parts from all these other novels put together, with a dose of Erle Stanley Gardner (Perry Mason) thrown in

And yes, it is very Anglo-centric, with a hell of a lot of stereotypical portrayals of women, ethnicities and cliches dating from when this was written

But by God, this novel made me not put it down once I got past the halfway mark. I even pushed out some work related calls so I continue reading till the end, lol

It probably has the most clean cut / hard sci fi, despite some fantasy element, and the author actually spends time on his characters, cliche as they may be.

That enzyme bonded concrete is mentioned like a gazillion times, but world …

r/television

Apologies to Jack Ryan. I stopped watching after season 2 finale where they stormed Venezuela presidential palace because it seemed way too unrealistic

558 comments • reddit.com

In Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan season 2 finale, their team stormed Venezuela presidential palace which I thought was absurd. I even went to Imdb and ranted about it which I almost never do.

Now what once was ridiculous, is border line prophetic.
No, There’s No Secret ‘Stranger Things’ Episode 9 Tomorrow: Conformity Gate Isn’t Real

1777 comments • web.archive.org
"When truth leaves us, when we let it slip away, when it is ripped from our hands, we become vulnerable to the appetite of whatever monster screams the loudest. This Chamber’s hold on the truth was finally lost..." - Mon Mothma's speech in Andor

491 comments • youtube.com
'Heated Rivalry' star Hudson Williams says closeted professional athletes have been reaching out privately

568 comments • ew.com
Corporation for Public Broadcasting Votes to Dissolve After Loss of Federal Funding

629 comments • thewrap.com
Bowen Yang Explains ‘SNL’ Exit and Confronts Criticism That He Had ‘No Range’: ‘Anytime I Would Try’ Something Different, People Still Said ‘He’s Being Gay and Asian as Always’

690 comments • variety.com

r/movies

Jack Black Regrets Turning Down ‘The Incredibles’; Rejected Offer to Voice Syndrome After Asking the Director for Rewrites

1344 comments • variety.com
Streaming services shrinking credits to throw ads at you is so wildly disrespectful to artists and throws cold water over any ending.

719 comments • reddit.com

I honestly don’t know why more people don’t complain about this, so here’s me complaining about this.

Against my better judgement I decided to watch The Gorge on Apple‘s streaming platform, and boy it turns out even an ending as trite as that can be further undercut by Ted Lasso’s beaming face.

I remember the story about how George Lucas had to go non-union or pay fines to the director’s guild because he refused to open Star Wars with credits. They cared about them that much. Now, in space year 2026, apparently every professional association of filmmakers give not one solitary shit about credits, allowing as they do every single streaming platform to shrink them to Borrower size so they can Run Some Fucken Adverts. “Yes you just watched Schindler’s List for three hours and change, but stop processing it there’s not a moment to lose, have you heard about House MD? We’re gonna play it in 5 seconds unless you tell us not to.”

This is Apple’s own movie, these are their …
Tim Curry behind the scenes of "Ferngully: The Last Rainforest" (1992), recording Toxic Love

378 comments • v.redd.it
Warner Bros. Discovery Rejects Paramount’s Latest Offer As Inferior To Netflix Deal

637 comments • deadline.com
Box Office: ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ Flies Past $1B

2273 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
New image from “Toy Story 5” courtesy of USA Today

1264 comments • i.redd.it

TV & Books #46

Sat, 03 Jan 2026 07:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #46

r/fantasy

the writing in wheel of time is a bit frustrating.

473 comments • reddit.com

i am now on crown of swords, about halfway through. and the book is just ok. lord of chaos was really good and my favorite so far. it’s the only one i loved all the way through. book 4 was also excellent. but the farther along i get in this series, the more i realize jordan’s writing isn’t really that strong.

he repeats himself so much it’s quite annoying to be frank. “she sniffed” “breasts, bosoms” “woolheaded man” “WOMEN” “she smoothed her skirts” “braid tugging” like my god dude. the gender dynamics are of course really poor in this series. i’m sick of hearing about how men hate women and women hate men. the repetition is what bothers me the most though about the entire series. i also think some of the plot threads are generally uninteresting at times. i can only hope the rest of the series is great. i can’t wait for sanderson to take over so i dont have to hear breasts all the time.
What exactly *is* the Malazan series?

157 comments • reddit.com

I recently read the first book. It didn’t take me long to fall completely in love. I loved everything about it. Strong interesting characters, a compelling plot, world-building for days, and overt use of scary powerful magic unlike any other fantasy I’ve read.

Then at the end of the book, there were a lot of loose ends for characters and plot. I assumed this would be fine, as with any fantasy series, because I still had many books left to devour…

I have now begun book 2, and I’m a bit derailed and a bit disappointed/possibly devastated (?). Not only are we on a whole new continent, but we’ve also left behind about 90% of our main characters?

Do future books eventually circle back? Do all these plot threads and character arcs eventually get resolved? What’s up with the author change partway through the series (that can’t be good, right?)?

This could end up being one of my favorite series of all time, but I don’t know if I should …
I read 40 books this year - these are my top 5

80 comments • reddit.com

It was the year of dense fantasy series and fluffy romance novels…and now I just sound like a Dickens novel. I tell everyone that I tend to prefer the writing of female authors. To my dismay, this list, unfortunately, does not reflect that sentiment. I feel I owe my gender an apology. I’m sorry - will you forgive me? Now, in no particular order:

The Age of Madness series by Joe Abercrombie

“Winning teaches you nothing,” said Tunny. “You see what a man really is when he loses.”

I have to be honest. I still need to finish the last book of this series. It’s not because this series isn’t fantastic. It’s because it’s so fantastic that I need to mentally and emotionally prepare myself for the final instalment. This might be a hot take, but I think The Age of Madness series is better than it’s prequel, the First Law series…?

Joe’s writing is not lyrical. It’s grimy and straightforward. His characters are not pretty. They’re dirty and morally-corrupt. But somehow he makes me care about the …
It's not strictly fantasy, but I strongly recommend fans of the genre try the incredible Warlord Chronicles trilogy by Bernard Cornwell

49 comments • reddit.com

Most people know of Bernard Cornwell through his popular Saxon Stories series (also adapted to The Last Kingdom TV show), but he’s one of the best historical fiction writers in general out there today, and has written some other really good series.

IMHO his magnum opus, and the series I’ll be glazing today, is the amazing Warlord Chronicles trilogy, made up of the following books: The Winter King, Enemy of God and Excalibur.

The Warlord Chronicles, at a high level, is essentially a grounded, “realistic” re-telling of the King Arthur myths. The story in these books is told through the perspective of Derfel Cadarn, a soldier who goes on to become one of Arthur’s closest friends. It incorporates basically all of the major characters in the Arthurian folklore, including Lancelot, Guinevere, Merlin, Galahad, Mordred, Tristan and Isolde etc., as well as some of the popular concepts such as Camelot, the Knights of the Round Table, Excalibur and more. A big part …
That excitement when the prologue is about a badass villain or other cool mysterious character, and then the disappointment when the book cuts away and we are stuck following some "relatable" schmuck for the next 100 pages...

107 comments • reddit.com

s to some of the great background mysteries of the world. But then, inevitably, the action cuts away, and we are left following the main characters, who are almost always less interesting (to me at least).

I am currently reading The Crimson Queen by Alec Hutson, which is a great example of this: The prologue shows a powerful shadowy cultist or sorcerer. We learn only tidbits about, and I was gobbling it up and thirsting for more. But that lasted only 10 pages or so. After that we are saddled with this rather bland fisher-boy for several chapters. (I am not saying that The Crimson Queen is a bad book. Far from it. But so far I am not attached to the main guy.)

For me, relatability is not very important (possibly related to my autism spectrum disorder). The main character is seldom my favourite. Most of the time my favourite characters are the larger-than-life ones, be they heroes or villains. As such, the prologue is often one of my favourite bits, and the “character …
Fantasy Book Where Bureaucracy is Portrayed as a Good Thing

140 comments • reddit.com

Quite frequently I feel fantasy treats bureaucracy as an annoying obstacle for the MC to overcome. I’m interested to see if there are any fantasy books (or comics, TV shows, etc) that explore the pros of bureaucracy? Like maybe bureaucratic institutions are dissolved and then people realize they were necessary, the MC bypasses bureaucratic processes and there are unintended consequences, the main problem of the book is solved by going through bureaucratic institutions, etc.

r/books

NASA's Largest Library To Permanently Close On Jan 2, Books Will Be 'Tossed Away'

634 comments • ndtv.com
A county fired its entire library board for refusing to ban a trans children’s book

93 comments • lgbtqnation.com
Did you read more than two books last year? You read more than the half of the US according to new Yougov poll on American's reading habits.

666 comments • yougovamerica.substack.com
Tomorrow is Public Domain Day in the United States. Copyright expires on books by Faulkner, Hammett, Christie, Waugh, Dos Passos and Freud.

108 comments • web.law.duke.edu
Get in here if you hated "A Little Life" (long rant)

355 comments • reddit.com

OK, I have some complaints to make, so sit back and relax (SPOILERS, OBVIOUSLY)

First of all, yes, I read all 814 pages, but the last 300, maybe even half, were a hate read. In fact, that’s my first complaint - how was this thing not edited down? Did we really need another “Jude cuts himself” scene? Another “Jude is back in the hospital” scene? An Andy or Harold “I’m worried about you Jude” scene? Another detailed description of a fancy dinner, party or trip? Is the author aware how many people “he” could refer to in the story as many times as she used that pronoun?

Here’s more: There were so many flashbacks that it was hard to follow the current narrative in the timeline of the book. A character would begin to do something, think back to an incident years ago, and 20 pages later finish the task. There would be years-long leaps in time where the reader would then have to be caught up in what happened in the interim. It …
Do you give poor ratings to bad books?

686 comments • reddit.com

A few weeks ago I went to a bookstore where they had an author promoting their book. The concept seemed cool so I spoke to them and bought a copy.

Y’all. This book is BAD. Like, the descriptions are so terrible I could barely figure out what characters were doing or where they were, the plot was boring, the characters were as memorable as the extras in a B horror movie. Just bad.

I went on Goodreads after reading it to see it had like 4 stars! Apparently this person is popular on TikTok and has a large following who bought their book and gave it 5 stars.

I want to give this book like 1-2 stars. It is certainly the worst thing I have read in years. I just kinda feel bad because this is a newbie author who is really excited. There is only 1 other book I have read in my life that is worse than this - its that bad.

Do y’all give honest ratings online?

r/printsf

Are there any first contact books but the aliens are so advanced that they don't really acknowledge humans as intelligent species

282 comments • reddit.com

Like how humans don’t really stop and acknowledge bugs, are there any books where aliens are so advanced that they don’t consider humans as intelligent species?
Survey of Must-Read Sci-fi Literature

286 comments • reddit.com

I read a healthy mix of modern and classic science fiction. But as an academic, I like to really dig into topics/genres. Recently I’ve put together a list based on online lists and some previous posts on subreddits like this one of classic must-read books in the genre. I would love to know if there are any important works that I’ve overlooked.

Edit: Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I have added many of your recommendations to the list and organized them all by year. I have left out anything published in the 2010s or later, as well as short stories. (Not that those aren’t important, I just had to draw a line somewhere, and this is already at over 100 books.) Hopefully this new list is more representative.

19th Century - Frankenstein - Shelley - 1818 - 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Verne - 1870 - The Time Machine - Wells - 1895 - War of the Worlds - Wells - 1898

Pre-1950s - Princess of Mars - Burroughs - 1912 - We - Zamyatin - 1924 - Last and First Men - Stapledon - 1930 - …
I’m blown away by qntm’s There is no Antimemetics division! Please recommend what to read next

76 comments • reddit.com

same as caption! I am reading their work for the first time
SF that just entered public domain

18 comments • reddit.com
In the US, works that were published in 1930 just entered public domain. There are some interesting addition this year:
- Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon. Quite dense reading, but it’s one of the most influential books for modern SF. Along with Star Maker, which will enter public domain in 7 years, it established many tropes that are used in literature till this day.
- Short stories by Robert E. Howard. Some of his stories, including two from his Solomon Kane series, were published in 1930. At the time of writing, three of these stories have already been added to Project Gutenberg.
- Other Weird Tales stories from 1930. Full list is here. Note that some works have been republished from earlier years, so they are already in public domain. I don’t recognize most authors, but I’m curious about Lovecraft’s Fungi from Yuggoth.
- Various mystery books. Not directly SF, but had influence over future SF literature. These include Hammet’s The Maltese …
Reading in the New Yaer

26 comments • reddit.com

A new acquisition. Something beautiful to read on a cozy winter morning.
Recently read The Sparrow, yesterday finished Children of God

61 comments • reddit.com

I must say the Sparrow caught me off guard, hit me hard and left me drained and haunted. It was a disturbing story that ended with hardly any resolution and I really wondered why it’s so popular. The prose and presentation is beautiful, the story itself original and unexpected.

I felt really sad afterward. I did a short search and realized there’s a sequel and finished it yesterday with the goal of cleansing the palette and establishing resolution and I’m super grateful I read it.

To read the Sparrow and not CoG would be heartbreaking. The level of detail on the language and culture in both books was wonderful and unique in the sci-fi realm. The books combined is a beautiful story that I will read again, and maybe again.

As a whole I loved it.

Is there any other must reads by Mary Doria Russel or are these her pinnacle?

r/television

‘Scooby-Doo’ star Matthew Lillard has advice for Netflix's live-action Shaggy: “Do your best job to represent your version of him, and at some point, you're going to be in public and some kid's going to call you Shaggy, and understanding that's a badge of honor rather than anything else."

209 comments • polygon.com
Chevy Chase Had “Full Meltdown” on ‘Community’ Set After N-Word Incident Leaked, Said “My Career Is Ruined”, Director Recalls

1130 comments • people.com

{“document”:[]}
Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair | Official Teaser | April 10 on Hulu

674 comments • youtube.com
Stranger Things S5 : The “Netflix look” and green screen look has gone too far.

1228 comments • reddit.com

Over lighting, sets that look fake as hell. The over use of depth of field to blur the background on almost every scene and shot.

Hardly any practical effects even when it could have been done. I am just so tired of this sloppy look. Not even going to mention the horrible exposition heavy dialogue where they explain what they are doing every 20 seconds.
Stranger Things Started as a Triumph of Trauma Bonding. It Ended as a Casualty of the Franchise Machine

934 comments • time.com
Frasier is ruining my life

588 comments • reddit.com

I’ve had some time off these holidays so I started Frasier. I watched all the seasons in about a week. I have no friends, I work a job that is dead end but pays enough to keep me going. I live in the PNW so the Seattle setting is quite relatable. I come home, I watch Frasier, I go to bed.

I have unfortunately created a parasocial relationship with the cast. I speak like Frasier and Niles at work sometimes to the point my coworkers commented “you sound different.” I’ve started buying more menswear even though I’m a mechanic. I’ve been reading Freud and Jung even though I have no idea what they’re talking about. I’m Frasiering out, I’ve gone too deep in Frasier space and I need to Frasier myself out, I’ve even gotten a shrink just experience being spoken too in the way Frasier would speak to a patient.

I know it’s a phase and it’ll end in a couple months but it just feels so right to live like this, a glimpse into the Frasierverse from a disciple.

r/movies

Idris Elba receives Knighthood: The actor is being recognized for his contributions to film & television, alongside his charity work.

531 comments • theguardian.com
‘Zootopia 2’ Becomes Disney’s Highest-Grossing Animated Film Ever With $1.46 Billion, Beating ‘Frozen 2’

1005 comments • variety.com
Interstellar - The Docking Scene. 2014, dir Christopher Nolan

857 comments • v.redd.it
I saw 290 movies in theaters in 2025. Here is my full ranking.

1414 comments • reddit.com

Every year, I go to the movie theater as much as possible. It’s my favorite place in the world. I first started keeping track/scores/reviews/ticket stubs in 2015. Since then, I’ve seen 1,827 different movies in theaters: 5 in 2015, 9 in 2016, 146 in 2017, 162 in 2018, 192 in 2019, 44 in 2020, 86 in 2021, 270 in 2022, 325 in 2023, 298 in 2024, and 290 this year.

For this ranking, I’m only counting movies I saw in theaters, nothing that I watched at home. I’m not counting re-watches. I don’t have a specific scoring system, it’s just a rating I give to the movie right after watching. I’ve included a few re-releases, short films, and TV series, as long as they were seen in a theater (and for the first time). This is all just for fun and not meant to be taken super seriously, I’m not a professional movie critic. I just like going to the movies.

I attended 9 film festivals in 2025 for a total of 124 movies. 97 movies had cast and/or crew in …
Isiah Whitlock Jr. Dies: ‘The Wire’ Actor & Frequent Spike Lee Collaborator Was 71

393 comments • deadline.com
Avengers: Doomsday | Only in Theaters December 18, 2026

2369 comments • youtube.com

TV & Books #45

Sat, 27 Dec 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #45

r/fantasy

A Plea: please put an author's name when talking about a book!

173 comments • reddit.com

This may be a futile plea, but I feel like it’s such a small, easy piece of etiquette to follow, and yet often isn’t. So many times, I see posts talking about a book (often effusively), without ever actually mentioning the author’s name. It’s such an easy thing to do, makes it easier for people to look up the book you’re talking about, and eliminates any ambiguity!

I feel like people need to remember that, while they know what they’re talking about, it might not be immediately obvious! There are 4 books called Fire and Ice, nevermind if someone does in fact mean A Song of Ice and Fire; there multiple books called Palimpsest and The Alchemist. Even if someone talking about Assassin’s Apprentice is probably referring to the Robin Hobb book, there are multiple books titled that, as well as series with the same name.

There are plenty of times where I’ve seen someone talking about a book which I don’t recognize, and the title is just …
Why are there so many people criticizing sexual scenes in fantasy books?

518 comments • reddit.com

I’ve been reading fantasy for about three years now—Tolkien, Brandon Sanderson, Patrick Rothfuss, Robin Hobb… And in most of their works there are hardly any sexual or sensual scenes at all. I don’t think it’s just a matter of the authors, because when there is even a hint of one, like in The Wise Man’s Fear by Pat Rothfuss, all I see are criticisms, labeling them as “scenes for teenagers,” when I really don’t think that’s the case at all.

I’m a big fan of Ken Follett’s storytelling and narratives, and I don’t consider his books to be young adult at all. Anyway, I’d love to know your opinion on this.
Dungeon Crawler Carl works for me

148 comments • reddit.com

I kinda accidentally fell into reading litrpg because I didn’t know the market had changed toward them. Much like Isekai in anime, though, the whole fantasy of, “I got the hax ability that trivializes all the conflict in the story,” has never worked for me. And what works less is reading/hearing a character stare at stat menus and grind for several chapters at a time.

It’s literally why I don’t like playing MMORPGs, and though I get that this is the exact flavor people are looking for, I have never been so done with a genre that fast.

Some people somewhere on this site suggested DCC when I mentioned this feeling before. I was reticent, between the genre and the slant toward comedy, but despite my doubts, Dungeon Crawler Carl actually works.

It feels like the first time when the gaming system isn’t just for the minmaxxers, but sort of like how magic systems work in other stories. We’re not pausing to stack our levels, they’re going up …
Best “Can’t Put It Down” fantasy series to gift a 15-year-old boy who’s fallen out of reading?

584 comments • reddit.com

My baby brother used to read fantasy when he was a kid, but hasn’t been reading a lot lately. Frankly he’s been on social media a lot and I think it’s been a bit toxic for him and I’d like to encourage his reading again and just came up with the idea to get him a small set to get him into something different that will take his attention away from that a bit. So something preferably really addicting/immersive from the start. I haven’t read it yet but, I was thinking A Wheel of Time? Any better ideas?
1600 Books, 10 Years: A Decade of Favorite SFF

57 comments • reddit.com

The other day I went to add a new book on Goodreads and realized, quite by chance, that it was the 1600th book I’d logged as read on the platform. As 2025 is also my 10th year on Goodreads, it felt appropriate to make a post to celebrate the occasion. So, without further ado, here is a list of the top 5 SFF books I have read in each of the past 10 years, some bonus non-SFF books for certain years, and general musings about my reading journey.

(Note that I haven’t actually read 160 books a year for 10 years; when I joined Goodreads I backfilled books I read prior to joining).

(Also note that I am limiting myself to one book per series because otherwise this would be a very boring list).

2015

The year I joined Goodreads, I read 34 books total. Thinking about 2014 and earlier, I think I probably read 10 books or fewer a year. I went through a journey very similar to a lot of folks I’ve seen on Reddit where I read voraciously as a kid, and then by the time I was in …
Can you actually separate the author from the book when the author turns out to be awful?

252 comments • reddit.com

I’ve been a fantasy reader forever, and I always used to roll my eyes at the whole “separate art from artist” debate because it felt like internet noise. Lately though I keep running into the same situation: I’m halfway through a series, I’m invested, then I stumble on a real scandal about the author. Not just “they were kind of rude in an interview” but stuff that makes your stomach drop. And then I sit there with the book open and I feel weirdly guilty for even enjoying it. I know the usual arguments. Buying the book can fund the person, but also it funds editors, cover artists, narrators, bookstores, etc. Libraries exist, used copies exist, borrowing exists. At the same time, seeing the name on the spine starts to feel like I’m quietly cosigning them, even if I know that’s not logically true. I’ve tried the “just focus on the story” approach and sometimes it works, other times I can’t stop thinking about it and the magic just drains …

r/books

What would a romance novel for a male audience look like?

1313 comments • reddit.com

I was reading a post about the lack “mean girl” female main characters in romance novels and one of the users quite insightfully pointed out that the audience for romance novels are women and women who read romance novels aren’t usually women who were or identified with “mean girls”.

So they’re not at all interested in reading about the women that bullied them high school finding love lol. They’re interested in the sweet, quirky, (sometimes virginal) girl who falls in love with the brooding, grumpy, sexy male romantic interest who sweeps them — meaning both the character and the reader — of their feet.

This leads me to ask, what would the male version of a romance novel look like? Yes I know there’s a small minority of men that read them but they’re guests. They’re not the targeted demographic.
“In The Dream House” by Carmen Maria Machado made me realize my last long term relationship was abusive.

52 comments • reddit.com

I know it’s about an abusive lesbian relationship. And I am a cis bisexual man. But reading about an abusive relationship with an unexpected, non traditional type of abuser really got me thinking. And the more I read this book the more I have “uh huh been through that… uh huh this happened” until finally now at about half way through I just realized “holy shit my gf abused me.”

This book has impacted me so so so much. I never really realized how much I trained myself to just think about the pain I went through as weakness and not abuse. Just wanted to tell someone. And I highly recommend this book. I’ll probably read a lot more by Carmen Maria Machado in the near future.
David Walliams dropped from Waterstones Children's Book Festival

226 comments • bbc.co.uk
What's your favorite "meaning of life" book? I recently read a short book by Camus and was really affected by it.

282 comments • reddit.com

The past year has been rough. As it comes to an end, I found myself reflecting, replaying so many failures, and thinking about purpose and meaning. So I asked a few people what they’d recommend if someone wanted to read a book about the meaning of life, fiction or nonfiction.

The suggestions were predictable…and weren’t: Man’s Search for Meaning, The Alchemist, The Stranger, The Midnight Library, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Happiness Trap, and other philosophical and spiritual books by authors like Ram Dass, Alan Watts, Eckhart Tolle, Marcus Aurelius and other Stoics, and so on.

Of the ones I read, a short one was quite interesting and I like to mention it because it has stayed with me, or the main ideas have. I’m talking about Albert Camus’s The Myth of Sisyphus.

Camus begins from the premise that life has no inherent meaning, and this fact creates what he famously calls “the absurd.” The absurd isn’t that that life is meaningless (that’s what …
I kind of hate the mantra of 'if you're not enjoying the book stop reading.

473 comments • reddit.com

I’m reading jane eyre atm, and im on the last 100 pages, and I have to admit it has been a bit of a slog, in parts. It’s old, it’s dense, and while I love gothic fiction, romance is not a genre I gravitate to. Having said that, I’ve found reading it an incredibly rewarding experience. This has happened to me with a lot of books, especially classics or well-regarded but difficult books. I wouldn’t say I’ve always enjoyed the experience, but more often than not, by the end of a well-regarded book I’ve at least been able to understand why it has such praise.

Now I went on r/books to see a discussion about jane eyre and saw so many people say If you’re not enjoying it, stop reading.” And I found myself getting a little frustrated. Like, is art just for enjoyment? If all we did was read page turners full of subject matter we gravitate towards, how many excellent books would be missed? The same goes for films. I feel like with difficult …
I had to say goodbye to my old Encyclopedia Britannica set

152 comments • theglobeandmail.com

r/printsf

Literary sci fi

171 comments • reddit.com

Anyone here interested in reading more literary sci-fi? Meaning it’s not action or plot driven, but more contemplative. Slow burn where you immerse yourself in the world and debating or philosophizing on the price of progress etc.
Red mars is sick

98 comments • reddit.com

Space elevator
Finally read some Adrian Tchaikovsky

74 comments • reddit.com

He’s been on my to-read list forever so over the past few weeks I read the Children of Time books. Seriously great stuff. He does a really good job with world-building and focusing on characters as well as plot. Stephen Baxter’s Evolution was what got me into hard sci-fi in the first place, and CoT in some ways felt like that. Really looking forward to Children of Strife. Which book of his should I read next?
Someone posted this on another sub. But I'm getting a real "Annihilation" vibe (the book, not the movie).

33 comments • v.redd.it
"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch": "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" by Robert A. Heinlein.

34 comments • reddit.com

Some of the novels and collection I’ve read by Heinlein so far has been some of his earlier stuff and also a couple of his mid-period novels “Starship Troopers” and “Stranger in a Strange Land”. So naturally going into that top spot also is another of his mid-period books is “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress”.

The novels he did during are mixed but there are some really nice gems also, and this one from 1966 is one such gem. A story about a group of colonists on the moon who start a revolution with the help of a self aware super computer. This is where the phrase “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch”, or TANSTAAFL, appears.

Really love this one, it is both serious and funny at the same time, with some pretty great characters like the narrator Manuel (who sounds kind of like a Russian) and the super computer Mike. A common theme that Heinlein always returns to in his books is usually about personal responsibility and …
Can't remember the name of a book where heatsinks in the spaceships are a critical aspect of the story.

19 comments • reddit.com

Read this a few years ago, but that could have been any time in the last 6-8 years. I think the book was published around that time, but am not sure. It’s not long, probably no more than 300 or so pages, possibly shorter.

What I remember of the story and setting:

There is an ongoing battle over contested space and the fighting is done by relatively small ships, kind of pill or hockey-puck shaped if I recall correctly. They try to stay hidden in hyperspace/underspace/XYZSpace as long as they can to ambush other ships when they emerge in real space, but in this ‘underspace’ they can’t dump heat, so the heat is stored in large internal heatsinks. This limits how long they can stay in their hunting mode, and the have to come into real space to vent heat, and have to stay for long enough to vent enough to allow them to get back into the ‘underspace’. While they to this they’re vulnerable and mortality of crews and ships is incredibly high. …

r/television

Dave Chappelle Roasts People Comparing Charlie Kirk To MLK Jr: 'That's A Reach' "Can you imagine if Dr. King was behaving like Charlie Kirk?" the comedian asked in a surprise new Netflix special.

1129 comments • huffpost.com
'The Wire' Star James Ransone Dead at 46 After Apparent Suicide

802 comments • tmz.com
‘Pluribus’ May Be Slow, but It Was Never Boring

1839 comments • variety.com
Vince Gilligan on Pluribus being a ‘plus’ in a world of ‘Tik-Tok paced storytelling’

1493 comments • esquire.com
“I think it’s a tonic - a slower form of storytelling. It’s a plus in a world of very fast-paced editing and TikTok videos that are only a minute long. If the whole world were to move at that pace, that TikTok pace of storytelling, that would be very sad to me. I think there is a certain percentage of the viewership - I like to think it’s large enough to sustain shows like this - that is ready for a slower pace. It’s fast food versus home cooking. I like a slower pace of storytelling, because to me that is one of the great tools you have when you’re endeavouring to inject a certain amount of showmanship into your storytelling.”
- Vince Gilligan
So well said!
Johnny Carson book exposes 'Tonight Show' ban list featuring Jay Leno, Ellen DeGeneres

329 comments • foxnews.com
Netflix just dropped an ad spoiling several of their series during their Christmas Day NFL game presentation

685 comments • reddit.com

Might be the worst idea for an advertisement I have ever seen.

r/movies

James Ransone, ‘The Wire’ & ‘It: Chapter Two’ actor, dead by suicide at 46

1700 comments • nypost.com
The Odyssey | Official Trailer

3825 comments • youtube.com
New Poster for 'No Other Choice'

260 comments • i.redd.it
Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014) - The Romeo & Juliet law scene, in which a 20 year old man describes how he can legally date Mark Wahlberg's 17 year old daughter by showing the law printed on a laminated card he keeps in his wallet.

1120 comments • v.redd.it
Avengers: Doomsday | Only in Theaters December 18, 2026

3861 comments • youtube.com
How did Taylor Sheridan go from writing heartbreaking, thoughtful, and poignant films to writing disposable, propagandistic, soap operas?

1304 comments • reddit.com

My first exposure to Taylor Sheridan was 2015’s *Sicario*. Directed by Denis Villeneuve, *Sicario* is a bleak story about the ultimate collapse of jurisdiction, legality, and morality around the War on Drugs as national elements and interests slowly degrade into pure power politics. It has been called the *Apocalypse Now* of the War on Drugs, and while I don’t think *Sicario* is quite a film of that caliber I do think the comparison stands as legitimate.

The year after *Sicario* was released, 2016, saw the release of a crime tragedy set in West Texas titled *Hell or High Water*, directed by David Mackenzie. *Hell or High Water* is a great films, as all of the performances, settings, and dialogue create a sincere and disturbing look at rural poverty in America. The film, ostensibly a heist film, features characters fully formed from the land which reared them. The cars they drive, the way they talk, and clothes they wear all appear to the audience as sincere to the setting …

TV & Books #44

Sat, 20 Dec 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #44

r/fantasy

Is the entire Wheel of Time series worth the time and investment?

750 comments • reddit.com

I’m somewhat of a newcomer to the fantasy realm, and have made my way through some of the big-name series that aren’t as big and daunting as WoT. I do want to give it a shot since it’s considered part of the Mount Rushmore of the genre but there are a couple of things holding me back:

- The sheer length of the series, especially what I hear about the infamous “slog” in the middle - is it as bad as people make it out to be?

- Brandon Sanderson writing the last few books. I tried a few of Sanderson’s own works and found them to be quite lacking when it comes to prose, dialogue and characters - does it impact the quality of WoT as a whole?

Otherwise though I really would love to give the series a shot, given all the great things I hear about the overall narrative, worldbuilding and character development. So far, of the series that I’ve read, the ones I’d consider S-tier are Lord of the Rings, A Song of Ice and Fire, Robin Hobbs’ …
I will always love Rob Reiner.

23 comments • reddit.com

I grew up in the VHS era, in a big family, where every day there was a squabble over what to put on the tv. One of the few movies that everyone loved was The Princess Bride. But I especially loved it because it was one of those rare movies that felt tailored to me. Got my nerdy fantasy loving side, my sense of humour, my optimism tinged with cynicism.

To think someone who gave considerable magic to my childhood should die in such an awful way really breaks my heart. RIP Rob and Michele Reiner.
What is the worst “Chosen One” trope example?

757 comments • reddit.com

What novels/movies implement the Chosen One trope the worst? Not which “chosen one” did the worst.

I’ll start. By no means do I think One piece is a bad story, rather I think it’s one of the best ever written. >!However it’s implementation of the Chosen one trope through Luffy and his Sun god Nika fruit/being joyboy incarnate I think was poorly done. !<
Fantasy series where the final book is the best one

461 comments • reddit.com

We’ve all been there: a series starts off strong, maybe even gets better along the way, but then the finale can’t quite stick the landing and ends up feeling disappointing.

There’s something especially satisfying about a series where the final book doesn’t just meet expectations, but completely knocks it out of the park. Looking back on everything I’ve read, only The Return of the King and The Hero of Ages really fit that bill for me.

So I’m hoping for recommendations of fantasy series where, in your opinion, the final book is the strongest in the entire series.

I don’t enjoy dark fantasy, sci-fi, or horror. Other fantasy subgenres are fair game, and I do enjoy romantic subplots as well. The Farseer trilogy and the Red Rising series are already on my TBR for next year, and I’m curious how they stack up on this front as well.
The Hierarchy by James Islington Book 3 Title Reveal: THE JUSTICE OF ONE

64 comments • jamesislington.com

A lot of us were theorizing that it would center on “one”, but I never thought it would be justice! I thought something like “Burden” would be the word here. I like that it’s going from more—>less, i.e. “many,” “few,” “one.” What’s next? The [Noun] of None?
Wheel of Time Humble Bundle

94 comments • humblebundle.com

Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time full series available on Humble Bundle for just $18.

r/books

Stephen Fry launches campaign to boost reading for pleasure

203 comments • theguardian.com
Kids Rarely Read Whole Books Anymore. Even in English Class.

1089 comments • nytimes.com
US librarians tackle ‘manufactured crisis’ of book bans to protect LGBTQ+ rights

336 comments • theguardian.com
Richard Osman among authors backing call to issue library card to all UK babies

106 comments • theguardian.com
Are we falling out of love with nonfiction?

793 comments • theguardian.com
Massachusetts lawmakers push new rules that limit ability to challenge explicit library books, critics say

115 comments • share.google

r/printsf

I finished all the hugos...

210 comments • reddit.com
I’m not the first or the last here to say it, but perhaps the most recent! I just finished the last of the 74 Hugo winners for best novel. Here’s my unsolicited thoughts and lists for your bemusement, criticism, and reflection!

If seeing my list makes you think, “wow, I bet they’d love _____”- please let me know! Always looking for new recommendations!

EDIT: idk how that wild formatting happened. Copied from google docs. Sorry about that!

My absolute favorites (in no order):

The Left Hand of Darkness (1970) and The Dispossessed (1975) by Ursula le Guin.
```
In my opinion the best writer and the best written novels of the whole lot. The worldbuilding is excellent, the character development in engrossing, the societal commentary is timeless, and the stories are just downright entertaining. 
```
The Three Body Problem (2015) (and the following two books of the trilogy that didn’t win Hugos) by Cixin Liu.
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The epitome of “hard sci-fi”. Somehow, Liu pairs the …
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What is the best opening line of printed SF ever?

482 comments • reddit.com

And why is it “The sky over the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.”
Legendary Star Trek writer David Gerrold has started a GoFundMe as he battles Leukemia

43 comments • gofundme.com
Spin is one of a kind sci fi. Everyone should read it

70 comments • reddit.com

So, its been a few months since I finished reading spin, but I still think about it from time to time. It did something most other sci fi don’t do. It focused on the world surrounded by the phenomenon and did it in a way that made the story beautiful and/or elegant.

Now, I haven’t read a lot of sci fi. I’ve mostly read the popular ones like Asimov and Herbert, some crazy ones like Egan and Watts and modern ones like Reynolds and Cixin Liu and Tchaikovsky. I’m not sure where spin sits in between all of these, but this book did something most sci fi I’ve read didn’t do. The whole story felt way more personal. The sci in the fi was a backdrop and the story was about the people dealing with it. Normal people who are not going to solve it alone.

To me the story feels nostalgic, which makes sense to some extent, given that its written in a memoir type way, but I personally loved it. I also liked how some mysteries we never truly learn about, like what …
Michael Swanwick's obituary of John Varley

30 comments • floggingbabel.blogspot.com
I really didn't like Ancillary Justice.

185 comments • reddit.com

I got it out of the library a moth ago. I was expecting an action-packed story with clever insight on gender roles. What I instead got was a boring slog that took too much time developing context and got too excited about its ideas to focus on plot.

r/television

Rob Reiner, Wife Michele Found Dead in Their L.A. Home with Knife Wounds

1037 comments • tmz.com
'Game of Thrones' Star Kit Harington Says He Spent 10 Years Playing Jon Snow and Doesn't Want to "Go Anywhere Near It": "No, God No"

600 comments • ign.com
'The Expanse' at 10: The Outer Space Drama That Should Have Been as Big as ‘Game of Thrones’

1016 comments • space.com
‘SNL’ Shocker: Bowen Yang to Exit Cast After Saturday’s Episode

787 comments • variety.com
'Fallout' Season 2 Opens To 100 Percent On Rotten Tomatoes

302 comments • thegamer.com
‘Go ahead and sue me, I’m not afraid any more’: South Park’s festive special isn’t afraid of a fight

363 comments • theguardian.com

r/movies

YouTube Shuts Down Channels Using AI To Create Fake Movie Trailers Watched By Millions

1674 comments • deadline.com
Legendary Director Rob Reiner ('This Is Spinal Tap', 'The Princess Bride') & Wife Michele Singer Found Dead in LA Home in Apparent Homicide

2766 comments • people.com
Official Poster for Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey'

2531 comments • i.redd.it
Physical Media Is Becoming Cool Again - Consumers of all ages are looking to discs to get offline and away from algorithms, and for a younger generation, it’s seen as “vintage.”

1268 comments • washingtonpost.com
Oscars Moving from ABC to YouTube Starting in 2029

1621 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
Rob Reiner Appreciation: A Really Good Man And A Great Director

239 comments • deadline.com

TV & Books #43

Sat, 13 Dec 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #43

r/fantasy

Brandon Sanderson sells 50 million books

463 comments • reddit.com

Brandon Sanderson has confirmed that he has now sold over 50 million copies of his novels. We only had confirmation earlier this year that he’d reached 45 million, so this is an impressive achievement.

Back in January 2024, I assembled the latest incarnation of my “SFF All-Time Sales List,” which had sales figures of 40 million for Brandon (in 29th place). These were very healthy figures.

The updated figures for Sanderson would move him up to around 23rd place, just behind Diana Gabaldon, Casandra Clare, Robert Heinlein, Richard Adams and Terry Brooks. Very healthy company to be in. Unsurprising as in the meantime he’s released his long-awaited fifth Stormlight Archive novel, Wind and Truth, short novel Isles of the Emberdark, and is now working on a return to his perennially popular Mistborn sequence, with a new trilogy projected to begin publication in 2028. He’s also just published a short story collection, Tailored Realities, and has confirmed a new …
I read 40 indie fantasy books in 2025. Here are my 6 favorites.

141 comments • reddit.com

I made it a goal this year to exclusively read indie and self-published fantasy books. I wanted to see if the stigmas around self-publishing were valid, or if they were mostly grounded in generic stereotypes (but we’ll dive more into that in another post).

The point of this post is to highlight the hidden gems I discovered from author submissions. So, out of the 40 books I read, here are my top 6 favorites:

6. Isaac Unknown by James McFadden

This is an urban fantasy that feels like the show Supernatural. The main character reminded me a little of Dean Winchester as he went about these little adventures to get rid of classic monsters. I’m usually not a huge fan of urban fantasy, so it was nice to have my expectations subverted here.

5. Demonology & the Art of Pickling Demons by Matt Moore

I know the title is a little outrageous, but this was a fun read. It’s more for YA audiences I’d say, but it’s a great coming of age story about a boy who learns …
Someone please explain like I'm 5: What is the difference between 'Sword and Sorcery' and 'High Fantasy'?

306 comments • reddit.com

I have been trying to figure out what the difference between these two sub-genres is. Every time I look it up, I either see conflicting responses or I see definitions that don’t really seem distinct from each other. Can anyone explain, as basically and succinctly as possible, what exactly each sub-genre is and how each differs from the other?
Are there any fantasy series that doesn't revolve around war?

322 comments • reddit.com

Wheel of Time, Game of Thrones, The Lord of the Rings, Stormlight Archives, Harry Potter, The Wandering Inn, Dungeon Crawler Carl. All lead to war or culminate in it. Any good series that doesn’t?

Kinda getting tired of grand battles and want something different. Sure, Kingkiller might not but who knows when that’ll happen.
How fantasy handles rebellions and revolutions, and why some of them feel wierdly hollow

260 comments • reddit.com

One of my favorite things in fantasy is watching a society fall apart or change under pressure. Give me barricades, secret meetings in basements, magic being used to print illegal pamphlets, all of that. But the more I read, the more I notice how many fictional revolutions feel strangely weightless once you step back from the cool moments. Alot of books hit the same beats - evil empire, ragtag rebels, one big battle, then we cut to “and then everything got better”. No one is arguing about food shortages, no one is mad that the chosen hero just replaced one monarchy with another, the city just sort of snaps into a nicer version of itself. It can still be fun, but it leaves me feeling like I watched a fireworks show instead of a real change, if that makes sense.

What really sticks with me are the stories that slow down and show what rebellion actually costs people who arent on the front line. I love when the magic systems get tangled up with class and power, when the rebels …
Mother of Learning: Time-Loop Fantasy at Its Peak.

115 comments • reddit.com
I’ve watched my fair share of time-loop stories—Groundhog Day, Edge of Tomorrow, Palm Springs, and more. I love the genre, so when I heard about Mother of Learning, often called the gold standard of time-loop story, I had to try it. Last week, I completed my third read, and it genuinely hurts me that this novel still doesn’t receive the recognition it deserves.

Things I Liked the Most
- A true progressive fantasy. Zorian (protoganist) doesn’t level up magically overnight. He studies, fails, repeats, refines, and improves. It’s character progression that actually makes sense.
- The protagonist is not the chosen one.
- Time-loop mechanics is explained properly. Unlike most time-loop stories that rely on mystery or convenience, this one spells out its mechanics in a way that is coherent, structured, and believable.
- No romance. Personal preference, don’t like half baked romance in my fantasy novels.
I could praise this story all day, but honestly, it’s better if new readers go in …

r/books

Librarians Are Tired of Being Accused of Hiding Secret Books That Were Made Up by AI

330 comments • gizmodo.com
Margaret Atwood: The Handmaid’s Tale has become ‘more and more plausible’

183 comments • theguardian.com
Confessions of a Shopaholic novelist Sophie Kinsella dies, aged 55

299 comments • theguardian.com
Confronting Evil - DO NOT READ

533 comments • reddit.com

Confronting Evil by Bill O’Reilly is sold as a nonfiction book about some of the worst villains throughout history, and the events that resulted from their actions. I was really excited to read this book. It seemed interesting, and I was curious about the conditions and personalities that lead to atrocities. I quit in the third chapter because NONE OF IT IS PROPERLY RESEARCHED. O’Reilly made an accusation against king Henry VIII that didn’t seem right, and was in fact disproved by the shallowest google search possible. I then went to the book’s reference section. Of the 11 chapters most have less than 5 sources, and all these sources seem to be for things like newspaper articles and population data, not biographical information. His chapter on New Orleans slaver has ONE SOURCE. This could have been a really cool book, and it is instead a massive waste of time. The only good thing about this book is that I got it from the library instead of paying good money for it. If you’re interested …
US Supreme Court won't hear Texas library book ban case

223 comments • chron.com
Why you should read The Count of Monte Cristo

426 comments • reddit.com

What I am about to write probably FEELS like a spoiler but it really isn’t. Think of this as a contextual nudge so you can just hop on the ride and enjoy the twists and turns yet to come that leave your jaw on the GROUND.

Okay so long story short: it is the longest book that you never want to end and perhaps the greatest revenge story ever told. The first 100 pages have the narration putting the reader “in the know”. What that means is YOU see more than Dante than does. And what you see is an innocent young man get his life completely destroyed without having done anything to deserve it. Like, literally nothing. Nada. Zilch. It’s almost comical in how petty it is. He’s thrown in prison with NO idea why but you do.

Then the narration FLIPS after a couple of hundred pages… suddenly Dante knows more than YOU do as the reader and it remains that way for the rest of the book. He’s out of prison. He knows who did this. He knows who destroyed him. …

r/printsf

you really should read The Gone World (no spoilers)

80 comments • reddit.com

I just finished it, and thought it was an absolute masterpiece.

I described it to a friend as “probably the best quantum cosmic horror detective thriller you could ever want to read.”

I think the best way to think of it is as a novel-length, professional written SCP entry.

It IS a detective novel. Or at least, it keeps telling itself that, as a means of holding it together. The MC is an agent of a weird super special investigations unit. And she spends the story trying to solve some crimes.

What kind of crimes, what special investigations unit? Well…

Suffice to say, in this story, there is a quantum drive that allows you to take a trip into a possible future, and come back. Or, to the farthest reaches of space (to distant galaxies).

There is a lot to the mechanics of the way this works that is fascinating, mind-bending, and horrifying.

The horror aspect is right up front: it’s a horror novel as much as an sf novel, the horror elements seem gratuitous at …
Adam Roberts "Five of the best science fiction books of 2025" from The Guardian

104 comments • reddit.com

I’ve only read “There Is No…”, has anyone read the others? Roberts is one of my favorite living authors, so I’ll probably give them all a shot…

Circular Motion
Alex Foster (Grove)
Alex Foster’s novel treats climate catastrophe through high-concept satire. A new technology of super-fast pods revolutionises travel: launched into low orbit from spring-loaded podiums, they fly west and land again in minutes, regardless of distance. Since every action has an equal and opposite reaction, our globe starts to spin faster. Days contract, first by seconds, then minutes, and eventually hours. It’s a gonzo conceit, and Foster spells out the consequences, his richly rendered characters caught up in their own lives as the world spirals out of control. As days become six hours long, circadian rhythms go out of the window and oceans start to bulge at the equator. The increasing whirligig of the many strands of storytelling converge on their inevitable …
John Varley has Died

90 comments • sf-encyclopedia.com

Because of him I know more about Centaur reproduction than I ever imagined.
NPR: Books We Love: Sci Fi, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction: 2025

51 comments • apps.npr.org
Stephen Baxter's Titan is hard to read

44 comments • reddit.com

Reading this book makes my heart hurt. On one hand I’m glad NASA didn’t go this way and that people still dream about space. It’s not the 60s but the enthusiasm hasn’t died… I think. I hope.

On the other, it’s very hard to read about the fictional president Maclachlan and what he’s doing (and how the book paints him). Klan members out in the open, tariffs of 50% on China, a wall along the border, a stop to foreign aid, rolling back abortion rights, rewriting textbooks, even cutting off programs that “benefited blacks and other minorities,” to use the text. There’s more but you get what I mean.

Did everyone know this was coming, even back in 1997 when this book came out? Was it always so obvious? I hope this doesn’t count as stirring up political drama. It’s just uncanny.
Finished Shadow of the Torturer. I haven't felt this excited to keep reading a series.

78 comments • reddit.com

I just finished Shadow of the Torturer last night - wow. No BotNS spoilers please! This is unlike anything I have read, and I absolutely love the little mysteries buried throughout the novel (I’m sure I missed many, but that makes it more even exciting). I am actually giddy and can’t stop thinking about this book, something I haven’t felt since Hyperion.

That said, I rated the book ⁹⁄₁₀, docking a point for two minor reasons. I felt that Severian’s romantic dealings with about 17 different women was over the top. I also disliked the completely abrupt ending, but I do not hold anything against Wolfe for that knowing this is a continuous story.

I have never anticipated a reread so fast in my life. It might happen 3 years from now after I’ve consumed the entire Solar Cycle and a bunch of other literature, but I know it will happen and be rewarding to do so. This feels like when I learned you could modify Oblivion on the PC and use console commands - …

r/television

Iceland becomes the fifth country to boycott Eurovision over Israel’s participation

1003 comments • the-independent.com
'Fairly OddParents' voice actor Jim Ward dead at 66 - best known for his characters "Doug Dimmadome" and "Chet Ubetcha"

185 comments • tmz.com
Jason Bateman Says ‘I Read All Reviews’ and ‘Laughed My Ass Off’ When The New York Times Slammed ‘Ozark’ Acting as ‘So Boring to Watch’

492 comments • variety.com
'Everyone Disliked That' — Amazon Pulls AI-Powered ‘Fallout’ Recap After Getting Key Story Details Wrong

562 comments • ign.com
Netflix CEO says that DC will make more projects like The Penguin

594 comments • soapcentral.com
'The Pitt' Season 2 Premieres January 8 on HBO Max

370 comments • thewrap.com

r/movies

TV & Books #42

Sat, 06 Dec 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #42

r/fantasy

I'm Joe Abercrombie, Ask Me Anything.

1455 comments • reddit.com

I’m Joe Abercrombie, author of the First Law, Age of Madness, and Shattered Sea Trilogies, along with Best Served Cold, the Heroes, Red Country, and The Devils, which came out in May this year.

Most recently I’ve partnered up with Lit Escalates to do a special hardcover edition of the First Law trilogy via Kickstarter, with art by Joel Daniel Phillips, which will look something like this:

https://preview.redd.it/4lwq0lsd7m4g1.jpg?width=2231&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=872c0b6d52d1a7873328922a761c4fe989829ab8

The original plan was just to provide signed hardcovers for readers in the US, but since there’s never actually been a proper US hardcover release outside of some book club editions and some long ago sold out limiteds from Subterranean Press, the ambition expanded and we thought we’d try and make one ourselves.

PLEASE NOTE: I usually get quite a lot of questions, so I’m putting this up 24 hours beforehand, and I’ll return at 16.00 GMT …
Finishing Andor makes me mad at the state of Star Wars

302 comments • reddit.com

I hope this is not an abuse of the scope. I personally consider SW to be fantasy.

I finished Andor last night. The whole of season 2 I kept thinking that this is what all of Star Wars could have been, if not from the beginning, since the Disney take over. Well written adult stories with something to say, real world relevance, proper characters properly developed, villains that are more than cartoon characters, heroes of ambiguous character, regular action scenes that are more than just rule of cool.

I imagine what it would look like if Disney had treated the movies and shows with this much care and sophistication from day one. What the sequels could have been. What spinoffs we could have gotten over dross like Solo. I like the Mandalorian, but the rest of the IP is in a sorry state.

Turns out when people who care come at a project with ambition and ideas they can manage better than “Somehow Palpatine returned.”.
I cancelled Amazon subscription after reading Blood Over Bright Haven

227 comments • reddit.com

I didn’t cancel my subscription immediately after finishing Blood Over Bright Haven. More like the morning after, when I have time to start feeling a bit uncomfortable with the comfort of my daily life. What impact is it doing to the environment and other people?

I’ve always wanted to cancel Prime subscription but I couldn’t. It was so convenient… I did reduced my purchase frequency and tried to google search better deal before buying but I couldn’t get to the end of the cancellation screen. I forgave myself that this problem is with the government for allowing monopoly.

To be fair, my subscription continues until the end of the billing cycle. So maybe I need to reread this book to brace the inconvenience.

What other books do you recommend that make you feel uncomfortable (but in a good way)? I want to feel uncomfortable. It’s not right to take these comforts for granted.

[Edit] I’m not just buying books from Amazon. Some people in the …
Tor Books drops JV Jones, but allows her to self-publish last two SWORD OF SHADOWS novels

240 comments • reddit.com

Tor Books have - in my view unwisely - decided not to publish the last two volumes of J.V. Jones’s long-gestating Sword of Shadows series. Jones completed the penultimate novel, Endlords, early this year and has since been working on the final book, A Sword Named Loss.

The decision is not altogether surprising, as the first three books in the series - *A Cavern of Black Ice* (1999), *A Fortress of Grey Ice* (2002), *A Sword from Red Ice* (2007) and *Watcher of the Dead* (2010) - had been published a significant amount of time ago and the series had gone on hiatus whilst the author battled a large number of problems that had destroyed her writing time. Work on the series resumed several years ago, but at a slow pace as the author had a day job. Once she was able to work on the book full-time, *Endlords* was concluded relatively quickly, and she hosted an AMA here on r/fantasy earlier this year.

However, Tor themselves have form for resuming series that had spent many years on …
What’s the most creative military tactic you’ve read about?

343 comments • reddit.com

In A Practical Guide to Evil a battle is preemptively won by teleporting a lake and dropping it on the enemy army. I’ve been wondering if there are other creative magic ways battle have been won in fantasy fiction.
The Mighty Nein (Critical Role's new animated series) has been fantastic so far, especially the latest episode.

109 comments • reddit.com

I’m probably biased because I’ve been a Critical Role fan for a long time, but they really knocked it out of the park with The Mighty Nein. It’s less goofy and much more character-focused than The Legend of Vox Machina, and the longer episodes really make a difference.

Episode 5 was easily the best episode they’ve done, I highly recommend it! Even my fiance, who normally dislikes animated shows and fantasy, is loving it so far.

r/books

Libraries and museums get federal funding back after Trump cuts

45 comments • npr.org
Olivia Nuzzi’s New Book Gets Absolutely Pummeled by The New York Times and Other Critics: ‘Aggressively Awful’

430 comments • mediaite.com
Superman No 1 sells for $9.12m, becoming most expensive comic ever sold

68 comments • theguardian.com
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This

186 comments • reddit.com

By Omar El Akkad

I just finished listening to the audiobook that is narrated by the author. I would recommend listening to the book as you can hear exactly how the author felt as he was writing the book and listen to his emotions come through.

This was a difficult read in terms of subject matter. I felt devastated by his descriptions of the violence and death experienced by the Palestinians that he saw in the war. He talks about how he wishes he could un-see these tragedies and I felt the same after hearing about them. He also criticizes the western world for supporting the Israelis and turning a blind eye to the atrocities.

I also think this book does a great job of criticizing the western world for its hypocrisy in that it says all are entitled to freedom and justice, but it really only means a privileged few. In fact, the book argues that the western world is by design meant to leave out many groups of people in its ideals.

Alongside describing the reporting he did as a …
Now Watch Me Read. “Performative reading” has gained a curious notoriety online. Is it a new way of calling people pretentious, or does it reflect a deprioritization of the written word? [Article]

317 comments • newyorker.com
Anti-overconsumption content?

162 comments • reddit.com

I’m in a weird rut. I used to be a die hard kindle girl - but lately I’ve found myself buying more and more books. I’m mostly thrifting books and going to my local library whenever I can cause I guess .. I missed the smell of books which was why I fell in love with reading in my early teens in the first place. Sitting with a book in hand till your fingers start to hurt but you can’t put it down because you’re so immersed in the story. My love for reading developed from watching people around me REALLY loving books, where you could open any one of the books from their library and you’d find little notes all around which weren’t aesthetically appealing but it was raw.

Ive started enjoying reading again but I also can’t help being sucked into overconsumption content my algorithm has been pushing me into. “This is what you need, this is what you must read”

I’m looking for creators to follow ( if any) who talk about reading in the anti-overconsumption sense( idk if it makes sense but …

r/printsf

Consider Phlebas

106 comments • reddit.com

Granted, I’m only like 200 pages in, but I don’t get why Consider Phlebas is considered a lesser Banks work. I described it as it, kind of starts out as Firefly but becomes Star Trek as the series goes on. I know that’s reductive and I’ve got much more to go to know if that’s accurate, but I’m loving the world-building so far. It seems like Bank’s stuff is more an episode in a shared universe and not really an arcing story, right?
"There Is No Antimemetics Division" has an updated version!

35 comments • reddit.com

The author Qntm recently published an edited version of his book “There Is No Antimemetics Division”; he says it’s been reworded and rewritten to flow better. I saw a couple of posts talking about that issue, so I thought people might want to know! I’m hoping to get it soon and can leave a review later.
Announcing the Goodreads Choice Winner in Readers' Favorite Science Fiction!

70 comments • goodreads.com
Sci-fi books about post-capitalism

92 comments • reddit.com

It’s easier to imagine the end of capitalism than what comes after, Mark Fisher has famously said. I am looking for science fiction imagining life after capitalism. I have read most of the Culture series by Iain M. Banks and Walkaway by Cory Doctorow, but can’t think of anything else at the moment. Maybe you have some suggestions?
Sci-fi (cyberpunk preferred) books about guerrilla warfare and revolution against the ruling class

66 comments • reddit.com

Exactly what the post says, I guess. I’ve been in the mood for some good cyberpunk and have been fascinated with the concept of guerrilla warfare in the context of revolution for a while now, and I can’t think of a better combination than to place an underequipped rebellion into a world run by corrupt fascist megacorporations with absurd amounts of money and power. Something where our heroes are always under the gun, desperate, operating in a morally gray, thin line between rebel and terrorist. The more left-leaning and anticapitalist, the better in this case.
Speculative works set in an Ocean setting

94 comments • reddit.com

I wonder if anyone in the community has recommendations for science fiction stories set in the ocean. I have had the TV show SeaQuest DSV on my mind a bit lately, and it occurs to me that I don’t think I have ready anything that brings in both the speculative setting and themes of that show, and I would really enjoy that.

Any ideas?

r/television

r/movies

Office Space (1999) “I just don’t care” Dir. Mike Judge

1475 comments • v.redd.it
Hot Fuzz (2007) "what did he say?" Dir. Edgar Wright.

871 comments • v.redd.it
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa Dies: ‘Mortal Kombat, ‘Last Emperor’ & ‘Man In The High Castle’ Actor Was 75

979 comments • deadline.com
The Lack of Class from Quentin Tarantino

4362 comments • reddit.com

I saw in the news today that Tarantino said There Will Be Blood isn’t his favorite film of the 21st century because “It’s supposed to be a 2-hander, but Dano is weak sauce, man… He’s just such a weak, weak, uninteresting guy. The weakest fucking actor in SAG.”

Honestly, I thought this was an incredibly classless thing for Tarantino to say. First of all, I actually thought Dano was great in the film he genuinely made me hate the character, and when an actor manages that, it usually means they’re doing a damn good job. And from what I’ve read, Dano barely had any time to prepare for the role anyway.

Tarantino was one of my favorite directors from the 90s Pulp Fiction is in my top 25 movies ever but the truth is, as an actor he’s pretty weak himself. Whenever he shows up on screen, he sticks out in all the wrong ways. Even in Django, every line he delivers feels forced and unnatural.

Today I lost a lot of respect for Tarantino.
It’s Official: Netflix to Acquire Warner Bros. in Deal Valued at $82.7 Billion

4010 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
Austin meets Alotta in "Austin Powers:International Man of Mystery" (1997)

759 comments • v.redd.it

TV & Books #41

Sat, 29 Nov 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #41

r/fantasy

Malnutrition in Romantasy (Maas, Yarros, more)

338 comments • reddit.com

In fantasy (romantasy especially) malnutrition seems to be used as a crutch for the FMC to be as tiny and short as physically possible.

Feyre (ACOTAR) is malnourished but magically can hold a bow and hunt for hours. She shows no real signs of being malnourished (except for being minuscule) and has no lasting affects considering she’s supposedly been malnourished her whole life.

The use of malnutrition in Romantasy is highly offensive as 45 million children globally suffer from malnutrition and wasting (worldvison) and even more can’t afford a healthy diet.

And that’s just lack of resources, many conditions include malnutrition (autoimmune, mental disorders, genetic conditions.)

If they do write malnourishment why can’t they write it properly, show the full effect? Why has this become so normalised in publishing when there are real children and adults suffering? Why is it only used as an excuse to look like a 2000s supermodel?

Adding to that, malnourishment can be in full effect …
Sony Lands Movie Rights to James Islington’s ‘Hierarchy’ Fantasy Book Series

87 comments • hollywoodreporter.com

I
Top 20 fantasies that did and didn't age well according to this subreddit

863 comments • reddit.com

I went through around 20 different posts on this subreddit asking for fantasies that aged well and ones that didn’t, or a similar question, and compiled 2 top 20 lists with the total number of upvotes received for each comment featuring them. Here are the lists:

Top 20 books that aged well:

|Rank|Novel|Upvotes| |:-|:-|:-| |1|Middle-earth by J.R.R. Tolkien|461| |2|Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin|380| |3|The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander|176| |4|Discworld by Terry Pratchett|106| |5|The Black Company by Glen Cook|91| |6|Memory Sorrow and Thorn by Tad Williams|83| |7|The Riftwar Saga by Raymond E. Feist|63| |8|Dragonlance by Margaret Weis|54| |9|The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan|50| |10|The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin|44| |11|The Elric Saga by Michael Moorcock|42| |11|Riddle-Master by Patricia A. McKillip|42| |11|The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe|42| |14|Abhorsen by Garth Nix|38| |15|The Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb|36| |16|Conan the …
I don't think we talk enough about how traumatic the ending of 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe' is for the people of Narnia.

88 comments • reddit.com

I mean their 4 rulers ride off on a hunt 1 day and then all disappear without a trace. They must have thought the worst was about to happen. I mean think about it these 4 completed the prophecy, defeated the ‘White Queen’ and brought back the Spring to Narnia. And now they’re just gone.
Top 30 audiobook according to this subreddit

233 comments • reddit.com

I went through around 20 different posts on this subreddit asking for the best audiobooks or a similar question, and compiled a top 30 with the total number of upvotes received for each comment featuring them. Here is the list:

|Rank|Series|Upvotes|Rank Difference|Author| |:-|:-|:-|:-|:-| |1|First Law World|996|1|Joe Abercrombie| |2|Dungeon Crawler Carl|666|15|Matt Dinniman| |3|The Dresden Files|275|25|Jim Butcher| |4|Middle-Earth Universe*|208|-3|J.R.R. Tolkien| |5|Project Hail Mary|196|38|Andy Weir| |6|The Locked Tomb|157|13|Tamsyn Muir| |7|Wheel of Time**|118|0|Robert Jordan| |8|Cradle|117|12|Will Wight| |9|The Old Kingdom / Abhorsen|101|55|Garth Nix| |10|Gentleman Bastard|91|3|Scott Lynch| |11|The Murderbot Diaries|63|10|Martha Wells| |11|Rivers of London|63|172|Ben Aaronovitch| |13|World War Z|47|281|Max Brooks| |14|Harry Potter|44|-2|J.K. Rowling| |15|Riyria Revelations|42|34|Michael J. Sullivan| |16|The Memoirs of Lady Trent|34|82|Marie Brennan| |16|Osten Ard Saga|34|10|Tad …
What’s going on with modern editing

157 comments • reddit.com

I’m not sure if this has been a problem for a while and I’m just now noticing it or what but the quality of line editing seems to have gone down in recent years. I’m currently reading Shadows Upon Time, only ¹⁄₆ of the way through, and have already come across 4-5 grammatical errors. This has also been a problem with Sanderson, my favorite author of all time. I’m sure some people here know of the ccream typo. But it just feels like I can pick out way more typos and grammar mistakes than I could ten years ago.

r/books

Massive Legal Blow for OpenAI: Authors Gain Upper Hand in Book-Piracy Suit Seeking $150,000 Per Title Across Billions in Stolen Works

438 comments • tvfandomlounge.com
‘Devastating’: Celebrated author says he is not Indigenous after investigation into ancestry

1297 comments • ctvnews.ca
Sally Rooney says she will be unable to publish books in UK while Palestine Action banned

637 comments • theguardian.com
Ads written into books?

423 comments • reddit.com

It sounds conspiratorial, but I’ve noticed in a few books I’ve read, particularly ones from more prolific authors, that they contain inexplicably superfluous details that only seem to function as advertising for a product. A recent-ish example is in the James Patterson/Michael Crichton novel “Eruption”, where a CEO character notably drives “A Rivian R1T, an electric pickup truck that handles like a sports car.” Charitably, it could be dismissed as a character choice, but the amount of attention the vehicle was specifically given, when it could otherwise have been plainly described, felt like ad copy rather than narrative- and was completely un-immersive and world breaking. Is this just a more common thing now, or has it been for a while and I’m just noticing? Either way I wouldn’t be surprised.
Collection of "Best Books of 2025" and 2025 Literary Awards

55 comments • reddit.com

Welcome readers,

We’re coming up on the end of the year and that means various “Best Books of 2025” lists are being released and prizes are being awarded! We’ll be using this thread to collect these “Best of” lists and awards into one place and will be updating it as more lists and awards are released. Without further ado, here’s your list of lists:

#Best Books of 2025

Organization|Type of List|Link -|-|- Amazon|Best Books of 2025|Link Audible|Best Audiobooks of 2025|Link Financial Times|Best Books of 2025|Link Powell’s Books|Favorite Books of 2025|Link Time|The 100 Must-Read Books of 2025|Link Publishers Weekly|Best Books of 2025|Link Google Play|Best Books of 2025|Link Indigo|Best Books of 2025|Link Men’s Health|52 Best Horror Books of 2025|Link

#Literary Awards of 2025

Award|Winner|Link -|-|- Nobel Prize|László Krasznahorkai|Link Pulitzer Prize|Multiple|Fiction - James, by Percival Everett – Drama - Purpose, by Branden …
What are your top 5 books of all time?

944 comments • reddit.com

Feeling a bit nostalgic for all the beautiful books I’ve read in my lifetime. What are the five books that have stuck with you and make you glad to be a human?

*edited to further explain my meaning for the list per subreddit rules: by glad to be human, I don’t mean life affirming, but rather books that reflect and shape and make tangible the experience of being alive, books that make you feel that all of the suffering you have experienced and witnessed as a human being existing in this world are worth it, just for getting to experience the perfection of a great novel.

Here are mine: *(edited to include a description/basis for recommending of each per rules)

The God of Small Things — Arundhati Roy

Roy’s prose is exceptional from the opening moments. She renders the vivid landscapes and the machinations of her large and complicated family with lush and provocative details, and I have returned to read snippets and passages hundreds of times. The structure of the novel is also unique, …

r/printsf

I've Read and Graded Every Nebula Award Winning Novel

166 comments • reddit.com

A little over two years ago, I casually set out on the goal to read every Hugo and Nebula award-winning novel. This month, with Michael Bishop’s No Enemy But Time I’ve finally finished the Nebulas side of that goal. Quite a few I had read previously, but most were new to me, and I’ve been keeping track of them and grading them as I went along. Many I wrote mini-reviews for as well, but I’m not going to include all of that here.

I will list them by letter grades though.

A few notes:

These are the grades I gave them at the most recent time of reading, or in the case of those few where I hadn’t graded them at that time, my best recollection of how I felt about them. Very many of these probably would grade differently if I read them now, either because time has passed and I am now a different reader, or because something has happened to cause a change in opinion of the work specifically. Knowing what we know of Neil Gaiman now would, I am sure, have skewed …
'The Lathe of Heaven' is an unforgettable piece of literature

84 comments • reddit.com

Till now, I have read 3 books by Ursula K. Le Guin - The Dispossessed, A Wizard of Earthsea and The Lathe of Heaven. The first two, even though were good, didn’t grab my attention as much as The Lathe of Heaven did. The way she mixes sci-fi and fantasy elements and at the same time fuses the real and dream world together in this novel is extraordinary. And its not just that the story was good but her writing style screamed high quality literature to me (something that seems to be missing in most novels nowadays). Any other similar books from her or other authors that evoke the same kinda feeling?
In The Culture, do citizens give up most of their privacy? And would you, in return for "utopia"?

106 comments • reddit.com

In Banks’ Culture, there seems to be constant surveillance, mostly by AIs and Minds, who use this intel to provide for citizens, or at times manipulate citizens for what they believe to be the Greater Good.

Culture surveillance is so mind-boggling, that the Minds can apparently order ships to read your biochemistry from light-years away.

How do you feel about this? Would you accept such intrusiveness for all your desires being met?

Incidentally, I’m re-reading the novels, and am at “Player of Games”. This novel is so much better than I remember it being. Every scene is pregnant with political subtext, and imbued with meaning below the surface. It feels like a tight masterpiece so far.
Any get Omni magazine in the 80s to maybe early 90s?

40 comments • reddit.com

Thought about the magazine I read diligently every month in my pre teen and teen years.
Sci-fi with unreliable narrators.

119 comments • reddit.com

My favorite book in any genre is “Book of the New Sun” by Gene Wolfe and after my latest re-read (just finished yesterday!) I’m really interested in exploring more books with an unreliable narrator. I’ve encountered them in fantasy (“Name of the Wind,” “The Fifth Season”) but am on more of a sci-fi reading kick lately. Some of the Minds in Banks’ Culture books might fit the bill but I’ve read through them in the past and after a big BotNS reread I’d love something new.
My hot take - Joe Haldeman wrote one good book

65 comments • reddit.com

I love The Forever War. I’ve loved it ever since the first time I read it. That, Starship Troopers, and Old Man’s War are perhaps my top 3 favorites of the genre, though there are many others. But every time I’ve tried to read another book by Haldeman, all I’ve ever felt is disappointment. Nothing I’ve read of his has even come close; in fact, some I couldn’t even finish. I regret this to no end, because TFW was such an amazing tale, steeped in his life experiences from Vietnam. But nothing else of his has ever measured up, imho, to my undying regret. I’d love to hear from others on this subject.

r/television

Donald Glover Reveals He Suffered a Stroke Last Year: ‘They Found a Hole in My Heart’

291 comments • vice.com
South Park mocks action-packed Department of War ads as Pete Hegseth obsessed with 'content'

400 comments • irishstar.com
Aaron Paul Not Returning as Powerplex in Future Seasons of ‘Invincible’: "I love the show...but the character was too grueling on my psyche"

887 comments • comicbookmovie.com
‘Stranger Things’ Shows Its Age in a Final Season That’s Outgrown Its Core Appeal: TV Review

1986 comments • variety.com
‘Far Cry’ TV Series Set at FX From Noah Hawley and Rob Mac

662 comments • variety.com
SCRUBS Reboot Trailer Teaser

808 comments • youtube.com

r/movies

TV & Books #40

Sat, 22 Nov 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #40

r/fantasy

Looking for fantasy where the hero gradually becomes the villain. Not a sudden betrayal, but a slow moral descent across a series. What are the best examples?

596 comments • reddit.com

I’m searching for books or series where a protagonist we initially root for slowly transforms into the antagonist over multiple books. Not a shocking twist or sudden heel-turn, but a gradual erosion of their morals where each choice makes sense in the moment, but compounds into something monstrous by the end.
Christopher Ruocchio next series will be a Mediterranean-inspired fantasy: The Doomsong Saga. Book one is The Godstained House and is planned for 2027.

123 comments • reddit.com

Very excited for his next series. Suneater is a new masterpiece.
r/Fantasy 2025 Census: The Results Are In!

149 comments • reddit.com
…Okay, so maybe the results have been in for a while, but it’s been a heck of a summer/fall for your friendly neighborhood census wrangler and the rest of the team here at r/Fantasy. We want to thank everyone once again for their participation and patience - and give a special shout out to all of you who supported us on our Hugo adventure and/or made it out to Worldcon to hang out with us in the flesh! It was our honor and privilege to represent this incredible community at the convention and finally meet some of you in person.

Our sincere apologies for the delay, and we won’t make you wait any longer! Here are the final results from the 2025 r/Fantasy Census!

(For comparison, here are the results from the last census we ran way back in 2020.)

Some highlights from the 2025 data:
- We’re absolutely thrilled that the gender balance of the sub has shifted significantly since the last census. In 2020, respondents were 70% male / 27% female / 3% other (split …
Top 50 books that this subreddit loves more than the rest of the world

103 comments • reddit.com

I took every book that got 5 or more votes on the 2025 r/Fantasy top novel poll and calculated how popular they are here compared to their general popularity.

The rating formula I used is 1000 multiplied by the number of Reddit poll votes and divided by the number of Goodreads ratings of the most popular book in the series.

I know Goodreads ratings aren’t a perfect metric to determine how popular a book is, as they specifically leave older books at a disadvantage, but they are the best publicly available one.

Here is the top 50:

|Rank|Book|Rating|Author| |:-|:-|:-|:-| |1|The Sign of the Dragon|60.000|Mary Soon Lee| |2|Pale*|19.455|wildbow| |3|A Practical Guide to Evil*|6.586|ErraticErrata| |4|The Wandering Inn*|6.404|Pirateaba| |5|Lays of the Hearth-Fire|5.717|Victoria Goddard| |6|Tuyo|4.869|Rachel Neumeier| |7|Cyteen***|4.525|C.J. Cherryh| |8|Wars of Light and Shadow|3.000|Janny Wurts| |9|Monarchies of God|2.914|Paul Kearney| |10|Saint Death|2.820|C. S. E. Cooney| |11|The …
Piranesi

45 comments • reddit.com

I would’ve never picked up this tiny 240 page book if it wasn’t for this sub. So thank you, what a wonderful little book, one of my favorites of the year.
I just finished The Book of the New Sun and I am astounded to have found a book that so effortlessly combines my love of fantasy with my love of literary fiction

106 comments • reddit.com

I grew up reading fantasy then migrated to literary fiction in my twenties, gorging myself on such books as Gravity’s Rainbow, Blood Meridian, and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of the World.

Now that I’m approaching my forties, I feel myself being drawn back into the world of fantasy. While Sanderson left me entertained and impressed with how far the genre has progressed, nothing quite satisfied my craving for metaphysical philosophical asides as did The Book of the New Sun.

It is truly a masterpiece in not just science fantasy, but in the literary canon as a whole. The only weakness in the book, I thought, was its almost cartoonish portrayal of women which seemed so at odds with the depth and intelligence displayed in the rest of the writing.

If you like your fantasy splattered with meditations on the nature and fate of the universe, this book is for you.

r/books

Authors dumped from New Zealand’s top book prize after AI used in cover designs

431 comments • theguardian.com
Alice Wong, ‘luminary’ writer and disability rights activist, dies aged 51

40 comments • theguardian.com
‘Catastrophic decline’ in Black representation in children’s books

239 comments • theguardian.com
Southern states ban transgender books from YA and children's sections in libraries

369 comments • yahoo.com
She Has Taken 30 Years to Write a 7-Part Novel About 1 Day. It’s a Sensation.

97 comments • nytimes.com

Archive link in case you’re out of freebies: https://archive.is/hz5dT
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah: Fun Book to Read, Hard Truth to Swallow

128 comments • reddit.com

Not gonna lie I’ve never watched any of Trevor Noah’s works, comedies or shows. It’s recommended to me by a friend, and the minute I picked it up I couldn’t put it down.

Reasons of Recommendation:

1) Trevor really knows how to tell a story. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes suspenseful.

2) He manages to integrate reflection of racism and apathaid into his personal stories. It’s not just about him, it’s about the people being colonized. And some of his reflections are quite deep. Like he talked about how the places’ names changed after the colonizers came, how native lanagaugaes are no longer taught in schools and are replaced by English, how the colonized struggle to break the cycle of low-end jobs without education yet failed to do so, how that would lead to increasing crimes.

I gotta say, I used to love Out of Africa, now I have to view it from a different angel.

r/printsf

N.K. Jemisin Named SFWA Grand Master

127 comments • locusmag.com
Books where God is evil

285 comments • reddit.com

Looking for sci-fi books where the MC finds out that the God is evil. I don’t mean gods or higher being. But the capital G God. Something that is a absolute mind fuck.
I am currently hate reading This Is How You Lose the Time War

330 comments • reddit.com

Thank God, I’m almost done. I’m always on the lookout for time travel books, and saw this one recommended numerous times on here. But unless something miraculous happens in the last 40 pages, this is the worst thing I’ve read in a long while. Pretentious writing, nothing really happens in the first 120 or so pages (of a 190 page book)..just the same cycle of find letter, read letter over and over again but in different locations and times, poetry like exposition (in a way that feels like it’s just trying to meet a word count). Maybe I’m missing something….or maybe I’m not intelligent enough to get it. But man…it all feels so pontless. what a slog. Time to go back to sci-fi from the Golden age. Thankfully I bought it used.

Rant over.
Looking for Sci-Fi That Treats Alien Biology Seriously

222 comments • reddit.com
Hi folks — just joined.
I’m into SF that asks evolutionary and existential questions, the type of stuff where alien biology isn’t just a man-in-a-suit but its own logic system. I gravitate toward stories where technology fails, biology takes over, and humans get humbled by something older, stranger, or simply better adapted.

If you’ve got recommendations involving:
- alien evolution
- sentient ecosystems
- AI with moral ambiguity
- exoplanets that don’t care if humans exist
…I’m all ears.
Looking forward to the discussions.
Books that imagine the balkanization of North America

191 comments • reddit.com

I’d like recommendations of books that envision the fragmentation of the United States/North America into smaller sovereign countries or city-states. This could be a speculative future, alternative history, or the present re-imagined. I’m interested recognized, governed nations, not a society that has simply devolved into anarchy or post-apocalyptic tribalism.

(Of course, the story should have the sort of compelling plot and characters that makes a book worth reading, not just creative world-building.)
The most beautiful passage you've ever read in science fiction

165 comments • reddit.com

Share the passage you consider the most beautiful in any work of science fiction you’ve ever read, the one that impacted you both for its imaginative tone and its ability to transform science into poetry.

r/television

Neighbor Indicted in Murder of 'King of the Hill' Star Jonathan Joss

285 comments • rollingstone.com
Not Sure That This is Well Known, but Landman is Literally Oil Industry Propaganda Paid For by an Organization Created by a Partnership Amongst Nearly Every Oil/Gas Producer

1087 comments • youtu.be

This video covers the nature of the propaganda very well. For additional proof, here is the American Petroleum Institute very proudly announcing the show’s return and its usefulness as a paid outlet for their propaganda: https://www.api.org/news-policy-and-issues/news/2025/11/17/as-landman-returns-api-campaign-spotlights-workforce-powering-americas-energy-fu

This is why those scenes where he waxes poetic about the “realities” of energy production seem so out of the blue and ham fisted.
Daniel Radcliffe Sent Supportive Letter to New 'Harry Potter' Star Dominic McLaughlin: “I Just Want to Hug Them”

461 comments • thewrap.com
Tim Robinson’s ‘The Chair Company’ Renewed for Season 2 at HBO

446 comments • variety.com
CGI can't handle how scary ‘Fallout’ season 2's Deathclaws are, so they called in old-school puppetry: “It was only by using puppets, that are quite scary when you see them in person, that things feel deeply real.”

301 comments • thepopverse.com
Tim Robinson's 'The Chair Company' now ranks as HBO’s top freshman comedy in platform history, averaging nearly 3 million U.S. cross-platform viewers

368 comments • thewrap.com

r/movies

Hello /r/movies, I'm Benedict Cumberbatch. Ask me anything!

12286 comments • i.redd.it

Hello reddit, Benedict Cumberbatch here.

You might know from me films/series like Sherlock, Doctor Strange (and other MCU films), The Imitation Game, The Hobbit, The Power of the Dog, 1917, 12 Years A Slave, The Grinch, The Current War, The Roses, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, War Horse, Black Mass, and more.

I’m here to answer your questions!

My newest film, THE THING WITH FEATHERS, is out in theaters November 28th via Briarcliff:

-—————————————–

Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUhsvd_Z_18

Synopsis:

Left to raise two sons after the unexpected death of his wife, Dad’s (Benedict Cumberbatch) life begins to unravel. Grief is messy and chaotic enough as it is, but when it takes the form of an unhinged and unwanted house guest - CROW - taunting him from the shadows, things start to spiral out of control…but maybe that’s exactly what Dad needs.

Additional information:

The film is …
First Official Images from 'The Legend of Zelda' Movie

5107 comments • i.redd.it
Brendan Fraser Confirms His Return for New 'Mummy' Movie

952 comments • apnews.com
Just found out that Eric Roberts holds the record for most screen credits for a living Hollywood actor (800) & he has 94 upcoming projects. In 2017 alone, he acted in 74 films. This year he was in 38 projects. That's crazy

1619 comments • latimes.com
New Image from 'Project Hail Mary'

2013 comments • i.redd.it

shared by the man himself, Andy Weir - https://www.reddit.com/r/ProjectHailMary/comments/1ozk3hg/teaser/
Anyone else feel like it’s an unfortunate waste of talent that James Cameron will waste 35+ years on Avatar?

4590 comments • reddit.com

He started making Avatar in 1994. Last Avatar movie will be 2031. Over 35 years. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Avatar. But I have to wonder what other kind of movies he could have made during that time. I guess that’s what he wants to make though. Wonder why he wanted to make 5 Avatar movies though. Seems overkill

TV & Books #39

Sat, 15 Nov 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #39

r/fantasy

Do you “see” books like a movie in your head when you read?

853 comments • reddit.com

So I was talking to my boyfriend about reading and mentioned that when I read, I see everything in my head, almost like a movie — the characters, the scenery, the action, all playing out visually. It’s immersive, like I’m watching it rather than reading it.

He looked at me like I had three heads and said he can’t do that at all. He doesn’t visualize anything when he reads, it’s just words and meaning… no “mental movie.” And he said, “If I could do that, I think I’d actually enjoy reading a lot more.” 😅

We were both shocked because we had no idea the other person experienced reading so differently. I genuinely thought everyone visualized scenes when they read, and he thought no one did.

Now I’m curious — is this a common difference?

Do you “see” what you read like a movie? Or do you process it in another way (like just understanding the info or hearing the narration in your head)?

Would love to hear what other people experience because now I’m fascinated by how different our brains …
Top 30 most underrated fantasies according to this subreddit

260 comments • reddit.com

I went through around 20 different posts on this subreddit asking for the most underrated books or a similar question, and compiled a top 30 with the total number of upvotes received for each comment featuring them. Here is the list:

|Rank|Fantasy|Upvotes| |:-|:-|:-| |1|The Acts of Caine Series by Matthew Woodring Stover|291| |2|Shadows of the Apt Series by Adrian Tchaikovsky|276| |3|Vlad Taltos Series by Steven Brust|232| |4|The Dagger and the Coin Series by Daniel Abraham|172| |5|The Divine Cities Series by Robert Jackson Bennett|169| |6|Deverry Cycle Series by Katharine Kerr|129| |7|Abhorsen Series by Garth Nix|110| |8|Otherland Series by Tad Williams|102| |9|The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe|99| |10|The Chronicles of Prydain Series by Lloyd Alexander|98| |11|The Edge Chronicles Series by Paul Stewart|96| |12|The Books of the Raksura Series by Martha Wells|93| |13|The Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford|89| |14|Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock|81| |15|The Death Gate Cycle Series by …
Why Elon Musk Needs Dungeons & Dragons to Be Racist

560 comments • theatlantic.com
Finished reading The Lord of the Rings….for the first time, and I get it.

81 comments • reddit.com

Please forgive me. It’s been a journey reading The Lord of the Rings. I’ve tried many times in my life, dropping it because I was just bored. And now, I finally finished the whole thing. And WOW!

The payoff is in Return of the King. It’s the best of the three, even though it really is a single book. Beautiful story. Beautifully written. Chef’s kiss ending.

I watched the movies as they came out as a kid. I love them to this day. I could just not get into the books. Tolkien will writes paragraphs of the scenery or the history or the world or characters, down to their lineage. Once you get used to it, it’s fine. But I really had to push through at times. Yet, Tolkien knows how to write a badass scene or characters.

If you’re someone who has also tried but struggled, I recommend the audiobooks. The ones by Andy Serkis are phenomenal. I did a mix of reading and the audiobooks, as they helped whenever I reached a slow part. If you have only watched the movies, there’s enough there that …
How well has The Wheel of Time aged?

557 comments • reddit.com

I have been trying to figure out where I want to put the Wheel of time on my TBR. Before doing that I wanted to figure out the general consciousness (here at least) of how people view the series nowadays. I still see a ton of people praise it, especially the ending, but I’m wondering how it holds up to the other great series. I know a lot of people mention the slog part of this series. I also know people criticize the female characters.

So for those who have read it do you think it’s really still as great? How does it hold up against the likes of ROTE, ASOIAF and Malazan? Or even something recent like Stormlight.

The Wheel of Time is definitely something I want to read but with some of the more mixed things I hear about it I wanted to find out more about how people feel about it. Still a few series I will have above it on my TBR (Suneater, memory of sorrow and thorn) but after that I may be open to diving into WOT.

Thanks for your guys’ help!
The maps of Ursula K Le Guin reveal a fascinating insight into world-building in fantasy fiction

14 comments • theconversation.com

r/books

Frankenstein was written while Mary Shelley was grieving the loss of a baby. Once you have this context, grief seems to drip off the pages.

439 comments • reddit.com

UPDATE

Wow everyone! Thank you so much for the responses! I’m reading every single comment even if I haven’t responded. I’ve learned a lot of interesting things from all of you. It’s made Frankenstein an even richer tale to me than it was before I wrote this post. Many of you suggested I read “Romantic Outlaws” so I’ll definitely be checking that out.

I also want to sincerely thank everyone who shared their stories of loss and grief with me. I feel honored that my post resonated with your experiences and helped you in some way.

Many commenters asked me to update with my thoughts on the movie after I watched it. Well I watched it and I definitely have some thoughts lol. If you haven’t seen it, then maybe stop reading here before I spoil something. Overall, I enjoyed it. It’s a visually stunning movie. The acting was incredible from the main characters, Jacob Elordi in particular really knocked it out of the park for me. But whoever told me it was faithful to the source material was …
'It opened up something in me': Why people are turning to bibliotherapy

268 comments • bbc.com
The archives of Amy Levy, the almost-forgotten queer Victorian writer who Oscar Wilde called a genius, have been unsealed by Cambridge University Library.

28 comments • lib.cam.ac.uk
I just realized I have been unconsciously avoiding books under 300 pages, and I think it's hurting my reading diversity

277 comments • reddit.com

I was looking at my reading list for this year and noticed something weird - almost every book is 350+ pages. I think I’ve developed this bias where shorter books feel “less serious” or “not worth the time investment,” which is absolutely ridiculous

I’m missing out on novellas, shorter literary fiction, poetry collections, and probably some incredible tight storytelling. It’s like I’ve convinced myself that length equals quality

Has anyone else noticed similar weird biases creeping into their reading habits? Maybe avoiding certain genres, publishers, cover styles, or page counts without even realizing it? How did you break out of it?

I am genuinely curious if this is a common thing or if I’m just overthinking my reading patterns
How do you read when your environment is never quiet?

526 comments • reddit.com

I live in an apartment downtown with paper thin walls. If its not noise outside, its my neighbour upstairs TV or my neighbour downstairs partying. I’d love to sit on the couch and read in evenings but I find it impossible to focus with so much going around me.

Does anyone have secrets on how to read in these situations? We don’t all live in quiet suburbs sadly.
Flesh by David Szalay wins the Booker Prize 2025

50 comments • thebookerprizes.com

r/printsf

What Am I Missing?

514 comments • reddit.com

I was wondering if anyone had suggestions (standalone books, series, or authors in general) that my collection is missing and desperately needs based on what I currently have.

I’m mostly into hard Sci-Fi, especially first contact/BDO/speculative fiction/philosophical Sci-Fi.

Lately I’ve been really into Adrian Tchaikovsky, Arthur C. Clarke, Greg Bear.

I’ve also been doing a lot of trips to my local used book stores and love older Sci-Fi authors to keep on the lookout for.
What’s the best sci-fi book of 2025?

160 comments • reddit.com

I know the year isn’t over yet, but I’m looking for recos!
qntm, author of There Is No Antimemetics Division, will be doing an AMA on /r/sciencefiction tomorrow.

19 comments •
What are some of the best, most unique takes on time travel?

165 comments • reddit.com

Hi everyone, I wanted to get your thoughts on some of the more interesting spins on the time travel genre. Ill list a few of my favourites below: Timeline by Michael Crichton is a standard time travel story where archaeologists travel into the past only to find that it’s not quite what they expected, It’s quite traditional I would say but also has a lot of action and adventure. The Gone world by Tom Swetterlich has a unique take On Time travel, it has a very existential horror feel which I particularly loved. Another one is version control by Dexter Palmer, this is what Id describe as literary sci-fi, even though I don’t like to use that term very often, but it felt like there was a lot I just wasn’t getting with that one which I’m sure someone more educated would Appreciate.
Much has been said about the lackluster literary merits of early SF, but I'd argue that the greatest aesthetic sin of EE Doc Smith's Skylark of Space (1928) is that we don't find out until half way through his interplanetary adventures that the hero's had on a Hawaiian sport shirt the whole time

27 comments • reddit.com

I do think my enjoyment of the story would have exponentially higher had I known Dick Seaton was in tropical print when he was firing machine gun bullets into space or fleeing from Carboniferous-era monsters on the surface of an exoplanet.
Any contemporary authors/books like Ted Chiang?

62 comments • reddit.com

Ken Liu didn’t scratch the same itch, not quite. That may be just me,

I am not exclusively looking for short story format, any format is fine.

r/television

Trey Parker Says ‘South Park’ Didn't Get Political, But "Politics Became Pop Culture"

900 comments • consequence.net
Jon Stewart "Can't F**king Believe" Democrats Caved on the Shutdown | The Daily Show

1059 comments • youtu.be
‘The Pitt’ to Air Uncut on TNT Starting December 1, With Nudity and ‘Graphic Medical Imagery’ Intact

416 comments • variety.com
81-Year-Old Squid Game Star Acquitted of Sexual Misconduct Charge

481 comments • ign.com
YouTube TV Blackout Is Costing Disney an Estimated $4.3 Million per Day in Lost Revenue

495 comments • variety.com
Fallout – Season 2 Official Trailer | December 17 on Prime Video

662 comments • youtube.com

r/movies

New Image Of Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey'

816 comments • i.redd.it
Official Poster for 'Toy Story 5'

1669 comments • i.redd.it
Hi reddit! I'm Edgar Wright. I've directed Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, The World's End, Baby Driver, Last Night in Soho. The Running Man is out in theatres this FRIDAY. Ask me anything.

3199 comments • i.redd.it

Hi reddit. Edgar Wright here to answer your questions.

You might know me as the director of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, The World’s End, Baby Driver, Last Night in Soho, and more. My newest film, The Running Man, is out in theaters worldwide this weekend via Paramount.

It stars Glen Powell, Josh Brolin, Colman Domingo, William H. Macy, Lee Pace, Michael Cera, Emilia Jones, Katy O’Brian, Daniel Ezra, and Karl Glusman.

Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD18ddeFuyM

Synopsis:

In the near future, “The Running Man” is the top-rated show on television, a deadly competition where contestants must survive 30 days while being hunted by professional assassins. Desperate for money to save his sick daughter, Ben Richards is convinced by the show’s ruthless producer to enter the game as a last resort. Ratings soon skyrocket as Ben’s defiance, instincts and grit turn him into an unexpected fan favorite, as well as a threat …
James Van Der Beek Is Auctioning Off TV & Film Memorabilia and Props from ‘Dawson’s Creek’ & ‘Varsity Blues’ Amid Cancer Treatment, Proceeds to Cover Medical Costs

1368 comments • deadline.com
James Cameron's 'Avatar: Fire and Ash' Has An Official Runtime of 3 Hours & 15 Minutes - The Longest Movie in the Series So Far

2400 comments • sacnilk.com
New Image from Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’

1083 comments • i.redd.it

TV & Books #38

Sat, 08 Nov 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #38

r/fantasy

dark fantasy novels with NO rape?

345 comments • reddit.com

im looking for recommendations on dark fantasy novels that do NOT contain sexual assault. ive had to stop reading the black company by glen cook, because halfway through chapter two is a very graphic rape scene. i asked a few sources before reading, if this book had any sexual assault. and they all said no, or they didnt think so. at the time i could not find other reliable sources that would give me a clear answer. my fault for being too trusting i guess :

this is not a subject i can personally handle. do yall have any suggestions? ty, i appreciate it 🤘

EDIT: i dont want to argue about dark fantasy and rape. my head isnt in a good place right now. please respect that.

re: “rape is prolific in dark fantasy” yes i know, and EVERY GENRE HAS RAPE IN IT. im pretty sure there are books without it!

i wont engage with posts criticizing, arguing, etc. i am only interested in recommendations. if you want to come in slinging mud, debating me, etc, please save everyone the hassle, …
It really looks AI was used in the 20th anniversary version of A Feast for Crows

136 comments • reddit.com
Reposting /u/InGenNateKenny ’s thread on this from /r/asoiaf to over here. Please don’t harass the Artist over this.

Imgur album link of the Art: https://imgur.com/a/et59wvZ

All through today this story has been spreading across the ASOIAF Tik Tok, Twitter, and Discord-verses (shoutout the industrious members of the servers I frequent), so it won’t be news for many of you. Still, in interest of spreading the T, I humbly present this post: it really looks like AI was used in creation of the illustrations of the 20th anniversary edition of A Feast for Crows.

I’m not going to post all of the images in case that puts this thread of being taken down, but there are some links to it in here.

Here are a few things myself, friends, and fellow ASOIAF fans (credit to all the voices out there on Discord, Twitter, Tik Tok and such) have noticed that suggest AI:
1. Heavy use of blue — even on characters where it makes little to no sense (Cersei, Jaime, Margaery, …
China Mieville announces new novel, “The Rouse”, 20 years in the making and slated to be released September 2026

126 comments • thebookseller.com

The plot info we have so far: “Forced to investigate a devastating personal tragedy, an ordinary woman stumbles on dark conspiracies and provokes the attention of uncanny forces.”
Robin Hobb is something else. Any recommendations?

171 comments • reddit.com

I just. I mean. What the hell? Why did I not read her books earlier? It’s crazy. I have always been a huge fan of fantasy literature. I remember binging the classics as a kid and later George RR Martin and other giants as a young adult, but for some weird inexplicable reason I never got into Robin Hobb.

She is. Amazing. I can’t remember being this invested in characters since first time reading ASOIAF. What a storyteller. Instantly a favourite.

Is there any other author that write in similar prose and style? Character driven and just down to earth, where you can feel the struggles and the reality of their lives, and where the magic is more intuitive than explicitly explained?
I miss the way books used to make me feel

240 comments • reddit.com

When I was younger, reading was magical to me. I’d sit in a quiet corner with my book, lights dimmed, and it felt like the world around me disappeared. I remember being completely lost in Harry Potter back in middle school. Rushing to finish up my school work, just so I could escape into my book. It wasn’t just reading, it was living inside that story.

Now I’m older, and somewhere along the way, that feeling faded. I have easy access to every book online, but I feel like that’s part of the problem. Back then, I had to wait for a library copy or read whatever I could find, and it made everything more special. These days, I’ve become pickier, always chasing a certain theme or character type to give me that same high, and it’s like my “reading tolerance” has gone up.

I want to fall in love with reading again, that same deep, cozy, immersive feeling. If you’ve ever felt this too and found a book that pulled you all the way back in, what was it? I’m planning to get a physical copy through …
Book 2 of Demon Cycle is everything I hate about Fantasy.

248 comments • reddit.com

I loved The Warded Man and was excited to continue the series.

Book 2 feels like I picked up the wrong book.

Everything is so convoluted with ridiculousness.

“The ka-valad in ebin-ala-din called the dal-vin to shalla-bat in the second day of ish-ma uder the sun of halla -din.”

This is an exaggeration of course but man it feels like 4 out of every 5 words are loosely defined hyper specific nouns that need remembering and I now I just do not care…

I can’t stand with authors feel the need to do this to such an extreme.

r/books

‘It is the scariest of times’: Margaret Atwood on defying Trump, banned books – and her score-settling memoir

114 comments • theguardian.com
In my 30's, and I finally understand the Twilight Zone episode "Time Enough at Last"

202 comments • reddit.com

That was my mom’s favorite episode. She was a voracious reader, hitting somewhere between 200-300 books in a year. She passed on that love of reading(though not production). While I liked the episode as a kid, I suppose I never thought about it beyond the surface level irony.

As I get older I feel like I have more empathy for the main character. There are so many books I want to read, so many I want to read again, and so many that come out every year. I’ll never have enough time. IF I read a book a week for the rest of my life, I’ll have approximately enough time to read 1,500 books.

And I find myself thinking, how is 1,500 enough? Aren’t there going to be many, many more than 1,500 that I’ll want to read?

The answer is emphatically yes, and so I finally understand Henry Bemis.
I joined the oldest and most overlooked library in my town – and it feels like being part of a secret club: The Ballarat Mechanics’ Institute has had a reading room for 165 years but today it has just 530 members – and tens of thousands of book lovers are missing out

32 comments • theguardian.com
Mark Twain and Virginia Woolf both had uninterrupted streaks of at least 4 all-time bangers in a row. Are there any authors with more?

596 comments • reddit.com

Twain’s 4 in a row:

Title Year

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 1876

The Prince and the Pauper 1881

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 1884

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court 1889

Woolf’s 4 in a row:

Title Year

Mrs Dalloway 1925

To the Lighthouse 1927

Orlando 1928

The Waves 1931

Austen had a terrific run, but Mansfield Park was in the middle of that run, and it’s not usually considered an all-time classic.

Hemingway also had a great run, but it was interrupted by To Have and Have Not, which isn’t typically considered a classic.

Steinbeck’s major works, too, were interrupted by lesser releases.

Are there any other authors that have more than 4 all-time classic novels in a row?

(Mostly thinking about this in terms of sustained uninterrupted greatness, the literary equivalent of consecutive home runs, maybe?}

And obviously Shakespeare had several in a row, but he was a playwright, so he doesn’t count. …
Publisher apologises to author Kate Clanchy four years after book controversy

168 comments • bbc.com
Anyone else noticing a decline in writing/editing of fantasy books?

235 comments • reddit.com

I love fantasy and sci fi. I’ve been reading books in these two genres from big publishers, small publishers, and the occasional self pub. I’ve self pubbed in the genre myself and worked with editors.

In the last few months I’ve noticed a decline in the speculative fiction, especially fantasy books, I’ve picked up. I’ve had to dnf several books because the writing is soo bad. The plot and world building might be fine, but the editing is terrible, and these are traditionally published books. Sometimes smaller houses, but still. I mentioned that I’ve worked with editors as a writer because the kinds of issues I’m seeing are basic stuff any editor should catch. The book I’m reading now has new paragraphs being started in the middle of a sentence. Or a sentence fragment ending ,. Like that. My biggest pet peve is time not making sense. Things that clearly took days to happen being described as happening in a few hours. I have not worked with …

Title	Year
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer	1876
The Prince and the Pauper	1881
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn	1884
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court	1889

Title	Year
Mrs Dalloway	1925
To the Lighthouse	1927
Orlando	1928
The Waves	1931

r/printsf

Robert R. Chase has passed away

10 comments • legacy.com

Mods, if this is not allowed, please let me know, but I wanted to let the SF community know of the passing of my father Robert R. Chase. He introduced me to SF, published three novels, and continued writing and publishing short stories until his death from cancer a few days ago. His obit should actually indicate he was born in 1948, which I hope is amusing to him that editorial missed something even in death.
A sci-fi that is plot driven, weird, long paced and has max worldbuilding

257 comments • reddit.com

Im studying for yearly uni exams(i failed twice) and i need to get a break sometimes it hurts, do you all have some reccomnendations for me?

i have read hyperion and dune.

another edit, it doesnt have to be an easy read, a break from study sessions; i wanna be amazed, i want my mind explode. To experience beauty of it and not feeling like a prisoner in my current life pace
In 50 to 60 years who will be our versions of Asimov, Clark, Dick and Herbert? And will our classics still be circulated.

378 comments • reddit.com

I don’t know what the scifi landscape will be like in that time but I am curious to see which authors will be held in the same regards as the ones I’ve mentioned above. Im thinking of authors like Pierce Brown, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Liu Cixin and China Miéville.

Who do you think will be on the same level as our classics and do you think they’ll live up to them.
If I like Kim Stanley Robinson for his politics/ hopefulness what else might I like?

112 comments • reddit.com

Excluding Le Guin because I’ve read a bunch already,
What's with odd long named spaceships in modern SF?

96 comments • reddit.com

I loved Ian M. Banks’ ship-AI names, things like A Series Of Unlikely Explanations etc. It is fun and also reflective of the Culture series AIs.

Banks was the first time I came across such odd, wacky, long names for ships. Now I’ve noticed other authors (Elizabeth Bear’s White Space books, John Scalzi’s Collapsing Empire) using similar types of long names for ships –– with no AI “being” attached to the name.

I mean, I understand there is a long tradition of people naming boats and ships with short phrases or puns, but generally not to the extent in these novels. To me, the ship names in Bear and Scalzi books come off as a bit goofy and seem like a reference or homage to Banks. Are they tipping their hats to Banks, or is this a longer tradition in SF books?
Just finished Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Shroud: Excellent

61 comments • reddit.com

I’ve seen different opinions of this book but I thought it was fantastic. His novel take on alien life forms was worth the price of admission - a far cry from the Alien humanoid-adjacent alien trope. Great story, with a cool twist at the end. If you liked it too, what other books of this ilk would you recommend?

r/television

Sinclair, Whose ABC Stations Boycotted Jimmy Kimmel, Reports Q3 Revenue Decline of 16% and Swings to Net Loss

325 comments • variety.com
Dropout Crosses 1 Million Subscribers

454 comments • variety.com
Vince Gilligan on Making Another Show in the ‘Breaking Bad’ Universe: “I’d rather disappoint folks by not giving them any more Breaking Bad than have them say, 'Okay, man, that was a really great multi-course meal, but that last serving in the dessert bowl was dog shit.’”

319 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
‘South Park’ mocks Trump’s White House demolition in special Halloween episode

236 comments • the-independent.com
The Witcher s4 proves Henry Cavill made the smartest exit in Hollywood

1818 comments • reddit.com

Henry was 100% right to walk away from The Witcher. Can’t believe what a fall from grace this show has had since the inception of its incredible first season. It’s mind-boggling that the same people behind that masterpiece are responsible for the mess it’s become. Season 1 was so good it keeps pulling me back… I think I’m actually going to hate-watch entire season 4 just to see how bad it gets.
Jon Stewart Extends ‘Daily Show’ Hosting Deal Through 2026

205 comments • latenighter.com

r/movies

TV & Books #37

Sat, 01 Nov 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #37

r/fantasy

This feels weird to say, but Peter Grant from River's of London is the first time I truly felt so seen as a man

121 comments • reddit.com

Like the title says, this is a weird thought that has been bouncing around in my head for a while, and I just want to get it out. Won’t be revisiting this post ever- just getting it out of my head, into the world, and whatever reaction it will cause, it will cause.

So. What do I mean.

First off, weird thing to say, lot of fiction out there has men as protagonists, we’re a pretty common character, we’re not really strap for representation. And this is very true.

But rarely have I read a male character and gone, ‘this man is like me’. Maybe it’ll be, ‘I see bits of me in there’ or ‘this is who I’d maybe like to be’. Usually, its just this very idealized form. All the gruffness, all the stoicism, all the ‘calm attitude’.

But rare is the author who wants to actually explore the cost of that. Or maybe thinks there even is a cost to that, patriarchal norms being what they are in the western world.

Like. You …
Books where the Hero is actually scarier than the villain.

577 comments • reddit.com

Recommend me some fantasy books where the heroic main character is actually scarier and more unhinged than the actual villains.

The best example I know of is King’s Dark Tidings.
If you have Netflix and love well-plotted stories, you owe it to yourself to give the TV series Dark a try.

122 comments • reddit.com

The series is honestly one of the best plotted shows I’ve ever seen, with fantastic character arcs for almost everyone in it.

I’m going to be honest, I’m bad with summarizing even simple things, let alone a series as involved as this, where even the smallest detail revealed can constitute a big spoiler, so instead I’ll just share the summary that gave me the push to give the series a try.

Here’s a snapshot. Our story takes place in the fictional small town of Winden, somewhere in Germany. The town is in a tizzy because there is a teenage boy missing, Erik Obendorf. The police have been unable to solve the crime, and everyone is understandably upset and on high-alert. We also learn that another boy went missing under similar circumstances back in 1986. A group of kids all meet at school and plan to meet that evening for some typical high school hijinks while their parents are at an emergency meeting about the missing boy. There are six kids who meet at …
In Defence of the Scottish Dwarf

196 comments • reddit.com

Whenever dwarves get brought up, I often see people complain about them having a Scottish accent, and I don’t really understand why. I’ve never seen anybody complain about elves having a posh English accent or Orcs being cockney. In fact, people seem to love cockney orcs. I actually like Scottish dwarves. Rarely do we get any representation in the media, even fantasy, and when we do, it’s often just a random side character that happens to be Scottish because the actor is. But with Scottish dwarves, we have a whole race and culture representing it. Sure, it might be tropey, but I think it’s cool, even if I have to put up with a bad Scottish impression every now and again. Now, if they wanted to remix it and make Orcs Scottish, and Dwarves Welsh, or I don’t know, Himalayan? That would be cool as well.

Are you a fan of Scottish dwarves? If not, why not?
What are fantasy book series that are widely agreed to be good all the way through, from the first book to the last?

616 comments • reddit.com

Often I see people recommending a series or the first book from a longer series to someone and when I research the series and see what people thought, it has mixed reviews about the latter books.

So, what series keep their quality and consistency all the way through?
Review of The Witcher Season 4 in the Verge

197 comments • theverge.com

Caveat: I haven’t watched the new season yet.

So the review makes the point that the problem is not Hemsworth, but the “bloated mess” of the story. Then the article describes the story… and, er… that’s the books! They’re doing the books! Which is what everyone was moaning they weren’t doing.

Mind you, I *knew* that if they did the books, people would hate it. *The Witcher* books are brilliant but they are *extremely* idiosyncratic. If they end the show the way *The Lady of the Lake* ends, people will riot.

r/books

Trump ends Canada access at shared border library

230 comments • ctvnews.ca
Taliban ban books written by women from Afghan universities

202 comments • share.google
Amazon Is the World’s Biggest Online Book Marketplace. It’s Filled With AI Knockoffs

265 comments • rollingstone.com
Utah officially bans its 19th book from all public schools

648 comments • townlift.com
Nigerian Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka says his US visa revoked

67 comments • bbc.com
Libraries Scramble for Books After Giant Distributor Shuts Down

120 comments • 404media.co

r/printsf

Recommendations for Philosophy orientated Sci Fi?

110 comments • reddit.com

I just finished reading Anathem by Neal Stephenson and honestly it was one of the best books ive read in years. I enjoyed it in a way that I haven’t enjoyed any other book since I read A Canticle for Leibowitz years ago.

I understand that these books feel like dry slogs for some people, and i can get that. But theres something nostalgic to them almost for me. I did philosophy at University before focusing on Political Philosophy, and whilst I’d never claim to be an expert i know enough that both these books where an utter joy for me. I enjoyed them immensely from the way the philosophy wasn’t just tagged on but integral to the characters and story.

Sadly in all my time reading sci fi, these are the only two books that really hit me that way. Maybe because of how the philosophy of each book was so grounded in Academics. Some other books by Asimov, or Adrian Tchaikovsky have come close at times; but these two books stand a step above in how much ive enjoyed them.

I …
Espionage in a SF setting

152 comments • reddit.com

Hi all, clue is in the title. Im having a bit of SF month in November. My favourite sub genre is Espionage. Can anyone please recommend me some SF reads that have heavy espionage themes? John Le Carre esque in a far future setting would be terrific. Thanks.
One of the coolest books ever is arriving for my collection, I think this is my favorite Roadside Picnic edition.

16 comments • reddit.com
First contact story recommendations?

151 comments • reddit.com

Sphere (1987), Contact (1985) and Ender’s Game (1985) were some of the first real novels I read as a kid, and a love of first contact stories has stuck with me ever since.

Whether they’re of the “good for humanity” flavor (e.g., Contact or Story of Your Life/Arrival) or the “bad for humanity” flavor (e.g., Revelation Space, Dark Forest, or Salvation Sequence), these types of stories have always tickled my imagination in an enjoyable way.

What are some of your favorite first contact stories, whether of the optimistic or pessimistic type? I tend especially toward liking works that explore different reasons for the Fermi paradox.

P.S. I just finished Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary in the last week. To anyone with similar interests: don’t miss this one!
Has there been any good Middle Grade space opera published in the last twenty years? I feel like fantasy has smothered every other kind of MG speculative fiction.

116 comments • reddit.com

I’m thinking of Middle Grade books with spaceships, aliens, possibly interstellar empires, and all that good stuff. It seems to have fallen out of favour.
Books That Make You Excited For The Future

64 comments • reddit.com

When I talk to most people right now I find that they are not hopeful about the present or the future. It seems like a forgone conclusion that we are heading straight into (and perhaps already deep in) a techno-dystopia.

I’ll admit that some of my favorite SciFi has contributed to this bleak outlook, and looking back it seems like there was a shift where people stopped being amazed and hopeful about where technology could take us.

I’ve seen The Culture Series mentioned here as something that provides a less bleak perspective on what the future might hold, which is next on my reading list and I’m really excited to dive into. What other books have made you excited for our future?

r/television

Dr. Phil loses major ruling in bankruptcy case, TV network is ordered into liquidation

568 comments • ew.com
‘South Park’ Sets Special Halloween Night Episode on Trump’s White House Demolition

214 comments • variety.com
MTV Cancels 'Ridiculousness' After 14 Years

1080 comments • tmz.com
‘King of the Hill’ Renewed for Seasons 16 and 17 at Hulu

294 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
Jon Stewart Says He’s “Working on Staying” on as ‘Daily Show’ Host

312 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
The Witcher season four review – Liam Hemsworth is as charismatic as a bollard in a wig

1173 comments • theguardian.com

r/movies

What film completely flipped when you rewatched it as an adult?

6611 comments • reddit.com

Not just catching adult jokes you missed. films where your whole sympathy shifted. Maybe you realized Ferris Bueller was kind of terrible to Cameron. Or Mrs. Doubtfire is genuinely disturbing. That moment where you’re watching your childhood favorite and suddenly thinking ‘wait… the ‘villain’ was completely right.

The killer responses come when people realize they BECAME the character they used to hate. Watching Dead Poets Society and siding with the cautious parents Seeing The Little Mermaid and thinking Triton had valid concerns about his 16-year-old daughter. That vertigo of realizing you’ve crossed to the other side of the story.
New Poster for ‘Nuremberg’ - Follows psychiatrist Douglas Kelley (Rami Malek), who is challenged with determining if Hermann Göring (Russell Crowe) is fit to stand at the Nuremberg trials.

660 comments • i.redd.it
John Williams is confirmed to score Steven Spielberg's upcoming UFO Movie, releasing 12 June 2026

467 comments • juilliard.edu

Damian Woetzel (president of Juilliard) ”The catalyst is John Williams, who is in Los Angeles doing what he does: he is working with Steven Spielberg on the next movie. And that is something to be happy about.”
Paramount Skydance to Lay Off 1,000 Employees This Week, With Additional Cuts Expected

381 comments • variety.com
Matthew Lillard Embraces Queer Reading of Scream Killers

287 comments • theblast.com
Friendship (2024) - 12 minute extended garage scene with Tim Robinson and Connor O'Malley

333 comments • v.redd.it

TV & Books #36

Sat, 25 Oct 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #36

r/fantasy

King Killer Chronicles and Women

626 comments • reddit.com

Currently rereading KKC and getting annoyed with the depiction of women.

It’s like all the female characters are only there to be some kind of “wish fulfilment” for the MC. they’re all just there to be either impressed or saved by the MC. And most of them are just these weird cardboard cutouts of tropes we’ve seen before.

Auri, the broken but kind outsider, who only our MC really sees and takes care of. Fela, the super attractive but shy woman, who consistently needs to be saved by the MC. Devi, who is dangerous and threatening, but still has a soft sport for the MC. And, of course, Denna, the manic pixie dream girl who is scared of attachment, but has a special place in her heart for the MC.

It just gets really tiresome. It’s even worse because for a lot of them there would be a good foundation there to develop them more, but it’s always just predictable, toothless and entirely in service of the MC’s coolness factor.

What really gets me tho is the constant insistence by Rothfuss …
The most basic guide on how to recommend books on r/fantasy

392 comments • reddit.com
1. Read the post title.
2. Understand the post title
3. Read the post description
4. Read it again
5. Understand it
6. Think about what books you have read that fit into what is being asked.
7. If no books that fit what the op is asking immediately come to your mind, you might not be the right person to give a recommendation
8. Do not recommend books that are kind of close to what OP is asking if OP is asking something specific. Especially without giving a caveat such as “this recommendation does not fit into your x criteria but does fit into y.
9. For good luck, read the post one more time.
Too often I see comment sections where 20 to 30 percent! Of comments recommend at least one book that does not fit a clear requirement that OP has outlined in the post without mentioning that the book has elements that do not fit the request. And that 20 to 30 percent is only based on the books I have already read or have researched and know have elements that do not fit the request.

I understand there are some …
The Devils - I can't understand reddit's negative feedback on this book

337 comments • reddit.com

I’ve started the book and just like his other books, his characters are pure British comedy gold. I’m not sure what others read his books for, but I honestly think the inner monologues are the bast part of his writing. So why all the hate? This book deserves some love…who’s with me!!

Below is an example of just one part of one monologue that had me absolutely delighted when I listened to it.

That he, Balthazar Sham Ivam Draxi, learned adept of the nine circles, suzerain of the secret keys, conjurer of unearthly powers, the man they dubbed the Terror of Damietta—or at least had dubbed himself the Terror of Damietta in the hope that it would stick—one of the top three necromancers in Europe, mark you—possibly four, depending on your opinion of Sukastra of Bivort, who he personally considered an absolute hack—should have been apprehended by buffoons, tried and condemned by dullards, then pressed into humiliating servitude alongside such abject morons as these.
The Greenbone Saga was absolutely incredible

94 comments • reddit.com

The past few years I’ve been making my way through this subs most popular recommendations like The Cosmere, Wheel of Time, Realm of the Elderlings, First Law, Malazan etc. with mixed results. Some series I absolutely devoured while others I didn’t feel particularly compelled to read more after the first book.

I had never heard of the Greenbone Saga before seeing it recommended on this sub and honestly didn’t see it recommended too much compared to some of the other series.

But when I finally started with The Jade City I was absolutely gripped from the first chapter and was totally pulled into this wonderfully crafted world. The series is set in Janloon which is basically based on a mix of Hong Kong, Taipei, and Singapore and is ruled by clans of “Greenbones” who can use magic granted to them by Jade. Lee created a society where the importance of jade is felt from the smallest of interactions to geopolitical international relations. Jade and the powers granted is everything in this …
Joe Abercrombie has awakened something inside myself

103 comments • reddit.com

Picture me, a fresh guy coming off of military service totally lost in life, just some schmuck who hasn’t really done anything worthwhile.

Hating life, feeling hopeless.

Is this it…?

Recently I picked up ‘The Devils’ and it rocked my world. It literally is one of the greatest books I have ever read in my life!

I read that and then the entire First Law trilogy, and now I am part way through The Heroes.

I love Shivers, Whirrun of Bligh, Finree dan Brock, and many others (is Bayaz supposed to be good? I hate him so much lol)

But anyway, I love all of these characters and the story, and I think it is so cool that this is the main fantasy story of my time, the one I care about the most!

BTW* * I have listened to a ton of all of these stories via the Steven Pacey audiobooks, and he is an absolute MASTER of his craft, so fucking amazing seriously

also side note: how is Glokta my favorite character ever…?!
What books did you actually not put down?

516 comments • reddit.com

I’m looking for fantastic books, not good, not even great, I’m talking about the books that make you neglect everything else in life and just read. I can only think of a handful of them. Please comment with books YOU Actually Couldn’t put down.

Hoping to find a few good recs.

For me it’s the following: Name of the Wind (but not WMF) Best Served Cold Davinci Code, not really fantasy The First 3 ASoIAF Project Hail Mary

r/books

California law pushes phonics-based reading for elementary, middle school students

702 comments • share.google
Boris Johnson admits writing books using ChatGPT

201 comments • politico.eu
Books about race and gender to be returned to school libraries on some military bases

48 comments • npr.org
Virginia Giuffre was determined to tell her story one final time. Ghostwriter Amy Wallace recalls working on “Nobody's Girl,” which details Giuffre's allegations of abuse

70 comments • washingtonpost.com
Federal judge says Texas law requiring book ratings is unconstitutional

55 comments • keranews.org
Do you think books help people feel less lonely?

203 comments • reddit.com

Reading this article really was eye opening. What an insightful author to have this knowledge of the effects a digital age would have.

https://www.thefp.com/p/things-worth-remembering-how-to-save-all-the-lonely-people-david-foster-wallace

I think books are helpful for people who are experiencing loneliness. I love finding that perfect book to give a as gift and I enjoy my book club and being a frequent visitor at my local library.

r/printsf

Anathem

114 comments • reddit.com

Holy crap. This book was amazing. It just kept going. And going. The blend of bucolic theoric life, mad anachronisms, philosophical ramblings, genuine adventure, godlike powers and lowly mundane heroes. Haven’t enjoyed a book this much in a cerebral, rather than “whoo! Sci fi! Lasers! Aliens!” way since the Terra Ignota series. Highly, highly reccomend.
what deceased sci Fi author would you most like to have more books from?

432 comments • reddit.com

for me it’s Kage Baker. I wish there were more books in her company series, but I’d gladly take any books she wrote if she were still alive and writing.
The Huntington Library (in San Marino, CA, near Pasadena) just acquired Kim Stanley Robinson's archives!!!

9 comments • huntington.org
Books that start out as SF but turn into fantasy

168 comments • reddit.com

There are numerous books in SFF where the magic turns out to be advanced science. Are there any books that reverse this trope?

Like where society believes what they’re doing (energy, computation, transportation etc) is science based but is actually magic? Maybe from the gods or some other sources?
Books that go easy on a tired brain

115 comments • reddit.com

Hey guys! I had truly been a complicated sci-fi enjoyer but recently I got a new job and now I am having a hard time adjusting to my new lifestyle. I had to give up some of my hobbies because I don’t have energy for them. I desperately want to at least keep reading, yet every time I pick up a book - which I’m totally sure I should enjoy - I just feel so exhausted after a few pages. So that’s why I am asking for sci-fi books that you feel like are easy to read and enjoy. You know, books that you don’t have to wrestle with, books where text isn’t 60% terminology, books that you could read after a shitty workday. Would be a huge plus if it’s something positive, reaffirming, peaceful. I heard Becky Chambers has some nice cozy books and these are already on my readlist, but maybe you guys have more ideas? Would be happy for any suggestions!

Also giving virtual hugs to all folks who are also struggling to find energy for their once beloved hobbies. I now …
Iain M. Banks on 'The Culture'

39 comments • strangehorizons.com

Juxtapose this against Elon Musk’s [WRONG] interpretation of what The Culture was:

https://recommentions.com/elon-musk/books/culture-by-iain-banks/

r/television

Jimmy Kimmel Says ABC ‘Was About to Close a Deal’ for Jon Stewart to Host Late Night When Execs Watched Kimmel’s Tape; Bob Iger Told Him: ‘You’re Cheaper’

297 comments • variety.com
Sabrina Carpenter Sings Two F-Words Uncensored on ‘SNL’ While Performing ‘Nobody’s Son’

1110 comments • variety.com
HBO Max Raises Prices Across All Plans Effective Immediately

1359 comments • variety.com
Gwendoline Christie Was "Really Struggling" Before She Was Cast on 'Game of Thrones': "I've Never Been a Conventional Choice"

329 comments • people.com
I Want Worse Looking TV Shows with More Episodes

782 comments • youtube.com
Teens still watch TV and movies, but want to see more mixed-gender friendships, more animation and less sex

1203 comments • newsroom.ucla.edu

r/movies

Historic White House Movie Theater Demolished as Part of $300 Million Ballroom Build

1242 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
New IMAX poster of Frankenstein

440 comments • i.redd.it
HBO Max Raises Prices Across All Plans Effective Immediately

1371 comments • variety.com
Behind the Scenes footage from the making of "Van Helsing" (2004)

397 comments • v.redd.it
Elspeth Dudgeon's horrific transformation in "Sh! The Octopus" (1937). A special effect achieved in B&W through make-up that was hidden by a red filtered lens on the camera (thus the make-up is rendered invisible until slowly shifting the lens to the blue side).

248 comments • v.redd.it
Elizabeth Olsen Won’t Act in Studio Movies if There’s No Theatrical Release

1120 comments • variety.com

TV & Books #35

Sat, 18 Oct 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #35

r/fantasy

Robin Hobb announces that she won‘t respond to fan e-mails anymore since her inbox is getting flooded by AI and bots :(

243 comments • reddit.com

https://www.robinhobb.com/blog/posts/46926

When I was a fledgling writer, I read that Isaac Asimov replied to every reader letter he ever received. (This was before Email. Yes, I am that old.) And I resolved that I wanted to be like him.

Over the years, I flatter myself that I kept up pretty well, even with the email. Like Asimov, I limited my responses to the first letter from any reader. I could not establish regular correspondence with anyone but I did want to let readers know they had been heard.

But now I can’t. And it makes me sad.

Lately, my email has been flooded with 8 to 10 letters a day. They start out like reader email. They talk about the specific titles, and mention that they like the political intrigue or the character development. But then, some of the immediately offer to promote my books, for money, in various ways. Promises of increased orders, podcasts, you name it. Those ones I now see as AI generated and delete right away.

But I …
Naomi Novik's Scholomance Trilogy is elevated a lot by appreciating the unreliable narrator

180 comments • reddit.com

If you haven’t read this, it’s the darkest take on an adolescent wizard school. The students are locked away for four years after being teleported in with no teachers, frequent monster attacks and deadly consequences for blowing off work. The wizard parents do this to their kids because, ostensibly, it’s the better chance of survival. It’s almost an inversion of Harry Potter. Magic is expensive and it mostly makes the world more dangerous for wizards rather than less. The school is broadly split between kids of wizards living in fortified “enclaves” and “independents” who are everyone else with far less access to resources. Enclavers have a far better survival rate.

The narrative voice is 100% first person retelling from the protagonist El Higgens who, for the first two books has extremely limited information. Scholomance students have no timely news from the outside world, and El and her mother were outcasts from wizard society by her …
Am I the only one who LOVES super long stories with tons of "filler" and thinks all novels/series are WAY too short?

313 comments • reddit.com

Alright, I can’t be the only one, but I constantly see people say “The book is so long, how can someone read an 800-page novel”…and then there is me, who just finished all of Sapkowski’s novels (5 + stories), and I think I want like…15 more…? I’m not kidding. I will read about Geralt farming and taming trolls for 200 pages and him doing other stuff for 10 books before he finally completes the main story arc. I just want more content from the world.

I guess I’m starting to understand why fanfictions are so popular.

Does anyone feel the same? Maybe it has a lot to do with my love for videogames, which allow me to spend hundreds of hours lolygagging and roleplaying in the same world…
James Islington just released a much needed recap of Will of the Many to prepare everyone for Strength of the Few.

78 comments • reddit.com

As someone who has just finished rereading Will of the Many (and realized I had forgotten 80% of the book), I suggest that anyone without the time to reread an entire book give this a read before Strength of the Few comes out. Super cool of James to do and I really wish more writers would do something like this, especially in the SFF space where there can be multiple years between books.

Link HERE
"The Abominations of Yondo" short story by Clark Ashton Smith has my favorite opening paragraph among all the literature that I've read

47 comments • reddit.com

“The sand of the desert of Yondo is not as the sand of other deserts; for Yondo lies nearest of all to the world’s rim; and strange winds, blowing from a pit no astronomer may hope to fathom, have sown its ruinous fields with the gray dust of corroding planets, the black ashes of extinguished suns. The dark, orblike mountains which rise from its wrinkled and pitted plain are not all its own, for some are fallen asteroids half-buried in that abysmal sand. Things have crept in from nether space, whose incursion is forbid by the gods of all proper and well-ordered lands; but there are no such gods in Yondo, where live the hoary genii of stars abolished and decrepit demons left homeless by the destruction of antiquated hells.”

I don’t care if it’s a flowery purple prose or pretentious, it’s metal and I wish modern fantasy had similar prose.
Surprised by how good Dresden Files is

167 comments • reddit.com

I’m a relatively new fantasy reader without much experience. The last book I read was Discworld: Guards! Guards!, but I found it boring and didn’t really enjoy it. I started this series as a sort of palate cleanser after hearing so many good things about it — and I’m honestly shocked by how good it is. I’m only on page 85 of the first book, but the clarity of the writing, the pacing, the great characters, the atmosphere, and the tone of humor have all impressed me so much in a positive way. And people say the first book is the weakest one? I think this might be the first series I’ll truly get addicted to after A Song of Ice and Fire.

Edit: I would really appreciate it if people who like this series could recommend some slightly more serious, epic fantasy series that they think I might enjoy. Thank you.

r/books

Baek Se-hee: South Korean author of I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokbokki dies at 35

669 comments • bbc.com
America Is Sliding Toward Illiteracy (archive link in comments)

803 comments • theatlantic.com
Librarian Fired in Books Dispute to Receive $700,000 Settlement

103 comments • nytimes.com

A library director in Wyoming who was fired two years ago because she refused to remove books with sexual content and L.G.B.T.Q. themes from a library’s children and young adult sections was awarded $700,000 in a settlement on Wednesday.
Thomas Pynchon Has Been Warning Us About American Fascism the Whole Time | Literary Hub

274 comments • lithub.com
Authors break down why George Orwell's '1984' feels closer to real life than ever before

340 comments • usatoday.com
Oscar Wilde's British Library card reissued 130 years after being revoked over gay conviction

105 comments • bbc.com

r/printsf

I downvote every “I am reading <NAME OF CRITICALLY-ACCLAIMED AND FAN-LOVED BOOK> and I think it’s <SYNONYMS FOR BAD>, does it get any better?”

178 comments • reddit.com

I am 99% certain these are BS posts just farming engagement. So I just hit downvote and move on.
What's a classic you finally read that totally lived up to the hype? For me, it was Hyperion by Dan Simmons.

229 comments • reddit.com

I put it off for years and wow, I should not have waited. The world-building and structure were incredible. What’s a foundational book in the genre that you read recently and absolutely loved?
This quote hits hard knowing that it was published in 1937, on the brink of WW2.

28 comments • reddit.com

“No doubt, we ourselves are faced with the possibility of a scarcely less destructive war; but, whatever the agony that awaits us, we shall almost certainly recover. Foolish we may be, but we always manage to avoid falling into the abyss of downright madness. At the last moment sanity falteringly reasserts itself”

—”Star Maker” by Olaf Stapledon

One of the few literary quotes that made me cry given the context. Knowing that this quote was pretty much ultimate expression of belief in goodness deep within humans and the hope that some day there will be better times.
I loved the world-building in A Memory Called Empire. What should I read next?

65 comments • reddit.com

I was completely captivated by the Byzantine politics, the focus on language and culture, and the mystery at the heart of the story. I’m looking for another sci-fi book that has that same rich, anthropological feel. Any suggestions?
What sci fi book changed your life for the better?

119 comments • reddit.com

Have you ever read a book that impacted your life in a positive way?
Some thoughts on "Earth Abides"

41 comments • reddit.com
Some thoughts after a second reading (spoilers below)…
1. This novel feels far ahead of its time. It doesn’t feel like something written in 1949.
2. Though one of the first post-apocalyptic novels, “Earth Abides” still feels fresh, mostly because it totally dodges all the clichés and tropes the genre would subsequently invent or cling to.
3. Also unique: the main character is a snob and almost totally ineffectual. None of his grand ideas or plans prove fruitful, he doesn’t bother to pursue most of them, and his few attempts at making a dent in the world either backfire or have little effect. He achieves more by simply not trying, or by not attempting to force his will upon the world. Indeed, his most consequential act - repopulating a chunk of California - is caused by him kowtowing to the desires of a woman. Though he has no interest in kids, and can’t even bother to read books on fatherhood and pregnancy, he accidentally starts a civilization because …

r/television

Actress Diane Keaton has died at the age of 79

363 comments • the-sun.com
‘Stranger Things’ Team Worried Final Season Could Get ‘Game of Thrones’ Backlash

1521 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
‘South Park’ Returns After Three-Week Hiatus With Cartman up Against the Antichrist

347 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' showrunner promised George R.R. Martin the show will never shift to the perspective of anyone in the upper class

409 comments • winteriscoming.net

Unlike the previous shows, Parker made a promise to Martin, who serves as an executive producer, that he would never shift to a perspective of anyone in the upper class. Viewers will always stick with Dunk, Egg, and this lower rim of Westeros society: the armorers, the performers, the barmaids, the whores, and the like.
The Witcher S4 looks like an SNL skit

971 comments • youtube.com
Jennifer Aniston Says a ‘Friends’ Reunion Is ‘Impossible’ Without Matthew Perry Following His Death

347 comments • usmagazine.com

r/movies

Actress Diane Keaton has died at the age of 79

1789 comments • the-sun.com
David Fincher testing the RED camera on DiCaprio. Shot with only the light of a matchstick

780 comments • v.redd.it
The ‘Tron: Ares’ Flop Will Probably End Jared Leto’s Leading Man Career | Analysis

3207 comments • thewrap.com
‘One Battle After Another’ Projected to Lose $100 Million Theatrically as ‘Smashing Machine’ and Others Also Struggle Due to Oversized Budgets

3474 comments • variety.com
Barack Obama wanted to visit the set of Spielberg's Lincoln. Spielberg had to approach Daniel Day Lewis and say 'Mr. President, the current occupant of your office would like to come and watch the proceedings as we try and get this amendment passed.' Day-Lewis refused the visit, while in character

943 comments • youtu.be
What is the best satire movie that most people don't realize is a satire?

3807 comments • reddit.com

The one that immediately comes to mind for me personally is Starship Troopers. It works really well as just a straight up action movie that it can be quite easy to just shut your brain off and enjoy the shoot ‘em up (of which there is plenty). I speak from experience as my dad is like this.

I would love to hear what other movies people list!

Edit: spelling.

TV & Books #34

Sat, 11 Oct 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #34

r/fantasy

Does anyone else miss when fantasy felt kind instead of cruel?

373 comments • reddit.com

I’ve been re-reading Terry Pratchett lately, and it made me realize how rare genuine warmth has become in modern fantasy. So many recent series lean into cynicism, trauma, or grimdark tones, which can be powerful, but I kind of miss stories that make me *feel safe* again. Do you think the age of hopeful fantasy is gone, or are we just too jaded as readers?
I just finished " Tress of the Emerald Sea " and it made me believe in whimsy again

146 comments • reddit.com

It’s been years since a book made me grin like an idiot. the tone felt like someone telling me a bedtime story after a long day of bad news. It was funny, hopeful, and somehow gentle even when it hurt. I kept thinking, this is what I missed in modern fantasy - a sense of wonder without the cynicism. When I closed the book, it felt like the world was a little less heavy for a while.
HBO Original A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms | Official Teaser

282 comments • youtube.com
Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook are on sale on Humble Bundle

31 comments • reddit.com

For an $18 minimum donation, Humble Bundle is selling an ebook bundle of Glen Cook’s ‘Chronicles of the Black Company’, ‘Instrumentalities of the Night’, and the standalone, ‘The Tower of Fear’ on sale for the next 20 days in the USA and Canada.

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/glen-cooks-chronicles-black-company-more-books
I finally finished " The Priory of the Orange Tree " and I can’t stop thinking about it

73 comments • reddit.com

It’s been a long time since a book pulled me in like that. I went in expecting heavy politics and slow pacing, but somehow I ended up crying over dragons at 2 a.m. The worldbuilding was so rich it felt like stepping into another life. I know some people say it drags, but for me that’s what made it beautiful - it gave every scene space to breathe. Nnow I’m sitting here feeling weirdly empty, like I just said goodbye to old friends. What’s the last fantasy book that left you like this?
A book/series with a “dumb” but actually brilliant main character?

166 comments • reddit.com

Similar to Gon from Hunter x Hunter or Naruto? Where their instinct or observational ability, or some other supernatural ability gives them an edge, yet they’re traditionally not so smart? Any books like this?

Edit: thanks everyone for the wonderful recommendations!

r/books

‘They didn’t even read the book’: How children’s authors are being canceled over Palestine

225 comments • theguardian.com
Libraries Can’t Get Their Loaned Books Back Because of Trump’s Tariffs

154 comments • 404media.co

Link without paywall: https://archive.ph/3xMmR
Hawaii library system bans displays that refer to ‘Banned Books Week,’ rebrands to ‘Freedom to Read’

130 comments • apnews.com
The dumbing down of America, one banned book at a time

195 comments • salon.com
Rare Merlin and King Arthur text found hidden in binding of medieval book

72 comments • popsci.com
László Krasznahorkai Awarded The Nobel Prize in Literature 2025

92 comments • nobelprize.org

r/printsf

I've seen a lot of weird titles skimming through old sci-fi books but this one takes the cake

133 comments • reddit.com
Literally could not put it down.

106 comments • reddit.com

I read Recursion, by Blake Crouch in one day. I started around noon and literally did nothing else but read. What a great book.
Two Months Ago, you recommended me some books. I read 15 and this is what I thought

50 comments • reddit.com
Original Post.

First off thank you so much for the recommendations. I have enjoyed reading these. In total, I read 15 recommendations and DNF 3.

The Best
- Hardwired by by WJ Williams - Anyway, this book was fantastic. Great story arc, believeable near future backdrop, and the characters were fairly well done. If it weren’t for smoking in a hospital room and payphone existing (plus costing a dime), you would think this book was written in the last few years. Somehow I had read the sequel, liked it but didn’t read this one.
- Cold as Ice by Sheffield - Fantastic read. I previously read Tomorrow and Tomorrow and thought it was just ok. But this? Well done! I particularly enjoy the more hard space opera style and this fit the bill. I did find some of the characters one dimensional but some were well developed enough to continue. This is the only book where I read the sequels immediately, although they didn’t deliver like this one.
- Enemy Mine by Longyear - I remembered …
Which sci-fi book released in the last century came closest to predicting our current geopolitical reality in 2025?

254 comments • reddit.com

One of the best things about reading sci-fi is getting a glimpse of futures that will never be but of all those works released century some must’ve come closer to others.
On humanity's portrayal in Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time

46 comments • reddit.com

I finished Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time yesterday. The novel basically follows parallel storylines between humans embarked in a survival mission on a giant spaceship with whatever’s left of humanity, and spiders in a wild planet getting genetically engineered for intelligence and sentience by a rogue virus. The spiders evolve fascinatingly across various generations, starting from 0 (fully wild arthropods) to developing communication, empathy, communities, animal herding, agriculture, to genetic engineering and biotechnology of such sophistication that it becomes the foundation of all engineering from civil and military to computing and spacefaring. The humans, meanwhile, are shown to be so ridiculously juvenile and idiotic they keep infighting and wasting away generations to devolve from an originally intelligent race to space baboons. I foolishly kept thinking their behavior was just a part of some character development to help empower them and come out …
Jeff VanderMeer working on fifth book in the Southern Reach series

23 comments • avclub.com

r/television

r/movies

Tropic Thunder (2008) | Directed by Ben Stiller | Tom Cruise as Les Grossman

931 comments • v.redd.it
'THE TOXIC AVENGER' Surpasses Fundraising Goal And Erases $15 Million In Medical Debt for Over 10,000 People

149 comments • fangoria.com
Official Poster for 'Nuremberg'

493 comments • i.redd.it
California Passes Law Banning Loud Commercials on Streaming Services. Starting July 1 of next year, Netflix and Co. will need to keep the audio levels consistent from movie and TV shows to advertisements.

390 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
Lucy Liu ('Kill Bill', 'Charlie's Angels') To Receive Career Achievement Award At Philadelphia Film Festival

176 comments • deadline.com
Physical Media Collector Pumped For Downfall Of Humanity

286 comments • theonion.com

TV & Books #33

Sat, 04 Oct 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #33

r/fantasy

The older I get, the more I appreciate small-scale fantasy stories

118 comments • reddit.com

When I first got into fantasy, I only wanted the huge epics. Multi-volume sagas, maps in the front of the book, magic systems with pages of explanation. I loved the feeling of being lost in a massive world.

But lately I find myself gravitating more toward smaller, more intimate stories. Books where the stakes are not “the world will end” but instead “this one village might survive” or “this one character might finally find peace.” There is something refreshing about fantasy that does not try to be bigger than life, but instead feels deeply human within the magic.

I am not saying I have stopped loving epics, I will always respect Tolkien, Jordan, Sanderson. But there is a different kind of magic in a short novel that focuses on a single journey or a quiet piece of folklore. Sometimes it feels even more real.

Has anyone else felt this shift? Do you still crave the massive series, or do you also find yourself more drawn to the smaller, character-driven side of fantasy?
Who is the most moronic character that you have come upon in fantasy?

491 comments • reddit.com

… I’m oh so angry at Fitz
What is the single best fantasy or sci-fi tv show ever made?

978 comments • reddit.com

I don’t see a lot of discussion around relating to tv shows so I thought I’d ask the question. I’m in a strong mood to watch a really, really good show and obviously something relating to my two favourite interests fantasy and sci-fi. So what in your opinion is the best tv show ever made? Can be sci-fi or fantasy.
Between Two Fires is truly brilliant. What else is there like it?

98 comments • reddit.com

I’ve been looking forward to reading this for a while but, half way in, I wasn’t prepared for just how much I was going to love it. The way the characters talk and interact, and the child’s kindness cutting through the cruelty of the world, make this feel like a medieval version of The Road, but with a layer of grim humour over the top.

Buehlman is a brilliant writer, and his work feels less conventional than a lot of other fantasy out there (even though this might be classed more as ‘horror with fantastical elements,’ it still fits into the genre for me), verging on being literary and experimental but still grounded in great storytelling.

So, I’m now wondering what else like this is out there? I’ve read Blacktongue Thief and Daughter’s War is on my shelf and has shot straight up my TBR, but are there any other authors who are attempting this sort of thing?
I just finished The First Law trilogy and I feel like no other fantasy hits the same

211 comments • reddit.com

I wrapped up Last Argument of Kings last night and I am honestly stunned. Abercrombie has this way of making characters so flawed and brutal yet impossible to stop reading about. The ending left me feeling both satisfied and kind of empty, like I had lived through every betrayal and every failure alongside them.

Now I am stuck wondering what else out there feels this raw and unforgiving. Most fantasy I have read leans into hope or epic arcs of triumph. This one left me with a pit in my stomach but in a good way.

For anyone who has read it, what did you pick up next that scratched a similar itch?
Is all of Malazan series as crazy as Gardens of The Moon?

357 comments • reddit.com

Just finished Gardens of The Moon. I picked up this novel based on several reviews circulating around the internet testifying on the greatness of the Malazan series. And I decided that I was going to finish the whole book before really giving it an honest and thorough digestion.

I think that Erikson has very polished prose and decent talent at using descriptive writing to flesh out some characters. However, the storytelling seemed really poorly conceived and really messy.

I just read about 500 pages where there was limitless insane supernatural nonsense, and at the end I still feel as if almost nothing really happened. It kind of felt like reading an encounter where two kids are playing make believe but in an argumentative one-upping game. “My guy has a magical sword”. “Well my guy has a dragon that beats magical swords”. “Well my guy has a spell that makes his magical sword beat magical sword eating dragons”. Etc. Additionally, the amount of supernatural and magic that …

r/books

Stephen King is the most banned author in US schools, PEN report says

1292 comments • apnews.com
Reading Rainbow is returning with new host Mychal the Librarian

157 comments • bookriot.com
Black Student Says Having More Diverse Books Would've Made Her Feel 'More Comfortable' in Predominately White School

461 comments • share.google
Audible class action alleges audiobook purchases don’t confer full ownership

185 comments • topclassactions.com
Florida Court Rejects Free Speech Argument in Book Removal Case

288 comments • nytimes.com

In it, a zookeeper notices that two male penguins have paired off and built a nest together. “They must be in love,” the zookeeper thinks. When the two penguins put an egg-shaped rock in their nest and start sitting on it like all the other penguin couples do, the zookeeper replaces it with a real egg that needs to be cared for. That egg becomes Tango.
Reading third person is confusing?

695 comments • reddit.com

I just read a book review that just baffled me and I wanted to discuss it. Maybe I’m just ignorant or ableist?? Idk.

So I read a review of a book that said a long the lines of: I felt confused reading this book because it was third person POV and I’m used to first person POV. I felt like I was unable to follow along.

It made me feel so sad and confused. Is reading comprehension really this bad now? I just can’t understand how one POV is more confusing than the other. I can understand preferring one over the other, but not being able to read one just blows my mind.

The book this review was about was not a difficult read (to me). It was a pretty straightforward urban fantasy. It wasn’t a long (under 200 pages).

I know that first person seems to be the preferred POV these days so I can understand this person not reading many third POV books, but I just don’t see how it could be difficult to follow a book because of its POV. Am I missing something? Is …

r/printsf

What is the best opening sentence you have read in a book?

420 comments • reddit.com

For me its House of Suns. “I was born in a house with a million rooms, built on a small, airless world on the edge of an empire of light and commerce that the adults called the Golden Hour, for a reason I did not yet grasp.”
Children of Time, by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

132 comments • reddit.com

This book has been sitting on my shelf gathering dust for months. I tried starting it when I first got it, bounced off after the first 30 pages or so. But recently I ran out of fresh sci-fi. My copy of Chasm City was still in the mail, and I was bored. So I picked this back up to see if I’d stick with it.

And holy shit I was floored.

I wound up finishing the whole thing in a couple of days. The world building here, the portrayal of accelerated evolution in a species (various breeds of Spider) not designed for it. Of a frail and desperate humanity, making reasonable but ultimately selfish decisions, justified through a lens of extinction. And the final impact of these cultures finally clashing, this was a story that absolutely gripped me from page to page.

Despite the overall tone, the ending was surprisingly upbeat. And while sometimes I think an optimistic ending can come at the cost of some of the stakes (Castlevania Season 4 comes to mind) I think here it was done …
A deepness in the sky

70 comments • reddit.com
Just read it, 10 years after A Fire Upon the Deep. Some thoughts:
1. This is probably one of my favorite books of all time. I can’t believe I hadn’t read it before. Think it deserves way more hype than it currently has (obviously personal opinion).
2. Why did Vernor not write a true sequel? I could probably read another few books easily about the development of Spiders as well as the trajectories of the various protagonists on the human and spider sides. Would even read fan fiction if anyone has come across it.
3. What should be the next Vernor Vinge book I pick up? Anything that comes close to this? I’m still running high on adrenaline from the final 10% of the book.
Can you recommend scifi that is not set in our own universe?

206 comments • reddit.com

As the title says. I wanted to know if there is (pretty sure there is but I’m not aware of it) science fiction books that are NOT set in our own universe. By that I mean literally. I wanted to know of works set in fictional universes, not our own but set so far in the future that it is indistinguishible; a fictional universe with it’s own “rules” and so on, like Westeros, Middle Earth, Star Wars. And what are your thoughts on this kind of scifi (if there is), compared to the traditional futuristic scifi in our universe?

I wanted to know if there are such works, both for reading for my enjoyment, and for my writing (because I don’t wanna set it in our universe and wanted to see how other people do it, beside star wars)
What common interpretation of a popular book do you disagree with? [NO STARSHIP TROOPERS EDITION]

151 comments • reddit.com

[Not the original OP here] That last one was a hot mess and almost nobody actually answered the title. Let’s try this again, shall we?
New Ann Leckie Book 2026

27 comments • reddit.com

It looks like Orbit has published a blurb for Ann Leckie’s next book.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0FPCCYTL1/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?ie=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.N15v1UAMDCxIK6EsCMHk1ZQKY47I3VjSD6jKMyheWCXDCyUJswB0zaKgqkP3kCdc1n12do8LW8B9FA35l2fgKcD_n6H3NFEtXOT7NPJT2i9VX_QbPhPo939ZODai12iRnQTYFi_sTGn0tO0y05_jb-epyWba3AuIKnJCkDI0j9Lan32gs4IJLGWk7Ieq7lgEXZqIPx-WKpqiyi_7xwV-8w.ZPE6NhpB_UBrW0IOEMaVIvDj7YO-fYSITWu98lPAmlY&qid=1759197403&sr=1-4

r/television

r/movies

Jane Goodall, Iconic Chimpanzee Expert Who Was Subject of Dozens of Films, Dies at 91

722 comments • variety.com
Official Poster for the New 'The Simpsons' Movie

2238 comments • i.redd.it
‘One Battle After Another,’ With Its Thriller Vision of Authoritarianism, Is the Rare Movie That Could Rule the Cultural Conversation

987 comments • variety.com
‘Highlander’: Jeremy Irons to Play Villain Opposite Henry Cavill in Amazon MGM’s Remake

673 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
New Poster for Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’

324 comments • i.redd.it
‘Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair’ to Receive Nationwide Release — We Called It Tarantino’s Best Movie

643 comments • indiewire.com

TV & Books #32

Sat, 27 Sep 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #32

r/fantasy

What should you read based on your favorites according to r/Fantasy

168 comments • reddit.com

I went through a 100 posts on this subreddit asking for books similar to ones they loved and picked the most upvoted comment.

Methodology: Basically I searched for “books like [insert title]” in r/Fantasy for a bunch of popular books. Then I picked a post asking for similar books (I tried to avoid posts asking for recommendations with specific details when possible) and took the top comment. Here is what I got:

Book	Top Reccomendation
Wandering Inn	A Practical Guide to Evil
First Law	Acts of Caine
Dresden Files	Alex Verus
Book of the New Sun	Ambergris Trilogy
Memoirs of Lady Trent	Amelia Peabody Series
Between Two Fires	An Altar On the Village Green
Murderbot Diaries	Ancillary Justice
Mage Errant	Arcane Ascencion
Malazan	Black Company
Broken Empire	Blacktongue Thief
Gentleman Bastard	Blacktongue Thief
Harry Potter	Cradle
Hyperion Cantos	Culture
Empire Trilogy	Daevabad trilogy
Stormlight Archive	Dandelion Dynasty
The …

So I just finished reading Name of The Wind...

430 comments • reddit.com

And it doesn’t really go anywhere. I think the prose is beautiful and somehow easy to read at the same time. But the 700 pages I just read seems like the first 3 episodes of a 15-episode season 1 of a show.

It doesn’t reveal or answer anything. It doesn’t even raise that many questions. The book felt like an introduction to the world through Kvothe’s backstory.

Edit: I don’t mind Kvothe as a character. Really don’t mind the Mary Sue thing at all. I’m just disappointed that there is no real progress to the “plot”, if there is a plot at all.

Edit 2: for example, about 300 pages near the end is about Kvothe riding to the town with the wedding because of the Chandrian attack. By the end of that side quest, he learns nothing more about the Chandrian. Everything stays the same, like 300 pages ago.
What’s the single most haunting piece of worldbuilding you’ve read in fantasy?

417 comments • reddit.com

When I think about the moments that really stuck with me, it’s never the big battles or the chosen one prophecies. It’s the quieter, eerie details. In “ The Bone Season ” by Samantha Shannon, there’s a scene where the architecture of the city feels suffocating, like it was built more for control than for living. Or in “ The Poppy War ” by R. F. Kuang, the way the gods are described as distant and almost cruel, making you wonder if calling on them is a blessing or a curse.
The one that really haunted me, though, was in “ The Priory of the Orange Tree ” by Samantha Shannon again. there’s a passing description of an abandoned temple where the walls are painted with the names of people who swore their lives to protect the realm, but no one remembers their faces anymore. That single image, tucked into a paragraph, made the whole world feel heavier, like history was pressing down on every character’s choices.
What are the small but unforgettable pieces of worldbuilding you’ve come across? …
What are you sick to death of seeing in fantasy novels?

1587 comments • reddit.com

This is intentionally an open-ended question. Maybe you’re sick of vampire romance subplots, or ridiculously overpowered main characters who survive on plot armor, or maybe you’re just tired of castles and dragons. One person I know will throw a book in the trash if it has medieval peasants who are cheerful instead of miserable.

What do you never want to see again in a fantasy book?
Redwall: The epic that shaped me

161 comments • reddit.com

I grew up on the Redwall books. Every single one. I read them multiple times, and I still remember finishing the last book, The Rogue Crew, when I was 19. That was the end of an era for me, because those stories had carried me through my entire childhood.

To me, Redwall isn’t “just a kids’ series with talking animals.” I’d argue it’s one of the greatest epics ever written. It deserves to sit alongside Beowulf or The Odyssey. Why? Because Brian Jacques understood something a lot of “serious” literature forgets: heroism doesn’t belong only to kings, demigods, or chosen ones. It belongs to the timid, the ordinary, the ones who don’t look like warriors until the moment comes when they have no choice but to stand up.

That’s the message that stuck with me. Matthias, Mariel, Triss, Martin, none of them started out invincible. They were scared, small, unprepared. But they chose courage anyway. That’s what Jacques was writing about, and it hit me as hard as anything I learned in church or …
Glokta dropping bangers in The First Law

88 comments • reddit.com

Eider nodded slowly, her eyes never leaving Glokta’s face. ‘That must have been hard. To come back, after all that time in the darkness, and to find that your friends had no use for you. To see in their faces only guilt, and pity, and disgust. To find yourself alone.’

Glokta’s eyelid was twitching, and he rubbed at it gently. He had never discussed such things with anyone before. And now here I am, discussing them with a stranger. ‘There can be no doubt that I’m a tragic figure. I used to be a shit of a man, now I’m a husk of one. Take your pick.’

‘I imagine it makes you sick, to be treated that way. Very sick, and very angry.’ If only you knew. ‘It still seems a strange decision, though, for the tortured to turn torturer.’

‘On the contrary, nothing could be more natural. In my experience, people do as they are done to. You were sold by your father and bought by your husband, and yet you choose to buy and …

r/books

George Takei to lead Banned Books Week, urging the fight against censorship

333 comments • apnews.com
AI could never replace my authors. But, without regulation, it will ruin publishing as we know it

129 comments • theguardian.com
The dawn of the post-literate society

436 comments • jmarriott.substack.com
What books lowkey traumatised you as a kid?

1853 comments • reddit.com

I’m not talking about your Watership Down death scenes or the dead wives scene in Bluebeard or the weird sex scene in IT when you read it far too young, but the more workaday scenes that broke your heart.

The one that springs immediately to my mind and still makes me cry:

In The Tree that Sat Down, where Mrs Rabbit gets swindled into spending all of her family’s money on an imported box of Rien or Nicht.

Or in one of Paul Jennings’ stories, an evil salesman is going round selling super-strength glue that’ll hold anything. One of his customers/victims is a lonely old lady whose pride and joy is her collection of porcelain horses that she’s been gifted over the years. Naturally, a day later, the shelf collapses and smashes all her horses. The final scene (iirc, I haven’t read it since I was about 12) is her kneeling amongst all these shattered figures cradling the front leg of one that her father had given her as a girl.

Yep, no, still makes me cry …
Independent bookstores are having a boom. Texas is leading the charge.

63 comments • texasstandard.org
Lonesome Dove, lonesome now

138 comments • reddit.com

60F UK female here who loves to read books considered classics. This kept popping up as one that must be read. Had given this a swerve though as it’s about cowboys and ranches and horses and so on and so on. Eventually took the plunge based on reviews on Reddit. Have just finished it. What a book!!! I actually feel a little bereft that it’s over. What this novel demonstrated for me (amongst other things) is it really doesn’t matter when you live, where you live and what your circumstances are, human nature with all its foibles, its meanness, its random acts of kindness is the same wherever you are. The richness of these characters, the incredible narrative, the shock of some of the happenings. This is one book that will stay with me forever. Now, do I just accept that nothing will beat this or tackle the prequels and sequels?

r/printsf

Is Samuel Delany the horniest well-regarded sci-fi writer of all time?

299 comments • reddit.com

Probably, right? Besides sci-fi, he’s written some of the most important essays on queer sexuality, in addition to literal porn. And that horniness shows up in Dhalgren in a, uh, big way. lol.

But who else out there has a horny oeuvre? A hoeurnvre, if you will? And I’d like to keep it to “established” published SF writers rather than, say, erotic fanfics.
Dune Berkley Trade Set

14 comments • reddit.com

They don’t make book series like this anymore. Beautiful
Best "i just woke up and OMG what is going on? recommendations

140 comments • reddit.com

I’m thinking books like Project Hail Mary and Hull Zero Three, where the protagonist wakes up from cryo sleep and is immediately thrust into a situation that he has no idea of what is going on.
What’s the best philosophy science fiction book?

157 comments • reddit.com

I enjoyed reading Ubik by Philip Dick. What other books really make you think?
I finally finished the final book in Asimovs Robot, Empire and Foundation series and I loved every moment.

37 comments • reddit.com

It feels really bittersweet now that I’ve finished all of them but damn what a ride. I finished it with Forward the Foundation and im really glad I did because it felt like a good ending for the story.

For those wondering if read it in this order: 1. The Foundation to Foundation and Earth 2. I,Robot to Robot and Empire 3. The Stars, Like Dust to Pebbles in the Sky 4. Prelude and Forward the Foundation.

I love the order I read it in for some reason. It was awesome going back more than 10000 years to see how the universe i loved came to be and then how everything was set into motion.

And now that im finished im starting all over again.

Who else read the entire series and what did you think?
Does anyone have recommendations for pulpy books about hidden immortals wending their way down through history?

112 comments • reddit.com

Something like Highlander, or Casca the Immortal Mercenary, or Milo Morai from the Horseclans? Nothing to serious or philosophical, just something fun.

r/television

They’ve finally gone there: 'South Park' takes aim at Benjamin Netanyahu

1004 comments • theguardian.com
'Groundswell' for Kimmel return after 'cancel Disney+' blows up online: insider

1432 comments • rawstory.com
Jimmy Kimmel Live! – Jimmy Kimmel Is Back!

1064 comments • youtube.com
400 Celebs Sign Open Letter Backing Jimmy Kimmel, Including Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Jennifer Aniston

818 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
Jimmy Kimmel’s Return Monologue on Way to Breaking Host’s YouTube Views Record (8M views in 9 hours)

758 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
Jimmy Kimmel Live! Returning Tuesday as ABC Lifts Suspension

2975 comments • hollywoodreporter.com

r/movies

TV & Books #31

Sat, 20 Sep 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #31

r/fantasy

My 10 year old loves The Hobbit and it makes me happy. That’s all.

62 comments • reddit.com

My 10 year old daughter is reading The Hobbit and is devouring it!

She was just grilling me about Gollum.

It’s just fun to have a new fantasy fan in the house… Oh the adventures that await her!
The Devils Joe Abercrombie

125 comments • reddit.com
Let me start with a solemn confession that I was not planning on reading The Devils or, as a matter of fact, any book by Joe Abercrombie. I was, let’s say, influenced to read the book because of the positive buzz it created and the fact that the book will be adapted into a James Cameron movie and that I will be able to brag to my non-reader friends that I know the plot when the movie comes out and so on and thought it would be more of a one-time read with not much depth or substance. But Oh Boy!, was I seriously mistaken and enjoyed the book to bits that I now feel sad that the book is over.
1. A fantasy suicide squad set out on a Holy Mission in Europe during the Crusade Era, with subtle references to the Hussite wars like The Great Schism or General Zizka to set the overall tone and world.
2. The real strength of this book is in its contrasting vivid characters and the innovative action sequences, which have frankly shocked and surprised me.
3. Among the Devils, I liked Balthazar as …
I judged the Licanius trilogy way too early, it's an all-timer.

154 comments • reddit.com

So I first read Shadow of What Was Lost a year or two ago, and while I enjoyed the book, I had been hearing so much hype behind it, and so much about how its plot was twisty. Knowing this, when I predicted a major twist at the end of the first book, I ended up feeling largely disappointed, and bailed on the trilogy.

Years later I’ve been hearing much of the same praise about Will of the Many by the same author, James Islington, so I decided to give him another shot and ended up loving it. This led to me picking up Licanius again, starting from the beginning, and I was instantly fascinating and absorbed, and went through the whole trilogy.

It’s straight up a masterpiece.

The trilogy involves a government under strict control of its magic users, known as Gifted and Augers, the latter of whom are executed on discovery following a brutal war to remove them from power. It does a great job of setting up the horrors of this current reality while genuinely giving it some real …
I found Gene Wolfe MUCH easier to understand than Sanderson

162 comments • reddit.com

I have total aphantasia, which if you don’t know, means I can’t see images in my head. I can imagine “normally”, but I can’t actually see what I’m imagining. Because of this, I’m very picky with the books I read, specially with their prose and style. I don’t look for high quality prose per se, but some authors just give me a lot of trouble. Strangely, Sanderson is one of those authors. Although his style is simple, he’s way too technical (not sure if this is the right word) when describing things. He can write some cool and easy to understand fight scenes, but when he tried to describe more complex scenery or one of the fantasy animals in Way of Kings, my head just got confused. The more details he tried to give me, the harder it became, to the point where I just couldn’t imagine them at all. But I recently finished Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe and had the opposite experience. Yes, the book is much more complex and …
What do you think is the most punishing magic system regarding side effects?

295 comments • reddit.com

Which magic system do you think has the most severe or punishing side effects for the user?
What is a fantasy series that you are just too stubborn to give up on?

397 comments • reddit.com

Maybe some can relate and some don’t but…

What is a series that you just are too stubborn to give up on? A series where something about it makes you really want to like it, and you try again and again, but it just never clicks for you personally. And still you keep trying, and trying.

For example, mine is Discworld. Gods do I want to like Discworld. I really do see the genius behind it. But after reading the first twelve books in the series, coming back again and again because people tell me so often that I just haven’t found the “one” that clicks with me, I just have never loved it. Most of the books begin strong, and I do get an occasional light chuckle (in-sewer-ants…), but by the midway point I often just find myself bored and have to grind to finish these, thankfully short, books. And even saying this, I’m sure that given a few months I’ll be diving back in to give another one a go….

Anyway, what is your …

r/books

Texas A&M student discovers hundreds of discarded LGBTQ books in warehouse

205 comments • chron.com
Elizabeth Gilbert's disturbing new memoir "excruciating to read"

1092 comments • theguardian.com
Librarians Are Being Asked to Find AI-Hallucinated Books

292 comments • 404media.co
Sally Rooney unable to collect award over Palestine Action arrest threat

388 comments • theguardian.com
So, Belfast Books, an online bookstore, has decided not to restock Stephen King’s books in light of his comments about Charlie Kirk. Thoughts on this?

967 comments • reddit.com

So in response to Stephen King’s comments about Charlie Kirk, a bookstore retailer in the UK called Belfast Books has decided not to restock Stephen King’s books. What do we all think about this?

King has since apologized for his remarks about Charlie Kirk, but that hasn’t stopped the retailer from pulling his books off the shelves.

Is this ethical and the right thing to do? Should bookstores pull books from people they don’t like?

EDIT: The owner of Belfast Books sent me a message regarding the Neil Gaiman topic. Here is the message in full as follows:

“I notice that there was a convo about our decision to take Stephen Kings books off our http://www.belfastbooks.co.uk website.

Totally fine with whatever anyone wanted to say but I just want to share that we removed Neil Gaiman’s books from the website when we saw one of the Redditors posting they were there. Gaiman’s had horrific allegations against him and we’d never knowingly be apologists for someone who may well have …
Wuthering Heights is the most emo book I’ve ever read

206 comments • reddit.com

I never read WH in school but decided to give it a read with the new movie coming out. I thought I was just going to finally know what the book was about beyond basic knowledge, but I feel like this unlocked an understanding of all the angsty teen girls in my youth that I did not have before.

Heathcliff is the king of the emos. If that man was born in the 90s, he would have worn skinny jeans and had swoopy hair that covers one eye and known the overly long names of every Minus the Bear song.

Catherine Earnshaw would have had a super emo Tumblr page with “whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same” as those sparkly quote gifs embedded on the page. She would have taken lots of duck face selfies from the extreme above angle and the caption on all of them would be some overly emo song lyric with ~rawr XD~ at the end.

All the other characters would’ve been stereotypical emo kids too except for Nellie Dean who would’ve been the confused mom that didn’t understand but was …

r/printsf

Why is it that whenever I read about a Catholic priest in a science fiction novel, he's always a Jesuit?

175 comments • reddit.com

Ok, weird question. I’m pretty sure it’s just a coincidence, but I wanted to ask this subreddit to make sure it isn’t a common trope in science fiction novels.

Last month, I read The Sparrow and its protagonist is a Jesuit priest. I recently finished Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion, and both of the priest characters are Jesuits. I just watched a video recommending Jack McDevitt’s The Hercules Text, in which a priest/scientist is also a Jesuit.

Is this a recurring theme in other science fiction novels, or was it just a coincidence?

Edit: the first replies are already pointing to an obvious answer, so I’ll also ask: Do you know of any other science fiction novels that have Jesuits among the main characters?
Alastair Reynolds delivers new book "Merlin's Way"

19 comments • reddit.com

Knowing Reynolds’ cadence (and the publisher cadence), I would not expect to see this until the end of 2026 to mid-2027. “Halcyon Years” is expected Jan 27, 2026 and I think he delivered that to the publisher ~2 years prior to that.

Anyway, the book is not about Merlin the magician, but about the character Merlin from some novellas he wrote. Very much in the scifi/space opera genre.

From his blog:

A few hours ago I hit send on my next book, provisionally entitled MERLIN’S WAY. It’s the one I’ve been talking about for some time, a gathering-up of the four “Merlin” novellas I wrote over about twenty years. But, it’s ended up being something more than that. My original plan had been to stitch together the stories with a bit of linking material, and maybe rejig the chronologically-final piece a little to smooth over some bumps in point of view. The more I worked on the project, though, the more I realised that nothing about it was …
I just finished Jurassic Park (1990) for the first time.

74 comments • reddit.com

What. a. trip.

Easily in the top 10 books I’ve ever read. I just finished it. The 3rd act was completely different than the film adaptation. The book is very dark and very technical, and it honestly feels like the movie did it a disservice.

The Tyrannosaur river chase scene, the Aviary, the Raptors vs Grant scene in the nursery, etc. It was wild. What a wild trip. Especially with the final few chapters for Ian Malcolm and Dr Hammond.

Dr Hammond is a true villain.

Man, what a wild read. I haven’t seen the movie since 2013, and before that since 2007, so it was pretty fresh, and it was wildly different than the film, anyhow.

I started State of Fear (2004) earlier this week, but the prose and quality of writing is way worse than JP. I’ve downloaded Andromeda Strain (1969) and The Lost World (1995). So we’ll see how those hold up next. I’m probably going to DNF State of Fear.
I finished The Expanse and WOW

70 comments • reddit.com

I started reading the Books when I saw that Owlcat Games cooking the game in the Expanse universe and I got curious. So after the 9 books( yeah I know that there are short stories, I would read them later) I can say with 100% certainty that this is one of my favorite pieces of media of all time. And absolutely my top 1 sci-fi books series, not that I’d read many of the but still. Does any other sci-fi series come close to the Expanse in terms of characters and stories?
Fantasy gets less appealing as you get older?

334 comments • reddit.com

Unlike scifi, I find fantasy to be less fun as I get older (35 currently) though I was never the ardent fantasy fan compared to SF. Curious if you have the same experience? I just can’t get into arbitrary fantastical events in books and these consistently turn me off, majorly because magic/power ups etc just feel deus ex machina like even if there’s a good amount of buildup for it so justify it. Scifi in comparison tends to stick with the set of rules it starts out with.

Aside, I don’t think I am reading bad fantasy. Been reading Stormlight archive up until book 3 now, and have read mistborn series as well.

I plan to stick with scifi but wonder if I am alone in this feeling

Edit: Thanks for the responses! Lessons so far: 1. Sanderson is for YA, which makes sense. 2. I should read some Abercrombie, Zelazny, and other authors who are more adult friendly.
What’s the best post apocalyptic sci fi book published in the last 15 years?

214 comments • reddit.com

I’ve noticed a lot of new apocalyptic books being published. What are the best ones worth reading?

r/television

Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension sparks congressional investigation

1137 comments • advocate.com
'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' Pulled “Indefinitely” By ABC After Nexstar Drops Late Nighter From Affiliates Over Charlie Kirk Comments

5214 comments • deadline.com
Tramell Tillman Becomes First Black Man to Win Supporting Drama Actor for ‘Severance’

446 comments • variety.com
Jon Stewart to Surprise Host ‘The Daily Show’ Thursday Amid Jimmy Kimmel Fallout

1010 comments • thewrap.com
Tatiana Maslany has urged her fans to cancel their Disney subscriptions after the studio suspended Jimmy Kimmel’s show

711 comments • reddit.com

#Source

She’s also a very vocal supporter of workers rights and has already criticized Disney’s CEO on that subject.

Doesn’t matter if she played She-Hulk or if this will put in jeopardy a potential return of her character. I guess she’s just doing what it takes to stand up for what is right.
SAG-AFTRA, WGA Blast Decision to Suspend Jimmy Kimmel

914 comments • variety.com

Full text of the WGA statement…

“The right to speak our minds and to disagree with each other - to disturb, even - is at the very heart of what it means to be a free people. It is not to be denied. Not by violence, not by the abuse of governmental power, nor by acts of corporate cowardice.

As a Guild, we stand united in opposition to anyone who uses their power and influence to silence the voices of writers, or anyone who speaks in dissent. If free speech applied only to ideas we like, we needn’t have bothered to write it into the Constitution. What we have signed on to - painful as it may be at times - is the freeing agreement to disagree.

Shame on those in government who forget this founding truth. As for our employers, our words have made you rich. Silencing us impoverishes the whole world.

The WGA stands with Jimmy Kimmel and his writers.”

r/movies

First Official Image from Shawn Levy's 'Star Wars: Starfighter' Starring Ryan Gosling & Flynn Gray

2531 comments • i.redd.it
Ice Cube Says He Shot His ‘War of the Worlds’ Scenes in 15 Days Without the Director or Other Actors

1352 comments • variety.com
Robert Redford, Screen Idol Turned Director and Activist, Dies at 89

1375 comments • nytimes.com
“Something Good- Negro Kiss” (1898)… an American short silent film (1 minute long) made in 1898. It is the first depiction of black love ever on film

188 comments • v.redd.it
V for Vendetta continues to be a history lesson

971 comments • youtube.com

Late night funny man pokes fun at authoritative head of state.

Authoritative head of state has funny man disappeared.

It’s as if Donald Trump watched the film on his flight to the United Kingdom, and only finished half of it, got some ideas, phoned his buddy at the FCC, but didn’t see how it ends. Hopefully he sees how it the movie ends.
Israel may defund own film awards after movie about Palestine wins top prize - Under Israel's protocol, The Sea, a film critiquing the country's occupation of Palestine, will automatically be put forth as its Oscar contender.

744 comments • avclub.com

TV & Books #30

Sat, 13 Sep 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #30

r/fantasy

Not-so-hot take: Mistborn is very much YA

1141 comments • reddit.com

Sorry if this hurts anyone’s feelings, but I’m halfway through Mistborn: The Final Empire right now (no spoilers, please!) and I can’t shake the feeling that this is very much a YA novel. Maybe I’m too old and seasoned enough in the genre to see it?

I was told this was the perfect entry point to Brandon Sanderson’s “adult” fantasy, but what I’m reading feels like a coming-of-age story wrapped in a fantastic magic system. The world-building is top-notch and the prose is flawless (for its intended purpose), but the narrative feels like it’s holding my hand the entire time. I’m surprised by this, especially for an author who’s been compared to GRRM.

So, where am I wrong? What makes this an adult book? Is it simply that the main characters aren’t teenagers? Or is the YA label not a criticism, but a simple fact?

EDIT: since I can see this has exploded pretty much overnight I want to clarify something once more. This is not …
Why do so many fantasy authors gloss over class struggles in their worlds?

693 comments • reddit.com

I just finished Babel by R.F. Kuang, and while I liked the magic system and imperialism angle, the class stuff felt kinda tacked on, like it was there but not really explored deep. It got me thinking about how many fantasy books have these huge societies with kings and peasants, but they barely touch on the real tensions between them. Like in Mistborn, the skaa vs nobles is central, and it works great, but a lot of other books just have poor folks as background noise. I grew up in a working-class area, so when books skip over that, it bugs me. Am I missing something, or do you feel the same? What fantasy books do class dynamics really well, without it feeling forced?
People on here don't know how to recommend what is being asked for.

498 comments • reddit.com

Obviously a slightly ragebaity title, but basically this. I’ve asked several times on here - and have gone over threads where other people were asking for the same - for fantasy that explores class as a topic through an anarchist and communist lense. Just at the very least no more of the same hero/saviour quasi-monarchy trope. Out of the many recommendations, so far I’ve tried the Curse of Chalion and Malazan. I cannot fathom how you would recommend either of the two for the criteria given above. So I started looking at recommendations more closely and of the things I’ve read, I’d say over half the time they are fully off the mark for what OP is asking for. How come we are so shit at recommending stuff to each other?

Edit: It’s probably not a surprise and surely not a good precedent, but I’m getting so much better recommendations on here than ever before lol. Bummer I’ve read most of them already.

What instantly ruins a book for you?

815 comments • reddit.com

For me: • When a character dies, I mourn them… and then they’re just randomly brought back in the next book or season. No foreshadowing, just cos the readers will be happy… sometimes it works but usually no… unless you kill them off for a brief period please just let them stay dead I think it ruins their character.

•	The whole “I am your father” reveal. Or worse: “your mother who’s been dead for 10 million years is actually alive!” Sure. How convenient.

•	“Actually, I am the true heir and I’ve been living in poverty this whole time under a different name but even I didn’t know I was the real queen of bla bla. Like I cannot believe I read 879 pages just to have that as the big reveal.

•	When a male author writes every female character as that cringey “girl boss feminist” stereotype… yes I am an amazing coder who is so smart and perfect and sexy and also ! I am not scared of men and I can stab them with no training … oh and I’m 5 foot tall and weigh 65 pounds… and I wear tight …

Just finished The Lies of Locke Lamora…

84 comments • reddit.com

Wow, can’t wait to read all 7 books of this series! I hope there haven’t been any issues in finishing them…

Jokes aside, what a kick ass book, Lynch could have never written anything else after this let alone sequels and this would still go down as one of the best modern fantasy novels. I have both the sequels ready to read and will now join the crowd in patiently waiting for the rest to hopefully see the light of day but I’m feeling awfully satisfied for the time being.

Any other notable fantasy books about thieves or with similar vibes to this? I’d love to read those too!
I wanna read a big dumb fantasy book

309 comments • reddit.com

I’m a huge fan of literary fantasy (The Buried Giant, Once and Future King, Wizard Knight, etc.)

But I’m in the mood for something that is faster paced, and more focused on a fun fantasy adventure than it is on themes, subtext, and social commentary.

Can anyone recommend a book that is just completely unashamed to be fantasy?

Medieval setting, kings, knights, dragons, quests, monsters, magical items, etc.

Honestly in the mood for something like Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, Riyria, Inheritance Cycle, Eddings stuff, and so on.

Any recs?

r/books

Apparent AI-generated books on Charlie Kirk’s assassination flood Amazon

309 comments • san.com
Kiran Desai disappeared after winning the 2006 Booker Prize. She now reappears with a sweeping new book it took her nearly 20 years to write.

111 comments • nytimes.com

I loved this NY Times article about author Kiran Desai, who accidentally wrote a draft of her book with over 5,000 pages and “no center.” Afterwards, it took her around 8 years to find the narrative’s center, to cut, to craft, and finally, to publish.

A free version of this paywalled article is found at https://archive.ph/546Xh
12th Grade Reading Skills Hit a New Low

444 comments • nytimes.com
Why is there a debate on whether audiobooks constitute reading?

1386 comments • reddit.com

Hey everyone!

I’ve been seeing a lot of videos where creators are offering their hot takes, and very often those hot takes involve discussing audiobooks and whether they constitute reading or not.

At least to me, I figured that for those who are visually impaired and may not have books translated in Braille, audiobooks become a means for them to read through listening. Or is there some other aspect to it that I’m unaware of?

Happy to know your thoughts and opinions thanks!

P.S. Since I’m getting downvoted, I wanted to clarify that I do consider audiobooks to be reading. Just asking why others seem to not consider it so.

P.P.S. I appreciate everyone clarifying on why they consider it listening versus reading. My question was a genuine one and I don’t see why I should get downvoted or judged for it. I never implied that audiobooks are superior or inferior to reading physical books.
Judge skewers $1.5B Anthropic settlement with authors in pirated books case over AI training. Raises possibility that the case could still go to trial.

110 comments • apnews.com
11/22/63 is just phenomenal, and not for the reasons you expect

217 comments • reddit.com

I finished 11/22/63 a few days ago, and I can’t stop thinking about it. Stephen King has some great stories (Salem’s Lot is my fave), but this one is markedly different.

Partly because the main “point” of the story focusing on the JFK assassination or whatnot, is actually the least interesting part of the whole story.

Instead, the way he describes Jake/George’s life, describes the feel of the 50s and 60s, and the chemistry between the characters in the town of Jodie is just mesmerizing. The descriptions of the taste of root beer and ice cream. The school dances, the meet-cutes, the characters.

I can’t get it out of my head! I felt like I just lived in a different reality while reading it, I was so immersed in the way he built the world of America in the 50s and 60s.

r/printsf

I would not have characterized Three Body Problem as hard sci-fi

307 comments • reddit.com

To me it felt much more DaVinci Code than rigorous sci-fi. It used pop science concepts to build a feeling of realism, but it was not in fact remotely realistic.

I think describing it as hard sci-fi can set readers, such as myself, up with the wrong expectations going into the book, which can lead to some confusion in the last third where some of the big reveals are very much not remotely sciency.

DaVinci code for physics would probably be a more apt description to me.

Edit: to elaborate slightly, Knowing that a book is not hard sci-fi means I’m not going to assume the author has rigorously researched the science, and therefore I will not have to spend mental energy sorting out true facts from creative liberty. It also helps me judge the book on its strengths.

Edit 2: it seems that there are a lot of different opinions on what the term hard science fiction means. To me it meant sci-fi that sticks closely to what we know about physics, And that is what I was referring to when …
What novel has the most bizarre aliens?

333 comments • reddit.com

I’ve learned that the truth is often weirder than I realized. What novel has the weirdest aliens?
Recommendations for "fever dreamy" sci-fi

170 comments • reddit.com

Looking for books that feel like a fever dream or have significant portions that feel that way. My favorite books that I’d put in this category are:

Ice by Anna Kavan

Solaris by Stanislaw Lem

Downward To the Earth by Robert Silverberg

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (to a slightly lesser extent)

What are your favorites? Annihilation is on my list already.

Edit: thanks for recs! Will come back and check more tomorrow!

Edit 2: wow, what a response, you people rule. I have a great list now, thanks so much!
Which wildly renowned science fiction novels didn't resonate with you at all?

936 comments • reddit.com

I can usually connect with at least one aspect of a science fiction novel, and I enjoy almost all of the ones I read. However, sometimes I couldn’t understand what most people found interesting about some extremely popular books.

Has that happened to you? If so, which novel? And why?

I’ll start the dances by admitting that I didn’t like Rendezvous with Rama.

I really wanted to like it, but constantly being in awe when >!very little happens and the characters leave without understanding anything!< is not my preferred type of reading experience. The writing style was a bit cold, which didn’t help.
What’s the best post-apocalyptic sci fi novel?

242 comments • reddit.com

What novel captures the resourcefulness of a post apocalyptic society?
Love for Sheri S Tepper?

62 comments • reddit.com

Even in the “Legendary Women of Sci Fi” post there wasn’t any mention of her, which I find to be a shame. Grass is easily one of my favorite Sci-Fi novels with some great ideas and moments as well as a very pertinent message behind it. Gibbons Decline and Fall and Beauty I also find to be fun reads. On top of the concepts I feel her characters have strong and entertaining personalities especially in Grass. Any other Tepper fans here?

r/television

Barack Obama Wins Emmy for Best Narrator (‘Our Ocean’)

333 comments • deadline.com
South Park "Got a Nut" pulled from schedule after Charlie Kirk shot and killed.

1821 comments • reddit.com

It seems on the linear Comedy Central channel, while it is listed, it did not air as a rerun at 9 p.m. as it was supposed to. The episode featured Cartman playing as a figure which resembled Charlie Kirk.
Sean Astin Elected SAG-AFTRA President

241 comments • latimes.com
Cillian Murphy Shuts Down Voldemort ‘Harry Potter’ TV Series Casting Rumor: "It's just really hard to follow anything Ralph Fiennes does...good luck to whoever is going to fill those shoes.”

405 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
‘House Of The Dragon’ Star Olivia Cooke Says Women Are Still Being Branded “Difficult” For Setting Boundaries In Sex Scenes

861 comments • deadline.com
If Trump Isn’t Dying, Why Is He Being Treated Like a Make-A-Wish Kid? | The Daily Show

293 comments • youtube.com

r/movies

‘Lord of the Rings’ star Sean Astin elected SAG-AFTRA president

705 comments • latimes.com
Yorgos Lanthimos, Olivia Colman, Ayo Edebiri and Josh O’Connor Among 1,200 Industry Names Pledging Not to Work With Israeli Film Institutions ‘Complicit in War Crimes’

241 comments • variety.com
Official Poster for the 4K Restoration of 'Perfect Blue Remastered'

355 comments • i.redd.it
‘Super Mario Bros. 2’ Officially Titled ‘Super Mario Galaxy Movie’

981 comments • variety.com
New Poster for 'Good Boy'

589 comments • i.redd.it
‘Pee-wee As Himself’ Wins the 2025 Emmy for Outstanding Documentary

180 comments • goldderby.com

TV & Books #29

Sat, 06 Sep 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #29

r/fantasy

The Raven Scholar is the book I've been looking for for years

201 comments • reddit.com

Although I have loved fantasy and read it for 20 years, I have been sorely disappointed by the releases of the past few years. I had almost given up on US/UK publishers because of disappointments after disappointments: shallow world-building, poorly edited plots, rehashed tropes and the takeover of romantasy.

Since then, I have learned to like romantasy (one has to if one still wants to read newly released fantasy), though even there, a lot of my favourite reads are self-published.

What on earth has happened to all the amazing worldbuilding and epic stories? Since the start of the pandemic, I haven’t been able to find the same level of excitement that I used to experience with books like the Mistborn series by Sanderson, The Way of Kings, The Fifth Season by Jemisin, The Rage of Dragons by Winter (I still remember some scenes from that book all these years later), The Emperor’s Blades by Staveley, or science fiction books such all of those by my beloved author, Kameron …
Updated sales figures for Sarah J. Maas & Brandon Sanderson

375 comments • reddit.com

Updated sales figures for fantasy megastars Brandon Sanderson and Sarah J. Maas demonstrate that the formidable market power of Romantasy is not stopping soon.

Back in January 2024, I assembled the latest incarnation of my “SFF All-Time Sales List,“ which had sales figures of 37 million for Sarah J. Maas (in 32nd place on the list) and 40 million for Brandon Sanderson (in 29th place). These were very healthy figures.

The updated figures for Sanderson (via the Edelweiss catalogue) now have him at 45 million, which would move him up to around 24th place. Very healthy and impressive. Unsurprising as in the meantime he’s released his long-awaited fifth Stormlight Archive novel, Wind and Truth, and is now working on a return to his perennially popular Mistborn sequence.

But the updated figures for Maas, straight from her publisher, are eye-popping. The updated figures put her at 75 million (!), which would rocket her up to around 17th on the list and instantly make her …
If you could read one fantasy book again for the first time, what would it be?

649 comments • reddit.com

You know that feeling when you open a book with no idea what’s coming, and every twist, every moment, hits you completely fresh? If you could wipe your memory of one book and experience it all over again like the very first time, which book would you choose? I’ll start.

Quick note: I don’t mean books that gave you vital life knowledge or literally saved your life, blanking it doesn’t mean you’d die or anything like that. Just purely the thrill of discovery.

For me, the obvious answers are The Lord of the Rings or *Harry Potter*—the wonder of stepping into those worlds for the first time was incredible. But I could just as easily say many other books, because as a kid the adventures gave me a joy nothing else could.

And on a different note, I sometimes wonder what it would be like to come to Beowulf, or even The Faerie Queene, with completely fresh eyes, not as texts you “know about,” but as living stories and ideas you’re experiencing for the first time.

Could I pick only …
A post about Lloyd Alexander, and The Black Cauldron.

68 comments • reddit.com

Just wanted to share an experience I had as a child, I thought some folks at this subreddit would appreciate. In the early eighties, my family got our first computer. And I played my first video game, The Black Cauldron by Sierra. The experience I had with that game made my imagination go wild, I was in love with everything about it.

It made me start reading The Chronicles of Prydain, I read straight through the entire series. So I ended up becoming a huge fan of Lloyd Alexander. I also used to write a lot of books back then, and I actually sent one to Lloyd Alexander. He sent me back a postcard, with a really sweet heartfelt paragraph about my book. And even drew a little illustration on the postcard.

Anyway, this is one of my fondest memories I have as a child. It’s basically what got me into fantasy. Lloyd Alexander is amazing, and he created some amazing stories and worlds in his novels.
Favorite city in a fantasy world?

361 comments • reddit.com

What’s your favorite city in a fantasy world?

There are so many cool ones out there. Like Ankh-Morpork from Discworld, Minas Tirith from LotR, Camorr from Lies of Locke Lamora, or Luthadel from Mistborn. Even stuff like Vivec City from Elder Scrolls Morrowind or Novigrad from The Witcher counts.

Which one sticks with you the most? Would you actually want to live there, or just admire it from afar?

Looking to hear your picks (and maybe find a few new books/games too).
Goblins, Dwarves, Elves, Wizards -- Where did they all go?

208 comments • reddit.com

In 2020 I decided to finally sit down and read a Brandon Sanderson book. It was The Final Empire, otherwise known as Mistborn. It was my first adult fantasy novel (I’m aware it verges on YA). Having spent my late teens reading mostly literary fiction, I wanted to try reading fantasy, a genre I had always adored in films and video games, but strangely I’d never picked up a fantasy book before, outside of stuff like Harry Potter and The Hobbit as a kid. Going in, my understanding of the genre was filtered by my obsessive playthroughs of Skyrim and Oblivion, a little D&D experience, and my love for films like Lord of the Rings.

I was very impressed with Mistborn. Based on my knowledge of the genre, I had expected a trope-ridden world of elvish magic, pixie tricksters, wizard’s robes, and brave warriors slaying orcs. What I got instead was a post-apocalyptic world where the different races were all wholly original to the story, and whose …

r/books

James Patterson offers new writers up to $50,000 to finish their books

206 comments • cbsnews.com
A confession from a long time fantasy reader

229 comments • reddit.com

I have never ONCE read the various songs and poems that feature in fantasy novels. Not a single time. Not even Lord of the Rings! I can’t picture a melody or sounds in my head and my ability to read poetry is limited to Edgar Allen Poe (and even then only between September 30 and Thanksgiving). The jarring arrival of a song makes my whole body clench and I sheepishly flip the page until it’s over, silently asking forgiveness from the author I just hurt.

A throw myself on the mercy of this great community for I fear I have committed a great crime.
My first year as a bibliophile

181 comments • reddit.com

Hello. I recently turned 41 (note to young people: it’s not that bad). A year ago, I realized my life had too many video games and too much social media. I decided to make reading my primary form of entertainment. I have to admit, I did not expect to “catch the bug” as hard as I have, and I did not expect the multitude of positive changes the mere first year of heavy reading hath wrought.

I read voraciously when I was a kid, and then fell out of the habit after discovering weed, girls, and so on. I still made time to read two or three non-fiction novels annually (I’m a great lover of history and politics), but fiction escaped me for almost two decades. But I’m back, and back with passion.

I believe now that literature is the storage container for humanity’s greatest wisdom. Math and science, for us as a species, were critical, yes. But for individuals? I don’t personally use calculus in my life. Neither does a cook or a psychiatrist. …
What was the last book you DNF?

3185 comments • reddit.com

Recently I tried reading ‘Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone’ by Benjamin Stevenson off of StoryGraph’s recommendation. It seemed interesting based on the synopsis, and it wasn’t a hard read. The pacing was similar to other stories I’ve enjoyed reading, too.

But man, nothing about the book was interesting to me. None of the characters interested me enough and the plot wasn’t all that interesting either. I kept telling myself to try a little bit more. I read about half the book before I decided to call it quits.

What was the last book you decided to call it quits on?
Picked up The Jungle last week...the more things change, the more they stay the same

67 comments • reddit.com

Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle is one of those books I’d heard about in school, but never took the time to pick up. I knew that it led to significant law reform in America due to its discussion of the meat packing industry, but what I did not know was how accurately it represented the plight of being poor in America.

I’m on chapter 11. Jurgen and his family just cannot catch a break! Right when things seem to be going okay, something else happens that puts them in an even worse position than they were before. They’re all forced to learn hard lessons they never should have had to learn, many of which I learned growing up. Of course, I had the benefit of being born here. They have the extra hurdle of being Lithuanian and having to slowly learn English over time.

The things that strike me are the injustices that will never be righted, like how Marija was fired because she didn’t get the wages she was rightfully owed, or how Jurgen’s ankle was injured on …
Tainted love: how Ukrainians are ridding themselves of Russian-language books

339 comments • theguardian.com

I have mixed opinions about this. It is a shared culture and to give up on Pushkin et al seems unrelated to present times.

r/printsf

What is the best cyberpunk book in the last 15 years?

129 comments • reddit.com

As the world becomes more digital everyday, what work captures the essence of the new age?
Sci-fi books that you feel present the most plausible future?

271 comments • reddit.com

What books that you think depict the most plausible futures that might actually happen. Ones that feel like they could be real history written from the future, that incorporate major technological trends you see could change everything—AI, transhumanism, quantum, etc.

Basically, books that aren’t just a bunch of basic homosapiens doing a roman empire analogue, but in space!
An obituary and appreciation of one the greatest stylists in genre fiction: Jack Vance

28 comments • reddit.com

It’s from 2013 but had not dated at all.

https://arcfinity.tumblr.com/post/52289912683/were-mourning-the-loss-of-jack-vance
Lesser known anticapitalist sci-fi

169 comments • reddit.com

I’m finishing up Shroud and I’m really enjoying how blunt it is in its portrayal of our glittering and luxurious capitalist future, and it’s got me wanting to ask for other recommendations apart from the obvious (KSR, PKD, le Guin, Murderbot, some Cordwainer Smith iirc, Strugatskii, etc.). What you got? Old or newer, don’t care, as you likely gathered from my examples.

EDIT: I can’t reply to everyone but this is awesome. Y’all know some good stuff.

Thanks to everyone recommending the stuff I mentioned in my post, too; maybe I’ll reread it.
When science fiction reads like myth

65 comments • reddit.com

One thing I’ve always loved about speculative fiction is when it carries the weight of myth or ritual alongside the science. Some books blur the line so well that they feel like epics worlds where history, religion, or symbols are just as important as technology.

For example, I recently came across a story (The Red Testament) that leans into this style: treating omens, ancient language, and hidden lore almost the way Wolfe or Le Guin might, while still keeping it in a speculative framework. It reminded me of how Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun feels both futuristic and mythic, or how Lem builds mysteries that border on the spiritual.

So I’m curious:

What other books have you read where sci-fi and mythic storytelling intertwine?

Do you enjoy when a speculative world leans into ritual, prophecy, or symbolism - or does it risk drifting too far into “fantasy”?

Would love to hear what titles stood out to you.
What are your top 3 books or series?

172 comments • reddit.com

Noob here. Just started reading books a few weeks ago and it is now one of my favorite hobbies. I can’t stop.

So far I’ve read Tesla and the Pyramid.

Andrmeda Strain.

Sphere.

Rendevous at the Rama.

2001 space odyssey (did not like this one).

recursion.

My favorite so far is Recursion. I had no idea you could get that excited reading a book and I keep reading more trying to find that same feeling of excitement. I read the entire thing in one day and was blown away.

Right now I’m reading Upgrade by the same author, Blake Crouch and I’m not liking this book at all. The plot is pretty simple. It only follows one character (so far). It feels more like an action movie. Maybe I’m jumping to conclusions and it’ll change. (I’m halfway through)

Next on my list is:.

Dark Matter.

Red Rising.

The Expanse series.

Hitching guide to galaxy.

Three body problem series.

The Davinci code.

Daemon.

The Martian .

Hail Mary.

Artemis.

A bunch of other michael Crichton books .

Wayward pines …

r/television

r/movies

Official Poster for 'Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery'

1412 comments • i.redd.it
Graham Greene Dies: Oscar-Nominated ‘Dances With Wolves’ Actor Was 73

769 comments • deadline.com
Different parallel universes in the near future in movies!

589 comments • v.redd.it
Steve Carrell's 2004 audition for Anchorman

176 comments • v.redd.it
James Gunn Announces 'Man of Tomorrow', Releasing in Theaters July 9, 2027

1275 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
Warner Bros. Sues Midjourney, Joins Studios' AI Copyright Battle

740 comments • variety.com

TV & Books #28

Sat, 30 Aug 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #28

r/fantasy

R.F. Kuang's biggest blind spot is class

217 comments • reddit.com

So firstly, I know R.F. Kuang is talked about a lot here, to the extent that she often feels unfairly dragged. I don’t want to contribute to a pile-on, and I wouldn’t post this if I didn’t feel like I was contributing to a conversation, but one criticism I very rarely see is how she writes about (or doesn’t write about) class.

To give some background without revealing too much personal info, I grew up in a deprived area in northern England and ended up doing well enough academically to study Classics at Oxford. This was fairly recent (late 2010s). My experiences there were mixed – my accent was mocked, I was told I shouldn’t be able to study Classics if I hadn’t done Latin at school, the area I’m from was ridiculed, etc, etc. People not from the UK are often not aware of how deep-rooted classism is here, and how English culture especially is so mired in elitism, but I became quite painfully aware of it over the course of my degree. So I went …
Why fictional religions feel so fake

613 comments • reddit.com
I just watched this great video that breaks down a lot of traits that real world religions have that a lot of fictional religions lack. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pjrrUZeJMSo Here are the 4 traits he brings up:
1. Syncretism: how it absorbs and adapts the cultures around it
2. Ritualization: prayers, offerings and routines that structure day-to-day religious practice
3. Material religion: “stuff”— buildings, shrines, food, statues, clothing, etc
4. Lived religion: how religion is practiced by everyday people (not necessarily the official doctrine)
I’m curious what books you think do or don’t contain these elements. I think a lot of writers get caught up in mythological worldbuilding without thinking about how the religion would actually play out.

However, I think The Killing Moon by NK Jemisin and The Silt Verses (a fiction podcast) are amazing examples of religious worldbuilding that check all of these boxes. Perdido Street Station and The Blacktongue Thief also have well written …
Leaving Audible as a customer.

244 comments • reddit.com

Link to Daniel Greene video.

Leaving Audible. A company trying to create a forever monopoly and lower the already substandard support authors receive doesn’t deserve my support. So on Monday, I am spending my last credits, as to not to dilute my support for authors who I want to get paid, then ending my membership.

Will try to buy on authors websites etc
Review: RF Kuang's Katabasis

212 comments • reddit.com

EDIT: some commenters have rightfully pointed out that I unfairly blamed the New Yorker reporter’s biases on RF Kuang, and that the “Ten Circles of Hell” are actually the “Eight Courts” (I read the eARC a while ago.) Those sections have been amended accordingly. I have also amended a sentence in Part 4 that wrongly conflates literary and non-Western fiction.

TL;DR: This book, while ambitious and freshly cutting at the start, fell short in good storytelling. RF Kuang should fire her editor. She should also stop being lazy with fantasy.

I wrote this review because I read Katabasis with a few friends as an eARC, and as an author/reader myself, I cannot believe the good press currently coming out about this novel. I wouldn’t have a problem with this- or Kuang as a fellow author, though this is the first novel I’ve read from her- if the praise weren’t so uncritically shining, and were the story’s construction not so obviously mediocre.

Before we begin, I’ll …
What’s your ultimate standalone fantasy book that feels like a true 10/10 (and why)?

470 comments • reddit.com

I don’t mean just “great” or “fun,” but a book that earns a perfect score because it does something extraordinary whether that’s delivering cinematic action, emotional devastation, unforgettable characters, or the rare mix of epic scope and tight storytelling. I’m curious which standalones gave you that this is why fantasy matters feeling, and why they hit so hard for you.
The Name of The Wind, I really want to like this book but...

646 comments • reddit.com

Note: I am not trying to be hateful or make light of your favorite story. Please read the whole post before enacting judgment upon myself. It’s also fine to disagree with me and I would love to hear your reasoning behind it.

I recently picked up *The Name of the Wind* and I LOVED it. The descriptive text, the atmosphere, and the slow, steady world-building were all fantastic. The more I read, the more I became enthralled with this world and Kvothe’s history. That is, until I reached The University.

It felt like the story and writing had jumped off a cliff. The text became less descriptive, and the atmosphere from the first chapters was gone. But the worst part for me was that the book began to feel more like an anime power fantasy than anything else. I get it; Kvothe is a gifted young man. However, his exploits (or maybe the way they are presented) feel like they belong in something like *SAO* or Mushoku Tensei. Not to mention, the characters in this section feel …

r/books

Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre’s memoir to be published posthumously

55 comments • theguardian.com
"Deeply concerning": reading for fun has declined by 40% in US, new study says

833 comments • theguardian.com
The Handmaid's Tale among more than 200 books to be pulled at Edmonton public schools

387 comments • cbc.ca
Latin American literature contains warnings for American universities that yield to Trump

77 comments • theconversation.com
Roald Dahl and Cruelty to Children

182 comments • reddit.com

I went to see Weapons on Friday night (at a very cute drive-in, very retro, very charming), and of course, I loved it. Very nicely done, absolutely charming, full of cute kids, and an adorable childish-looking adult professional woman made up to look like Madonna in Papa Don’t Preach, all battling evil together.

Its tenor reminded me of Roald Dahl and his charming comedy worlds, full of plucky innocent wide-eyed boy heroes-and the odd girl- struggling against horrific evil - sometimes immediate family, but other times forces that they couldn’t even begin to understand- just that they were out to harm them.

I read a lot of Roald Dahl - in fact his short story “The Hitchhiker” was one of my first reading bonding experiences with my mom- she read it, in an old paperback “Tales of the Unexpected”, with a purple and orange cover- told me to read it, and then later we went out and had knickerbocker glories. I wonder if they still serve them in British …
Blood Meridian. Holy. Shit.

188 comments • reddit.com

I’m not the first person to read this book, nor do I have any super profound thoughts on it, but every page just hits like a freight train. The lack of internal monologue from any character just makes every single downright vile action seem so much more sudden, and it really drives home the fact that every character, action, and motivation’ exigence is evil. Each and every time you think a character is going to do anything remotely good, or even neutral, it’s like Cormac McCarthy is reading your mind and says “watch this shit”. The fact that the characters give no reasoning for their senseless violence is gut wrenching, and the only character that does provide reason is so goddamn cunning, for a split second I’m like “that makes perfect sense”. the judge isn’t just manipulating the characters, he even briefly charms reader, sometimes I felt like what the judge was saying was valid, even though I knew he’s indescribably horrible. What other books have characters that are so charismatic …

r/printsf

Tender and kind female characters in modern scifi

154 comments • reddit.com

F22 here; I’m quite tired of the “strong female must be arrogant/violent/bossy/cool/overpowered” trope. I want relatable girls that are smart and important to the plot but still tender, soft, kind and well..female.

Anything comes to mind?

Also: you can enjoy whatever you want, each trope has its audience.
Science Fiction where science actually drives the story. Recommendations?

199 comments • reddit.com

I’m looking for science fiction novels where science drives the story or is the main framework through which the author presents things. Fancy technologies and gadgets alone don’t count.

I love books where physics, biology, astronomy, math, computer science, or even linguistics (e.g. Sapir-Whorf hypothesis) actually shape the plot or solve problems.

Favorites that do this really well, IMO: Blindsight, Diaspora, Children of Time, The Martian, 1984 (for its focus on linguistic determinism).

Any other novels like this?

Thanks!
Martha Wells' Murderbot and More Bundle - $18 for these 14 items

29 comments • humblebundle.com
How is it possible that Paul Lehr hasn't had a retrospective?

11 comments • reddit.com

One of the most influential and striking cover artists doesn’t have his own art book? Please tell me I just haven’t been looking hard enough.
Recent Science Fiction with great, new concepts

85 comments • reddit.com

Anyone got any recommendations for recent* science fiction (novels, short stories, web-fiction, films I suppose) which has a great, science-fictional concept that feels New?

*Let’s say since 2012 or so.
What book has the best alien encounters?

124 comments • reddit.com

Advanced alien species could be on our own planet. What book captures this wonder?

r/television

r/movies

Hey /r/movies, I'm Elijah Wood. Ask me anything!

13645 comments • i.redd.it

Hey r/movies, I’m Elijah Wood. You might’ve seen me in things like Lord of the Rings, Yellowjackets, Wilfred, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, Maniac, The Monkey, Everything Is Illuminated, and other stuff. I’m also in The Toxic Avenger. It’s unrated, and it’s only in theaters starting this Friday 8/29/25.

Here’s the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKe0pep35gQ

Set in a fantasy world, following janitor Winston Gooze, who, after a freak accident, transforms into a mutant vigilante known as Toxie. Armed with his mop, the unlikely hero battles freaks, gangsters and corrupt CEOs while trying to save his relationship with his son.

Directed by Macon Blair (I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore) and produced by Troma Entertainment. It also stars Peter Dinklage, Jacob Tremblay, Taylour Piage, Julia Davis, Jonny Coyne, and Kevin Bacon

Tickets/info:

https://toxicavenger.com/

Ask me anything reddit! Back at 12 PM PT/3 …
Hey /r/movies, I’m Stephen King! Ask me anything about The Long Walk book or movie.

7626 comments • i.redd.it

Hey r/movies, I’m Stephen King. You might know me from Stand By Me, It, or Shawshank Redemption, but my latest project is actually the first book I ever wrote. The Long Walk hits theaters on September 12. Ask me anything about the book or movie.

Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAtUHeMQ1F8

In a dystopian United States ruled by a totalitarian regime, a group of young men enter an annual walking contest in which they must maintain a speed of at least three miles per hour or risk execution. The contest ends when only one walker remains alive.

It stars Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Ben Wang, Charlie Plummer, Roman Griffin Davis, Garrett Wareing, Joshua Odjick, Tut Nyuot, Mark Hamill, Judy Greer, and Josh Hamilton.

I’ll be back on Wednesday ⁸⁄₂₇ at 12:00 PM ET to answer your questions.
‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Is Netflix’s Most-Watched Movie Ever With 236 Million Views, Beating ‘Red Notice’

2306 comments • variety.com
New Image of Mads Mikkelsen in Bryan Fuller's 'Dust Bunny' - Follows an eight-year-old girl who asks her neighbor (Mikkelsen) for help to kill the monster under her bed who ate her family.

410 comments • i.redd.it
Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, Jonathan Glazer Join Gaza Drama ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’ as Executive Producers - It follows the killing of Hind Rajab, a five-year-old Palestinian girl who lived in the Gaza Strip and was killed by Israeli forces during the ongoing Israeli invasion of Gaza.

1300 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
You Don’t Actually Own That Movie You Just “Bought.” A New Class Action Lawsuit Targets Amazon for Deceptive Practices

744 comments • hollywoodreporter.com

TV & Books #27

Sat, 23 Aug 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #27

r/fantasy

Mark Lawrence's AI vs authors part 2 results are in... and it's damning

442 comments • reddit.com

Not only were the AI pieces overall rated better, once again we humans were no better than random chance at correctly telling apart AI from human-written fiction.
Results here: https://mark—lawrence.blogspot.com/2025/08/the-ai-vs-authors-results-part-2.html

The exercise was really interesting, and I’m really grateful to the OP who alerted the subreddit to this the other day, https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1mry334/mark_lawrence_has_pitted_ai_vs_human_authors/
because I personally haven’t seen any AI fiction work as I tend to stay away from AI content generally, and have mostly seen AI stuff in academic/professional contexts so I’m more used to seeing its “tells” there. Spoilers ahead if you haven’t gone to take the test yourself.

For the stories, I was trying to use the following ideas to ‘tell’ AI from human:
- whether the intro was too exposition-y
- inconsistencies of details, or superfluous details that a real writer …
Books starring assassins that actually act like assassins?

280 comments • reddit.com

People that treat the job as an actual job, and ideally not power fantasies where they’re one man armies but use deception and subterfuge to accomplish their goals.

Bonus points if there’s a good character arc for them.

Despite having the word assassin in a lot of the titles, Robin Hobb’s books are not what I’m looking for because there’s very little actual assassin work in them.
Dandadan is urban fantasy worldbuilding done gloriously right

140 comments • reddit.com

Technically it’s an anime, but it’s the best urban fantasy worldbuilding I’ve ever seen. And i needed to talk about it with this subreddit.

One of the things Ive seen almost across the board is a science/magic divide. Like dresden files possits magic literally makes post 90s tech malfunction and explains it in world. And for Dresden it works. But so much urban fantasy feels like the magic world is still living in the 40s or the 20s. Which doesn’t really make sense if you think about it too long.

For anyone unaware Dandadan is a shonen anime about two kids. A guy who believes in sci fi and UMAs and stuff, a girl who believes yokai and curses. And what happens when it turns out they are both right. (There’s some really wacky and weird shit that happens, just go with it, you’ll fall in love).

For example there’s something that happend in last week’s episode. So the good guys are trying to do a big exorcism. The priestess is in like …
2025 Hugo Awards

250 comments • file770.com
Mark Lawrence has pitted AI vs human authors' flash fiction on his blog. Go Vote - can you tell the difference?

161 comments • reddit.com

https://mark—lawrence.blogspot.com/2025/08/so-is-ai-writing-any-good-part-2.html

Mark Lawrence has repeated his past ‘experiment’ and posted 8 flash fiction stories on his blog, some written by established human authors, some from AI prompts (he outlines that input).

Vote on each story to see if you can tell which were human made and which are clankers, and also: pick your favorite.

This is Mark’s PART II on the issue - just how good are the machines at reassembly and how does this regurgitated/recombinant algorithm play against genuine, human originality?
What fantasy novels have blown you away?

394 comments • reddit.com

Basically the question. What fantasy works have stood out to you as far as being entertaining AND well-written? Include sub-genre as applicable.

r/books

George R.R. Martin Confronted By Angry Fan at WorldCon, Told to Hand 'The Winds of Winter' to Brandon Sanderson

3444 comments • screenrant.com
Denmark to abolish VAT on books in effort to get more people reading

166 comments • theguardian.com
Waterstones opens 10 new stores a year as younger adults embrace reading

128 comments • theguardian.com
Theft or civil disobedience? 16 volumes go missing after Shelbyville church urges members to check out, never return library books about LGBTQ+ people

408 comments • kentuckylantern.com
27-year-old guy claims used AI to publish 1500 books and earn $3million, gets bashed online

171 comments • wionews.com
Sally Rooney could be arrested under [UK]Terrorism Act after pledging royalties to Palestine Action

96 comments • theguardian.com

Sally Rooney is a somewhat divisive author, but whether you enjoy her work or not you have to admire someone who takes a stand for what they believe in and to hell with the consequences.

r/printsf

Turned one of my friends, who was never into reading, into a full-on hard sci-fi addict

49 comments • reddit.com

Been best friends with this guy for many years now. Reading has never really been something he was that interested in - he’s always been more of a sports, video games and anime kinda guy. Never looked down on reading or anything - just wasn’t something he enjoyed doing.

Over the past year or so though, he’s started to show a bit more interest in sci-fi. A lot of it was due to me pestering him to watch The Expanse and Foundation lol. He then asked for me some good beginner hard sci-fi to start reading - seems like he really enjoys the grounded and somewhat realistic approach to sci-fi on The Expanse, as opposed to the more fantastical space opera stuff. Seems pretty obvious in retrospect given that he works in data modelling/coding and really loves talking about the intricate nuts and bolts of his work.

I started him off in the very shallow end with The Martian and Project Hail Mary, which he really enjoyed, and then eventually onto some harder stuff like Spin, Red …
Alien invasion novels where humanity gets railed

258 comments • reddit.com

Hey,

I recently read the Salvation trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton and the dark forrest. I really like the storytelling aspect of humans’ first interaction with aliens being one where we “fuck around and find out”, essentially. Humanity realizing that our technology is severely lacking in intergalactic warfare.

Should mention that I really appreciate a “smart” usage of technology, and a pretty hard sci-fi core. So not just “Aliens arrive and go pew-pew, now we’re dead” sort of thing.

Do you guys have any recommendations where this is a strong point of the storytelling?

Much appreciated!

EDIT:

Really appreciate the tips so far. I realize I’ve been a bit vague in what tickles me with my book series examples. I’m predominantly interested in the conceptuality of humanity being out-matched. I.e. I like the thought-porn of how the invading force is technically superior, and how that manifests.

I’m not so much searching for …
I went to Seattle Worldcon and here

57 comments • reddit.com

Worldcon in Seattle was the first Worldcon I’ve been to. Before this, I’d mainly been to Comic Cons and PAX West where the focus is very much on getting you to spend money. By comparison, Worldcon is all about the panels, the conversations, and being fans together. It’s run wholly by volunteers so is more amateur-ish and less professional, but I had a much better time than at Comic Cons or PAX.

When I went to the autographing area, Ada Palmer was holding court with about 10 fans, just talking. She mentioned Gene Wolfe writing a character in The Book of the New Sun he believed would be impossible to cosplay, after seeing cosplayers at conventions. Someone asked if she knows of a game that brings out the best in its players, and she said the Daybreak card game. Palmer also talked a lot about using LARPing to teach history, and having this module with a flexible amount of players for different class sizes for a real historical scenario that happened in the Sistine …
Most egregious RECENT authors when it comes to writing women?

343 comments • reddit.com

We all know the classic authors who are pretty infamously known to write female characters with the depth and personality of a particularly curvy plank of wood (Heinlein and I’ve memory holed any other ones I’ve read). That’s if they’re present in any meaningful way (Asimov).

Which more recent authors in the last 30-35ish years (1990 onwards) have you found to write terrible female characters? Or just leave a bad taste in your head in general in the way they write women?

Ex: Peter F Hamilton writes like a beast and I love his Night’s Dawn and Void books, but by the fifth time I read about how attractive an eighteen year girl and how attractive she was BECAUSE of her age I was just over it. Which is a shame because he writes pretty engaging and imaginative stories otherwise. I can’t remember off the top of my head but I distinctly remember reading a sentence in one of his books about a young girl wearing a skirt so short no woman over the age of 22 could pull it off ??? Had to throw …
2025 Hugo Awards

63 comments • file770.com
Ted Chiang: The Secret Third Thing

54 comments • linch.substack.com
I really like Ted Chiang’s writing.

I’ve noticed that many of his fans, including in the otherwise reviews, either don’t understand or don’t share what I personally subjectively think of as his most unique qualities. So I wrote my own review, covering:
1. His stories are neither “hard” science fiction (where the focus is on scientific realism and plausible extrapolations of known physics), nor “soft” science fiction (where the focus is science-as-window-dressing to tell stories about human or societal universals), but a secret third thing. In the review, I call it “true” science fiction: basically, where the principles of science themselves are meaningfully different from our world, but still internally consistent.
2. In his stories, technology can be complex and a mixed blessing, but they are often good. In most modern science fiction, technology is assumed to be evil (Torment Nexus) by default. Chiang resists these cliches, and …

r/television

Ben Stiller not returning to direct 'Severance' Season 3

558 comments • latimes.com
Fallout Season 2 Teaser

754 comments • youtu.be
'Caught in Providence' beloved Judge Frank Caprio, whose warmth and fairness in the courtroom inspired millions around the world, has died at the age of 88

102 comments • pugetpress.com
Conan O’Brien Says Late Night TV is Dying, But Stephen Colbert Is ‘Too Talented and Too Essential to Go Away’

275 comments • variety.com
‘The Office’ Offshoot ‘The Paper’ Switches to Binge Model, Will Release All 10 Episodes at Once

538 comments • variety.com
Dr. Phil's Bankrupt Media Company Sued Over $500 Million TV Deal

144 comments • hollywoodreporter.com

r/movies

TV & Books #26

Sat, 16 Aug 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #26

r/fantasy

I’m Louis Sachar author of Holes and the Wayside School books. My first adult fantasy novel The Magician of Tiger Castle is now out. AMA!

135 comments • reddit.com

I’m happy to answer questions about writing, the new book or any of my other books
why is tiktok/booktok obsessed with YA?

459 comments • reddit.com

edit: i thought about deleting this post bc people are mostly just using it to insult one another and vent their frustrations, but i’ll leave it up for those still commenting thoughtful stuff.

of course there is nothing wrong with YA and people should read what they want. that is obvious.

i only made this post bc (as a not-very-online reddit/tiktok user) i’ve recently bought multiple “tiktok books”— popular adult novels praised by adult content creators as the new “paragons of the adult fantasy subgenre” (im quoting a comment)— and was simply surprised by how young they felt.

examples of this include the poppy war, babel, song of achilles, red rising, the will of the many, etc — books that weren’t necessarily advertised as YA, but felt like it to me.

This is not to say those books are all awful and nobody should read them and you’re stupid if you enjoy them. I just found them UNEXPECTEDLY young, ESPECIALLY regarding PROSE. Personally this in turn made the darker / more mature, …
Worst, most unpronounceable names you’ve ever read?

471 comments • reddit.com

Let’s discuss some of the names in fantasy that you couldn’t make heads nor tails of in terms of pronunciation. And I’m not talking intentionally comical ones that are long and complex on purpose, but ones that the author intended to be read, yet that are ironically nearly unreadable.

For me it’s Seaine from The Wheel of Time. Is it “Sheen?” “Seen?” “See-ayn?” “Say-ai-nuh?” I honestly have no idea. And for some reason my copies of the books never give her name’s pronunciation in the glossary.

What are some others?
What was your last 5 star read that genuinely blew you away?

496 comments • reddit.com

I feel like I haven’t rated a fantasy book 5 stars in so long. Everything I’ve read recently has been a mediocre 3 or 3.5 stars. Please tell me what your last 5 star read was in the fantasy genre, so I can look into it and hopefully love it just as much!

I want the last book that blew you away, that you loved so much you still think about it, and gave you the worst book hangover you’ve ever experienced lmao

(I would PREFER the genre to be fantasy with some romance in there - I am not picky about the amount of romance however in my books so they do not need to be romance focused at all, subplots work fine!)

My top 3 thus far:

Six of Crows

Shadow of the Fox

An Ember in the Ashes

The above are all considered to be Young Adult (I read them all in my early twenties, I am now thirty) however I read Adult too and everything in between, it just so happens these three series really made an impact on me and have remained my favourites for years.

Thank you in advance!
Using stats to decide what book you should read based on your preferences

46 comments • reddit.com
I basically looked at the Storygraph community review stats of a 100 popular books from this subreddit (I only used 1 book per series) and worked out a top 10 for each stat. Hopefully these lists can help someone pick what book they want to read next. Keep in mind, these lists aren’t gospel and there are a number external factors like book popularity and average reader age that could have skewed some of the numbers.

Here is the Link to the data table if you’re interested, If you see any mistakes or if you have any ideas of something else I can do with the data please tell me:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nZXzC9gHpw-HASdqSGjR4JWvD6OKjcZIisQ-uy63z8g/edit?usp=sharing

-

Dark % Top 10:

1-3. Prince of Thorns; Between Two Fires; Berserk Vol. 1 - 97
1. The Darkness that Comes Before - 95
5-7. Worm; The Library at Mount Char; Black Company - 91
1. Perdido Street Station - 90
2. Frankenstein - 89
10-11. The Blade Itself; The Parable of the Sower - 86

-

Adventurous % …
Like many others, I adored the new Superman movie. Are there any good fantasy novels with similar themes of hope and basic human decency?

119 comments • reddit.com

I’m really over grim and edgy, and it was almost shocking how refreshing it was to see a superhero movie that wasn’t overly flippant OR desperate to be ‘realistic’, but dared to be sincere and hopeful, while also acknowledging that it can be hard.

What does fantasy offer in a similar vein?

r/books

“None Of These Books Are Obscene”: Judge Strikes Down Much of Florida’s Book Ban Bill. In a major win for intellectual freedom, a judge rules against Florida law that led to removing hundreds of books from school libraries.

381 comments • bookriot.com
Queer Authors Withdraw From LGBTQ+ Writing Prize En Masse Over Inclusion of Self-Proclaimed TERF

559 comments • assignedmedia.org

The Polari Prize and the Polari First Book Prize are known as the sole prizes recognizing queer authors in the UK.
Alberta author battling AI by writing 34 books in 34 weeks. Her goal is to show that people are not just as capable, but better at writing books

324 comments • edmonton.citynews.ca
You’re Not Supposed to Remember the Book

158 comments • open.substack.com

This is a wonderful read. I love this sentence that is a very short summary of the article:

You are not memorizing, you are metabolizing.
Have you ever thought about what you'll do with your book collection when you grow older and eventually pass away? I counted my bookshelf today and found I have about 1700 books. I’m still fairly young but I wonder what will happen to these treasured books after I’m gone.

1030 comments • reddit.com

I was looking at my bookshelf today and counted around 1700 books, each one a piece of my life’s journey. I’m still relatively young but it made me wonder will they be passed down to someone who values them as much as I do, donated to a library or simply scattered and forgotten? This question really disturbs me because how can I be sure that those who get these books will preserve and love them like I do? Do they really care about reading? Well, no one lives forever but as a book lover who has been collecting books since a very young age I don’t like the idea of the impermanence of ownership. The idea that they could end up gathering dust in a storage box or sold without a second thought makes me uneasy. Do you have a plan for your book collection when you grow old and are no longer here?
Rereading Mockingjay has made me question the training in Fourth Wing even more

288 comments • reddit.com

So I finished my reread of The Hunger Games trilogy a couple weeks ago (⁵⁄₅ as always, loved it), and chapter 18 in particular suddenly had me thinking of and making comparisons to Fourth Wing, which I read several months back and decidely did not enjoy as much, because of the stark contrast in the military training programs and overall competence of the people running of them. This is a snippet from when Katniss undergoes training in District 13 to prepare for the invasion on the Capitol:

“The instructor breaks us into squads of eight and we attempt to carry out missions – gaining a position, destroying a target, searching a home – as if we were really fighting our way through the Capitol. The thing’s rigged so that everything that can go wrong will go wrong for you does. A false step triggers a land mine, a sniper appears on a rooftop, your gun jams, a crying child leads you into an ambush, your squadron leader… gets hit by a mortar and you have …

r/printsf

What's your favorite SF joke/pun from an SF book?

126 comments • reddit.com

I’m reading Galactic North (Alastair Reynolds) and I just came to a part where a (space) pirate died and we find out that they had requested their dead body be fired ahead of the ship once it is almost touching light speed. When asked about the reasons, we are told:

“It’s an old pirate tradition. Burial at C”

I think that’s the funniest SF joke/pun I’ve read in a SF book, now I’m wondering what else might be hidden out there!
Earth Abides

38 comments • reddit.com

I’ve been reading a lot of science fiction since the sixties and I just read Earth Abides by George R. Stewart for the first time. Wow! It’s now in my top 10 of all time.

It’s a post apocalyptic novel published in 1949. So it was written at a time before the interstate highway system and before television was widespread. Apparently it was the inspiration for The Stand but it doesn’t have any of the paranormal or religious stuff.

It is realistic, thought provoking, very human, and moving. Absolutely loved it.
What I wish people said first when they talk about Snow Crash

220 comments • reddit.com

I finally cracked Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson last night, thinking “Man, I’ve been hearing people talk about this book for decades”, how it’s a quintessential read if you’re into cyberpunk and SF in general. I thought I was opening one of the holy grails of cyberpunk literature on the level of Neuromancer.

Then I read the first ten pages or so. It’s a character on the level of Napoleon Dynamite’s “Uncle Rico” talking about how awesome and badass he is in the third person (narrator of course, but c’mon, it’s Hiro).

Now I’m on Reddit looking it up again to see if this is just the way the beginning works and it’s going to get into some real, actual story at some point and as I dig deeper into the subs I hear people talking about it as a “parody” and “a bit silly, but on purpose”.

I mean, hey, I enjoyed Discworld, and absolutely agree that there’s a place for parody, satire, and …
A very nice interview with China Mieville reflecting on Perdido Street Station

24 comments • reddit.com

My favorite SF/F podcast is The Coode Street Podcast and this week they published a new episode where they have quite an insightful conversation with Mieville about Perdido Street Station in honor of the 25th anniversary of the book, highly recommended. You can find them on Spotify and bunch of other podcast places

Also, if you have any other (serious) SF podcast suggestion I’d be happy to hear those!
Really alien aliens

228 comments • reddit.com

I am currently reading Becoming Alien by Rebecca Ore, which features sapient aliens that look like Earth animals (bats, bears, birds…), and have a human-like psychology. I find that trope lazy, and annoying. I also found it in Becky Chambers’ Wayfarers series, in Vernor Vinge’s A Deepness in the Sky, and many other science fiction novels. Some authors manage to put an interesting twist on it, such as Vernor Vinge in his A Fire upon the Deep with sapient-level hive-mind dog packs, or Orson Scott Card in Speaker for the Dead, with piggies that have really weird life cycle and psychology. Rare are the books with really alien aliens, such as Peter Watts’s Blindsight.

Can you recommend me other titles? Especially, “hard science fiction” titles with far-out yet scientifically believable alien biology and psychology?
My first SF - Just finished reading Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time

36 comments • reddit.com

I used to read avidly in my early teen years; mostly Rick Riordan’s series and Enid Blyton amongst others. Came across Children of Time as a suggestion on a subReddit and picked it up to be in awe of SF as a whole. I am a manga and anime fan. So that speaks volumes into everything I’d consider as a valid read. I’m new here and to SF. What are some other ‘classics’ of SF, that deserve a shot?

r/television

r/movies

Alan Tudyk Says He Got Dropped From ‘I, Robot’ Publicity After Testing Higher Than Will Smith With Test Screening Audiences

2432 comments • variety.com
Barbie screening cancelled in Paris after ‘extreme minority’ claims it ‘advocates homosexuality’

98 comments • thepinknews.com
First Image of Judy Greer in Thriller 'Dead of Winter' - A woman, travelling alone through snowbound northern Minnesota, interrupts the kidnapping of a teenage girl. Hours from the nearest town and with no phone service, she realizes that she is the young girl's only hope.

734 comments • i.redd.it
First Image of Daniel Day-Lewis and Sean Bean in 'Anemone' - An absorbing family drama about lives undone by seemingly irreconcilable legacies of political and personal violence.

852 comments • i.redd.it
A scene from Lincoln (2012) where abolitionist and statesman Thaddeus Stevens answers a question on racial equality to help pass the 13th Amendment to end slavery in America.

682 comments • v.redd.it

For further context: Thaddeus Stevens was asked by Abraham Lincoln and his abolitionist allies to tone down his words in order to gain votes from conservative Republicans, leaning Democrats, and win the general public.

He needed to declare that the passing of the 13th Amendment was not for racial equality but for equality before the law. Establishing it as a matter of racial equality might have lost support, as it was considered too radical at the time.
During the development of the Harriet Tubman biopic movie, a Hollywood executive once suggested that Julia Roberts should play her. What are some other baffling casting suggestions/choices that have been made?

2150 comments • reddit.com

Source for the title: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-studio-executive-wanted-julia-roberts-to-play-harriet-tubman-biopic-screenwriter-says/

The Harriet Tubman biopic has been more than 25 years in the making. In the historical drama released earlier this month, Cynthia Erivo plays the legendary abolitionist — but one Hollywood executive initially thought the role should go to Julia Roberts.

Gregory Allen Howard, the screenwriter and producer of “Harriet,” recently revealed in multiple interviews that Roberts was suggested to play the lead role during a meeting with a studio president in 1994.

“The climate in Hollywood… was very different back then,” Howard said. “I was told how one studio head said in a meeting, ‘This script is fantastic. Let’s get Julia Roberts to play Harriet Tubman.’”

Howard said that a black person in the meeting said casting Roberts would be impossible because she is white.

“That was so long ago. No …

TV & Books #25

Sat, 09 Aug 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #25

r/fantasy

How do I escape all the Whedon dialogue / characterisation in modern fantasy writing?

709 comments • reddit.com

I just had to put down Joe Abercrombie’s “The Devils” because the incessant Whedon / Marvel / whatever you want to call it style dialogue was so irritating. I’m so bored of characters incessantly quipping and arching their eyebrows at each other.

So what, it’s just one book right, start another. The thing is I’ve had to drop multiple new books this year because of this exact problem and it feels like it’s getting worse and impacting my enjoyment of the genre as a whole. It’s the same with modern science fiction.

When I look at a recently published fantasy or science fiction book now i’m automatically scanning it for evidence it has this kind of dialogue and characterisation because I know i’ll end up hating it regardless of how good other aspects like the plot or world building may be. I still fail to screen it out sometimes and It’s making me not want to take chances on new authors.

Should I just give up on reading …
Warning about Censorship

123 comments • reddit.com

Regarding Censorship

Hello all, I am posting this here as a warning to you regarding the potential of the censorship fiasco that is currently on going with Steam and Itch .io perhaps spreading to include books as well, I have heard that there are already some books that could have been removed from online due to this issue with Payment Processors wanting such materials gone, according to a statement they released regarding just what type of material they are attempting to censor, among them being those that contain things such as non-consensual mutilation and other graphic content l, things which I know to be abundant I’m literature given my own passion for it, hell by their logic even the Bible is at risk of being pulled in the future.

I am not certain if the news of the removal of the books is valid, but if so then I fear it sets the precedent for what can be expected going forward, who knows how long it will be until they are no longer just pulling them from online sources …
ASOIF is the best fantasy Ive ever read

305 comments • reddit.com

I always laughed at comments like “oh Martin will never finish it” because I didnt get it, like, how can a book series be THAT good and amazing. well. I am in the middle of the third book and I understand the frustration now. omfg its so holy fucking great. I watched the tv show, of course. but the books? so much better. I cant stop reading and I am SAD now that it will never be finished. LOL.

edit: yeah cool I forgot the fucking A in the title LMAO
Unexplained, mysterious magic is great too.

190 comments • reddit.com

Ever since Brandon Sanderson (whose books I really like) theorized his laws of magic, we often have the impression that every magical system must have an explanation. In the sense that this magic has well-defined limits, a history, a logic, and requires conditions. All of Brandon Sanderson’s novels have this type of magic, the “hard magic system”, but also novels like the Dreamblood duology (which I recently read), The Broken Earth trilogy, Powdermages… And today, many authors use this to create original magic systems. So, it’s great because it keeps fantasy from going around in circles and allows readers to discover new things. But unexplained magic is very good too! People would hate The Lord of the Rings if it came out too because of its magic system, which would be considered too little explained. There are plenty of other books like that: Harry Potter, The Witcher… Let’s take Harry Potter as an example. I find that the mysterious side of …
If a book cover lists a title, an author, and says “Winner of the Hugo Award”, am I wrong to assume the book has won the Hugo award?

86 comments • reddit.com

I picked up a book from my library this past weekend and one of the reasons I grabbed it was because the cover says “Winner of the Hugo Award.” But when (halfway through reading the book) I looked it up, and it has not won or even been nominated for a Hugo Award. Though the Author has won a Hugo Award for a novella or short story that they wrote a few years back.

Is this common? I’ve seen “Hugo Award Winning Author So-and-So” on a cover before, which I think is the intent of this cover, but this seems intentionally disingenuous. (Side note: I’m not angry or anything and I realize this doesn’t really matter; it just seemed weird and I wanted to post about it).

Also, I’m curious how long it’ll take for someone to figure out what book I’m talking about.
I’ve been binging presidential biographies for a year and then I listened to Mistborn and basically started shaking at my desk

106 comments • reddit.com

I’ve been deep in nonfiction lately…like presidential bios, American history, Cold War stuff. My audiobook rotation has basically been “Lincoln, then Truman, then LBJ, then cry.” I honestly forgot books could be fun.

Enter Mistborn.

I threw it on during work, thinking it’d be a nice break from reading about tariffs and international diplomacy. I was wrong. I got nothing done. I was sitting there pretending to type while my whole body was tensed up like “IS VIN OKAY???”

Sanderson’s world is insane and so colorful compared to what I was reading this last year. Magic that runs on metal? People launching themselves around cities with coins?? I didn’t know I needed “angry magical heist crew vs. immortal god-king” in my life, but apparently I did.

Kelsier is such a chaotic legend. Vin is incredible. I didn’t even realize how dark the world was because I was too busy grinning like a maniac during half the scenes. And the ending??? Don’t even get me started. I had to stand up and …

r/books

Kazuo Ishiguro said he won the Nobel Prize for making people cry – 20 years later, Never Let Me Go should make us angry

185 comments • theconversation.com
Preachiness and modern literature

645 comments • reddit.com
So I recently read three bestselling and critically well regarded books:
- Babel by R.F. Kuang
- The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
- Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
All very different books, but they each left me cold for the same reason. They were very preachy. They had a message to impart, and they pounded on this message with the subtlety of a lump hammer. The characters were cyphers for the message rather than real people.

I actually agreed with messages (sexism is bad, the British Empire was evil, you should be kind to children), but it was still offputting.

Babel came closest to having some nuance, but then the author would pause the story to tell you that this racist person is being racist and that is bad.

Is this a general trend in modern literature, or did I just pick 3 very preachy books in rapid succession?
Just finished To Kill a Mockingbird. I'm devastated

209 comments • reddit.com

I just finished To Kill a Mockingbird. Somehow after 72 years on earth I had never read that book. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt such an emotional response to a book. It kind of spoiled my day yesterday after reading about the courtroom trial. Maybe I wouldn’t have had such a reaction a few years ago. A few years ago Obama was elected and I felt like maybe this country was becoming less bigoted. I had hope. Unfortunately Obama’s election caused a huge portion of our country to lose their minds and now we are seeing the ugliest manifestations of racism on the rise. I loved the book. One of the best I’ve ever read and I recommend it to everyone. But it also made me feel sick. Can we humans ever rise above this insanity?
A Rare Copy of ‘The Hobbit’ Is Found on an Unassuming Shelf: Bidding for the Tolkien classic, which was discovered in a home in Bristol, England, has already exceeded $25,000.

84 comments • nytimes.com
I’m glad she died, too: thoughts on Jennette McCurdy’s memoir (5⭐️)

112 comments • reddit.com

I hope i’m not too late to ride on the hype!!!

This is the first memoir I’ve ever read—mainly because it’s the only celebrity memoir Jack Edwards has rated five stars. When I first came across the book a year or two ago, I remember being shocked and taken aback by the title printed on such a pretty cover. I thought it was too vulgar. “How could anybody say that about their mom? How ungrateful,” I remember thinking. But after stumbling upon it again this July, my perspective completely changed.

I deeply admire Jennette McCurdy’s bravery and unwavering honesty in sharing the painful and often disturbing moments of her childhood—hidden behind all the glamour and fame. How could a mother force her child to starve herself, belittle her desire to be a writer, and shame her so persistently that she developed eating disorders and severe mental health issues? If it were me, I don’t think I could have survived it. I admire Jennette not only for her resilience, but for choosing herself and …
The 48 Laws of Power:a woman’s perspective

560 comments • reddit.com

I have to preface that I don’t hate all men. I believe in subjectivity and you are allowed to have a different opinion. Thank you.

When someone recommended me 48 laws of power I realised this: These people think that their autonomy comes from the power they have over other people.

As a person who has read fiction her entire life, empathising with someone is far more rewarding than “dominating them” and making them be a subject to your “greatness”. Seeing the way in which characters interact with the world, their thoughts, their strengths and weaknesses, gives you insight into(maybe?) a very different perspective.

The psychological aspect of people can be read like a tapestry. Different colors, textures, techniques. Once you have touched all of them, seen all of them, it’s easy to say which one is which. And recognise a pattern.

Many things written in the book felt….natural and common sense. It was wrapped in such a male centered way of thinking that i stopped midway. Empathy, more …

r/printsf

A reading list for science fiction must reads/ best novels.

411 comments • reddit.com

Inspired by this and this. I have these images and I will strike out the movies that I have watched. I thought will be fun to have something like this for science fiction books, so I made two based on the list in these books, Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels, An English-Language Selection, 1949–1984 by David Pringle and 100 Must-read Science Fiction Novels by Stephen E. Andrews. I hope some people can use it as a guide for a better reading experience. Please tell me if there’s any formatting or spelling mistakes and I will correct it.

Note: Pringle lists the books in publication year order while Andrews in last name alphabetically. I decided to list it like Andrews did for both lists because I feel it gives a better view. Books with 2 authors is listed with the last name of the first author listed. Books from the same author is listed by publication year. Pringle lists some books as a series as whole (e.g. The Book of the New Sun) while Andrews lists one single book (e.g. The …
Legendary Women of Sci-fi

68 comments • reddit.com

As promised, I’ve returned with a list that highlights only women writers, recognising the clear need for a different kind of collection, one that isn’t dominated by the familiar male voices we’ve all encountered time and again. This list brings well-deserved attention to the groundbreaking work of women in science fiction.

As it turns out, women have been involved in shaping SF all along. SF was never just about boys and their toys. Instead, the future has always been female as well.

Enjoy!

-—

The list is from two anthologies, ‘The Future is Female’ vol I & vol II, put together by the brilliant LISA YASZEK
Recent Sci-Fi That Isn't Depressing or Cynical?

172 comments • reddit.com

I feel like most of the sci-fi media I’ve consumed made in the last decade or two is deeply depressing and/or cynical, or is sci-fi so hard that it loses the sense of wonder.

Imperial Radch is about an imperialist society imploding. Annihilation is, well, Annihilation. The Martian is hopeful enough, but it might as well have been written about our current level of society and technology. A Memory Called Empire is about a collapsing Neo-Byzantine Empire. Murderbot is about an enslaved murderbot.

I miss books like the Culture. I miss the concept of a better society striving to improve itself further still. I miss the sense of wonder and hope a lot of earlier sci-fi had for the future of humanity. I miss utopianism.

Is there anything recent that fills that niche?

Edit: so it’s basically just Becky Chambers is what I’m gathering.
Revelation Space (2000) by Alastair Reynolds

54 comments • reddit.com

Just got done reading this for the first time. It’s been sat on my book shelf for years gathering dust, but since the likes of Remembrance of Earths Past, Project Hail Mary, For All Mankind and The Expanse recently awoke in me a love for “hard” sci-fi, I finally gave it my full attention, and here I thought I’d share my thoughts.

[Spoilers, obviously]

I think Reynolds’s world-building here is phenomenal. I love the idea of a non-FTL interstellar humanity. It harkens back to the days of early human empire, where culture and society was stretched across months of travel time. Where it could take years to travel from one side of an empire to the other. I find it much more compelling than “oh let’s jump to the nearest star-system, we’ll be there in two days”. I also appreciated the way special relativity was treated. Of course, people living their whole lives close to the speed of light would regard time very differently than those …
Repost and addition to the reading list for science fiction must reads/ best novels.

35 comments • reddit.com

A post I made yesterday came into much criticism and confusion which was caused by my decision to not include some crucial information. I felt compelled to redo my list to include some details that was missing. I hope it will clear some confusion towards yesterdays post.

This lists is not perfect, and no list can ever be, but I hope these lists can be a guide to discover new books for people to read. That’s all one can hope for, to find new books to read.
Objections to Piers Anthony?

155 comments • reddit.com

I recently read a thread on Reddit that included a comment or subthread about what Piers Anthony has done that is objectionable, besides his depiction of women, but I don’t recall what the thread was. Concisely, what are his transgressions?

r/television

Noah Wyle Says ‘The Pitt’ Season 2 Will Filter Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ and Medicaid Changes Into Storylines: "We Take Our Platform Seriously"

483 comments • variety.com
As Stephen Colbert Signs Off For 'Late Show' Summer Hiatus, He Says: “Netflix, Call Me I’m Available In June”

447 comments • deadline.com
Brennan Lee Mulligan Signs New Three-Year Deal With Dropout

332 comments • variety.com
TV Ratings: ‘South Park’ On-Air Viewers Surge With Season 27’s Second Episode (838,000 Viewers)

316 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
Disney Will Stop Reporting Subscriber Numbers for Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+

476 comments • variety.com
'The Daily Show' Is Taking Five Weeks Off

434 comments • latenighter.com

r/movies

Official Poster for 'Good Boy' - Follows a loyal dog who, upon moving to a rural farmhouse with his owner Todd, must confront supernatural forces invisible to his human companion to protect him from the malevolent entities dwelling there.

1949 comments • i.redd.it
Buster Keaton and Sybil Seely as newlyweds building a mail order home.. from the silent short comedy "One Week" 1920

312 comments • v.redd.it
Official poster for Hikari's 'Rental Family' - A lonely American actor (Brendan Fraser) living in Tokyo starts working for a Japanese "rental family" company to play stand-in roles in other people's lives. Along the way, he finds surprising connections and unexpected joys within his built-in family.

284 comments • i.redd.it
Behold, a landmark achievement for stunts and pyrotechnics. This is the first time in Hollywood history any stuntman was fully engulfed in flames for a scene!!! (The Thing From Another World, 1951)

323 comments • v.redd.it

The full body burn is credited to stuntman and actor Tom Steele! I have no idea how nobody died or got hurt doing this scene. It looks far more dangerous and insane than most fire stunts since then. Like they really did just throw buckets of gasoline at a stuntman while he is already engulfed in flames thrashing about the set
Wtf is Paddington 2?

1136 comments • reddit.com

For context: I’m 25 years old. SPOILER WARNING

I just watched paddington 2 today and what the fuck did they put in this movie. This is the one of the greatest pieces of cinema I’ve ever laid witness to. Paddington 2 is the only thing I’ve thought about all day and seeing the immense joy it’s brought other people has also brightened my day even more. God I can’t even think about the ending without wanting to kill myself because of how perfect it is. And can we also talk about the perfect bookend of his human mother saving him from the water like aunt Lucy did at the beginning?

Pure cinema, I truly can’t wait to watch this movie with my kids for their first time.
Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey' Wraps Filming

897 comments • maxblizz.com

TV & Books #24

Sat, 02 Aug 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #24

r/fantasy

LOTR While Black; The Humour of Shifting Language

206 comments • reddit.com

I’ve been doing my first re-read of the Fellowship of the Ring in about 20 years, and while its been fantastic thus far there is one thing I’ve seen that has made me chuckle a few times, and at points taken me completely out of the story.

Simply put, Tolkien loves to describe his black riders as, well, black men.

Now, I view this as an utterly innocent use of the phrasing, and I read no ill-intent in it. But it does produce some hilarious effects that, as a black man reading this for the first time since I was a boy, have really made some of the phrasing a lot more hilarious. Its amazing to see how the innocuous word-choice of yesteryear becomes some pretty charged text in a new context.

Here are a few samples of my favourites;

“‘What about the smelling, sir?’ said Sam. ‘And the Gaffer said he was a black chap.’”

-

“‘‘Now what in the Shire can he want?’’ I thought to myself. We don’t see many of the Big Folk over the border; and anyway I had never …
Memories of Ice is a testament to how a great writer can make absolutely batshit insane concepts work

206 comments • reddit.com

I’ve just finished Memories of Ice by Steven Erikson.

I could talk about how the book explores the themes of compassion, duty and perseverance through pain.

I could talk about the emotional triumphs and crushing defeats that the characters face throughout their journey.

I could talk about the incredible third act that brings together all of the loose threads of the story for a thrilling climax.

But instead I’m going to talk about zombie Velociraptors with long swords for arms and how Erikson took that shit as seriously as humanly possible and it fucking worked.

This book is filled with ridiculously over the top stuff happening so often but it’s written with zero irony and with such gravitas that we have no choice but to go along with it.

Are there any other books or concepts that on paper, sound utterly ridiculous but in execution, the author makes it work?
Audible are not actually meeting 50% royalties for the smaller and indie authors not invited their new plus and premium program

142 comments • reddit.com

Robin Sullivan has given booktuber Daniel Greene insights into how authors within and outside of Audibles’ Plus program are being paid. She is concerned about the new plan Audible are rolling out after Sanderson had tried to talk to them about being more fair to authors and their royalties.

Reportedly, this new model will be a literal “boon for ‘some’ authors, and a net negative for most authors”, as quoted by Sullivan herself in an email she sent to Daniel. What was announced loudly by Audible was that royalties were going up from 40% to 50% for exclusive works to Audible and from 25% to 30% for non-exlusive to Audible (still FAR below the industry standard on both counts). However, the quiet part is that the method accounting for the authors income via an Audible ‘Credit’ buy will now mean their income is much lower. The exception are those works with an established readership in the ‘All You Can Listen’ (AYCL) program. …
Fantasy Flowchart Recommendation.

140 comments • reddit.com

https://preview.redd.it/dqxwhdsm1aff1.png?width=5400&format=png&auto=webp&s=ac4242704f5a06549030512c2b7ac981df2acb7d

I have made a flowchart with almost 100 books in hopes you will find here your next read or introduce yourself to fantasy literature.

Hope y’all like it. Cheers.

Click here for better view experience.
Maps. I wanna talk Maps...

145 comments • reddit.com

Okay, this is literally the only place I can think of that might understand what I’m talking about and not tell me to take me meds.

I have this, I dunno how to frame it, obsession? Fascination? Whatever, it is, it’s basically with Maps in the beginning of books, especially fantasy books.(I was looking at the Gardens of the Moon map and it triggered me again)

So what I love doing is looking and staring at this totally unfamiliar map with its unfamiliar names and I get a thrill knowing that soon I’ll be able to recognise these and that these random places will mean something..

The unfamiliarity thrills me like it’s a mystery I know I’ll get to the bottom off. I feel a satisfaction at this knowledge.

As I begin to read, I usually check the maps to concur with the travel etc and where someone is from and that feeling that each time I go back to check the Map it means more to me now.

Until after I’m finally finished I can look at the map fondly, cos …
"The Devils " - Being turned into a movie.

60 comments • reddit.com

https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2010188-james-cameron-teases-wild-fantasy-movie-the-devils

I was just reading about it.. Wow this is news to me. Should be fun to see how it gets adapted.

r/books

Why is reading a book the only "anti-social" thing in a room full of screens?

649 comments • reddit.com

When I’m in the living room, and everyone’s either watching TV or glued to their phones, it’s all normal.
But the moment I sit there quietly with a novel, I suddenly become the problem.
“Talk to us.”
“Why are you always in your own world?”
“Why are you stepping back from everyone?”

I don’t get it. If I were watching reels or texting silently, no one would say a word. But somehow, reading a book = being distant?
Let me live, please.
The Internet Archive just became an official U.S. federal library via Sen. Alex Padilla

76 comments • mashable.com
What is something from a book that is largely insignificant but has stayed with you forever?

932 comments • reddit.com

I’ll go first. I remember at least twice a month that in Where the Red Fern Grows the main character traps a raccoon by placing something shiny in a hole that is big enough for it to put its unclenched hand through but not big enough for its fist to get out. The raccoon will supposedly hold on to the object, psychologically trapped so that the main character can find it later.

I thought about that this morning when I was getting ice from the ice dispenser, because I was able to fit my hand in between the gap but when I was holding the ice I couldn’t get my fist out. I was just like that raccoon!! Lol

I want to know if anyone else has had this happen to them from a book they read in their childhoods or otherwise. :)
Julia Whelan has narrated 600 audiobooks and counting. So why isn't she paid like it?

497 comments • apnews.com
The male novelist isn’t extinct – just look at this year’s Booker longlist

632 comments • telegraph.co.uk
Read Books, Not AI Summaries of Books

133 comments • thegospelcoalition.org

r/printsf

What's a book that you love, but you would almost never recommend it to others due to the difficulty of the book or its niche nature?

345 comments • reddit.com

I posted in another thread about Marina and Sergey Dyachenko’s Vita Nostra, an absolutely trippy book about a school where the students are punished and drilled into learning how to alter reality. It’s been compared to Harry Potter if magic were real, but the two works are just so different that any comparison would be facile.

The thing is that I found the book really thought-provoking. However, I would not recommend this book to most people. It’s simply not a book that most people would enjoy. Do you have any books that you refrain from suggesting to people because you know no one would appreciate them?
Looking for a very specific sub-genre - Sci fi murder mysteries in settings where murder is meant to be impossible

130 comments • reddit.com

Can you help me find more sci-fi murder mysteries where:

1) It’s established that in this world or society, murder should be impossible

2) A murder has nevertheless occurred, and the book is about its investigation

I’m not interested in books that are just an “impossible” crime setup, but don’t have the wider context of murder being impossible - I want perfect societies where nobody would want to kill; dystopias where state control prevents crime at the thought level; cities of immortals; societies of telepaths incapable of aggression; virtual realities where death isn’t real etc etc.

Philip K. Dick’s Minority Report (procognition prevents murder), Alfred Bester’s Demolished Man (global surveillance) and Neil Gaiman’s Murder Mysteries (murder doesn’t exist as a concept) fit the bill.

John Scalzi’s Dispatcher series (people come back to life when killed) is a perfect example. Adam Roberts’ Stone …
Which SF novel do you find yourself ruminating on often even if it isn't one of your favorites?

157 comments • reddit.com

For me it’s The Sparrow. I’ve read a lot of great, memorable sci-fi and it isn’t even close to being in my top 10 but I find myself ruminating on it about once a week in the years since I read it. At this point my brain has made an unbreakable connection between seeing a field of cows and thinking about The Sparrow. Honestly, I wish I thought of it less!
Epic sci fi series suggestions

129 comments • reddit.com

I’m specifically looking for a series to tackle to. Dune is my favourite book (series) of all time and I just finished the second book of the Hyperion Cantos. At this point, I’ve come to realize that sci fi is the genre for me. After I’ve read the Endymion books (the second duology of Hyperion series) however, I’m not sure what should I read next.

I need suggestions for sci fi book series similar to Dune and Hyperion, dealing with large themes like religion, philosophy, human behaviour, politics, mysticism, morality and technological advancment’s effects on humans while also introducing an immersive world to dive to with interesting and unique ideas. It’s probably obvious that I’m more into soft sci fi but I am also open for harder stories.
Just finished, The Stars My Destination

43 comments • reddit.com

I am an avid reader. It’s a guilty pleasure lol. I’ve read Red Rising, the Sun Eater series, and War of the Worlds. I thoroughly enjoyed them and was recommended this book. And, after putting it off for a while, I just finished The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester in about 3 or 4 days, and holy hell—this book punches like a shot of whiskey to the skull. It’s the literary equivalent of a back alley knife fight in zero G, all chaos and adrenaline and raw, unfiltered rage. Gully Foyle isn’t a hero. He’s not even an anti-hero. He’s a rage-fueled animal dragging himself out of a metaphorical gutter and into something godlike, leaving blood, fire, and broken systems in his wake. This is The Count of Monte Cristo if Dumas had taken acid and grown up during the atomic age.

The writing is insane—in the best way. Bester doesn’t give a damn about hand-holding. He throws you into a future that’s bizarre and half-explained, where people teleport with their minds, corporations run the show, …
Books like "Spin" by Robert Charles Wilson

68 comments • reddit.com

So, not trying to spur an angry debate or anything, but I’ve recently read a few novels by trendy authors who have received numerous awards (among them several Hugos) and… I couldn’t be more disappointed. Their science fiction is actually some sort of “nothing-interesting-happens fiction” that doesn’t suit me at all. No sense of wonder, no ideas that have any appeal… And it’s not like their prose is worthy of a Nobel Prize either, so… I just can’t see the point.

I miss writers such as Robert Charles Wilson, who seem to be kind of forgotten in today’s sci-fi scene. Can anyone recommend a few recent sci-fi novels in that vein?

Some other sci-fi stuff I’ve enjoyed over the years:

I can think of Dragon’s Egg by Robert L. Forward, basically any book written by Iain M. Banks, Embassytown or The City & The City by China Miéville, Dune, Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds, Altered Carbon by Richard K. …

r/television

r/movies

Adam Sandler’s ‘Happy Gilmore 2’ Debuts to 46.7 Million Views, Biggest Netflix U.S. Film Opening Ever

2855 comments • variety.com
Palestinian who helped make Oscar-winning No Other Land killed in West Bank | The Guardian

638 comments • theguardian.com
New Images from 'Coyote vs. Acme'

786 comments • i.redd.it
Steven Yeun Confirmed to Voice Adult Zuko in 'The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender'

919 comments • ign.com
New Images from Guillermo del Toro's ‘Frankenstein’

340 comments • i.redd.it
First Image of Alan Ritchson in ‘Motor City’ - In 1970s Detroit, a wrongly imprisoned auto worker seeks revenge against the gangster who framed him after being released from prison.

738 comments • i.redd.it

TV & Books #23

Sat, 26 Jul 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #23

r/fantasy

I agree with all of the criticisms of Sanderson's prose. I still love his books.

683 comments • reddit.com

Sanderson’s prose is bland. It lacks subtext, is eminently skimmable, and has all the subtlety and nuance of a Wikipedia article. His dialogue, especially “romantic” dialogue, is cringe, and his humor tends to elicit grins at best and groans at worst. It’s repetitive and over-explains the over-explanations again and again.

Despite all that… I still love his books.

Sanderson is a genius. An absolute, certifiable genius. Each of his worlds has an amazing magic system - any one of which would be considered the best magic system in fantasy on its own - and yet all these magic systems connect together in one huge, ever-unfolding pattern.

He is a master at controlling hints and reveals. He knows exactly how to set up a mystery and then give a satisfying payoff. It’s perfect feedback cycle of question and answer that I find utterly addictive.

His plots have great twists. Enough that it adds significance to previous events (“Ah, now I see what was …
Red Rising is kinda... bad?

583 comments • reddit.com

Edit note: the fast-paced action is not why I don’t like the book, not sure why everyone thinks that’s the reason I didn’t like it. I have not mentioned any issue with that in this entire post.

It hurts because I really wanted to love this book, and a lot of people told me it was their favorite trilogy (and if you like it, that’s totally fine!). Don’t get me wrong, I totally understand why it has a following. The ideas and concepts are very interesting, and the first plot twist in Part 2 was good. But the way it’s written is so low-effort and uncreative?

There is literally a scene in the book when the Main Character gets presented with a riddle, and it is supposed to be this big character-defining moment showing how smart the character is and how “he outsmarts the game”. It proved him as “worthy for the mission”, so it’s safe to say it’s very important. And the author… uses the very popular “eat the card” riddle that has been around …
Epic fantasy that ISN’T all about some war?

403 comments • reddit.com

I’m really just sick of every series turning into a war fantasy and find all the battle scenes tedious and derivative. As much as I loved Stormlight, Red Rising, Mistborn, Poppy Wars, etc., I’m just over it. I’m looking for epic fantasy with complex world building and exceptional characterization that isn’t a “war fantasy”. Maybe similar to the Kingkiller chronicles? It can include some fight scenes but mustn’t take over the entire book. There’s some series/authors I want to try such as WoT, Hobb, Abercrombie, and Gwynne but I’m afraid it’s going to be more of this.
I almost never read books I REALLY like anymore

294 comments • reddit.com

If I were to rate books I read from 1- 10, I would put most books in the range of 0-7. Could be just being older and depressed but honestly I have not enjoyed a book as much as I did Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl, His Dark materials and others that I read in my teens.

The closest I have gotten since then has been with dungeon crawler carl and Dresen Files.

I still read books but I dont really feel immersed in them anymore.
Wind and truth is chore.

723 comments • reddit.com

Been trying to finish Wind and truth by Brandon Sanderson for ever now. Its such a drag. I don’t like anything about it, but I am in too deep to quit now. Has anybody had similar experience? Is this why it was so poorly rated?
Favorite "Oh My God They Spoiled It in the Beginning" Moments?

273 comments • reddit.com

So, I was just curious who had a favorite “the author told you explicitly but most viewers didn’t believe it/didn’t catch on” moment. Like, the characters are explicitly talking about what happens at the end of the novel before any of that stuff happens, and it either gets glossed over, or it’s not believed because the characters are just dismissive of what that character is saying.

I have a vivid memory of Ronaldo from Steven Universe.

r/books

After His Death at 92, Man Leaves Behind 109-Page List of Thousands of Books He Read

303 comments • people.com
“Itch removed adult games & books, even purchased copies are no longer downloadable” | Twisted Voxel

459 comments • twistedvoxel.com

Archived linked here.

Digital distribution platform Itch.io has removed all adult games and books from its store, making them inaccessible to user.

The decision to remove all adult games and books from Itch.io (via dominictarason) was done due to restrictions from online payment processors. The front page of the digital distribution platform has left no trace of adult content, even for those who had opted to keep it visible. Not only can the platform’s users no longer purchase adult games or books, those who had previously bought them will also no longer be able to access or download them. They are likely to have been deleted permanently.

The situation has been handled in a rather messy manner by Itch.io, with no prior communication of this decision made to users or affected game creators. Horror visual novel Sweetest Monster Refrain developer ebihimes shared that her game was removed from the digital distribution platform without any kind of prior warning. Before the removal of …
The most famous book set in every state

862 comments • businessinsider.com
books you read as a kid that feel like no one else has read

3560 comments • reddit.com

Hi guys! i was thinking about a book series I read when I was a kid and found out it has little to none online presence haha although I read this in my native language, the original book is in italian “la bambina della sesta luna” by Moony Witcher which is like “The girl of the Sixth Moon” or something. I assume it was popular around early-mid 2000’s in Europe, I couldn’t find any english translation or USA edition. I remember the book was being sooooo interesting, there was roman and egyptian mythology, magics and some alchemy stuff. I was wondering if anyone else has read it here? :)

The other series I read and haven’t heard many people talking about are Ulysses Moore by Pierdomenico Baccalario (another italian book series lol), The Little Vampir by Angela Sommer-Bodenburg and Dragon Slayers’ Academy by Kate McMullen. I have amazing memories with these books.

Which books did you read as a kid that feel like no one else knows as if …
I used to be an audiobook snob

787 comments • reddit.com

When I was younger I thought listening to audiobooks rather than reading a physical book was a cheat. I also disliked them because they were so much slower than I could read on my own, and because I thought you didn’t get the same experience from a book when listening to it rather than reading it. Now I realize that audiobooks are just a modern continuation of age-old oral storytelling techniques and are equally capable of inspiring vast mental landscapes and vistas.

I began using audiobooks about 20 years ago when I began knitting. I hated giving up my reading time for knitting/crochet, but I love needlework AS MUCH as I love reading and so had to find a way to use the time I have for both. And now, today, I am severely disabled and physically holding a book is painful for me, so I rely mostly on audiobooks.

I have not been an audiobook snob in many, many years, but I was SUCH a snob about it when I was younger that I wanted to put this out there. The important thing is THAT you are …
Superman wasn’t always so squeaky clean – in early comics he was a radical vigilante

177 comments • theconversation.com

r/printsf

What are some sci fi novels that really capture that feeling of fear of something beyond human comprehension?

166 comments • reddit.com

To give examples of what I mean, Annihilation or the Doctor Who episode Listen. I really love this kind of sci fi but I haven’t found much of it. the film version of 2001 a space odyssey also fits into this category, it’s been a long time since I’ve read it but if I remember correctly the book was much less alien or beyond human comprehension. want to read a novel that captures this.
'John Carter of Mars' Animated Series to be Unveiled at Comic-Con | Exclusive

24 comments • thewrap.com
Stories set on dead worlds

82 comments • reddit.com

The likes of Gateway, Alien Clay, Rendezvous with Rama. Something where the remains of the old civilization is an indelible part of the story. Are there any other good examples of the type?
Starting a long series that is "universally" praised

87 comments • reddit.com

Started reading the Sun Eater series last week. I really like it so far, and I know it’s going to become even better. What a joy to know I have months of reading to look forward to. It’s a great feeling. What series made you feel this way?
Recommendations for literary science-fiction

171 comments • reddit.com

I’ve been meaning to read some science fiction so I can have something to talk about with my father and also as a way to improve my writing. I’m more of a ‘pure literary’ fiction reader, so apart from some classic sci-fi I read in my childhood, I haven’t read much. Recently, I’ve read Annihilation, The Three Stigmata Of Palmer Eldritch and I’m currently starting Gnomon. I plan on reading Engine Summer, Hyperion, Dhalgren and Stand On Zanzibar soon. However, I’m an extremely fast reader, so I’ll probably run dry soon.

For other literature readers, my favorite books are: Notes From Underground, Solenoid, The Stranger, Crime and Punishment, A Confederacy Of Dunces, White Noise, No Longer Human, The Master And Margarita, Cat’s Cradle, Inherent Vice, Neuromancer.

Let’s hear your recommendations :)
Recommend me something to read based on my favorites

92 comments • reddit.com
Here are some of my all time favorite books. What would you recommend to me reading next?
- Parable of the Sower & Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler
- The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
- The Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin
- The Road & Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
- The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
- Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
- Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
- Perdido Street Station China Miéville
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
- Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
- The Plague by Albert Camus
- A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

r/television

South Park Eviscerates Donald Trump After Paramount Gives Them $1.5B

1145 comments • newsweek.com
‘South Park’ Creators Reveal Network Battle Over Premiere’s Trump Penis as They Joke: “We’re Terribly Sorry”

813 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
South Park Studios: Relax, Guy

812 comments • youtu.be
CBS Claims ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ Is Losing $40 Million a Year

2065 comments • cracked.com
'The Cosby Show' Star Malcolm-Jamal Warner Dead At 54 From Accidental Drowning

1101 comments • tmz.com
Drake Bell Says People Assume Everyone on TV Is Rich, but ‘No One’ on Nickelodeon Got Paid Residuals

836 comments • people.com

r/movies

Hulk Hogan dead at 71 after suffering cardiac arrest at Florida home

6604 comments • the-sun.com
Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath Frontman and Heavy Metal Legend, Dies at 76

446 comments • variety.com
New Poster for ‘The Naked Gun’

567 comments • i.redd.it
Hi, I'm Ari Aster. Writer/director of Hereditary, Midsommar, Beau Is Afraid, and Eddington. AMA!

3249 comments • i.redd.it

Hi reddit, I’m Ari Aster. Back for another AMA. I’ve written/directed Eddington, Hereditary, Midsommar, and Beau Is Afraid.

Eddington stars Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, Micheal Ward, Luke Grimes, Deirdre O’Connell, Austin Butler and is out in theaters nationwide now via A24.

Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL6jZqExlIk

Synopsis:

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a standoff between a small-town sheriff and mayor sparks a powder keg as neighbor is pitted against neighbor in Eddington, N.M.

AMA! Back at 8 PM ET to answer your questions.
Official Poster for 'Avatar: Fire and Ash'

1758 comments • i.redd.it
Skydance Tells FCC It Will Create CBS News Ombudsman, Eliminate DEI at Paramount

1609 comments • hollywoodreporter.com

TV & Books #22

Sat, 19 Jul 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #22

r/fantasy

GRRM blows me away

266 comments • reddit.com

I started reading ASOIAF a couple weeks ago and I’m a little through Clash of Kings. I have been hesitant to read it because of it being unfinished and the odds of it being finished aren’t great. Also having watched the show I know what to expect with certain story lines so the shock and awe wouldn’t be there. But I have to say, the man can write a story like no other. It’s beautiful and addicting and I can’t get enough. The prose is wonderful and it gives more insight into these famous characters. I now 1000% understand the frustration everyone is feeling on waiting for the Winds of Winter, and I’m not even finished yet.
Sorry but trying to find something similar to a series that stole your heart is futile

65 comments • reddit.com

I see people asking for something to fill the void some specific series left in their hearts. This was especially prevalent about 10 years ago when lots of people finished A Dance With Dragons and wanted something similar, getting recommendations for Malazan and Joe Abercrombie. I experienced it myself very deeply having finished Robin Hobb’s Fitz books, those things really bond with you like a friend and when they’re over it really feels like there’s a hole inside you. Like a real companion has been at your side and now they’re gone.

It might sound cruel but I’m here to tell you the only thing that will work is time.

You can pick whatever book sounds similar to scratch that itch and it’s just going to be either a) not what you expected or wanted or b) an imitation or simulacrum of the real thing. This is not because there absolutely are no books in existence that might do the trick but simply because you have already created an emotional bond with …
Why are elves always so rare in fantasy?

252 comments • reddit.com

In most works of fiction like dnd, frieren, dungeon meshi, and LOTR. Elves are treated as rare, and in some cases going extinct. This always puzzles me since elves also live for HUNDREDS upon THOUSANDS of years. So why are they all so limited? By nature they should be overflowing with population if they live for that long. Do they all just agree to not overpopulated the world? Do they have a kind of pact? This question always puzzled me.
Say something good about a fantasy series you really don’t like.

540 comments • reddit.com

I’ll go first.

The Sword of Truth is a terrible series, written by an arrogant asshole (and ghost written by Ayn Rand), full of sex torture, evil chickens, and deus ex machinae, but it introduced me to at least four words I had never heard before and expanded my vocabulary just that little bit.
Is there something that can fulfill the promises A Discovery of Witches didn't deliver on?

79 comments • reddit.com

Ok, to be fair, I haven’t finished A Discovery of Witches. But I stopped reading when it started to seem like the story wasn’t actually about discovering deep, magical lore and was instead Twilight for Professors. I skimmed reviews and it seems like it doesn’t ever really pick back up again, but it’s been months now and I’m still craving the story I thought I was reading at the beginning.

Her writing started out so patient and well crafted. The setup really pulled me in. I want to search the archives and solve the mystery at the heart of magic. 😭😭😭 Can anyone recommend a beautifully crafted story that can satisfy this need? Or do you disagree? Maybe I should push through the gratuitous romance to reap the reward on the other side?

Thanks in advance.
What makes you drop a fantasy novel or series?

361 comments • reddit.com
We always talk about what makes a fantasy book great. Worldbuilding, characters, magic, plot etc. But what about the stuff that makes you drop out halfway through?

Like, book two hits and suddenly the plot forgets what it was doing, the MC is invincible, and everyone talks like they’re on Discord.

Here’s my personal drop list, based on asking my readers what made them bail:
- Side characters vanish mid-series. Book one: deep friendships, emotional bonds. Book three: they get one line and disappear.
- Magic that works until it doesn’t. A fireball can melt a castle wall… unless the villain blocks it with plot armor.
- Villains with zero motive. Just “I’m evil because I like power” and maybe a dead partner.
- Characters who all sound like Reddit. The ancient elf is doing Marvel quips, the villain is making meme references, and no one speaks like a person.
- Character lore dumps mid-dialogue. “As you know, Lord Thraal of the Eastern Wastes betrayed the Seventh Covenant of…” bro, we just met.
- The …

r/books

Generative AI is Turning Publishing Into a Swamp of Slop

347 comments • pastemagazine.com
The Defense Department wants to ban hundreds of books. Here are the weirdest titles.

211 comments • lithub.com
Hungary's oldest library is fighting to save 100,000 books from a beetle infestation

44 comments • nbcnews.com
AI books: Bookstores steering clear of books written by bots

143 comments • nzherald.co.nz
Acclaimed Colorado sci-fi author: Future stupider than I imagined

48 comments • cpr.org
When book clubs go bad

246 comments • theguardian.com

Has any one else experienced a tough book club? I know I’ve had one or two where I couldn’t wait for it to be over just so I didn’t have to hear a specific person talk anymore…

r/printsf

Anathem is blowing my mind!

164 comments • reddit.com

I’ve only read a third of the book but I genuinely think this is a masterpiece and I don’t like to use that word lightly. I’ve been consuming sci-fi media for a long time, be it videogames, books, movies… But I’ve never seen such a fascinating and engrossing worldbuilding like this that makes me go back and reread previous passages in order to fully comprehend all the terminology and concepts.

I have to say that at first I was scared because of all the terminology used but now that I’ve gotten used to it, it actually makes the world feel even more immersive. I don’t know at what point it was (maybe around the 20% mark), but my brain just clicked with the novel and now I can’t stop reading. I’m totally looking forward to what surprises are waiting for me down the line.

I don’t know anyone around me who knows this book and honestly I don’t even know if I could recommend it to anyone lol that’s why I wanted to make this …
What's the most groundbreaking, new idea you've read in a sci-fi story within the last 5-10 years?

213 comments • reddit.com

A lot of people say that technological progress is slowing down, and that most of the newer sci-fi stories are just re-iterations or done to death recycled concepts that people have known about for a century. We aren’t seeing a lot of innovative new ideas in science fiction these days, and I’m wondering if it’s because of what I just stated or perhaps I am not reading the right books.

I’d hate to think that human imagination is not unlimited, but imaginative concepts seem few and far between these days.

Within the last 5-10 years (not 20-30), have there been any ideas for technology that made you go “WOW! I never could have thought that up!”

I know this is a tall order; but don’t post unless it’s extremely recent and fundamental.
The future of Asimov's and Analog looks grim

93 comments • reddit.com

Bad news for Asimov’s and Analog fans. Things look grim.

Earlier this year, Asimov’s and Analog were purchased by Must Read Books, supposed fans of the genre who wanted to revitalize the old brands. They also bought the flailing F&SF, which announced it was moving to quarterly publications and hasn’t released an issue in nearly a year.

Things were rosy at the time as the new owners kept the old editorial staff running. But now there are serious questions about the motives of the new owners as the new contracts contain clauses that, if accepted, allow the publishers the ability to edit published authors’ works and then re-publish them without their attribution.

In legalese, it’s called Moral Rights, and the revocation of this property authors are supposed to have is so bad that upon hearing news of Analog and Asimov’s doing this the Science Fiction Writers Association put out a memo to inform writers of the rights they may be signing away. …
Engines of god & Fallen dragon - same cover art

23 comments • reddit.com

Hi everyone. I am currently reading Engines of god by Jack Mcdevitt and enjoying it so far.

Yesterday, while looking for some book online I noticed that the cover art of the paperback I own is also used in a different book from a different author and afaik the storylines are completely unrelated.

Maybe it’s something normal that I have never noticed but thought it is somehow peculiar.

Do you know of other cases where the same cover art is used in completely unrelated works?
Praise for GNOMON

39 comments • reddit.com

Just finished gnomon by nick harkaway. I had first read titanium noir and loved it, so this one blew me away. Literary sf at its most ambitious. Highly recommend! Thx to this sub, i’m now really into harkaway, thx peeps!
Unusual structure

111 comments • reddit.com

World War Z by Max Brooks and the short story Liking What You See: A Documentary by Ted Chiang are written as a series of interviews. The Evolution of Human Science, also by Ted Chiang, is a single article in a science journal. The Martian, by Andy Weir, is comprised of log entries, and Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents, both by Octavia Butler, are written as diaries.

I’m looking for other examples of good, text-only, science fiction written with effective use of unusual structure.

I know there are a few diary-based science fiction novels, so unless they are particularly unusual and effective, I don’t need a long list of those.

Many thanks.

Edit: what an excellent response. Thanks everyone who contributed.

r/television

r/movies

First Image of Brendan Fraser in 'Rental Family' - A down-and-out actor living in Tokyo is hired as a token American guy for a Japanese rental-family company, leading him on an unexpected journey of self-discovery through the roles he plays in other people’s lives.

695 comments • i.redd.it
Good Day, reddit, my name is Nick Offerman. You may have seen me in such fare as Parks & Rec, The Last of Us, Civil War, MI: The Final Reckoning, DEVS, or heard my voice in The Lego Movie. I’m here today to discuss a new film in which I am an actor, SOVEREIGN. Ask me anything, please & thank you.

4877 comments • i.redd.it

Good Day, reddit, my name is Nick Offerman. You may have seen me as an actor in such fare as Parks & Rec, The Last of Us, Civil War, Mission: Impossible 8 - The Final Reckoning, DEVS, or *Umbrella Academy* or maybe you heard my voice in *The Great North* or *Smurfs* or The Lego Movie. You might also have read one of my five books or seen me perform as a humorist, or maybe you have checked out some of my woodworking at Offermanwoodshop.com In any case, I’m here today to discuss a powerful new film from Christian Swegal in which I am an actor, called SOVEREIGN. Ask me anything, please and thank you.

SOVEREIGN is out now.

In this tense and provocative true-crime thriller inspired by true events, a father and son who identify as “sovereign citizens” follow a belief system deeply rooted in distrust of government authority. The pair’s view turns deadly after a police confrontation, setting off a tragic chain of events that forces a reckoning with power, principle, …
Sean Astin To Run For SAG-AFTRA President

679 comments • deadline.com
Official Teaser Poster for 'Supergirl'

1492 comments • i.redd.it
Mortal Kombat II - Official Trailer

2292 comments • youtube.com
Movies where the lead star is visibly embarrassed or made it known that he or she didn't want to be in it

3459 comments • reddit.com

Dakota Johnson thought “Madame Web” was part of the MCU. When she realized that it was part of the godawful live-action Spider-Verse with no relation to the MCU or even Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, it was too late. So she pretty much slept through the whole movie, speaking in a monotone voice that actually made her performance unintentionally hilarious and added into its status as a modern campy cult film.

Rooney Mara hated doing the Nightmare on Elm Street remake so much that she bragged about giving a bad performance on purpose. She still hates that movie with the force of a thousand suns.

Whoopi Goldberg tried to get away from making “Theodore Rex”, so much so she ended up getting sued for not doing her job, so she asked for a hefty paycheck, and did the movie in a black leather cat suit and a permanent grouch in her face.

Elizabeth Taylor didn’t want to do Butterfield 8. She was grieving Mike Todd and ended up being forced to do it because she …

TV & Books #21

Sat, 12 Jul 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #21

r/fantasy

Mists of Avalon is so am…. Oh my gods, no.

361 comments • reddit.com

Well, after having the book on my “want to read” list for years, I was about 250 pages in when I made the mistake of Googling Marion Zimmer Bradley.

That ends that effort.

What a horrible human being.
Ladyhawke (Richard Donner, 1985) really holds up

98 comments • reddit.com

*Ladyhawke* is that rare 80s genre movie that you can show anyone – and by anyone I also mean your kids – without wondering why you liked it at the time. No racist, sexist or homophobic material to speak of. Remarkably literate and clever dialogue. A story that feels so much like an adaptation of an old tale that you can’t believe it was written from scratch. Broderick being funny and touching. Hauer being badass and smouldering. Pfeiffer being the goddess she sometimes is. And a marvellously disheveled Leo McKern between *Rumpole* episodes.

I acknowledge that the soundtrack is not for everyone, but I put it to you that the problem with the score is not so much the style of the music as the fact that it’s really quite pedestrian on its own terms. Yes, it’s pretty basic synth-based 80s prog, but that’s what it would be regardless of context. In any case it is not awful enough to detract from my overall enjoyment.

It’s not exactly a thrill a …
The Poppy War: The line between being inspired by historical events and using them as shock value

102 comments • reddit.com

I would preface this by saying that I am born and raised Chinese and I do not hate The Poppy War. I have mixed feelings with it, yes. But this is not really a rant or negative review, but more of a question to spark discussion.

So, as you might know, The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang heavily drew inspiration from Chinese culture as well as the Sino-Japanese War. The worldbuilding was so greatly influenced by real world that you can practically call Nikan the ‘fantasy China’ and Mugen ‘fantasy Japan’ and you would barely see the difference if you would just swap the names. (I do, in fact, dislike the way Kuang named the provinces. Imagine coming from the Rat Province? Or the Dog Province? What an awful choice of names.) I have other problems with the book such as the depiction of indigenous Taiwanese people (the Speerlies) but that’s besides the point of this post.

One of the most impactful scenes in the book was the massacre of Golyn Niis, which is basically …
You know that thing where once you become aware of a repetitive word or phrase within a book, you notice it more and it drives you more crazy every time it happens? Are there any practical tips for getting over it, or at least to minimize how much it detracts from your overall enjoyment of the book?

243 comments • reddit.com

Robert Jordan. IYKYK. For me, the worst offender that has gotten to the point of tearing me out of the story every time I hear it (which is to say, often) is “abruptly.” Help, I don’t want to be like this!
A Character That Ruined A Book?

1125 comments • reddit.com

What’s a character who you disliked so much that it actually ruined an otherwise good book for you?
FYI: New Murderbot short story available to be read for free on Reactor Mag's website right now

31 comments • reactormag.com

r/books

A Virginia public library is fighting off a takeover by private equity.

214 comments • lithub.com
Why are books about strong female characters with NO romance so rare - an update

698 comments • reddit.com
Hello everyone!

So, four years ago I made a post on here ranting about why it’s so hard to find books with well written female protagonists WITHOUT romance. I was a teenager, frustrated, and honest just very sick of every single “tough badass girl” character being derailed by a love interest halfway through the plot.

Well I’m older now! I’ve read a LOT more books, written a few of my own, and I thought it would be fun to revisit that post and reflect on how I feel now.

Here’s what hasn’t changed:
- I still think romance is way too overused, especially in YA and fantasy books with female leads
- I still cringe when a girls whole arc gets hijacked by some guy who literally wasnt even necessary to the plot
- And I still want stories where women are allowed to be ambitious, complex, and even morally gray without being softened or “redeemed” by a romantic subplot
But here’s what I’ve realized:

A lot of these female characters aren’t written for women. They’re written under the male …
The real Salt Path: how a blockbuster book and film were spun from lies, deceit and desperation

273 comments • observer.co.uk
AI translation service launched for fiction writers and publishers prompts dismay among translators

125 comments • theguardian.com
R.F. Kuang discourse lately?

740 comments • reddit.com

I’m a huge RF kuang fan. I’m Asian American and I feel like the books she puts out have such a distinct lense that really represents Asian as well as Asian diasporic history, perspectives, and experiences. However, lately I’m seeing a huge uptick in criticism about her that I hadn’t seen before? People seem to gripe that she’s too heavy handed on themes of racism or seems to intellectualize things too much. Im just confused by where there was once a lot of praise for her books, people have suddenly turned a corner to only feel like her writing is not good. What’s going on here?
‘You are living with a difficult person who is waiting to die’: my harrowing time as Patricia Highsmith’s assistant

90 comments • theguardian.com

r/printsf

I read Blindsight

54 comments • reddit.com

Put me in the I love it camp.

I had been avoiding it because of the “Vampire” issue and it’s reputation as difficult to read. But I was hooked right away. I typically confine my reading to an hour before bed, but this had me reading in the middle of the night, in the afternoon, whenever I had a moment,I could not put it down.

Loved the unreliable narrator, the divergent humans, even the vampire worked. The incomprehensible alien was cool, not a human in a rubber suit.

Had a funny “meta” moment, didn’t recognize a word, so I clicked on it, in Kindle, to see what it was, go back to the book and turn the page and the protagonist is clicking on the ships computer to look up the word. Thought that was a cool, unintentionally, inclusionary moment.

Look forward to reading it again in a few years.
Sci-fi books that have changed your mind on things?

115 comments • reddit.com

The title is perhaps a little inaccurate but I wasn’t sure how else to phrase it. But let me give an example: I was a big believer in getting off-planet. Not that I was in a “let Earth burn” mindset or anything, but I was wildly optimistic about becoming multi-planetary and space-faring. Then I read Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson almost a decade ago and that made me really appreciate what the real magnitude of an effort like that would be and made me appreciate Earth so much more. I do still think that humans will advance more and even colonise other planets (Coincidentally, I am actually reading Red Mars by KSR right now and it’s brilliant!) and I am definitely still pro-space exploration but it is a little tempered by the idea that conservation of Earth itself should be the biggest priority of all.

Another similar example is Permutation City by Greg Egan. I used to believe in digital immortality (though not anytime soon I suppose) through mind uploads. I …
Favorite SF of all time?

242 comments • reddit.com

What are your favorite SF books of all time? I’m not asking about what you think are the consensus best or the most influential. I’m curious what people’s actual most enjoyed books are. Hopefully I’ll learn about some overlooked books I’ve never heard of.

For my list I’m going to cheat slightly. If I view something as a single concise story that was largely plotted and/or written at once, but was split up for publishing or workload reasons, then I will count that as a single work. As an example, I think The Lord of The Rings fits into that category. However, despite being in the same universe, I don’t include The Hobbit as part of LOTR because 1) the author didn’t intend for The Hobbit to be thought of as a volume of LOTR and 2) the tone is somewhat different.

But please do not feel like you have to use those rules. Apply your own rules and logic as to what is a book/work.

.

1) The Book of The New Sun by Gene Wolfe: This is my favorite fiction, of any genre. There really isn’t a …
Can anyone recommend any Weird fantasy or science fantasy that doesn't get recommended much?

210 comments • reddit.com

I’m working my way through the least bit of Gene Wolfe BOTNS, finished Fifth Head Of Cerberus and will read any new sun sequels, just discovered Paul Park, I love Viriconium and The Etched City, so anything with that kind of dreamy strange vibe - Gormenghast was great also. Also love steerswoman series, if that helps. And…City Of Saints and Madmen, and Bas-lag series.

(Sorry, I’m writing this in a rush, I don’t have home internet or any data so I’m “borrowing” some random WiFi to post this.)

Thankyou for any help!

Edit: forgot to mention, just bought Lord Valentine’s castle cause that seems really dreamy and “lost in setting” so hopefully that’s good!

Edit: thanks for all your recommendations! I’ve downloaded this thread for offline reading so I can write down everything and find the books when I can. Cheers
Recommend Sci Fi where humanity has mysterious origins

79 comments • reddit.com

I know it can be a rather cliche Science Fiction trope but I’m really craving a science fiction plot where there is some sort of deeper history or reason for humanity.

Either classic stuff where humanity has been seeded by ancient races, or they’ve had previous forgotten history in space that’s been suppressed etc.

If anyone had any recommendations that would be great thank you!
Kinda dumb ( be gentle please) science question

25 comments • reddit.com

It’s an actual science question about something that comes up in scifi.

When a writer says something is above or below the ecliptic, what do they mean?

r/television

r/movies

New Poster for 'The Naked Gun' Starring Liam Neeson

1104 comments • i.redd.it
Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune 3’ Gets Official Title 'Dune: Part Three', Will Be Shot With Imax Cameras

1527 comments • variety.com
Official Poster for Ethan Coen's 'Honey Don't' - The film follows a lesbian private detective who investigates a questionable church and its leader.

994 comments • i.redd.it
Scarlett Johansson Becomes Hollywood’s Highest Grossing Lead Actor With ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’

1222 comments • thewrap.com
New Poster for "WEAPONS"

656 comments • i.redd.it
New Image of Josh O'Connor and Daniel Craig in Rian Johnson's 'Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery'

450 comments • i.redd.it

TV & Books #20

Sat, 05 Jul 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #20

r/fantasy

Is there a book-genre in your country that is virtually unknown outside of it?

275 comments • reddit.com

Basically the title.

In germany, we have Regionalkrimis, regional crime stories, where a - often rural, sometimes touristy - region is not only the backdrop of the story, but integral part of it. With real villages, regional festivities or beliefs depicted front and center.

Every bookstore in germany has a corner with the Regionalkrimis of “their” region. It’s a pretty huge deal.

In Britain, there is the whole boarding school genre where teens in boarding schools solve crimes, i.e. Harry Potter or St. Clare’s. Outside of Britain, they’re just fantasy or children’s books respectively.

Japanese animes (like Kickers or Heidi) where seen as cartoons here, until they rose in popularity in the 2000s and where classified as their own thing.

Does your/any country have something like that (which fits under the umbrella-term ‘fantasy’?)
If GoT wasn’t successful as a TV show, or never happened, do you think GRRM would have finished the ASOIF series?

334 comments • reddit.com

I feel like GRRM made the storyline more bloated and complex with the last 2 books than needed, all so it could become material for the GoT show. I discovered ASOIF because of GoT. But I can’t help but feel like the success of the show got to his head, and made him write more characters and material than he originally planned.

I personally think a draft exists of his original Winds of Winters book, but the backlash from the GoT ending made him want to rewrite it. So now he’s stuck trying to make it “better” in order to avoid the backlash. He loves to write and still writes new stuff, just not WoW. But I refuse to believe something tangible doesn’t exist.
Female protagonists that are NOT petite?

568 comments • reddit.com

E: THANKS EVERYONE! So many recs. You’re the best!

Now the petite heroine is a trope I am sure a lot of you have noticed in fantasy (and sci-fi and YA and everything-else) books. When there’s a female protagonist, she is not only small, but there’s often many mentions about just how small and delicate and skinny and bony and scrawny she is. And sometimes mentions of how she compares herself to other girls or women who are more shapely.

Mistborn Vin. Divergent Tris. Hunger Games Katniss (edit, note: books). Mortal Instruments Clary. Beautiful Creatures Lena. Blood Red Road Saba. And of course the romantasy petites, ACOTAR Feyre, Fourth Wing Violet, Twilight Bella.

You can leave fantasy and sci-fi for a bit but you won’t get rid of the petite heroine. In The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the main character is actually inspired by a girl with anorexia, but she is, of course, simply naturally tiny as the petite heroine should be.

I read a lot of books as a child …
What's the most unique, mind-bending fantasy novel you've ever read?

322 comments • reddit.com

I’m not looking for just epic worldbuilding or cool magic systems, I’m talking about fantasy books that bend your mind. Stories that left you reeling, questioning reality, re-reading passages to make sense of what just happened.

Maybe it shattered structure, Maybe it played with time, identity, unreliable narration or layered political schemes so deep you needed a diagram. Maybe the author didn’t just build a world, they broke it and reassembled it in a way you never expected.

What’s that one fantasy novel that shattered your expectations and lingered in your thoughts long after the final page?

Minimal or no romance is preferred and bonus points if it’s dark, philosophical or loaded with masterful schemes. Drop the title and tell me why it hit that hard (no major spoilers, please)!
What are your thoughts on idiosyncratic phrases in fantasy novels where there's no matching history?

325 comments • reddit.com

For example, I read a book the other day that takes place in a fantasy world and a character used the expression “cross to bear.” There are gods in this world but none of them are Jesus or have been crucified.

Another book I saw online took place in a fantasy world yet described one of the characters as wearing an Italian suit. There was no Italy in that world.

I’ve also seen people complain about the term “French braid” in fantasy lands where there is no France, but that one I think is fine as there really isn’t an alternative way to describe that hair style.

Do you ever notice these things? Do they bother you?

ETA: I see a lot of people comment about how books are translations and I agree, but that doesn’t mean you can just get away with saying whatever you want. Ken Liu has many great points on how much of an idiom or phrase to translate and how much to keep culturally specific.

Also, I see some people going to the extreme and taking …
The most CRUEL nonhuman fantasy races ever? English is not my native language

291 comments • reddit.com

I mean most cruel ,video,vicoous,brutal etc nonhuman races that you know. May but not need to be Nsfw

r/books

‘AI doesn’t know what an orgasm sounds like’: audiobook actors grapple with the rise of robot narrators

440 comments • theguardian.com
The 2025 winners of the Lyttle Lytton contest, where people compete to write the worst first sentence (in 200 characters or less) of the worst imaginary novel, like "Madison was a shy, awkward, inwardly beautiful teenaged girl just like you."

191 comments • adamcadre.ac
Authors petition publishers to curtail their use of AI

267 comments • npr.org
Kent council bans transgender books in children’s library section

443 comments • bbc.com
Italy Publishes 85,000 Books Annually While Only 40% of Citizens Read One

109 comments • weirditaly.com
Political and military thrillers now seem quaint

222 comments • vinceflynn.com

This genre is one of my favorites. 🇺🇸 In books by authors like Tom Clancy, Vince Flynn, Brad Thor and Mark Greaney, the president is usually depicted as a brave and decent man or woman who cares about the country and its people. Reading these books now I honestly don’t know what to think.

r/printsf

Any book about people surviving in an endless megastructure they don't understand?

465 comments • reddit.com

I’m specifically looking for a novel where people have a sort of society you’d see in a post apocalypse or even poor country, where there’s a wide range of technology, very little of which is produced by them, and they’re just sort of getting by, and they’re otherwise kinda pre industrial.

I’m not looking for a book where researchers, or anyone, is exploring a megastructure that humanity has discovered and something removed from every day life, like most megastructure books it seems, or something like Blame!, where there seems to be a lot of emphasis on the technology.

I’m looking for something where the megastructure is banal and almost just like a geological foundation to its inhabitants. The megastructure itself seems to be almost dead, though there can be inexplicable moving parts, or even a lot, creating danger (I kinda have Maze Runner traps in mind, but without the creatures). Obviously the plot can be whatever from there.
For anyone that read and enjoyed "A Memory Called Empire"

131 comments • reddit.com

A Memory Called Empire is undoubtedly one of the best books of the last 10 years.

Many of you will have read it and enjoyed the excellent world building that seems alien, but complex and compelling. It’s very ritualistic and shown to us rather than described. At the same time we have a main character who is coming to terms with a strange voice in her head while trying to solve a mystery.

If you enjoyed it can I suggest Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee, which was released in 2016 and while it was nominated for both a Hugo and a Nebula it, to my mind, is far less celebrated. It gives the same kind of vibes and I think if you enjoyed one you would hopefully enjoy the other.
Dear authors, foreign languages are not a secret code

147 comments • reddit.com

Today’s frustration bought to you by Man Who Could See Seconds, featuring police officer Paskalakki, or “shit hat” in English.

I understand the author doesn’t like cops, but it’s hard keeping my suspension of disbelief when following the adventures of Biggus Dickus.
How old were you guys when you started getting into Sci Fi, and what work got you into it.

361 comments • reddit.com

I’m only 13 but A Scanner Darkly got me into science fiction and now I’m a huge PKD fan
What book had a profound impact on you after you finished reading it?

136 comments • reddit.com

For me I’d have to say Flowers for Algernon. This book made me cry, it’s really easy to do that with good writing but my point still stands. The writing style, the characters and the story as a whole were so amazing that I don’t think I’ll ever read anything like it again.

Do you have a book similar to this?
"21 Second God" by Peter Watts was just (re)published and is part of the Blindsight world. Maybe it's a glimpse into Omniscience, the final book in the Firefall series?

9 comments • reddit.com

Here’s the link to the story: https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-twenty-one-second-god/

This was just published earlier this month. It was released on his blog as a “fiblet” and stated in the comments that this story occurs in the Blindsight universe, which blew my mind. In the recently published story, The Colonel (Jim Moore, Siri’s father) plays a role in studying an emergent hyperintelligence that awoke during a 21-second event that killed or left in a vegetative state nearly 15 million people. Those that were involved and left unscathed were sought out and studied, which plays out in the story.

I’m gonna make a mental leap that this is likely part of the Omniscience story and might be connected in more ways than just through The Colonel. I’m half-expecting the backstory to the Bicamerals and the entity they pray to, some parts involving Brüks’ wife as a “cloud killer” and the ethical and philosophical issues that …

r/television

r/movies

‘Reservoir Dogs,' ‘Kill Bill' and ‘Donnie Brasco' actor Michael Madsen dies at age 67

1767 comments • nbclosangeles.com
Official Poster for Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’

1212 comments • i.redd.it
‘Sinners’ Producer Says Costumes Were Purchased From Marvel’s ‘Blade’ Reboot That Ended Up Not Shooting

449 comments • variety.com
Hey reddit, I'm Ed Begley Jr. - You might know me from things like Best In Show, Arrested Development, Better Call Saul, St. Elsewhere, This Is Spinal Tap, Pineapple Express, Strange Darling, and more. My newest film, a dark office-comedy titled Don't Tell Larry, is out now on VOD. Ask me anything!

1467 comments • i.redd.it

Hey reddit, I’m Ed Begley Jr. - My newest film, a dark office-comedy titled Don’t Tell Larry, is out now on VOD. Ask me anything!

Bio:

Ed Begley Jr. - If there’s a movie or TV show you really like, chances are, Ed’s been in it. Ed has seven Emmy nominations, a Golden Globe nomination and has appeared in over 270 TV shows and movies throughout his prolific career. He played Dr. Ehrlich on the television series ST. ELSEWHERE, and he also co-hosted the green living reality show LIVING WITH ED. He is a recurring cast member in Christopher Guest mockumentaries, including THIS IS SPINAL TAP, BEST IN SHOW, A MIGHTY WIND, and more. Ed starred in SHE-DEVIL, the GHOSTBUSTERS reboot, Woody Allen’s WHATEVER WORKS, and PINEAPPLE EXPRESS. He has held recurring roles on the TV hits ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, SIX FEEET UNDER, PORTLANDIA, BETTER CALL SAUL, FUTURE MAN, GARY UNMARRIED, VERONICA MARS, PARENTHOOD, BLESS THIS MESS, and MODERN FAMILY. In addition to recently recurring on …
New Poster for Uma Thurman in ‘The Old Guard 2’

1047 comments • i.redd.it
AMC Theaters Now Warns Moviegoers About Lengthy Previews Before Films Start

1636 comments • yahoo.com

TV & Books #19

Sat, 28 Jun 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #19

r/fantasy

The Neck Of The Beard: A Rant About Kvothe, The Insufferable

851 comments • reddit.com

I know it’ll probably never be finished, and I’ve read all the horror stories about Rothfuss, but I finally gave Name Of The Wind a shot after so many recommendations as I had to see what the hype was for myself.

I’ve never rolled my eyes more, never audibly exclaimed vicarious embarrassment at a book more, never hated a character more than reading about Kvothe. He’s such a white knight, holier than thou, self-righteous, pompous neckbeard. Even in the last pages the book, I’m inclined to put it down mid-chapter and write this.

Here is the passage that ignited this rant — Kvothe speaking of seeing Denna with countless other men and still perpetually putting himself in the friend zone, as he had all book, after ample opportunity and encouragement from Denna:

*It was a game of sorts. He would invite me to sit, and I would buy him a drink. The three of us would talk, and his eyes would slowly grow dark as he watched her smile toward me. His mouth would narrow as he listened to the …
I F*ckin hated ACOTAR

615 comments • reddit.com

Am ı missing something?

It’s so popular and loved but it felt sooo cheesy? How is the curse of Amarantha is exactly written for Feyre? Mortal girl who hates faes, kills one of them and then falls for one of them?

If that so, why all of them was mean to her for killing that wolf ? SHE WAS FILLING THAT STUPID PROPHECY ?? Be nice to her and make her fall in love to you easily?

Why would Lucien sends her alone to the Woods and don’t care if she dies- isn’t she your only CHANCE??

I don’t know if i should give another chance ? What am i missing that millions of people found it amazing
Why is religion so often sidelined or shallow in fantasy?

865 comments • reddit.com

I’ve been wondering something that’s been bugging me for a while.

In real-world history, religion was everywhere. It shaped politics, daily life, war, morality, family structure. The average person believed what the temple or church told them. People were deeply religious not just out of fear, but because that was the framework they had to understand life, death, suffering, fate, and community.

But in so much fantasy fiction, religion is weirdly absent or superficial. Sure, there are gods, temples, and clerics, but they often feel like background dressing. You rarely see characters who actually live their faith, pray, do rituals, avoid taboos, or fear divine punishment. Despite the fact that gods are often literally real and active in these worlds. And somehow, even in worlds where deities walk the earth, there are still atheists or characters who just… don’t care.

For the most part, characters just go about their lives as if the divine is either irrelevant or optional …
Blood of the Old Kings has maybe the bleakest depiction of magic I’ve seen in any fantasy story

150 comments • reddit.com

I read Blood of the Old Kings late last year, solid book and I’m excited for the sequel. But man, the depiction of magic is outright depressing.

The land is ruled by a totalitarian empire, and the empire runs on magic like how our society runs on electricity. But the source of magic is dead witches and wizards. All children are screened for magical aptitude. If you’re magical, you get sent to a magic academy. But you don’t learn any spells (learning spells is in fact illegal), the entire purpose of the academy is to maximize your magical potential so that when you die the empire can extract as much magical energy from your body as possible. The empire pays you a pension for life after graduating based on how useful your dead body will be to them. The lowest might power street lights or appliances, the highest will power entire cities and military facilities.

Any other stories have a similarly grim depiction of magic?
Most of The Criticism (And Defense, for that matter) of Kvothe in Kingkiller Chronicles Completely Misses The Point of The Story: Greek Tragedy

468 comments • reddit.com

I brought the quotes/receipts.

I’ll say it with my chest: most of the criticism and general discourse on the Kingkiller series are so lost from the point of the story and what the narrative is doing, that its like both sides (those criticizing and those defending it) have completely lost the plot.

No, the point is NOT him being an unreliable narrator. “He’s just exaggerating bro. Waiting on the third book to prove he’s just a liar.”

Do you know how weird a place for a book series to be that both the criticism and the defenses people regularly hash out over it are on a different planet from what’s actually going on with a book series? It’s like a strange liminal joke. The joke is stuck between two worlds. And both the worlds are on a different planet from the story.

Look, I get its all good fun laughing and shooting the shit on the internet. But sometimes I think about the common fantasy discourse about Kingkiller, then I think of the common …
What book to you is the epitome of “Good idea, Bad Execution?”

969 comments • reddit.com

This is a common complaint I hear is fantasy literature and I am curious to hear what people’s examples are.

What was a book that had interesting ideas but was hampered by bad writing?

r/books

The Witcher Author Andrzej Sapkowski Promises New Books: “Unlike George R.R. Martin, When I say I’ll Write Something, I will”

1170 comments • redanianintelligence.com
SF bookstore no longer selling 'Harry Potter' due to author J.K. Rowling's anti-transgender politics

337 comments • abc7news.com
US supreme court rules schools must let kids opt out of LGBTQ+ book readings | US supreme court

1572 comments • theguardian.com
Melania Trump releases audiobook version of her memoir. It's narrated by an AI voice

371 comments • usatoday.com
Men are leaving fiction reading behind. Some people want to change that.

1757 comments • nytimes.com
Christian extremists get librarian fired for displaying book about transgender child

275 comments • lgbtqnation.com

Lavonnia Moore, a 45-year-old library manager, had worked at the Pierce County Library in Blackshear, Georgia, for 15 years. She was ultimately let go when a Christian extremist group filed a complaint to the library after Moore approved the display of a children’s book about a transgender boy.

According to Moore, the display (entitled “Color Our World”) included the book When Aidan Became a Brother (by trans male author Kyle Lukoff), a story about a family accepting a trans child named Aiden while also preparing for the birth of Aiden’s sibling. Library volunteers created the display as a part of a regional-wide summer theme featuring books that celebrate diversity.

“I simply supported community involvement, just as I have for other volunteer-led displays. That’s what librarians do — we create space for everybody… I did not tell the parents and children what they could or could not add to the display, just as I do not tell them what they can or cannot read,” she wrote in a …

r/printsf

I Demand That These Books Receive More Attention

111 comments • reddit.com

These are some of my favorite recent books that I never see anybody discussing on here! I demand more people read them!

Stone by Adam Roberts (2002)

Roberts is an underrated hard sf guy with a deep catalog. This book takes place in an interstellar utopian society where nanomachines keep everyone healthy forever. The protagonist has committed the rare crime of murder and a prison inside a star has been built just for him and his nanomachines removed. One day, he wakes up with a voice in his head telling him how to escape. A fascinating exploration of post-scarcity and criminality. If you only read one of these books, read this one.

Semiosis by Sue Burke (2018)

Human settlers land on a harsh planet and discover a plant that apparently has some cognitive capacity. Over generations, the plant is cultivated and integrated into their society. The plant is also a narrator in some chapters, which I love. Burke is very talented at writing the persepective of a plant intelligence that is …
What are some sci-fi terms that you heard in RECENT material that you feel might be sci-fi buzzwords in 15-20 years from now?

129 comments • reddit.com

Today I learned that terraforming was coined by the science fiction writer Jack Williamson in a 1942 short story. Terraforming is such a familiar word for me as I often love reading about the topic in terms of actually doing it someday.

What’s remarkable is that this tale really wasn’t about terraforming at ALL. It was a story about mining antimatter (contraterene) from asteroids and the terraforming was just a throw-away detail that was merely fodder for the plot. Little did he know; Williamson coined a word that would become commonly used in sci-fi for hundreds of stories up until now.

For those who like to read (as do I); have you heard any interesting terms in newer sci-fi books that nobody knows about or pays attention to now; but may become part of the zeitgeist in 15-20 years? This is basically the futurism of science fiction that I am proposing.

It should be from fiction from 2019 to now-the current present. Books are preferred but comics and movies are fine as …
Books you were excited about but you were let down by?

432 comments • reddit.com

I was so excited about Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer but I don’t know if it was me expecting something more like Roadside picnic or something more surreal but I didn’t enjoy it.

I’m sorry if you enjoyed it and I didn’t but it’s my opinion. If you did like it what did you like it about it and if you didn’t what did you dislike.

And what other books were you disappointed by?
Who or what are the most advanced civilizations you've ever encountered in a print sci-fi world?

128 comments • reddit.com

“Advanced” and “civilizations” can be quite broadly defined for this discussion, as power comes in many forms and not all “alien organizations” fit neatly into the idea of a Terran civilization.
Just finished “The Lost Fleet” series by Jack Campbell.

63 comments • reddit.com

The Lost Fleet is a military hard sci-fi story, written by former Naval Officer John G. Hemry (under the pen name Jack Campbell.)

You can tell as you read it just how much Hemry’s naval experience feeds in to his writing, which is to its credit. Space combat is treated as Naval Warfare, but with consideration for the laws of physics. Spacecraft travels at relativistic speeds (usually around 0.1c cruising speed, or higher situationally), which has massive impacts on how combat is done. Weapons targeting and operation is performed by ship-based AI, as the speed of combat is imperceptible to human operators. Not to mention relativistic distortion, and ship to ship communications lagging, with the distances between vessels being comparable to the distance between planets in our solar system.

There is some hand-waveyness to some minor scientific elements. Ship-based gravity and heat radiation are never explained. And relativistic velocities not immediately turning the ships interior …
Crafting with Ursula : Kim Stanley Robinson on Le Guin and Ambiguous Utopias

14 comments • reddit.com

I came across this very good podcast episode, in which Kim Stanley Robinson discusses his relationship with Le Guin (he was her student, long-time correspondent and friend), and her work:

https://tinhouse.com/podcast/crafting-with-ursula-kim-stanley-robinson-on-ambiguous-utopias/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtwEtlo0Ddc

He recalls going to watch the original “Star Wars” with her, his long car rides with her, gets teary-eyed reminiscing about their final meeting, and his fondness for “Searoad”, a Le Guin book I’d never heard about and now want to read.

If anyone’s interested, I’ve included some links to the podcast, but I’m sure it’s available on other pod sites as well.

r/television

r/movies

New Poster for 'The Naked Gun'

1296 comments • i.redd.it
Denis Villeneuve Directing Next James Bond Film

2487 comments • deadline.com
Arnold Schwarzenegger Says ‘Twins’ (Co-Starring Danny DeVito) Earned Him More Than $40 Million After Back End Deal - The studio did not believe in him leading a comedy so instead of his usual salary, he received 40% of revenue including home video.

517 comments • variety.com
Amanda Seyfried auditioned for Wicked six times before losing role to Ariana Grande

1665 comments • the-independent.com
Official Poster for 'Project Hail Mary' Starring Ryan Gosling

1879 comments • i.redd.it
Deleted scene from Prometheus where engineer react to mankind craft.

1612 comments • v.redd.it

TV & Books #18

Sat, 21 Jun 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #18

r/fantasy

Does anyone else feel like Brandon Sanderson's writing declined after his original editor retired?

650 comments • reddit.com

I’ve been a huge fan of Sanderson for years (since Warbreaker days). His early books felt tightly written, well-paced, and polished. Lately though, especially with the more recent Stormlight Archive entries and some of the Kickstarter novels, I’ve noticed a trend toward overly wordy prose, modern slang that feels out of place, and less editorial restraint in general.

I recently learned that his longtime editor, Moshe Feder, retired, and I can’t help but wonder if that’s connected. I
Hot Take: most fantasy isn't medieval inspired

329 comments • reddit.com

When it comes to fantasy and worldbuilding, people often say that medieval-inspired settings are boring and overdone, and while I agree that we don’t see nearly enough fantasy stories drawing from non-European cultures, which is a shame, the typical fantasy setting isn’t actually medieval. It’s much closer to the Early Modern period. Here’s why:

1 - Most fantasy worlds revolve around trade, currency, and an early “capitalist” economy instead of feudalism.

2 - Just having a king doesn’t make a setting “medieval”, and in many fantasy stories the monarch is an absolute ruler, which is more in line with the Modern Age, while medieval kings had to share their power with numerous feudal lords.

3 - The fashion we often see in fantasy like corsets, wide skirts and structured gowns for women is also more typical of the Early Modern period, while in medieval times clothing was looser and simpler e.g the kirtle.

3 - The large cities and …
Fourth Wing was a hot mess rant

357 comments • reddit.com

If you liked this series then I completely respect your opinion but this post is not for you, this post is for fourth wing haters. I did indeed read all three books in this series? Why? How? I genuinely have no clue but here are my thoughts:

Did the editor quit? Some of the sentences did not even make sense even when I re-read them multiple times. There was one sentence where she used the word “yucked” as in “I saved him from yucking his pants in the mud”. Like that is something a four year old would say.

I genuinely had no idea who the majority of the characters were because there were so many and sometimes they were referred to by their first name, sometimes by their last name, and sometimes by who their dragon was. But honestly it didn’t even matter because none of the other characters mattered or were even remotely developed.

Also the world building was atrocious. We learn about the world because the FMC is talking to herself and reciting facts like she’s a walking wikipedia? No …
Today I learned, even traditionally published fantasy, can be quite poorly written

491 comments • reddit.com

Here I am reading, Wizard’s First Rule, because there is a three year old post here saying the writing is good, and that they enjoyed it contrary to this sub’s tendency to bash on it. From what I understood, it got bashed on a lot for all the BDSM stuff, and lacking originality, but is mostly just your regular old fantasy stuff. Some commenter somewhere even called it Eragon but better written. Hey I like Eragon. Let’s give this a shot, I don’t really care if it’s not original. I am around 5% into the book, according to my e-reader and the recurring thought I am having is “what on earth am I reading?” I wish I could relate my reading experience in a way, that wouldn’t offend my past middle school self, because I truly felt like I was reading a fanfic written by san ambitious juvenile. Some pages, were okay I guess, like the first page seemed well written, but otherwise half the time I couldn’t tell where the setting was, and the …
What is your undisputed number #1 favourite fantasy story/series ever?

917 comments • reddit.com

It says it all in the title. What is your undisputed, no question about it number 1 favourite fantasy story/series ever told. No top 5 or top 3. No honourable mentions. No series that comes close. Your absolute favourite. The best of the best and the peak of fantasy in your opinion. What to you is your absolute favourite story or series to come out of the genre?
What UNFINISHED series do you still BELIEVE will actually be completed one day…..

638 comments • reddit.com

What unfinished series to do truly still believe will be finished one day. Whether it’s ASOIF, The Kingkiller Chronicles or any other series on an LONG hiatus.

Give me some hope people.

r/books

‘Magic Tree House’ Author, ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ among hundreds of Tennessee book bans

1040 comments • pen.org

“Magic Tree House author Mary Pope Osborne, children’s poet Shel Silverstein and Calvin and Hobbes cartoonist Bill Watterson have joined Judy Blume, Sarah J. Maas, Eric Carle and Kurt Vonnegut on a mind-boggling list of hundreds of books purged from some Tennessee school libraries.

The removals are the result of a growing political movement to control information through book banning. In 2024, the state legislature amended the “Age-Appropriate Materials Act of 2022” to specify that any materials that “in whole or in part” contain any “nudity, or descriptions or depictions of sexual excitement, sexual conduct, excess violence, or sadomasochistic abuse” are inappropriate for all students and do not belong in a school library. This change means books are not evaluated as a whole, and excerpts can be considered without context, if they have any content that is deemed to cross these lines. This leaves no room for educators and librarians to curate collections that reflect the real …
'There is a world of difference between how the media portrays JK Rowling and her image among the public'

530 comments • lemonde.fr
So I was never assigned The Giver in school, so I just read it as an adult... an adult with a newborn and a toddler. NO ONE WARNED ME.

546 comments • reddit.com

The title is a bit dramatic because of course no one could have warned me. But this is the SADDEST thing I have ever read, at least at this point in my life. I thought the ending was at least hopeful, until I read some further analysis of the book and realized >!the ending is a perfect fit for Jonas and Gabe dying alone in the snow while Jonas gives Gabe his most comforting memories. No salvation in sight. Just a few extra weeks of life for Gabe before dying a slow cold and starving death. It’s so goddamn bleak. Yes I know that canonically they survive and there are sequels… but you cannot convince me that was the original intent when the book was written. I do not intent to read the sequels.!<

And also, >!my youngest is a few months old now, but she spent a few weeks in the NICU and definitely would have been “released” in the world of the book. That part was extremely upsetting to me, especially the casualness that Jonas’s father …
Dua Lipa has tried to make literature sexy – and it’s working

148 comments • telegraph.co.uk
Author wins lawsuit against University of Regina professor who called book 'racist garbage'

516 comments • cbc.ca
Question for Redditors all over the world - have you heard of Astrid Lindgren?

1504 comments • reddit.com

I’m writing this post in order to find out how widely known Astrid Lindgren is. More specifically, which countries know about her and which don’t.

I’m Lithuanian, born and raised. Lindgren’s books pretty much created my childhood. I DEVOURED them. Pipi Longstockings, Emil from Lönneberga, Ronya the robber’s daughter - I LOVE THESE BOOKS. Even considering re-reading them for nostalgia’s sake.

However, I’ve come to realise that these books are not as ubiquitous in other countries. In Lithuania, they’re EVERYWHERE. Pipi, Carlson and others are household names, every primary school teacher encourages kids to read them, every book store will have Lindgren in the children’s section.

How is it where you live? Obviously, I assume every Swede alive knows who Lindgren is, but what about other European countries? The Americas? Aisia? I’m really interested to find out. Write in the comments whether you’ve heard of Lindgren and …

r/printsf

I just finished ‘The Man Who Folded Himself’ and I can’t stop thinking about it

81 comments • reddit.com

My professor once recommended The Man Who Folded Himself by David Gerrold to me, saying, “It messes up my brain.” I figured he meant it in the usual sci-fi way — paradoxes, alternate timelines, all that. But now that I’ve read it… yeah, my brain is messed up too. Just not in the way I expected.

This book isn’t violent. It’s not disturbing in any overt way. But it is unsettling — in a deeply personal, almost intimate way. It starts as a time travel story and ends up being something more philosophical, even existential.

The protagonist, Danny, uses a time belt to meet and interact with other versions of himself. At first it’s clever and playful. Then it becomes emotional. Then romantic. Then isolating. And by the end, it’s quietly devastating.

What hit me the hardest wasn’t the sci-fi logic (which is solid) but the emotional consequences. What happens when the only person who can understand you is… you? If you’re totally unbound by time and completely alone, what does morality …
My thoughts on (and ranking of) the 6 Hugo Award Best Novel finalists for 2025

63 comments • reddit.com

I’ve tried to do this a few times before but never quite succeeded in reading all the finalists before the award ceremony but managed to pull it off this year. My ranking of the 6 and some thoughts on each of them below.

6) The Ministry of Time, by Kaliane Bradley: It’s a pretty decent book but right off the bat, not exactly what I am looking for in a sci-fi or speculative fiction book. There are some interesting moments with one of the main characters who has been pulled from the past to the present but they are few and far between. The book takes a few sudden genre shifts - starting off as a mostly lit fic work at first, then turning into romance well after the halfway point, and finally a very abrupt shift into usual time travel based shenanigans that feel like the author just remembered that that was meant to be the plot but got bored with it and so wrapped it all up as quickly as possible. A shame too, since I could have read a whole book of either the Lit-fic or the …
Who's your favourite "obscure" sci-fi writer?

404 comments • reddit.com

Basically writers whose work is not that popular but who writes great stories according to you.

Doesn’t have to be a writer with published books. They could have web novels, Wattpad anything. As long as you think they are awesome.

I would prefer writers with cyberpunk stories but any type of sci f is fine.
Single sentences that sum up the setting and experience of a SF novel perfectly.

107 comments • reddit.com

I’m just re-reading Snow Crash, and I always find this line to be perfect to convey the feeling of the novel, which is just so OVER THE TOP in every respect.

“Hiro watches the large, radioactive, spear-throwing killer drug lord ride his motorcycle into Chinatown.”

Any other books that contain their essence in a single sentence within themselves?
Books that explore the vastness and mystery of the universe, and fill you with that good old sense of wonder

120 comments • reddit.com
Looking for some recommendations for books that have one or more of the following:
- Exploration/discovery of some kind - a planet, an object, a phenomena
- Large distances and timescales
- Compelling look into speculative science
- Overall just makes you go “wow”
Some books that scratch that itch for me:
- House of Suns
- Manifold Time/Space
- Culture novels
- Rendezvous with Rama
- Chindi
- Hyperion
- Eon
- Anvil of Stars
Any other suggestions?
I just want to thank this community

17 comments • reddit.com

For all the excellent posts and recommendations. I never have to read another genre again from the lists I’ve created from reading this sub for the past year. And everyone is so darned helpful and your passion for the subjects and the authors is palpable even through these simple posts and it makes me so happy I got into this genre and my only regret is I didn’t do it sooner, because I’ll never get through this list in my years left 😂 But it’s great because whatever I’m in the mood for next, there’s a post full of books to scratch the itch and I just happen to be wrapping up an audio and 2 paperbacks simultaneously so I get to sift through the list for my next finds, not quite sure what I’m in the mood for yet. Thank you all for sharing this passion with each other.

r/television

‘Mindhunter’ Star Holt McCallany Gives Update on Potential Continuation: “I had a meeting with David Fincher in his office a few months ago, and he said to me that there is a chance that it may come back as three two-hour movies.”

373 comments • collider.com
‘The Boys’ star Erin Moriarty reveals Graves’ disease diagnosis, urges fans to go get checked: ‘I felt the light coming back on’

508 comments • yahoo.com
Netflix Shows Are Suffering Because It Takes Too Long For Them To Return ("the average time it takes for a Netflix Original scripted English-language live-action series is just over 20 months")

1213 comments • whats-on-netflix.com
I honestly don't see the point of remaking Harry Potter

2151 comments • reddit.com

I mean no disrespect whatsoever to the current actors that have been cast, but I can’t wrap my head around Warner Bros deciding to remake Harry Potter.

I know the underlying reason is “money” but HP is by no means a bankrupt franchise. TO THIS DAY, it is still the BESTSELLING book series of ALL TIME. People regularly rewatch the movies. People buy HP merchandise all the time. The franchise is continuously making insane amounts of money. HP is still a household name.

The movies are iconic. Actors that are iconic and the new set of actors for the show will forever be compared to the likes of Alan Rickman, Emma, Rupert, Daniel, Maggie Smith. The movies aren’t that old.

Am I saying that the movies are perfect? No, of couse not. They could have taken a Harry Potter show into so many different directions; there are so many aspects of HP lore that they could have explored. A HP TV show delving into the first wizarding war? 1000% it would draw so many views. A TV …
‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ Star Brad Garrett Says the Sitcom Will ‘Never’ Be Rebooted: ‘There Is No Show Without the Parents’

241 comments • variety.com
Andy Serkis Says It Was the Right Decision to Not Have Kino Loy Return in ‘Andor’ Season 2: “I ultimately think it’s best for the character. It was such a great arc, and it had a very, very definite and heroic conclusion”

288 comments • collider.com

r/movies

New Poster for 'The Naked Gun' Starring Liam Neeson & Pamela Anderson

2090 comments • i.redd.it
The Naked Gun | Official Trailer

1858 comments • youtube.com
Movies that changed real life behavior

4007 comments • reddit.com

Thinking along the lines of Final Destination 2 with the logs falling off the truck and landing onto cars (one decapitating the state trooper). Ever since, people have tried to get away from being behind these vehicles.

What are more examples where movies have actually changed how people behave in their own lives?
Jon Bernthal Joins Tom Holland in ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’

714 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
James Cameron's The Abyss Pulled From Disney+ in the UK Because of Banned 'Rat Abuse' Scene - IGN

1086 comments • ign.com

James Cameron’s beloved sci-fi film The Abyss has been removed from Disney+ in the UK due to the inclusion of a banned scene.

The original version of the 1989 film includes a scene in which a rat is dunked into a vat of fluorocarbon liquid — and a real rat was used in production. The rodent is believed to have survived, but that didn’t stop groups like charity The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) from taking steps to have the scene removed 36 years ago.

The scene was subsequently cut by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) under the Cinematograph Films (Animals) Act 1937, which means it must be cut for any theatrical use. The BBFC also cut the scene under the Video Recordings Act 1984, meaning it must not be included on releases on formats such as Blu-Ray and DVD. Similarly, the scene should also not be aired on traditional TV in the UK.

Despite this, a version of the film that included the banned scene was added to Disney+ a few months ago …
What’s a great movie that completely bombed in theaters but found a cult following later?

4543 comments • reddit.com

I’m always fascinated by films that totally flopped at the box office but ended up becoming beloved classics or cult hits. Movies that maybe were ahead of their time, mismarketed, or just misunderstood.

For example, Children of Men didn’t do that great financially when it dropped, but now it’s constantly praised for its direction, themes, and cinematography. Same with Blade Runner, which got mixed reviews back in the day and now it’s legendary. What are your favorite box office bombs that aged like fine wine?

TV & Books #17

Sat, 14 Jun 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #17

r/fantasy

Just rewatched Fellowship of the Ring—still incredible. Why has no other Tolkien adaptation come close to matching it?

262 comments • reddit.com

The scene in Moria when Gandalf says

“Let me risk a little more light.” As his introduces Dwarrowdelf to the fellowship.

Ugh… absolutely flawless and so so good, makes me cry every time and it fills me with that sense of wonder and mythic awe that I come to fantasy for, a feeling that I’m getting less and less as the years go on. As wonder is being quickly replaced by systematic and scientific “magic”.

Anyway.. I consider it to be the best fantasy film ever made, even better than the two follow-ups. Fellowship had an emotional richness and a deeper sense of wonder that is severely lacking in… well… every other epic fantasy adaptation ever made.

Why did Fellowship turn out so well and everything else just seems terrible by comparison? Are we doomed to never get its equal?
Which epic fantasy novels published after the year 2000 do you believe are most likely to be considered enduring classics in the future, and why?

683 comments • reddit.com
Criteria:
```
1.	Publication Date:
```
If it’s a series, the majority of volumes must be published after 1999. (So series like The Wheel of Time or The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant don’t qualify.)
```
2.	Epic Fantasy Only:
```
High stakes, secondary worldbuilding, large-scale conflict, and a broad cast of characters are key.
```
3.	No Rediscovered Old Works:
```
Books originally published before 2000 that only became popular after the fact (e.g., a forgotten 1980s gem that went viral recently) do not count.
```
4.	Standalones Are Welcome:
```
As long as they meet the scope and feel of epic fantasy.
```
5.	Explanation Required:
```
Don’t just list titles—explain why you believe it deserves future-classic status.

⸻

WINNERS
```
•	Malazan Book of the Fallen – Steven Erikson & Ian C. Esslemont 


•	Realm of the Elderlings – Robin Hobb


•	A Song of Ice and Fire – George R.R. Martin


•	The Broken Earth Trilogy – N.K. Jemisin


•	Guy Gavriel Kay’s post-2000 works


•	The Second Apocalypse – R. Scott Bakker


• …
```
Brandon Sanderson and Joe Abercrombie on the pros and cons of fantasy maps

199 comments • winteriscoming.net
I DNF'd Priory of the Orange Tree

198 comments • reddit.com

I don’t often dnf a book, but when I do, I have a lot of thoughts that I need to get out. So here it is…

Priory of the Orange Tree has been on my tbr for a long time. I heard that is a high fantasy with lesbians and dragons. I love all three, so I thought it would be a hit. Alas, it was a miss. The pacing was too slow. The world building (particularly with the eastern countries) was a sloppy mess. I didn’t like Sabran. I felt little to no chemistry between Ead and Sabran, which for eventual love interests for one another, I should feel SOMETHING between those two by 100 pages in. Worst of all, the book was a chore to read.

It is so clear that the “east” in this book is supposed to represent a fictionalized Asia. But it was so badly done. I feel like the author just read that dragons were/are worshiped in Asia, and did no further research. I could go on a long rant about the world building, but I’ll just say that the author used a lot of words to …
Series that stay consistently good, or get progressively better.

531 comments • reddit.com

I started the thread yesterday about the opposite, fantasy series that decline with each book. So now it’s time for some positivity. What are some great fantasy/sci-fi series that get better and better with each book? For example, I have not read it yet, but heard some amazing praise for Empire Trilogy by Janny Wurts and Reimond Feist. Any other similar works of concentrated and consistent quality?
I Used to Love Sanderson. Then The Will of the Many Raised the Bar…

278 comments • reddit.com

Like a lot of people, Brandon Sanderson was the author who pulled me deep into fantasy. I adored the original Mistborn trilogy when it came out – it felt so original at the time: the ash-covered world, the clever magic system, the idea of starting where most fantasy ends. It was tight, fresh, and full of momentum.

Then came Stormlight. I fell hard for Way of Kings and Words of Radiance. Kaladin’s journey – grounded in trauma, leadership, and identity – was powerful and human in a way I hadn’t experienced before. And Oathbringer was a high point for me, thematically rich and emotionally satisfying.

But somewhere along the way, that spark faded.

I didn’t realise how much until I picked up The Will of the Many by James Islington. Like the Red Rising trilogy by Pierce Brown, it hits the ground running and doesn’t let up. The narrative has a sharpness to it – each chapter ends with tension, each new scene escalates the stakes, and there’s this constant drive that makes it almost …

r/books

Book Influencer Dies at 36 in Fatal Stabbing Incident

507 comments • people.com
"My mother was a famous feminist writer known for her candour and wit. But she was also a fantasist who couldn’t be bothered to spend time raising me"

690 comments • theguardian.com
St. Francis school district scraps book banning policy, will return titles to shelves.

65 comments • cbsnews.com

More than 30 books were removed from libraries and classrooms, including “The Bluest Eye,” “Slaughterhouse-Five,” “The Kite Runner,” “Brave New World,” “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “Night.”

The school board accepted the settlement during its regular meeting on Monday. The education union agreed to drop the lawsuit and did not seek any financial damages.
Meta's AI memorized books verbatim – that could cost it billions

197 comments • newscientist.com
New Zealand book dealer sickened by plan to destroy half a million books

178 comments • rnz.co.nz
New Trope I’m noticing everywhere

246 comments • reddit.com

Honestly nothing against it, just seeing it everywhere now. And while I normally might not think twice, now due to the prevalence of this structure, by default I now eyeroll every time I see it.

Blurb: It’s 1900, and a character does a thing. Years later, it’s 1947, and another character does another thing. It’s 1999, and something happens to a character. It’s 2050, climate change has destroyed earth, and a character does something. Here’s how they’re all connected.

Some examples: The new Ian McEwan book Greenwood Horse North woods Overstory Cloud cuckoo land Sea of tranquility

Again, nothing against it, north woods is in my top 5 books all time. But it seems as though it’s starting to gain traction with publishers because of the intrigue of connection across generations and now it’s being artificially pushed. I’m afraid that we might begin to see authors get away with rushed POVs loosely connected by some ‘thing’ that gives the impression of an intricately connected tale when it’s …

r/printsf

2024 Nebula Awards Winners

120 comments • locusmag.com
GO LISTEN TO HARLAN ELLISON NARRATE WIZARD OF EARTHSEA

74 comments • reddit.com

Finally got around to reading… er… listening to Wizard of Earthsea. Extemely good. Less than 10 minutes in I was like, fuck, who is this narrator, he’s breathing extra life into this book and… it was Harlan Ellison? I have no mouth, and I must scream Harlan Ellison??

He takes the narration in a very different direction. It’s like you’re sitting by a campfire, and a riveting old man is telling you a legendary story. Fantastic changes of pacing. I can’t get over it. I need to discuss this with someone. I checked out the reviews and so many say his narration style ruined it and they are extemely wrong, his performance was exactly what this story needed.

Ok. That’s it. Go listen and if you’ve listened PLEASE share your thoughts!
Damn ( Pandora’s star )

82 comments • reddit.com

SO

I’m in the ²⁄₃ of the book, i enjoyed every single page from the beggining and now everything is going insane

What a book

I saw a lot of people saying that the reading is boring etc.. but man its a freaking masterpiece Cant wait to read more

So i was wondering, the others books are as good as the first one?

Please remember that im only at the ²⁄₃ of the book so dont spoil me anything :)
Looking for complex, genre-bending Science fiction.

149 comments • reddit.com

Im a reader of Science Fiction for 45 years now, of course it was on and off over this long period, but “recently” (pls forgive me i live behind the moon in one of the “forest cities” in Austria :D ) i realized that there is a genius move into other genres as well like Weird Fiction. That’s of course as “soft” as it gets but it makes a fantastic reading experience (also 20 years ago i decided to read every novel possible in english language). Currently reading “The Gone-Away-World” by Nick Harkaway and even it is very complex it makes unbelievable pictures and stories in my brain. I love it so much and have also bought “Gnomon”.

So i would kindly ask for other recs in this way - with complex plot, quality writing, genre-bending. Like Sue Burke, Zachary Mason, Peter Wattys, Ian Mcdonald, Tom Sweterlitsch, Kameron Hurley. Of course it can also be from a queer or trans standpoint - Kameron Hurley for example defines …
Looking for Chinese Sci-Fi better than Three-Body Problem

35 comments • reddit.com

While it had some interesting ideas, the actual writing in Three-Body just didn’t impress me. After looking around, I found that many Chinese sci-fi readers had the same issues with the original text, and I’m hoping someone can point me in the right direction. I’m wondering if there are any other significant works translated to English from Chinese that might be more literary, or include just better character work in general. I’m looking for full length novels. For example, I loved Stanislaw Lem’s: Solaris, which was translated from Polish. It retained some excellent prose and serious heart, but also some really mind-blowing concepts.

I’d really like to expand my horizons a bit by exploring lesser known, or at least underrated, Chinese Sci-Fi authors. Thanks!
Nebula's a bust, can someone recommend good hard scifi novels from the past year. I will even take cyber-punk or post-AI

72 comments • reddit.com

The Nebulas are out, unfortunately no real Sci-Fi. We got lots of fantasy, romance, etc… I crave some good scifi, can we post what the best hard scifi from the last years is?

r/television

r/movies

Spaceballs 2 | Announcement

2388 comments • youtube.com
Bill Pullman & Rick Moranis Returning For New ‘Spaceballs’; Keke Palmer Also Set

678 comments • deadline.com
‘Spaceballs’: Daphne Zuniga to Return as Princess Vespa in Sequel

571 comments • thewrap.com
Appreciation for the beauty of ‘The Last Samurai’

808 comments • v.redd.it

Not going to go into the critical aspects or controversial portrayals in this movie. Simply appreciating the tranquility and charm that the film has managed to portray of the japanese culture and the scenes of the beautiful, beautiful countryside. Also Cruise did a pretty fantastic job in this movie if you ask me.
Robert Eggers Writing And Directing ‘A Christmas Carol’ For Warner Bros.; Willem Dafoe Top Choice To Star

626 comments • deadline.com
First Image from Pixar's 'Hoppers' - Follows a young girl, Mabel, who can transfer her mind into a robot beaver with the goal of going undercover in the animal kingdom. She winds up befriending a regal beaver, King George, and uniting the animals to fight off the plans of a real estate developer.

713 comments • i.redd.it

TV & Books #16

Sat, 07 Jun 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #16

r/fantasy

Brandon Sanderson's Comment on The Wheel Of Time Show's cancellation

565 comments • reddit.com

Over on Sanderson’s Youtube channel, when asked about his thoughts on the show’s cancellation, he replied

I wasn’t really involved. Don’t know anything more than what is public. They told me they were renegotiating, and thought it would work out. Then I heard nothing for 2 months. Then learned this from the news like everyone else. I do think it’s a shame, as while I had my problems with the show, it had a fanbase who deserved better than a cancelation after the best season. I won’t miss being largely ignored; they wanted my name on it for legitimacy, but not to involve me in any meaningful way.

Here’s a link to his comment
What I learned about books, the fantasy community, and bookstores after owning a bookstore for 1.5 years.

360 comments • reddit.com
Hey r/Fantasy

I’ve been meaning to write something up for a while now about what it’s actually like to run a bookstore that specializes in fantasy. In a way, I sort of have a space that reflects r/Fantasy itself—and I honestly love that. I’ve been an author and a writing/lit professor for years, but owning a bookstore for the past year and a half has completely changed how I think about readers, books, and what actually moves on shelves. I thought some of you might find this perspective useful or just interesting—especially if you’ve ever daydreamed about running your own little shop or if you’re a creative who would benefit from “customer behavior” thoughts. But also, I just wanted to say hello to all you fine people and thank you for being… well, fine people!

A few takeaways approaching 2 years in the bookstore space:
- Fantasy readers are the best—but they’re almost all women. I don’t say that in a “rah rah” way. I mean it statistically. Obviously, this …
Alienating your book fanbase when adapting a book is just bad business.

756 comments • reddit.com

I’ve been thinking a lot about the demise of The Wheel of Time and how it is yet another example, no matter how much quality grew past its initial season, why alienating your original fanbase is just bad business practice and terrible marketing.

It comes to the question of: why even make an adaptation rather than an original work?

Corporations don’t care about putting out a good product, only in so far as a good product will more often times than not, make them money.

So, adapting a work isn’t necessarily because they care that the original story is “good”, they care because it has a name and fanbase attached that will make them cash, as opposed to starting from a base of zero with an original story.

So why do studios think that time and time again, making major changes to the story and characters, will go well for them from a business sense?

It’s bizarre because there’s so much precedent that this not only destroys the initial advantage …
Joe Abercrombie's The Devils picked up by James Cameron

131 comments • reddit.com

https://www.facebook.com/OfficialJamesCameron/posts/pfbid02dm2SmRMoS6ra6dwUAMbaYx9kdAEJCkhHXn2Vv6EYY7ff4mQpuaALMjMAuqX5BV3Wl

Per the latter’s FB account. I thought the book was a solid, fun, and reliable piece of genre storytelling so it makes sense that the master of mainstream genre filmmaking should want to pick it up for his next project.
The Poppy War series was a massive waste of potential

111 comments • reddit.com
Although I did enjoy some of this series, all I can think about is how it could have been so much more. The worldbuilding was unique, the premise was strong, and the characters compelling at first. However, as the story went on, it became a messy, convoluted rush of historical parallels, new plot threads, and unexplored ideas. There just wasn’t enough space for proper character or narrative development.

Here are some of my issues:
- Too many major events within just 3 books. With most fantasy series, it’s always multiple events adding up to a final war/revolution in the final book (Hunger Games, LOTR, Harry Potter, etc.). Whereas with this trilogy, there’s a different major war happening in each book (first book is the 3rd Poppy War, 2nd book is the Yin house vs Daji civil war, third book is Rin vs Nezha). The trilogy attempts to tackle genocide, colonialism, nationalism, identity, addiction, trauma, fascism, revolution, and classism without the narrative room to unpack those themes …
V.E. Schwab said she accidentally named the two characters in Vicious after herself

42 comments • reddit.com

I saw this article where Schwab talks about how her initials stand for “Victoria Elizabeth,” which inadvertently led to the characters in Vicious being named Victor and Eli. Honestly, I would have never noticed if she hadn’t pointed it out, and I think it’s pretty funny.

r/books

‘It’s so boring’: Gen Z parents don’t like reading to their kids - and educators are worried

2603 comments • theguardian.com
George R. R. Martin Tells Game of Thrones Fans Who Are 'Pissed Off' He's Doing Things Other Than Writing Winds of Winter: 'You Have Given Up on Me'

4433 comments • ign.com
Canadian authors warn readers that AI dupes of their books are popping up on Amazon

149 comments • cbc.ca
Typos in published books by Established authors is why book publishers should stop laying off Editors and proofreaders

270 comments • reddit.com

I mostly read ARCs so I am habituated to noting down typos but I recently started reading Good Bad girl by Alice Feeney.

There was a line “don’t be rude said the most rude women on the planet”. It obviously should have been most rude woman.

Then there was some other just a few pages later.

Publishing companies should stop running an extremely tight ship due to this very reason. Obviously Alice Feeneys books are good and much better than almost all ARC I’ve read till now but it’s very frustrating. As a wannabe writer myself I understand that such things are missed by writers, but the company is to be blamed. Not enough editors or proofreader.
What is one minor thing that makes you immediately reject reading a book?

1928 comments • reddit.com

Do you have any weird (or completely justified) hangups about books? Title formats, cover art, font size in print, narrator’s voice in audio, etc.

For me it’s when the author’s name is a much larger font on the cover than the title (for no good reason). No thanks, I just want the book, not you. It’s understandable for, say, the memoirs of a famous person or if the title is long and needs a smaller font size, but not for a two word spec fic title.
Salman Rushdie says AI won’t threaten authors until it can make people laugh

387 comments • theguardian.com

r/printsf

A few days ago, I asked r/printsf what they consider the single best sci-fi novel. I made a ranked list with the top 50 novels

324 comments • reddit.com
A few days ago I made a thread asking users to post the all-time, single best sci-fi book they’ve read. The post blew up way more than I expected, and there was a huge amount of unique, diverse picks (that I’ll be adding to my ever-growing TBR). I thought it would be fun to count the number of votes each individual book received and rank the top 50 to see what books this sub generally consider to be the “best”.

Obviously this is not a consensus of any kind or a definitive ranking list by any means - it’s really just a fun survey at a given point in time, determined by a very specific demographic. And hey, who doesn’t love arguing about ranked lists online with strangers?

Some factors I considered while counting votes:
- I looked at upvotes for only parent/original comments when counting the votes for a specific book. Sub-comments were not counted
- Any subsequent posts with that book posted again would get the upvote count added to their total
- if a …
What's the #1, best sci-fi series you've ever read?

387 comments • reddit.com

Just like the question from yesterday about the single best book, what is the single best SF series you’ve read and why?
What is the most mind-boggling SF concept you've come across?

293 comments • reddit.com

I think we’d all agree that reading science-fiction is good for stretching the mind, so I was wondering which idea made you go all fluttery inside when you first discovered it?

I think I’m still recovering from the shock of reading Philip K Dick’s “Beyond Lies the Wub” as a young kid. SPOILER ALERT: >!When the Wub begins to speak through the human who had eaten him, I was totally shocked. How could identity persist after death? And how could it transfer from one being to another?!<

It really made me see the world in a different light. So what was your most mind-expanding SF notion?

EDIT: Wow, thanks for all the insightful comments! Enough ideas here for a lifetime of contemplation.

EDIT II: Actually, this is enough for several lifetimes! I’ve read and enjoyed all the comments and will be going through the books mentioned (that I haven’t read) over the next few months! Many thanks, all!
Project Hail Mary is one of the better science fiction novels I've read in a while

156 comments • reddit.com

I heard that Artemis was a misfire, and so I skipped it. After that, I didn’t think much going in to PHM, but wow, this book is really good. For once, the hype was real. I had a few minor issues with the plot, but nothing major. I especially liked the hard science and the overall story.

I don’t want to spoil anything, so I think it best if you go in as cold as you can (as cold as you can anyway for a four year old book). Don’t read the reviews, book jacket or the critical praise if you can help it.

I am also looking forward to the film version with Ryan Gosling that’s coming out next year. I just hope they can do the story justice.
What is the most wacko, bonkers, tripped out SF novel?

324 comments • reddit.com

I’m looking for suggestions of a book that the title of this post describes. It should be from the 60s or 70s, and under 300 pages. I know PKD probably has some books that fit. I’ve only read Flow My Tears, and couldn’t get into it. It’s ok if the book isn’t PC, or if it’s not a literary masterpiece.

I recently read Moderan and loved it. It’s already one of my all-time favorite novels, in any genre.

Thanks!
New Peter Watts story: "The Twenty-One Second God" (Lightspeed Magazine)

27 comments • lightspeedmagazine.com

r/television

r/movies

Hey reddit, I'm Kevin Smith. I got the rights back to Dogma and I'm putting it out in theaters for a limited time for its 25th Anniversary starting Thursday June 5th. Ask me anything!

4106 comments • i.redd.it
Hey reddit, I’m Kevin Smith. I got the rights back to Dogma and I’m putting it out in theaters for a limited time for its 25th Anniversary starting Thursday June 5th. Ask me anything!

Give me your questions!!!

Dogma 25th anniversary trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwSRribTgdA&ab_channel=KevinSmith

Synopsis:

Two fallen angels who were ejected from paradise find themselves banned in Wisconsin. They are now headed for New Jersey where they find a loophole that can get them back into heaven. The only catch is that it will destroy humanity. A group bands together to stop them.

Cast:
- Ben Affleck
- Matt Damon
- Linda Fiorentino
- Salma Hayek
- Jason Lee
- Jason Mewes
- Alan Rickman
- Chris Rock
- Kevin Smith
- George Carlin
- Bud Cort
- Alanis Morissette
- Janeane Garfolo
Back out in theaters starting June 5th.

Ask me anything reddit. Back at 5 PM ET to chat with you all.

Other/Bio:

Kevin Smith has been saying silly cinematic shit since 1994’s Clerks. He almost dropped dead of a …
Warner Bros. Discovery Shareholders Vote Against CEO David Zaslav’s $52 Million Pay Package in a Symbolic Rebuke

646 comments • variety.com
Daniel Craig's transformation into James Bond comes at the end of CASINO ROYALE. He dresses in the classic suit and brilliantly delivers 007's famous greeting.

943 comments • v.redd.it
Michael B. Jordan Did the Impossible. In an era of mounting crises, the Sinners star got people off their couches and into cinemas for an original film.

992 comments • vulture.com
First Image from Andy Serkis' George Orwell Adaptation 'Animal Farm' - Starring Seth Rogen, Steve Buscemi, Kieran Culkin, Woody Harrelson, Glenn Close, Andy Serkis, Gaten Matarazzo, Kathleen Turner, Laverne Cox, Jim Parsons, Iman Vellani.

1263 comments • i.redd.it
What movie sequel ruined the ending of its predecessor?

4397 comments • reddit.com

I have to go with Toy Story 4. Toy Story 3 had the perfect send off for the toys, with Andy making Bonnie promise to take good care of Woody….only for her to neglect Woody immediately and cause him to bail on everyone.

I really wish they left the franchise be. Toy Story 3’s ending was so iconic, and the first Toy Story was such a massive part of my childhood. That and Lion King were the two Disney VHS tapes I used to watch all the time as a little kid. I even had some of the toys myself. I can’t wait to skip Toy Story 5.

TV & Books #15

Sat, 31 May 2025 06:00:02 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #15

r/fantasy

What's the single best fantasy novel you've ever read?

1482 comments • reddit.com

We usually talk about series/trilogies etc when it comes to fantasy but let’s go one step beyond that. If you had to pick just one single book as the best fantasy novel you’ve ever read, which one would it be? It could be part of a series, or a standalone, or a novella or whatever else.

My pick would be GRRM’s A Storm of Swords (ASOIAF Book #3)
I'm Guy Gavriel Kay, back for another AMA. So, please, ask me anything!

398 comments • reddit.com

Hello, all. I am genuinely happy to be back here doing an AMA. I’ve enjoyed all of my visits before and … it HAS been 3 years. We’ve timed this one very nicely as Written on the Dark was just released 2 days ago in Canada and the USA, and today is publication day in the UK. It’ll still be new for most readers, so for those who got a ARC or read it quickly (thank you) let’s be careful about spoilers, as we chat? Pour yourself a drink and let’s settle in…

I’m supposed to re-introduce myself. I’m Guy Gavriel Kay, I’m Canadian, I love Negronis, Martinis, and single malt scotch. I make puns too often and I adore good limericks and baseball. And this is my 16th novel. It has been a long run, and I feel deeply grateful to readers worldwide for that. *The Fionavar Tapestry* appeared 40+ years ago now. I’m aware, more than ever these days, of being one of the lucky writers.

This AMA is open now for questions and I’ll be back here at 8 PM EDT to type replies for a couple of hours. Let’s see …
Peter David RIP (1956-2025)

31 comments • reddit.com

Writer Peter David passed away last night following a long struggle with various illnesses. He was best known for his comics work (long runs on X-Factor, The Incredible Hulk, Aquaman, Young Justice, and Supergirl), his Star Trek novels, TV work such as Space Cases and Babylon 5, and a number of original novels, such as Howling Mad, Knight Life, Sir Apropos of Nothing, and more. Condolences to his wife, Kathleen O’Shea David and his family. If you can help his family out with the medical expenses, please do so. https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-peter-david
What is the worst book you have read?

1585 comments • reddit.com

I am just curious about what books did people finish but hated. Recently I had a free audible trial after not using it for many years. I decided trying “He Who Fights With Monsters” since I recently read Dungeon Crawler Carl and wanted to give another litrpg book a try. The only reason I finished it was because I just love the high fantasy setting. But it is without a doubt the worst book I have read. There is no way I could have read it if it wasn’t an audio book.

So what is the worst book you’ve ever read?

Edit: Reading through the comments, the book I see mentioned the most is Fourth Wing. I haven’t read it, but from what I hear of the… “contents” of the book I can understand why.

I also see a lot of ACOTAR, Robin Hobb books, and the Poppy War.

Edit 2: The late up and comer has been Ready Player 1, a book I DNFed so agreed.
I've finally consolidated my thoughts on why so many people didn't like the last Stormlight Archive book (Major Spoilers)

244 comments • reddit.com

It’s been a couple of months since I finished reading the fifth Stormlight Archive book, and I’ve mulled it over long enough to conclude where I think things went wrong. There are two main issues, one of pacing and one of depth. There’s also a note I’d like to make about audience, which is smaller but I think the most important.

So, pacing. Here’s my issue with the book: It doesn’t really have a plot. Most stories have, you know, inciting incident A which leads to event B, which leads to event C, and so on until a natural conclusion. Wind and Truth doesn’t have that. We have a starting point, with the main characters each being assigned a task, and we have an endpoint, Dalinar having a contest of champions with Odium, and… that’s it. Every character is given a task and then we are literally just killing time until the end of Day 10 arrives.

For example, Adolin is holding a siege in Azir for ten days. In the end, he succeeds with a clever trick at the last moment. This was told over …
Those who started reading Fantasy during their teens what book turned you into an avid reader?

1020 comments • reddit.com

What was the book that made you a fan of the genre,and would you recommend it to get teens nowadays or not.Reasoning for what exactly got you hooked are appreciated

r/books

Audible unveils plans to use AI voices to narrate audiobooks

1626 comments • theguardian.com
Susan Brownmiller, whose landmark book changed attitudes on rape, dies at 90

287 comments • npr.org
Writers including Zadie Smith, Ian McEwan and Russell T Davies have put their names to an open letter - signed by more than 400 authors and organisations - calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza

405 comments • bbc.com

The letter, also signed by Jeanette Winterson, Irvine Welsh, Kate Mosse and Elif Shafak, describes Israel’s military campaign in the territory as “genocidal”.

The writers urge people to join them in “ending our collective silence and inaction in the face of horror”.
Award judges resign after Queensland state library strips writer’s prize over Hamas tweet

215 comments • theguardian.com
Trump's Administration Wants to Erase Queer History. An Unconventional Book Club Is Fighting Back

57 comments • wired.com
‘I dropped a C-bomb into Tolstoy’: one man’s quest to translate War and Peace into ‘bogan Australian’

45 comments • theguardian.com

When I read War and Peace (inspired by the r/ayearofwarandpeace sub), I really enjoyed listening to Ander Louis’ Bogan translations of the initial chapters alongside my reading. War and Peace is much funnier than I anticipated (at times) and I actually think those translations helped me to notice that quicker than I might have otherwise.

While I totally get it (we aren’t exactly talking about a quick job), I still admit that it was pretty disappointing when I found that he’d only got so far and that it didn’t look like there would be any more Bogan War and Peace any time soon. Hopefully with the increased attention the project seems to be getting, we might see a bit more coming out in future - I’d love to see how he tackles Epilogue 2! If anyone can make that read bearable, they’ve done something pretty special…

r/printsf

What's the #1, single best sci-fi novel you've ever read?

889 comments • reddit.com

Think about all the sci-fi novels you’ve read over the years. If someone were to ask you, gun to your head, to pick just the one that you would absolutely consider to be the best, which one would it be? No subgenres need to be considered, it just needs to broadly fall under the sf umbrella.

For me, probably a pretty popular choice, but it would be Hyperion. Completely blew me away and I haven’t read that good since in the genre.
Exhalation by Ted Chiang

12 comments • reddit.com

I came across a recommendation for this short story in this subreddit. Loved the philosophical and existential tone. So wanted to make a short comic on the story and share with you guys. Hope you enjoy
Good new military scifi?

100 comments • reddit.com

I’m interested in whether there’s any good NEW Military Scifi out in the last few years.

Specifically stuff about ordinary men and women fighting in space, or other other planets. No magic, no 9 foot demigods, NO “God-like AIs”, no LitRPG. None of that nonsense.

Just humans in space fighting aliens, or other humans, in space. With all the drama and heroism and sacrifice that might entail.

New stuff only. Not Starship Troopers or Dune or Armor or anything from past decades.

Stuff similar to:

Expeditionary Force by Craig Alanson

Galaxy’s Edge by Jason Anspach

The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley

Frontlines by Marko Kloos

The Divide by J.S. Dewes

But new.

Any new stuff like this that’s come out after 2020?
Consider supporting Locus magazine

2 comments • reddit.com

Locus is an industry magazine for science fiction, fantasy, and speculative fiction. They are a great resource for reviews, information on forthcoming books, and interviews with authors. They also run the Locus Awards, and prepare the annual Locus Recommended Reading List.

They are a nonprofit, and rely on contributions in addition to their subscriptions. Today is the last day of their fund drive, and they have a pretty substantial gap to reach their goal. They have some good perks for donating, including signed books, online chats with authors, and bundles of issues. Please consider making a donation or, alternately, subscribing to the magazine. They are a valuable resource for the genre.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/locus-mag-science-fiction-fantasy-horror-2025#/
Favourite "high-concept low-character" SF books?

93 comments • reddit.com

I think you all know the kind I mean. Liu’s Three Body Problem, Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time series, Foundation (and most of Asimov tbh). Where the main focus is really just on the concept, not to say these books didn’t also have some good characters. Be interested to hear about any other books in this style
Quantum Thief

29 comments • reddit.com

I just finished The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi, and looking forward to continuing with the rest of the series.

It is tough to get into. While the world building is detailed and well-thought out, it does require some thought and research by the reader to understand what is going on. It mostly avoids the dreaded infodump, which I appreciate. By doing so, however, Mr. Rajaniemi assigns a fair amount of homework to the reader. But IMO it is worth the effort, and the bit of time spent on research is well rewarded.

To anyone interested in compelling and challenging scifi, I can definitely recommend. I’ll also admit that I had two false starts before committing to making the effort and completing the book.

If anyone has attempted a reading, but then become discouraged, I’d like to hear your views on The Quantum Thief.

r/television

2+ years between 7 episode seasons is pathetic and unacceptable

3046 comments • reddit.com

The popular (and very good) series The Last of Us just wrapped up its second season. Seven episodes. The third season is expected in 2027.

I think back to a series like LOST. A groundbreaking, TV landscape changing series (often considered one of the greatest of all time). 20+ episode seasons EVERY year for 5 of its six seasons (one year was 14 episodes because of a writers strike). I’d argue that the first three seasons achieved (and maintained) a level of mystery and suspense never before seen on TV.

Of course there were lots of other quality shows that consistently delivered 20+ episode seasons year after year. 24, Blindspot, Alias, the Blacklist, Northern Exposure, and the list goes on.

Audiences today are getting ripped off. It’s not about maintaining quality, it’s about lazy/spoiled writers and producers and a broken delivery system.

3 years between seasons of Stranger Things? Nearly the same for Westworld? By the time a new season arrives a lot of viewers …
The Boys' Antony Starr had to knock down fans glorifying Homelander: 'This guy is not the hero of any story'

848 comments • ew.com
Career-Ending ‘Game of Thrones’ Injury Led To $9.4M Settlement for Stuntwoman Casey Michaels: “I can forgive accidents and mistakes. I cannot forgive lies. Two people went to hospital, and they [Game of Thrones stunt coordinators] are still denying that they did anything wrong."

271 comments • deadline.com
Ridiculous fact: The Bear first premiered AFTER Season 4 of Stanger Things was released, and is about to match them with a 4th season of its own.

577 comments • reddit.com
‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 Finale Viewership Down 55% From Season 1 (3.7M Viewers)

2843 comments • thewrap.com
'King of the Hill' Revival Premieres August 4 on Hulu

813 comments • youtube.com

r/movies

Werner Herzog on shooting extra footage for films

934 comments • v.redd.it
First Images from Aziz Ansari's 'Good Fortune' - Follows an angel named Gabriel (Keanu Reeves), who tries to show a struggling gig worker, Arj (Ansari), that money can’t buy happiness by body-swapping him with his wealthy employer, Jeff (Seth Rogen).

1287 comments • i.redd.it
Looking for some "competence porn" movies, movies where smart people make smart decisions basically.

7402 comments • reddit.com

Edit 1: So far I’ve seen literally ever suggestion so far. Ive spent most of my time in the last 10 years being really sick. Ive been hospitalized countless times so ive had an incredible amount of free time on my hands. I started this post because I couldn’t think of anymore movies to watch that fit this bill.

Edit 2: People don’t really appreciate the amount of time being sick gives. Im asking this question in this post because ive already watched every popular movie or TV show from the past 30+ years. Most people can only carve out enough time to watch one or two movies a week, i have enough time to watch 5-7 movies a day. Being hospitalized as often as me, plus being sick outside of the hospital leaves you with to much free time. Honestly, it sucks. Again, im not asking htis because im lost and i need my next movie or show, im asking this because ive literally run out of movies and shows.

To be honest, this post is a bit depressing, i appreciate the immense …
For the movie adaptation of The Martian, Ridley Scott changed the day the crew left Mars from sol six to sol 18 because he wanted to justify the higher amount of human waste used to make fertilizer. What are other instances of a movie adaptation making changes for interesting reasons?

1637 comments • reddit.com

Source for the fact about The Martian: https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-man-behind-the-martian/

But the movie changed how long the crew spent on the planet for a funny reason. In the book they left after sol six, but in the movie they leave after sol 18. Ridley wanted Mark to stir a nice big bucket of shit when he was creating the fertilizer for the crops. Ridley said, after only six days of six people shitting that’s 36 packets. He wanted them to stay longer, so that the bucket of shit could be full.
You often hear the phrase "They Couldn't Make That Movie Today!" about a movie that they could. What movies from the past could they LITERALLY not make today?

5984 comments • reddit.com

The one that pops to my mind is from 1984: “Blame It On Rio”, where middle-aged Michael Caine has a sexual relationship with his co-worker’s teenage daughter while on vacation in Brazil.

In fact, most of the late-70s to mid-80s teenage sex comedies couldn’t be made today due to hightened sensibilities about exploitation.

Any others?

EDIT: Jesus F C this blew up

EDIT 2: People, these have been covered to death:

Blazing Saddles

Tropic Thunder

Revenge Of The Nerds

Birth Of A Nation

Song Of The South

Ace Ventura
Robin Williams' Popeye Was Filmed While the Set 'Snowed with Cocaine'

682 comments • verdaily.com

TV & Books #14

Sat, 24 May 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #14

r/fantasy

‘The Wheel Of Time’ Cancelled By Prime Video After 3 Seasons

1614 comments • deadline.com
One Mike to Read Them All: “My Immortal” by XXXbloodyrists666XXX, the Best (and the Worst) Fan Fiction Ever Written

97 comments • reddit.com

My Immortal is the stuff of legend. Author Tara Gilesbie, better known by her online handle XXXbloodyrists666XXX, first posted it on fanfiction.net between 2006 and 2007. The original was deleted, but it is archived numerous places online - here’s one.

(Aside: I’m pretty anti Harry Potter these days, for obvious reasons. I’m willing to write a review of this particular Harry Potter fanfic, though, given how much JK Rowling would hate it.)

This tells the story of Hogwarts student Ebony Dark’ness Dementia Raven Way. She’s in Slytherin, and a goth, and a vampire. Her best friend is Willow, an insert of a friend of the author who assisted with editing. Willow is also Slytherin, a goth, and a vampire. Other characters include Draco Malfoy, Ebony’s crush, who is obviously in Slytherin, and also a goth and a vampire. It wouldn’t be a Harry Potter story without Harry, who has transferred to Slytherin, is a goth, and has become a vampire. He actually calls himself “Vampire” now. And Hermione …
Fantasy Author Called Out for Using AI After Leaving Prompt in Published Book: 'So Embarrassing'

128 comments • latintimes.com
J.V. Jones is still one of the most underread authors in fantasy

150 comments • reddit.com

Julie Victoria Jones remains one of the best-kept secrets in fantasy. She launched her career in 1995 with the Book of Words trilogy, which attracted critical praise from Robert Jordan and Katherine Kurtz and sold over a million copies for Warner Books. The trilogy was an accomplished work for a debut writer, rough around the edges (especially in the first volume) but quickly establishing its own voice, with a dark sense of humour illuminating a main narrative that balanced action and tragedy.

She followed that up with the stand-alone novel The Barbed Coil (1998), a rarity in that it told a complete epic fantasy story with worldbuilding, a nice magic system based on painting and artistry (an idea in vogue again thanks to beloved-videogame-of-the-moment Clair Obscur) and some great characterisation, all in one relatively modest 500-page volume.

However, it was her subsequent and still-current series that blew the roof off for most people who read it. The Sword of Shadows is a huge, …
Just for fun, what do you think Mary Poppins actually is?

240 comments • reddit.com

So I have toddlers who are super into this character right now and we’ve been watching the movies a ton. I was sitting there the other day with them while the first one was playing for the umpteenth time and I started wondering; what do you think Mary Poppins “is”?

Is she a benevolent witch? Is she some sort of fae creature? A demigod? A legendary creature like Santa Clause that has adapted to modern times? And for that matter, what’s up with Burt? He seems intrinsically tied to her and has some sort of magical ability, though significantly less than hers.
What book did you struggle to read that everyone recommends

1409 comments • reddit.com

What book does everyone rave about but you couldn’t finish reading, or had to force yourself to keep reading to see what everyone else is going on about?

r/books

Fantasy Author Called Out for Using AI After Leaving Prompt in Published Book: 'So Embarrassing'

645 comments • latintimes.com
Man who stabbed Salman Rushdie sentenced to 25 years in prison

202 comments • theguardian.com

Following Rushdie’s stabbing, Matar admitted in 2022 to having read only “a couple pages” of the book which Iranian religious leaders denounced as blasphemous.
Chicago Sun-Times prints summer reading list full of fake books | Reading list in advertorial supplement contains 75% made up books by real authors.

406 comments • arstechnica.com

On Sunday, the Chicago Sun-Times published an advertorial summer reading list containing at least 10 fake books attributed to real authors, according to multiple reports on social media. The newspaper’s uncredited “Summer reading list for 2025” supplement recommended titles including “Tidewater Dreams” by Isabel Allende and “The Last Algorithm” by Andy Weir—books that don’t exist and were created out of thin air by an AI system.

The creator of the list, Marco Buscaglia, confirmed to 404 Media that he used AI to generate the content. “I do use AI for background at times but always check out the material first. This time, I did not and I can’t believe I missed it because it’s so obvious. No excuses,” Buscaglia said. “On me 100 percent and I’m completely embarrassed.”
Libraries are cutting back on staff and services after Trump’s order to dismantle small agency

144 comments • apnews.com
How an AI-generated summer reading list got published in major newspapers

190 comments • npr.org
Salman Rushdie pulls out as Cali college commencement speaker over protest threats

440 comments • independent.co.uk

Novelist Salman Rushdie backed out of delivering a commencement speech at a California college just days before the graduation, following protests by some students on campus.

The celebrated British-Indian author, whose novel The Satanic Verses has long triggered controversy and even death threats, backed out of delivering a May 17 commencement speech at Claremont McKenna College earlier this week, the Los Angeles Daily News reported.

News that Rushdie, 77, would no longer deliver the address was shared across the campus in an email from Claremont McKenna President Hiram Chodosh.

“I write with news that Sir Salman Rushdie notified us yesterday of his decision to withdraw as our keynote commencement speaker,” he wrote.

“This decision was his alone and completely beyond our control,” Chodosh added. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to Sir Salman’s visit to CMC and have extended an open invitation to him to speak on our campus in the future.”

r/printsf

I read all Hugo Award winners from 1953 - here are my best, worst and themes

242 comments • reddit.com
Over the past few years I have been reading all Hugo Award winners (excluding retros, so back to 1953) and wanted to share some of my best / worst picks and thoughts.

I’ve seen people rank the full list as well as post reviews of each book before, so thought I’d do something different:

Favourite books (broadly following the crowd here):
- 2005 Johnathan Strange and Mr Norell by Susanna Clarke – A big read but so well written and great characters, I’ve seen it recommended in lots of places and for good reason
- 1985 Neuromancer by William Gibson – As others have said before I am sure, shaped the whole cyberpunk genre and very cool to have been written when it was (more or less pre-internet writing about the internet / hacking)
- 1966 Dune by Frank Herbert – Goes without saying, went on to read the series whilst tackling the list (God Emperor of Dune is completely mad but enjoyed it a lot)
- 1978 Gateway by Frederik Pohl – Engaging characters and not your usual space exploration story, good …
Finished Blindsight, did not enjoy it

363 comments • reddit.com

I feel really bamboozled. I was told this book is amazing, then I made a post here saying I wasn’t enjoying it ( at the ¹⁄₃ mark), and everyone said stick with it. Well, I did, and I did start to enjoy the story about half way through. But then the ending came, and I seriously wish I never invested time into this book. Everyone also says you have to re-read it, which I have absolutely zero interest in doing. I don’t know why everyone seems to love this book, I really, really don’t get it.

I loved Sarasti (maybe a little too much). I loved the ideas, and the characteristics of the crew. Very interesting characters (NOT likeable - there is a difference), but they just don’t act like people, and that creates this sense that nothing you are reading is real. And I guess that’s the point, but then I just don’t understand how people enjoy the book. I get how the book is some thing to be dissected and given it’s due, but enjoyed? I …
What book permanently changed the way you see something you encounter every day?

82 comments • reddit.com

Mine is Roadside Picnic. I wasn’t even that into the adventure part of the story… but once I hit the speech that explains the book’s title, and the point of the book landed, it really stuck with me.

Every time I see a dead animal on the side of the road, or a some ants inspecting stray drops in an empty soda can, or a mouse caught in a trap, or pretty much any situation where animals are having a terrible experience due to something humans built as a minor convenience or left lying around as trash, I think “Roadside Picnic.” And I imagine the point of view of the animal encountering bizarre alien artifacts they can’t and could never understand, mostly encountering horrible deaths but sometimes finding outrageous hidden treasures (which are probably just as deadly).
Books that feature spacecraft that are actively hostile towards their crew/inhabitants?

102 comments • reddit.com
For lack of a better term, I’ve always enjoyed books that have “big spooky spaceships” as a setting. Not necessarily straight horror (although horror is cool too!), but just a general sense of a spacecraft that’s inherently dangerous to whoever is on it.

Some books with this I liked:
- Blindsight
- Unto Leviathan/Ship of Fools
- Revelation Space (I really liked this one since it’s largely implied in the background rather than being a main plot point)
- Most Warhammer 40k books set on an imperial ship also have this vibe I guess
Some books I didn’t like for various reasons:
- Hull Zero Three
- Revenger
Would love some recommendations for other books with this same kind of vibe.
I love everything about Blindsight, except reading it.

114 comments • reddit.com

I am probably ¹⁄₄ to 1/3rd of the way through. I heard one concept from the book in a youtube video, and immediately jumped into the book head first. I like some things about it. Enough that I am powering past what I don’t like, but it’s not getting easier and I really am struggling with the urge to just look up a plot synopsis.

There are times where I literally don’t know what I am reading. I hate that it makes me feel like an idiot. Sometimes they mention something, and I have to reread multiple pages to try and find out where the hell it came from.

I saw the author’s presentation on vampires on youtube, and it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen, and I could understand it. I don’t know why Blindsight feels so different. What am I missing to enjoy this book like so many seem to?
I just finished House Of The Suns…

48 comments • reddit.com

And it was so damn good!

Now the reason of this post is that I WANT MORE!

Please suggest me books as good as HOS, i might buy Revelation Space but i need your suggestions before

Thanks !

r/television

r/movies

Nicole Kidman Has Now Worked With 27 Women Directors in 8 Years; She Urges Financial Mentors to Invest in Unknown Female Filmmakers and Take a Risk

1019 comments • variety.com
Cannes reactions to Irreversible

3450 comments • v.redd.it
I think Hot Fuzz is a perfect movie. What movie do you consider to be absolutely perfect?

5746 comments • reddit.com

I think Hot Fuzz is a perfect film, genuinely flawless. The script is tighter than a drum, every single line in the first half pays off in the second, you can rewatch it a hundred times and notice a new gag and it manages to switch genres for the final third and still feel like a cohesive whole.

What movie do you consider to be perfect?
New Image of Elijah Wood in 'The Toxic Avenger'

697 comments • i.redd.it
Official Poster for 'Zootopia 2'

825 comments • i.redd.it
What is the most tragic “I’ll hold them off while you guys go” death on screen for you?

6684 comments • reddit.com

I mean there are so many to choose from. Which one hits you the most personally?

Don’t know how much clearer I can be than that, so I’m just adding some extra words here to meet the 300-character post limit, because apparently that’s a thing.

So yeah, let’s talk about the most gut-wrenching heroic sacrifices in film—those moments that hit like a truck emotionally and stay with you long after the credits roll.

TV & Books #13

Sat, 17 May 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #13

r/fantasy

Where did wizards learn how to wizard before “schools for wizards” were invented?

388 comments • reddit.com

Ursula LeGuin is quoted as saying the following about JK Rowling (taken from a discussion on r/literature):

LeGuin also called out Rowling’s reluctance to acknowledge sources of inspiration: “This last is the situation, as I see it, between my A Wizard of Earthsea and J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter. I didn’t originate the idea of a school for wizards — if anybody did it was T. H. White, though he did it in single throwaway line and didn’t develop it. I was the first to do that. Years later, Rowling took the idea and developed it along other lines. She didn’t plagiarize. She didn’t copy anything. Her book, in fact, could hardly be more different from mine, in style, spirit, everything. The only thing that rankles me is her apparent reluctance to admit that she ever learned anything from other writers. When ignorant critics praised her wonderful originality in inventing the idea of a wizards’ school, and some of them even seemed to believe that she had invented …
Too much smut:(

440 comments • reddit.com
This’ll sound ridiculous, but it has happened to me like 5 times in the past year that I bought a cool looking book completely unaware that it was smut.

It’s like, I love fantasy and am always on the lookout for queer main characters, but somehow a huge chunk of books like that are just smut.

Vampire revenge story? Nope, just sex.

Witch fighting a demon? Nope, just sex.

Like they should seriously signpost these books in their blurb as smut because I’m digging into them expecting some epic saga and instead find literary p*rn.

Nothing against smut or people who read it, but honestly I just wanna read a cool story

Edit: a few things I’d like to respond to.
1. to everyone saying that this is my fault for not reading reviews - I do read reviews, but I don’t meticulously go through every goodreads review scanning for any mention of sex. Thank you to the people recommending StoryGraph tags - this is actually useful advice.
2. for people complaining about me censoring the …
Fantasy books with an ugly female protagonist.

460 comments • reddit.com

I just find it rare to see ugly women in books. Especially Romance and Fantasy. Lots of male characters who are described to be not so attractive but suprisingly I have never came across any fantasy book with an ugly female protagonist. As an ugly girl I would like to have someone to relate too. Also not in the sense that ‘she was actually gorgeous but she always doubted herself and thought she was ugly’ or that she got a whole makeover and suddenly turned beautiful.

It would be fine is she isn’t the protagonist but preferably an important side character at least.
Southern Gothic Fantasy Recommendations—anyone else into this kind of thing?

116 comments • reddit.com

A buddy of mine gave me an early copy of a book he’s about to publish, just asking for feedback, and I ended up completely hooked. It’s this epic fantasy story, but rooted in Southern American culture—like deep-fried folklore, ghosts that haunt more than just houses, and that heavy, humid atmosphere of the South where everything feels a little cursed.

If you can imagine Stephen King’s IT mashed up with True Detective Season 1 and a touch of Southern Reach Trilogy weirdness, you’re in the right ballpark.

It’s fantasy, not horror exactly, but it carries that same creeping dread—decaying churches, old family secrets, religious overtones, and a landscape that feels like a character itself. And now I’m kind of obsessed with the vibe.

Anyone else into this sort of thing? Know any other books like it? Or are you writing something in a similar space? I’d love to hear about anything with that regional, Southern Gothic fantasy feel. It seems like a small niche, but one that’s ripe for …
Red rising is one of the worst sci-fi worlds to live in

136 comments • reddit.com

So I’m a big reader and enjoy all kinds of types of books from sci-fi to fantasy. But I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with a world this bad to live in.

I mean first off if you’re born anything but a high color you’re life is going to suck. Most of the mid colors are tricked or forced to sign contracts that send them off their home planet and away from there family for years. On top of that you get TERRIBLE living conditions and make next to nothing. Even the bluex have it bad. In the first part of the second book all the blues ( the pilot color ) get blown to dust in a space battle that meant nothing! It was just a training thing for Darrow.

Then there’s the low colors. They have it the worst. Even if you’re a high red you’re usually just a street sweeper or a servant to some copper. But a low red is forced to work in the mines with little to know medical care and terrible living conditions. On top of that living to the age of 40 …
Anyone else tired of “multiverse” stories that only visit like… two universes?

112 comments • reddit.com

I’ve been running into this more and more books or shows that pitch themselves as epic multiverse journeys, but the main character only travels to two or three different places, tops. Then they get stuck in one slightly different dimension for 90% of the plot. I don’t know, if you promise infinite worlds, I want to feel that scope. Instead, it always becomes some half-hearted portal fantasy with different weather patterns.

Another trope that grates on me is the “your original life was what you needed all along” lesson. Like, really? You’re telling me the utopia that solved war and cured disease wasn’t a better option? I get the emotional beat they’re aiming for, but it often feels like a cop-out.

Anyone else find these tropes frustrating? Or am I just reading the wrong stuff?

r/books

The President has named a new Acting Librarian of Congress. It's his former defense lawyer.

593 comments • npr.org
Man burns 100 library books; residents donate 1,000 more to local libraries

142 comments • news5cleveland.com
'Critical attack on our freedoms': Half Price Books argues against Texas bill that could punish bookstores for alleged obscene content

203 comments • wfaa.com
This Austin book club has been reading the same book [Finnegans Wake] for 12 years. They’re not even close to done.

352 comments • kut.org
Why I’m Resigning from the NSF and Library of Congress

158 comments • time.com
Pentagon demands military libraries pull all “DEI” books

294 comments • nytimes.com

“The Bell Curve” was kept in the Naval Academy library, but a book critiquing it was removed.

r/printsf

Reading Stranger In a Strange Land as a woman. Do any of y’all share my thoughts???

258 comments • reddit.com

I’m sorry I really want to like this book and there are parts of it that I really enjoy but it’s giving misogyny and male fantasy. The relationship between Jill and Mike makes me feel sick to my stomach. Mike knows best and Jill’s feelings don’t matter ever. I’m especially uncomfortable with the way Mike has this harem of women and she feels the need to share him. I get that it’s probably a Martian thing to share with your water brothers but even seeing the way women are written in this book with no distinguishable agency or personality makes me feel so fucking ill. I get that this book was really scandalous at the time and I’m sure it’s meant to be counter to purity culture with its portrayals of free sex and nudity but again, you can really tell this book was written by a man and I feel like I need to read feminist literature after this to cleanse my palate LMAO
Currently reading The Delirium Brief (Laundry Files) and it's a kick in the teeth being a federal employee in the US. Stross was almost prophetic with this one.

28 comments • reddit.com

I’ve been a fed for about 6 years now but I’ve been with the US government for going on 19 years. Naturally, I’m cyber with some secret squirrel stuff so I love the little head nods and references he throws in.

There’s been some small references to Trump and problems with the US government dissolving smaller sections in previous stories but this book goes directly in towards a hostile takeover from corporations and religious nationalists in a way that makes me feel like it was written today and not almost a decade ago. Damn.

I’m enjoying the series (especially since the revitalizing Nightmare Stacks) but the escapism is a bit marred when the story has such parity with ongoing events. I’d prefer anything else over this CASE NIGHTMARE ORANGE I’ve gotta deal with over here.

Stross, you have my respect and appreciation but I’d like to know whose crystal ball you had to rub to actually divine the future like that.
Best Sci Fi last 1-2 years

167 comments • reddit.com

I feel like my favorite authors have stopped releasing stories, and I’ve not picked favorite authors out of the current crop. I do know there’s been a kind of revival in Literary Sci Fi, like the kind that get featured in nytimes lists. Some of my favorite authors have been Annie Leckie, Poppy War author, Yoon Ha-Lee, Nnedi O, Kameron Hurley, and some others I’m forgetting… I’m really more of a science fiction guy, less fantasy. I need a cool idea and good characters to hold my attention

So yea.. what are the recent books that have critical and crowd approval?
I’m in a bit of a pickle.

33 comments • reddit.com

I found about 150 paperbacks (mostly SF) and a few hundred issues of “Analog”, “Galaxy”, “Fantastic Universe”, and “Fantasy and Science Fiction” in a deceased relative’s storage unit. The dates range from 1951 to 1980. They were horribly stored in cardboard boxes. Many with the text block down. They are very musty and dirty. Quite a few are warped. I plan on cleaning up the books as best I can (if I can) for reading and passing on, but I’m not sure what to do about the magazines. Are they worth trying to flatten and clean?

I cherish the fact that the love of SF has passed the generations to me. But I’m quite upset that this collection was so poorly cared for. I’m willing to put in some work if someone might value them, but I think I need an honest voice to tell me if this is a lost cause.

Thanks Friends 🖖
Can’t believe my story’s actually about to exist on paper.

26 comments • reddit.com

I wrote something I thought no one would ever read… Then I released it quietly, on impulse, through KU. Literally had 0 expectations whatsoever when I hit publish on the ebook…

BUT…

People read it, engaged, left reviews. My mind got blown away from the level of support I received, so I decided to go forward…

And now… after I don’t know how many rivers of coffee and sleepless nights, the paperback is LIVE and about to be printed. It feels exactly like a “glitch” in the system that somehow became real.

Can’t wait to open that box. 📦

If you’re an indie author (or just dreaming about becoming one) and you’re stuck like I was, stop postponing, stop overthinking, and just hit that publish button. The feeling that comes when the first reader kicks in is just surreal ❤️

Just wanted to share the moment with people who get it, and if you’ve made it this far into the post, thank you for your time. 🙏 😊
In my previous post here a bunch of you were interested in these China Miéville editions...

32 comments • reddit.com

… so I though it’s give them a post of their own, displaying the covers of each as well as the spines.

The matching set here are UK editions published by Pan Macmillan, apart from the short story collection that (while it thankfully still matches) is published instead by Picador. I am only missing one title in this style I believe, and that’s “Looking For Jake and Other Stories”, which I am avidly keeping my eyes peeled for.

What do you think of these? Is there a cover design amongst them that in particular stands out to you? And what’s your favourite Miéville novel?

r/television

"Max" Streaming Service rebranding once again, to HBO Max

1484 comments • vulture.com
Nathan Fielder Created a Fake Singing Competition for ‘The Rehearsal.’ One Contestant Lost $10,000 and Feels Betrayed: ‘I Signed Up to Be a Singer, Not a Lab Rat’

1426 comments • variety.com
Krysten Ritter Officially Returning as Jessica Jones for ‘Daredevil Born Again’ Season 2

302 comments • variety.com
Stranger Things Season 4 was 3 years ago. Do you still care?

1981 comments • reddit.com

I guess season 5 is coming out this year.

At this point, Stranger Things was so long ago that it feels like something from my past. I can’t really explain it other than that. It’s not like the hype built up for a final season anymore. It’s more like this old thing that needs cleaning up at this point.
'Andor' is ending. It brought untold stories of trauma and humanity to 'Star Wars'

784 comments • ca.news.yahoo.com
Fallout TV Show Could Run for Six Seasons Says Aaron Moten

510 comments • comicbasics.com

r/movies

Hi! I'm Ana de Armas, star of the upcoming movie From the World of John Wick: Ballerina. Ask me anything!

3929 comments • i.redd.it

Hi! I’m Ana de Armas, an actor, dog lover, and occasional stuntwoman. You might know me from Knives Out, Blonde, Knock Knock, or No Time to Die. I’ve been lucky to play a wide range of characters over the years, and I’m here to talk about all of it. From my first roles to what’s next, including From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, which hits theaters June 6. Ask me anything!
Superman | Official Trailer

4139 comments • youtu.be
First Image of John C. Reilly as Buffalo Bill in ‘Heads or Tails’

597 comments • i.redd.it
YouTube Takes Further Action Against Fake Movie Trailer Channels After Deadline Investigations

747 comments • deadline.com
Exclusive First Image Of Nicolas Cage As Football Icon John Madden & Christian Bale As Raiders Owner Al Davis In Amazon MGM’s ‘Madden’

540 comments • i.redd.it

Exclusive First Image Of Nicolas Cage As Football Icon John Madden & Christian Bale As Raiders Owner Al Davis In Amazon MGM’s ‘Madden’

https://deadline.com/2025/05/nicolas-cage-john-madden-christian-bale-al-davis-first-photo-1236396456/

……………………………………………………………..
Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson stars in Die,My Love. Premiering at Cannes this weekend.

966 comments • v.redd.it

TV & Books #12

Sat, 10 May 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #12

r/fantasy

So I read Wizard’s First Rule, huge mistake

657 comments • reddit.com
I had some time on my hands during a long trip, so I decided hey, let’s go get a fantasy book and get lost in 800 pages of something. I did little to no research, just chose something that looked sufficiently long. Enter “Wizard’s First Rule” by Terry Goodkind.

I have since discovered that this is not a particularly well loved series, but many folks will defend the first book as being pretty good. I couldn’t disagree more.

Spoilers ahead for the many, many issues I have with it:
1. !There is so much violence to children in this book. I don’t mind violence towards children if it serves the plot, such as by demonstrating the depravity of a villain, but my god. A boy is drugged, has his skull split open, and then is sliced down his abdomen after being groomed by the villain and his pedophile sidekick - oh and the villain in question is notably erect when this happens. A man is recounted as having raped his neighbor’s 3 daughters, the oldest of which is 5. Undesired newborn babies are …
t kingfisher not being as popular as she should be is the saddest thing to happen to me

248 comments • reddit.com

so after seeing A LOT of recommendations for paladin’s grace i finally started the series last month, i finished the third book yesterday, and this series is the best thing to ever happen to me. it’s funny, clever, captivating, the fantasy is unique (LOVE her deconstruction of the knight/paladin genre), the romance isn’t cringy at all and thank god for these lovely, considerate, nerdy paladins. i’ve had a writing block for a year and a half and this week i finally wrote a little fic with galen and piper

the problem? she isn’t as popular as she ought to be. and i have no one to talk about this incredible series with. the fandom at tumblr, nonexistant. my fic, got 7 hits. the subreddit, isn’t active. there isn’t even merch 😭

if anyone wanna yell about their love for these books i am begging for company. wishing you all have a good day!

edit: this blew up a bit (thank you all for your comments!) so here’s my fic if anyone wanna read: …
My comment turned into an essay. A too-long reply to "So I read Wizard’s First Rule, huge mistake"

120 comments • reddit.com
Wanted to join the discussion on u/doppelganger3301 ’s post but I started rambling and it was too long to post, so I hope the community enjoys its second-in-a-day Sword of Truth rant.

Like many other people here, I read the series at a young, impressionable age and thought it was awesome. Obviously, it didn’t age well.

But, you know, I have to give credit where credit is due. The series was the first to show me ways of thinking that I had never been exposed to in a rural, conservative, religious environment.
- Gay people are not hurting me. Richard has a conversation with Berdine where she comes out as a lesbian. He responds that he doesn’t really get it, but hey, you do you, it’s your life, it doesn’t affect me. This was the first time outside of my sheltered life where I realized hey, wait, maybe I don’t have to mindlessly hate gay people?
- Don’t give God credit where humans have acted. My friends risked their lives to save me, The Creator …
D’you ever miss the editing days?

208 comments • reddit.com

I just read a series I enjoyed a lot, despite way too many winces. Mistaking proscribe for prescribe, things like that. A long stretch where the word “however” occurs over and over and over… Occasionally even continuity errors, like taking off a hat and also still wearing it.

I love that we can all tell our stories these days, but I do miss the days of editing. Do you care whether books are edited or not? Do these things bug you?
What currently unadapted work do you think has the potential to become a hit show/movie on the level of LOTR, Harry Potter or Game of Thrones?

756 comments • reddit.com

Do you think there are any that could reach the heights of those and become a cultural phenomenon like they did?
Books like Dresden Files but with NO sexual content?

296 comments • reddit.com

I listen to audiobooks in the car with my 2 youngest boys, ages 11 & 12. We spend a lot of time in the car, bc we live out in the middle of nowhere 😅.

I’m making my way thru the Dresden Files and I LOVE it…but I cannot listen to sex scenes / sexual content with the boys. They react badly - apparently it embarrasses them to listen to this stuff “right next to Mom”.

We listened to the Scythe series, and the (very vague) sexual references were “tolerable” (boys’ words 🙄🙄).

They both love the Fantasy stuff, and want to listen to books about the Fae, magic, etc. But “no sex, Mom, like seriously.”

Help!?!

r/books

President Trump fires Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden

805 comments • npr.org
Majority of Swedes read or listened to a book every day last year

158 comments • reddit.com

Context: each year, Gothemburg university does a poll of media habits. They’ve been doing it since the 1970’s, and for the first time every, a majority of respondents (51%) said that they read or listended to a book every day. 66% percent of respondents said that they read at least once a week.

This is the highest percentage since the poll started.

38% read a printed book every day, 15% listened to an audiobook every day, and 7% read an e-book every day (there’s overlap, so the total daily readers becomes 51%).

Source (in Swedish): https://www.svt.se/kultur/mediebarometern-rekordmanga-laste-en-bok-forra-aret
Title translations that change the way people interpret the book

340 comments • reddit.com

One of Victor Hugo’s most famous novels is called “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”. This, together with some notable depictions of Quasimodo in films, has led to a common view among Anglophones that Quasimodo is the protagonist.

However, the title in the original French is “Notre Dame de Paris” and Quasimodo is really just one character in the ensemble, with la Esmeralda or the cathedral itself arguably being the principal character.

Are there other examples of translations changing how books are interpreted?
'James' by Percival Everett wins the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in fiction

201 comments • pulitzer.org
When did books go from past tense to present?

321 comments • reddit.com

I’ve been reading more contemporary books lately and it feels like all of them* are written in the present tense. When did this shift from past —> present occur and why? Is it more prevalent in books of certain genres? Is it just me? Just… what is going on here?

*okay, it’s not literally 100% of them but you know what I mean
Dracula Daily starts today!

37 comments • draculadaily.substack.com

If you’re interested in reading (or rereading) Dracula, this is a great opportunity! You can read Dracula in real time with each journal entry being emailed to you as they occur in the book. The book is sent in chronological order so it’s a fun way to read it even if you’ve already read the novel. Runs from May 3rd until November 7th!

r/printsf

Hugo Administrators Resign in Wake of ChatGPT Controversy

348 comments • gizmodo.com
Reading Short Fiction Instead of Scrolling Social Media

29 comments • reddit.com

I’ve been on a bit of a short fiction kick since 2023 when I did what I called my Year of Short Fiction. That year, I subscribed to and read six different SF magazines (Analog, Asimov’s, Apex, Clarkesworld, Lightspeed, and Uncanny). About half way through, I started taking notes. Since then, I have posted details on each short story I’ve read in a table on my website ( https://myreadinglife.com/shortfiction ).

My latest project is posting a link each weekday at noon to a highly rated (by me) short fiction piece that can be read online for free. My goal is to help those who are interested in reading more to have something other than social media (Facebook, X, TikTok, Instagram, etc.) to read when they have a down moment. I speculate that for many people, novels are too long. These folks need help building up their reading muscles. Short fiction for the win!

I’ve also toyed with the idea of creating a database site like https://www.isfdb.org exclusively for …
This month’s (May 2025) Clarkesworld is phenomenal

8 comments • reddit.com

Easily my favorite Clarkesworld issue in a while, and Descent by Wole Talabi and Oh Time Thy Pyramids by Ann Leblanc were the particular highlights for me.

Descent is about a civilization that lives on continents floating on the atmospheric seas of a gas planet, and it details the journey of the man attempting to be the first one to descend to the core of this gas giant. The culture, world building, and planetary science are so interesting and unique

Oh Time Thy Pyramids is one of the most imaginative stories I’ve ever read. It details a sentient funerary statue whose purpose is to eternally sing songs of The Queen, a galactic conqueror who now resides in a light cone mausoleum. It is bizarre and inventive and highly, highly recommend the read
WorldCon backs down on using AI after massive backlash.

51 comments • seattlein2025.org
Why Roadside Picnic ends the way it does (spoilers)

29 comments • reddit.com

Roadside Picnic is my favorite scifi novel and it’s a story that has stayed with me over the years. One thing that always stuck out to me is it seems to cut off very abruptly, and in a way that leaves many unanswered questions about the main character Redrick’s fate. Does he live or die, does the Zone grant his wish, and what do his final words of “Happiness, free for everyone, and let no one be forgotten” actually mean?

To start with, the characters of Dina and Arthur reveal something very important about the Wish Granter. We’re told that these two are children of the Zone, granted to the Vulture Burbridge when he first reached the Golden Sphere many years ago. Dina is a beautiful woman but shallow and selfish, while Arthur is a man of good character - honest, helpful and kind.

Why is this important? The Vulture is a disgusting man with few redeeming virtues, and a misogynist to boot, but even he can at least imagine what a good man might look like when …
Where The Axe Is Buried is Ray Nayler's best work to date

14 comments • reddit.com

…though it is not for everyone. Nayler’s latest work is about a future where formerly democratic governments implement AI to handle official duties and other governments try to transfer consciousness to keep authoritarians permanently alive. The novel is about those who resist or are unwittingly in the path of a revolution when these policies fail.

I was at a book swap recently where people were offering for free books that they didn’t want. Rows of books that were Tom Clancy or old things nobody cared about… and also The Mountain And The Sea. I can understand this audience of people who might have felt ripped off by the book with a huge octopus on the cover, only to find that the novel was only a third about the animals, a third about slave ships, and mostly about consciousness and intelligence.

To those people, Where The Axe Is Buried will probably not work for them. Ray Nayler hops between five major intercrossing storylines, jumping back and forth …

r/television

Bella Ramsey Says ‘It’s Important’ to Keep Gendered Awards for Best Actor and Actress:’Recognition for Women in the Industry’ Must Be ‘Preserved’

930 comments • variety.com
'Fallout' Season 2 Wraps Filming

345 comments • collider.com
Breaks between seasons are becoming too long

1356 comments • reddit.com

First “they” took away our long seasons with 20+ episodes and now they even took away our yearly seasons. Witcher, rings of power, Wheel of time, Carnival row and most recent offender Andor.

How are we supposed to care or even remember the story or characters, when there is a break ranging from two to 4 years?
Andor Dared to Say ‘Genocide’

1170 comments • vulture.com
Ted Danson says he turned down appearing in the ‘Frasier’ revival because he didn’t know how to play Sam Malone in his 70s: “It's amusing to be an aging adolescent when you're in your 30s, 40s, but not when you're in your 70s”

288 comments • people.com
‘Black Mirror: Bandersnatch’ and ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’ Interactive Specials Leaving Netflix on May 12, Ending Netflix’s Era of Interactive Stories

413 comments • whats-on-netflix.com

r/movies

First Image of Pamela Anderson in 'The Naked Gun'

821 comments • i.redd.it
A24’s $3.5B Valuation Pushes the Indie Studio Toward Blockbusters

487 comments • observer.com
New Poster for Danny Boyle’s ‘28 Years Later’

297 comments • i.redd.it
First Image of Tim Heidecker in 'Fior Di Latte' - A playwright, hooked on sniffing perfume to relive memories from an Italian vacation, spirals into obsession as his life falls apart.

354 comments • i.redd.it
New Image of Ralph Fiennes, Jodie Comer and Alfie Williams from '28 Years Later'

485 comments • i.redd.it
‘The Toxic Avenger’ Is Officially UNRATED for Ultra Violence, Mutant Nudity, and More

444 comments • bloody-disgusting.com

TV & Books #11

Sat, 03 May 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #11

r/fantasy

A friend just told me he finished a great book and is excited for the rest of the series…

139 comments • reddit.com

The book was The Name of the Wind
Happy Birthday to the late, great Sir Terry Pratchett - what are your favorite Pratchett-isms?

119 comments • reddit.com

GNU Sir Terry, who would have been 77 today.

It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is indeed true - it’s called Life.
The most DNF'd books

299 comments • reddit.com

I recently made a post asking for people’s recent DNF’d books. That post got around 600 replies and in those replies some books were more common than others. I thought it would be interesting to see which books were the most common to DNF so I went through the comments and replies and did some counting.

These are only the books that were DNF’d. Many people had series they stopped reading after reading one or two books, but this is only based on books that were dropped in the middle of reading.

Considering I did this manually based on reddit comments, please take it with a grain of salt, but I thought it would be fun.

The Locked Tomb 6

Gideon the Ninth 5

Harrow the Ninth 1

The Green Bone Saga 7

Jade City 3

Jade Legacy 3

Jade War 1

Farseer Trilogy 8

Assassin’s Apprentice 5

Royal Assassin 3

Malazan Book of the Fallen 10

Gardens of the Moon 2

Deadhouse Gates 5

Memories of Ice 1

Toll the Hounds 1

Dust of Dreams 1

The Empyrean 10

Fourth Wing 8 …
Hey /r/fantasy! I'm epic fantasy author Brian McClellan. AMA!

182 comments • reddit.com

Hi everyone! I’m Brian McClellan. I’ve written books, novellas, short stories, and an RPG. I’ve hosted a podcast. I play too many videogames, love to smoke wings for game night, and am currently teaching myself how to make miniature cheesecakes. You probably know me from my flintlock fantasy Powder Mage books.

I’ve got a new novella over on Kickstarter called Swords, Cider, and Other Distractions. This expands the Glass Immortals series, taking place just after the traumatic prologue of In the Shadow of Lightning and following the shattered young political savant Demir Grappo out into the provinces as he flees his responsibilities. I’m hoping you’ll give the new novella a shot, or dive into the whole universe if you haven’t yet!

The new novella has nine days left on Kickstarter. You can find my other work on my website, Amazon, and at your favorite bookstore. There are pictures of my cheesecakes on Instagram, or the occasional media recommendation on Bluesky.

In the meantime let’s …
Who gets your "Most hated character" award in fantasy?

817 comments • reddit.com

Poorly written or well written, all answers are welcome.

For example: I hate with my heart and soul Thomas Covenant. Fuck that guy
Philip Pullman announces The Rose Field, the final part of Lyra’s story

52 comments • theguardian.com

r/books

Bestselling German novelist found killed on Hamburg houseboat

129 comments • theguardian.com
RecipeTin Eats founder accuses Brooki Bakehouse of plagiarising recipes in popular cookbook

178 comments • reddit.com

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/apr/29/recipetin-eats-founder-accuses-brooki-bakehouse-of-plagiarising-recipes-in-popular-cookbook

Nagi is a cookery icon in Australia, beloved for her wonderful (and freely available) recipes on her site, and her cookbooks. Most people I know absolutely love her recipes which are straightforward and written in a clear easy to understand way. Nagi also runs and finances a community kitchen that provides meals for the needy. She has spent years, as she documents online, testing and perfecting each recipe.

I’m not sure how well this will go for the social media influencer Brooki (who married into the billionaire Bellamy family). Another day, another influencer stealing material from a hard working POC creator.

Brooki started out as a travel blogger before pivoting to this latest grift during Covid. According to Nagi’s post it seems this woman also stole recipes from other big name chefs and cooks for her book.
‘It’s just a book’: Wuthering Heights casting director defends choice of Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi

550 comments • theguardian.com

From the article: “Cochrane responded to criticism of both actors’ ages and Elordi’s ethnicity by saying there was “no need to be accurate” as the source material is “just a book”, Deadline reported.”
New indie press Conduit Books launches with 'initial focus on male authors'

843 comments • thebookseller.com

What do folks think about this?
Are there any books that you find amazing because the author did a lot of research to write the novel?

976 comments • reddit.com

Are there any books that you find truly amazing because the author invested a great deal of time and effort into researching the story? I’m always impressed by novels where the details feel so real that you can tell the writer has deep knowledge of the subject. I just read The Martian by Andy Weir and I was amazed by how he tried to incorporate scientific accuracy into the plot. That must have been really time consuming and required a lot of effort to do the research before writing the novel. The way he described science, physics, botany, chemistry and space science was really impressive and detailed.
"I'm just in it for the vibes" - the Vibes Defence and the end of interesting online book discussions

387 comments • reddit.com

I’d like to talk about a frustrating trend that I have been seeing a lot on online book communities recently: the rise of “the Vibes Defence”.

Over the last few months I have read a number of books based on recommendations from Reddit that I have ended up disappointed with. More often than not, the reason for these disappointments is that the books have great settings/ideas but fail to stick the landing from a thematic/plotting perspective. Whenever this happens, I inevitably go to reddit to to see if others felt similarly. Almost always, I find a number of posts titled something like “Disappointed with [Book]” where the POST is interesting and engaging, but then I get to the comments…

Invariably, the comments are filled with dozens of comments made up of some variation of the same thought: “The book isn’t for everyone, I just loved the vibe of the book”. Or “I guess it just wasn’t for you. This book wasn’t …

r/printsf

Sci-fi that changes your whole understanding of the universe halfway through?

194 comments • reddit.com

Looking for some sci-fi books where halfway through, or by the end, the whole idea, structure, or even the shape of the universe completely changes. I love stories that flip your understanding of the world as you go. For example, I really liked Tower of Babylon by Ted Chiang, the movie Dark City, and Diaspora by Greg Egan. I also recently read Piranesi by Susanna Clarke — even though most people call it fantasy, I feel like it still fits what I’m looking for. Basically, I want sci-fi that makes me see the world in a totally different way by the time I’m done reading.
What is the scariest SciFi book you have read?

230 comments • reddit.com

Hey guys, I recently got into SciFi horrors. I got recommended here some books. But they are not scary enough. I want such a scary book so that I’ll have to run to the toilet in the night instead of walking.

Anyway, here are the books I read and what I think about them:

Blindsight: Not very spooky, but interesting ideas.

Ship of fools: A bit chilling sometimes, but not so much of a horror.

Solaris by Stanislaw Lem: I loved the book! It came very close to what I wanted.

Dead Silence: I really loved the whole setting. But it was ruined by the writing and plot for me. I wish there was more unknown stuff.

Annihilation trilogy: I loved it! The last two books were less of a horror though.

Expanse: Currently listening to this, awesome book. Not really a horror (so far at least).

From all of the books Solaris and Dead Silence were the scariest.

What was the scariest SciFi you read and can recommend?
The Expanse

39 comments • reddit.com

Marking this as a spoiler because you can never be too sure these days.

Hello all. I decided to read The Expanse series for the first time, after I rediscovered my live for sci-fi, and I just wanted to share the Bulgarian edition as I cannot stop looking at it. I only have the first two, but they are an absolute gem (I will include the others from the publishers website).

Honestly, I am only a hundred pages in and I can’t put the book down. Can’t wait to go through the whole story.

I understand this is a beloved series and I only blame myself for not reading it earlier. I have promised myself that I will make sure to finish the nine books, even if it’s the last series I’d ever read lol
Old sci-fi books that aged well

172 comments • reddit.com
Can you recommend some classics old books that still feels mostly like written today? (I’m doing exception for things like social norms etc.). With a message that is still actual.

Some of my picks would be:
- Solaris
- Roadside Picnic
- The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
Thanks

Edit:

Books mentioned in this thread (will try to keep it updated): 1. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)
1. The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), The Dispossessed (1974) and many others by Ursula K. Le Guin
2. Solaris (1961), His Master’s Voice (1968) and others by Stanisław Lem
3. Last and First Men (1930), and Starmaker (1937) by Olaf Stapledon
4. Brave New World (1932) by Aldous Huxley
5. Earth Abides (1949) by George R. Stewart
6. The Stars My Destination (1956) by Alfred Bester
7. The War of the Worlds (1897), The Time Machine (1895) and otherss by Wells
8. The Martian Chronicles (1950), Fahrenheit 451 (1953) by Ray Bradbury
9. The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (1966) and other works by Robert A. Heinlein
10. A Canticle …
The Weirdness Budget in F&SF

71 comments • reddit.com

There’s a concept called a “weirdness budget” which is sometimes applied to programming languages. When someone invents a new language, they have to do some things differently from all the existing languages, or what is the point? But if they do everything differently, people find the language incomprehensible and won’t use it. For example if ‘+’ in your language means multiplication, you wasted your budget on useless weirdness. Weirdness is defined by difference not from the real world, but from the standard expectations of the genre - if you have dragons in a fantasy novel it doesn’t strain the budget at all.

It occurs to me that this applies to Fantasy and SF novels as well. In Fantasy why is it that this other world beyond the portal has horses, crows, chickens, money made of pieces of gold, and so on? It’s tempting to call this lack of imagination, but a better explanation is that otherwise the author would blow her weirdness budget …
Hugo Winners - Favorites?

92 comments • reddit.com

I’m on a long mission to read every Hugo Award winner ever and it’s been incredibly rewarding and I have found some of my favorite books ever this way. I keep the long list in my phone notes and I have a personal rule that whenever I come across a book on my list that I don’t own or haven’t read (and I have the means in the moment) then I have to buy it.

Anyone else reading through or have read through the Hugo books?

What’s your favorite?

An (relatively) underrated gem?

r/television

Jeremy Renner Turned Down ‘Hawkeye’ Season 2 Because He Was Offered ‘Half’ His Season 1 Salary: ‘Did You Think I’m Only Half the Jeremy Because I Got Ran Over?’

956 comments • variety.com
I am sick of seeing the rich and powerful on my screen. Where are all the TV shows about normal people?

905 comments • theguardian.com
HBO Boss Insists ‘Harry Potter’ Show Will Not Contain J.K. Rowling’s Anti-Trans Views

1919 comments • thewrap.com
Apple TV+ is ‘worst marketer in the universe,’ says producer Alex Berger, who made La Maison

631 comments • 9to5mac.com
Tv show subreddits have gotten weird

1369 comments • reddit.com

I used to join specific tv show subreddits while I was watching a specific show to participate in discussions after each episode but the popular show subreddits have gotten seriously weird in the last I would say 10 years or so.

People seem to form bizarre parasocial relationships with not just the show characters but also the actors. They get super aggressive when you criticise either and it makes objective discussion about a show impossible.

It’s very strange, maybe people who are permanently online nowadays and are starting to lose a grip on the difference between real life and fiction?
The truth is out there! Gillian Anderson confirms she has spoken to director about X-Files reboot

239 comments • lbc.co.uk

r/movies

Official Poster for 'Now You See Me: Now You Don't'

1916 comments • i.redd.it
Official Poster for 'Together' Starring Alison Brie & Dave Franco

1467 comments • i.redd.it
New Poster for the 25th Anniversary Re-release of Kevin Smith’s ‘DOGMA’

526 comments • i.redd.it
Official Poster for Zach Cregger’s ‘Weapons’

749 comments • i.redd.it
Deadline Announces 2024's Biggest Box Office Bombs: Joker 2 ($144M loss), Furiosa ($119M loss), Borderlands ($80M loss), Megalopolis ($76M loss), and Kraven the Hunter ($71M loss).

2355 comments • deadline.com
What's a trend in movies right now that you wish dies a horrible death?

5337 comments • reddit.com

For me it’s the uninspiring use of popular songs from the 70s, 80s, 90s, but preferably nirvana. It has to be nirvana if possible. Take the hook, slow it down and drown it in a heavy reverb effects and you just created a masterpiece of cinematical background music because the young audience will think the song is cool and the older ones will like it because it’s nostalgic.

TV & Books #10

Sat, 26 Apr 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #10

r/fantasy

Hello, I am author Robert Jackson Bennett. AMA!

450 comments • reddit.com
Hi all - I am author Robert Jackson Bennett. I wrote the fantasy murder mystery The Tainted Cup and its sequel A Drop of Corruption, which came out on the first of this month. I also wrote The Divine Cities Trilogy and The Founders Trilogy. I also dug an extremely good French drain in my backyard in 2019.

Please fire away with your questions and I will be back to answer them at around 2 PM Central today. Thanks!

UPDATE: I am going to pause for a moment but thank you all for the kind questions.

I will summarize a few of the most-asked questions I here to save you some scrolling:
1. Biggest influences are Gene Wolfe, Margaret Atwood, Susana Clarke, and Neil Gaiman (sorry)
2. I don’t know how many Leviathan books there will be. More than 3, sure. But 6? 9? 12? You can decide this via dollars, and the buying of them.
3. The character most directly based on me is obviously Din, because he is an extremely beautiful and sexually desirable man. (This is a lie.)
4. “How do you do …
Neil Gaiman Seeks $500,000 From Accuser Caroline Wallner (for Breaching NDA)

230 comments • vulture.com
What’s an instant turn-off for you when it comes to fantasy?

1115 comments • reddit.com

Do you ever find yourself hearing about a fantasy book or series and becoming really intrigued and thinking “oh yeah this sounds great, I might have to get into this” until you discover one aspect of its setup/premise and immediately switch to ”ah, nope, not for me?”

For me it’s when I discover something like the protagonists are actually normal modern day people that have been transported to a fantasy world, or that the world is actually a far-future post-apocalyptic world that has just resorted to a medieval way of life and magic or whatever. Like I don’t inherently mind those things but it’s not what I go to fantasy for - if I want to read post-apocalyptic fiction I will go and read that, but I don’t really want it encroaching on my fantasy books.

What’s this for you?
To older members of the subreddit: Which older fantasy authors/series/books were massive when you were younger but have faded into obscurity?

911 comments • reddit.com

As the title says, I wanted to ask the older members of this sub about which fantasy authors/series/books were massive and extremely popular when they were younger but have since faded into obscurity. A lot of older books are still popular or at least still well known today like the Elric Saga, Earthsea, LOTR, Memory, Sorrow and Thorn etc. but there has to be a few out there that were massive in terms of popularity but have faded away into obscurity.
New ‘Wheel of Time’ Open-World RPG Set to Expand Epic Fantasy Universe

123 comments • fictionhorizon.com
"Farewell to Andrea" - After 600+ Hours, Andrea Parsneau is stepping down as narrator of 'The Wandering Inn'

97 comments • wanderinginn.com

Andrea herself has also posted a video HERE.

Long story short - she felt it was time, as she was beginning to run out of voices and burn out and she felt TWI deserved more than she was able to give.

Much respect! Her work was outstanding.

r/books

Roald Dahl's 'The Witches' is a fantastic depiction of a child with a short life expectancy

343 comments • reddit.com

In case anyone doesn’t know the story, in Roald Dahl’s The Witches the unnamed protagonist is sent to live with his beloved grandmother after his parents are killed in a car crash. His grandmother, who in her youth was a ‘witchophile’ (someone who studies and tries to catch witches), warns him that there are still a lot of witches around and that he has to be careful to be able to identify them and learn how to avoid them. In spite of his grandmother’s warnings, the boy still manages to end up on the wrong side of the witches when he unwittingly infiltrates their AGM, they catch him and turn him into a mouse. The boy nevertheless found out enough about their plans before they caught him that he and the grandmother are able to turn the witches themselves into mice instead.

The book is quite unusual and controversial for its depiction of the boy’s transformation into a mouse and the subsequent conversation with his grandmother. Surprisingly, the boy …
Book bans aren’t stopping at libraries—now Texas is targeting bookstores

347 comments • chron.com
Novelist Katie Kitamura: ‘As Trump tries to take away everything I love, it’s never been clearer that writing matters’

122 comments • theguardian.com

This is an interview of the last week i’ve just read and her passion about writing touched me
Jeff Kinney donates 20,000 books a month ahead of 20th 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid'

40 comments • usatoday.com
Do you still remember the hype back then when new Harry Potter books were released? Do you think we could experience this level of hype or something similar in the next 50 years?

742 comments • reddit.com

I just played the Harry Potter video game called Hogwarts Legacy and it feels like I’m literally living in the Wizarding World. I can roam around Hogwarts Castle, attend wizarding classes, visit Hogsmeade, etc. This game gave me a wave of nostalgia for the HP book phenomenon back then. After Harry Potter, I’ve never seen anything quite like it again. You know, back then people were really hyped about the new HP books. Fans, both kids and adults, gathered at bookstores around the world often dressed as their favorite characters. There was extensive media coverage from TV and newspapers to magazine. Fans speculated and debated potential plot twists, character fates, storyline and among many other things.

Do you remember the hype when the new Harry Potter books were released? Do you think we’ll ever see that kind of excitement again or something similar like in the next 50 years?
Author says Naval Academy canceled his lecture over removed book reference

72 comments • reddit.com

The Naval Academy canceled a speech by author and podcaster Ryan Holiday after he declined a request not to reference 381 books and literary works removed from its library as part of a review of diversity, equity and inclusion materials, according to an opinion piece he authored for The New York Times.

r/printsf

'Project Hail Mary' is such a fantastic modern sci-fi

140 comments • reddit.com

I honestly didn’t have any expectation while picking up ‘Project Hail Mary’ by Andy Weir in the store but I liked the back summary so much I thought of giving it a chance. I just finished reading it and I have to say I am ‘amaze’. I also realized that my earlier skepticism stemmed from my semi-liking of The Martian (movie) which I thought had pretty cool science but lacked any sort of danger or emotion (acting or screenplay problem, I don’t know). But PHM was so much in line with what I have come to like in a sci-fi novel - hard (and fun) science, likeable and competent characters and emotions, lots of it.

Ryland Grace, the teacher, might not have been the perfect candidate for this mission but the way Andy Weir allowed him to rise above his shortcomings (by way of the alien Rocky or due to his own inquisitive nature) was nothing short of extraordinary for me. It felt like there was a real problem to solve and the only way to solve it was to work as …
Just finished Olaf Stapledon's Star Maker... Shocked and awed

28 comments • reddit.com

I am utterly awed by the scope and depth of this book, and more generally by Stapledon’s perspective on life and the cosmos.

Reading this book made me both happy and sad.

Happy because I got to witness what the human spirit is capable of when it realizes its full potential. Stapledon seems to navigate fluently between science, history, sociology, psychology, philosophy, like the polymaths of old, but within a modern setting. Also because of the wildly inspiring perspectives he opened up regarding the understanding of who we are and what the universe is.

Sad because it highlights in contrast how little developed the rest of us (or at least myself) are, intellectually and spiritually. My absolute best ideas and realizations, fruits of a life of thinking, seem to be nothing more than the starting point of Stapledon’s ideas, which he speedily improves upon and transcends. This guy seems to belong to a different species, and I feel sad for him that he had to live with the …
Best SF novels written in the 90’s.

154 comments • reddit.com

What are some of your favorite SF novels written in the 90s that really capture how the future was depicted based on the culture of that era?
Rendezvous with Rama was worth sticking through

45 comments • reddit.com

Just a quick bit of advice to anyone reading or considering reading the book, I personally found the first quarter to be quite dull, they found a big space object, the board of scientists met, and committee notes were taken. A few aging academics had a spat about their pet theories.

A few other Clark books have not stuck with me. I read 3001 in high school and it was fine but I don’t remember much of it. I read childhood’s end at some point and also didn’t really care for it. But this subreddit has said many positive things about Rendezvous with Rama so I wanted to give it a try.

I was listening to it in audiobook form so it’s hard to say exactly at what point the book really picked up the pace, but it was right about the point where I was considering that maybe the book wasn’t for me in that it had been overhyped. I want to emphasize, the book was absolutely worth it. At the beginning I could not really understand how it won so many awards and by the …
Best SciFi books that are about 300 pages?

109 comments • reddit.com

Every time I wrap up a longer (600+ pages)novel I need a shorter book or I find my attention strays.

300 pages or so seems to be the sweet spot.. but so much good scifi is LONG

What fits into this category?
Just finished Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson with extremely mixed feelings

69 comments • reddit.com

I can confidently say I’ve never encountered a work of fiction that left me feeling so conflicted.

There were many things I absolutely loved about this book. The writing is superb, and the development of the ship’s AI is masterfully done. Telling the story primarily from its perspective as it gradually becomes more self-aware is one of the most unique and impactful narrative choices I’ve ever read. Although this is the only generation ship novel I’ve encountered, I thought the design and depiction of the ship were both excellent. I genuinely loved the book’s vision and setting.

But that brings me to what didn’t work for me: the actual story.

Let me start by saying I don’t completely disagree with Robinson’s message. Expansionism for its own sake shouldn’t be a priority, and any real attempt at interstellar colonization would no doubt face extreme challenges. That said, the way this message is delivered feels heavy-handed at best, and clumsy at worst. The first third of the …

r/television

Bill Hader to Co-Write, Potentially Star in Jonestown Series in Development at HBO

513 comments • variety.com
Netflix now offers dialogue-only subtitles

607 comments • techcrunch.com
‘The Last Of Us’ Bella Ramsey was “fixated” on looking video game accurate for Season Two; “It was a challenge for me to let myself off the hook for not looking computer-generated.”

1794 comments • nme.com
‘Andor’ Season Two Is the Best Television of the Year So Far

894 comments • vanityfair.com
'Andor' Season 2 Review: Nine Hours of the Best Star Wars You Will Ever Watch

414 comments • collider.com
Parks & Rec actors created elaborate fake TV show called Philly Justice just to amuse themselves

127 comments • ew.com

r/movies

TV & Books #9

Sat, 19 Apr 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #9

r/fantasy

I really hate this in fantasy

734 comments • reddit.com

When they use sexual assault on girls and women just to shock, I mean, when there is a horrific scene of abuse and the author only put it there to show how cruel the world is and it is generally a medieval world 🧍🏽i hateeeeeeeee
But WHY are the dragons gone?!

252 comments • reddit.com

couldn’t resist, not sorry

I think it’s reasonably common to run into a fantasy story where we’re told (often in passing) that there USED to be dragons, but many centuries ago and they’re all gone now.

But quite often, we’re never explicitly told why the dragons died out.

So - what are some of the explanations you’ve seen an author come up with? (And of course, which book was it in?) Bonus points for especially unique ones!
(Bingo Review) Babel by RF Kuang is a bad book

255 comments • reddit.com

Babel by RF Kuang is very readable with prose markedly improved from her first trilogy, has a cool magic system, and has very fun and delicious academia scenes. That’s about all the compliments I can give it, because this is one of the single most poorly thought out narratives I’ve ever read. I respect Rebecca Kuang for trying to use fantasy to challenge our understandings of the world and how it came to be, don’t get me wrong, but in my opinion, this is a very poor way to do it.

https://preview.redd.it/1zhznuu7peue1.jpg?width=656&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e2bbab7fea3f50c4a34729628feea91135a73e0f

Kuang set out in this novel to argue using fiction that academic institutions are perpetrators of colonial violence, and to create a thematic response to Donna Tartt’s The Secret History and a tonal response to Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. In doing so, however, I feel that she stumbles both with her thematic goals for the story …
NO LIFE FORSAKEN, the new MALAZAN novel from Steven Erikson, gets cover and release date

91 comments • reddit.com

No Life Forsaken, the second book in the Witness quartet, has had its cover art and release date unveiled.

The book will be released on 23 October this year.The book picks up after the events of *The God is Not Willing* (2021) and sees the action switch to the Seven Cities subcontinent where, unsurprisingly, things are getting complicated for the local Malazan forces. The official plot summary is as follows:

A goddess awakens to a new world, only to find that some things never change.Amidst the ashes of a failed rebellion in Seven Cities, new embers are flaring to life.There are furrowed brows at the beleaguered Malazan Legion headquarters in G’danisban for it would appear that yet another bloody clash with the revived cult of the Apocalyptic is coming to a head.Seeking to crush the uprising before it ignites the entire subcontinent, Fist Arenfall has only a few dozen squads of marines at his disposal, and many of those are already dispersed - endeavouring to stamp out multiple …
Are there literally any books about an assassin who does their job?

223 comments • reddit.com

Take for instance, Court of Assassins, by Philip C. Quaintrell, the blurb of which goes as so

In those halls of darkness, where children are taken from the world and given to shadow and dust, Asher is destined for that same fate. He will become the myth. He will become the legend. He will become the whisper of Death itself.

That which he was is dead, forgotten. Now he is a blade in the dark, a weapon to be wielded by his masters. A killer.

Yet, despite all his training and years of spilling blood, there is a crack in Asher’s conditioning. Something within him is broken, unbound even. A sliver of humanity has survived and dreams of freedom. Now, standing on a knife’s edge, his mind threatens to unravel, taking him from the only path he has ever known and away from the clutches of Nightfall.

It has never been done. Exile is not a choice. It is a death sentence.

But there is another life that calls to him, a life roaming the wilds and protecting the innocent from the monsters which …
I'm 25 and have been reading fantasy books since I was a kid. Only a few, like The Sword of Kaigen and The Realm of the Elderlings, have hit me hard enough to cry. Some newer fantasy novels meant to be emotional didn’t deliver for me. Any fantasy books—modern or classic—that pack a real, heart-wrenc

328 comments • reddit.com

I’m 25 and have been reading fantasy books since I was a kid. Only a few, like The Sword of Kaigen and The Realm of the Elderlings, have hit me hard enough to cry. Some newer fantasy novels meant to be emotional didn’t deliver for me. Any fantasy books—modern or classic—that pack a real, heart-wrenching punch? Feel free to share titles that moved you!

r/books

George R.R. Martin says 'The Winds of Winter' is 'the curse of my life'

3022 comments • ew.com
This is how Facebook won Donald Trump the 2016 election.

495 comments • reddit.com

The below excerpt is from Sarah Wynn-Williams’ new book, Careless People, which delves into her experiences working at Facebook as a high ranking executive in global policy. I always knew that social media was involved in pushing agendas and manipulating facts, but I thought the below did a pretty good job at explaining it in a way that was easy to understand.

I’m about two thirds through the book and highly recommend it. Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg and the rest of Facebook’s (now Meta’s) executives are disgusting, and they built a powerful and dangerous tool that I think many people still don’t fully grasp.

Beyond that, the book also does a great job capturing the relentless grind of working at Facebook during that era—the long hours, the intense pressure, and how women were often forced to choose work over their personal lives, including caring for their newborns. It also dives into the internal politics that shaped the company’s decisions, Mark …
US Naval Academy library yanks Maya Angelou's memoir — and keeps 'Mein Kampf'

248 comments • rawstory.com
Librarians in UK increasingly asked to remove books, as influence of US pressure groups spreads | Libraries | The Guardian

251 comments • theguardian.com

😖😖😖😖😖😖

Censorship is the worst! Let the kids read some goddamn Huckleberry Finn and To Kill A Mockingbird and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
I deleted my entire TBR. Goodreads, Storygraph, notebook – all gone. I feel free again

401 comments • reddit.com

I’m talking about 700+ books.

I went with the principle: if it’s meant to be, it’ll find me again.

I cannot with these giants TBRs anymore. In the past 2+ years, I DNFed ¹⁄₃ of the books I started, if not more.

I added books for 7+ years and my taste has changed so much in that time. I felt like I had to give every book a try before I deleted it from the list but no more.

Damn Youtube/Booktube probably brainwashed me into this TBR thing anyway.

I feel so FREE now, just pick up whatever I feel like without the burden of the unread pile threatening to crush me. (I have very few books on my physical TBR so that helps a lot.)

Not telling you to do the same, but I’m just saying it’s an option if you’ve been feeling similarly.
Crowdfunders 'won't receive refunds' for projects dropped by publisher Unbound, authors told

37 comments • thebookseller.com

r/printsf

‪Adrian Tchaikovsky's 'Children of Strife' one year away; also three more SF novels

72 comments • reddit.com

Fourth book in acclaimed Children of Time series due to release next spring.
Also three more SF books from him coming on Tor. (No signs of him slowing down yet!)

https://bsky.app/profile/aptshadow.bsky.social/post/3lmwwqi2vp22p
https://trade.panmacmillan.com/tor-uk-acquires-four-stellar-novels-by-acclaimed-storyteller-adrian-tchaikovsky
I, Robot: the Illustrated Screenplay

19 comments • reddit.com

I recently started a reread of Asomov’s Robot series, and while researching to make sure I had every story and novel, I came across “I, Robot: the Illustrated Screenplay” by Harlan Ellison (with a forward by Asimov, in which he states that he felt this adaptation would be “the first really adult, complex, worthwhile science fiction movie ever made”).

The book is gorgeously illustrated by Mark Zug, with numerous full-color plates and b&w illos on nearly every other page.

I’m incredibly excited to add this to my reread!
I recently bought a bunch of old books:

37 comments • reddit.com

What do you all think?

Some of these I have previously read - and yes, I ended-up getting some duplicates (let me know if you’re interested) - and they were only 25¢ because of a Friend of the Library sale.
Realistic, disturbing sci-fi horror books?

105 comments • reddit.com

I recently watched Torchwood Children of Earth and it was horrifically disturbing. The premise is that an alien race called the 456 come to earth and demand 10% of the planets children. I won’t spoil it but I highly recommend giving it a watch. I’d be grateful if anyone could help me find a sci-fi book that’s disturbing but remains on earth and isn’t too far fetched. I picked up How High We Go in the Dark but I’m on the lookout for more.
The most eccentric science fiction you’ve ever read?

259 comments • reddit.com

Something unusual to the genre while still very much a good example of what can be done with it
What sci-fi books predict the future (our modern day) scarily well and which ones do it hilariously badly?

159 comments • reddit.com

Just had a random thought about this. I’ve heard about Stand on Zanzibar and Parable of the Sower as doing it well.

r/television

Aimee Lou Wood Says Her ‘SNL’ Portrayal in ‘White Lotus’ Parody Was “Mean & Unfunny”

1241 comments • rollingstone.com
‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ Has the Most Words Per Minute of Any TV Show, Study Finds (206 WPM)

710 comments • thewrap.com
When 'The Sopranos' Took Off, James Gandolfini Took Off Too; In a new biography cast and crew members recall the difficult era in which their leading man would frequently disappear from set: “At a certain point, HBO was fining him 250 grand a day. And he would say, Fuck it. I can’t come in to work.”

698 comments • vanityfair.com
Hank Azaria Explains Why He Stopped Voicing Apu On ‘The Simpsons’: “It isn’t just ‘Oh it’s a cartoon’ or ‘It’s a silly voice’. There’s all these other stereotyping & things that have teeth in them that affects people of color in this country.”

995 comments • bleedingcool.com
Jon Stewart on Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s Deportation and How Trump Fails to Deliver | The Daily Show

619 comments • youtube.com
Doctor Who writer Russell T. Davies slams criticisms of show's 'wokeness': 'I have no time for this'

876 comments • ew.com

“Someone always brings up matters of diversity,” the showrunner told BBC Radio 2. “And there are online warriors accusing us of diversity and wokeness and involving messages and issues. And I have no time for this. I don’t have a second to bear it.”

Davies explained his reasoning. “What you might call diversity, I just call an open door,” he said. “We open a door, and there is the world, and you breathe it in and your lungs are full of the air and it’s cold and it’s bracing and there’s a world in front of you! There’s a blue sky. There’s clouds and There’s noise, there’s birdsong, there’s people arguing.”

He continued: “Someone over there is dancing, someone over there is arguing. That’s how to write, to get that whole world into it. Some people maybe just open a window a crack.”

Davies said that others may choose to create from a more narrow worldview, but he has …

r/movies

TV & Books #8

Sat, 12 Apr 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #8

r/fantasy

I'm Mark Lawrence - 10 years fulltime author, 14 years published, 18th book today - this is my AMA

597 comments • reddit.com

And I’m back in the room! Kinda… Busy day today but will definitely finish off the Qs by evening.

.

The Book That Held Her Heart is published in the US today and in the UK the day after tomorrow. It ends The Library Trilogy.

You can read all about my work in this handy Guide to Lawrence.

The Library Trilogy is accompanied by a collection of short stories, Missing Pages and there’s a standalone “associated” book called The Bookshop Book that will be published … “soon”.

Next year, I’ve got book 1 of a new trilogy coming out, something darker and more violent and closer to The Broken Empire – this one’s called The Academy of Kindness and opens with Daughter of Crows (I wanted to call it Hag) – has a strong Furies theme to it.

In other news the 10th SPFBO (SPFBOX) finishes at the end of the month and the finalist board is hotting up!

I’ve been a scientist, author, carer for a disabled child, and master …
Murderbot — Official Trailer | Apple TV+

293 comments • youtu.be
Humble Book Bundle: Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time

139 comments • humblebundle.com
We are Pleased to Announce that r/Fantasy’s 2024 Bingo Challenge is a Hugo Finalist for Best Related Work!

68 comments • reddit.com

As you may have seen in the recent Hugo Finalists post, our humble little Bingo challenge received enough nominations to make the 2025 ballot! This is an enormous honor and we are flattered to stand alongside great fellow nominees like Camestros Felapton, Heather Rose Jones, Jenny Nicholson, Jordan S. Carroll, Abigail Nussbaum, Chris M. Barkley, and Jason Sanford.

We’d like to give our most heartfelt thanks to all who decided we were worthy of nomination. When we made our eligibility post a few months ago, we truly had no idea what our chances were. There were folks who candidly told us we were undeserving and that we were asking for disappointment by even suggesting we might be eligible. Words cannot express how touched we are to know that Bingo is so loved and valued that it could make it even this far. We still don’t know whether we’ll win or not (especially with such great competition) but just getting to this stage is more than we dared to hope for.

Bingo creator lrich1024 …
[Wheel of Time] As a Season 1/2 hater, WOT season 3 is consistently great.

553 comments • reddit.com

Title.

I only gave season 3 a chance out of circumstance as a friend was watching it, but it’s been a very nice surprise. They are actually adapting the books well now, and several moments from the books are done EXCELLENTLY here.

Is there still some weird cringe there? Sure, but overall it’s been great.

Would absolutely hate to see it get cancelled here. If you have some time, give it a chance, it will not disappoint.
What makes older fantasy FEEL different from modern fantasy?

243 comments • reddit.com

As a reader, lots of older, classic fantasy works have a different vibe than modern fantasy, and I’ve been pondering the differences lately. Works by Tolkien, Lewis, Beagle, and others feel different from Sanderson’s and Rothfuss’s works, for instance. These are all very different books of course, but all older works have a marked similarity in overall tone. What do you all think? Is it due to the writing style, language use, and dialogue? Do influences from fairytale and folklore present differently in older stories? Is modern fantasy burdened by complex magic systems?

I’ll also take any recommendations for newer fantasy that “feels” more classic!

r/books

Romance author Ali Hazelwood cancels UK tours over doubt she could 'safely' return to US

536 comments • usatoday.com
Teachers are using AI to make literature easier for students to read. This is a terrible idea.

471 comments • bostonglobe.com
We’re Committing Cultural Suicide

249 comments • coreyrobin.com

A breakdown of books being removed for DEI purposes. It’s so all encompassing that one can say it is targeting culture itself. Your thoughts?
Most Americans want to read more books. We just don't.

410 comments • npr.org
American readers are worried books will get pricier thanks to tariffs

325 comments • nbcnews.com
Latest The Winds of Winter update by George R.R. Martin disappoints fans once again - Wiki of Thrones

868 comments • wikiofthrones.com

r/printsf

Read some 2025 Hugo Award Finalists Online for Free

23 comments • reddit.com
As usual many of this year’s shorter works are online for free and you can read them at the below links.

Best Novelette
- “The Brotherhood of Montague St. Video” by Thomas Ha
- “By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars” by Premee Mohamed
- “The Four Sisters Overlooking the Sea” by Naomi Kritzer
- “Lake of Souls” by Ann Leckie in Lake of Souls
- “Loneliness Universe” by Eugenia Triantafyllou
- “Signs of Life” by Sarah Pinsker
Best Short Story
If you enjoy the works published by these online outlets I highly recommend sharing some of your hard-earned ducats.
2025 Hugo Award Finalists Announced

144 comments • reddit.com

Congratulations to the crew of the r/Fantasy 2024 Bingo Reading Challenge. They are Finalists in Best Related Work.

https://seattlein2025.org/wsfs/hugo-awards/2025-hugo-award-finalists/
A deep dive into the award winning science fiction and fantasy novels of 2024, and the overall popularity of fantasy vs. science fiction over-time

40 comments • reddit.com

Hey all! Each year I spend some free time crunching data from all the major awards and summarize what that means for the science fiction and fantasy genres. I cover the top books from the 2024 award season (synthesizing all major awards), how they fit into the greatest novels of the past 50 years (since awards became a big thing in 1970), and analyze the overall popularity of fantasy vs. science fiction over-time.

Big update to the algo this year is the inclusion of The Ursula K Le Guin Prize for fiction.

This year’s is more delayed than I’d like (typically I pull this together over the christmas holiday), but honestly have felt a bit discouraged by all the award controversy from the past year or two. But alas the show must go on; and given books are subjective anyways, it’s all just for the love of the hobby.

Further, the recent announcement of the 2025 Hugo nominees got me excited to spend a few all-nighters pulling this together. I’ll summarize 2025 at the end of the year …
Peter Watts On ‘Blindsight’, ‘Armored Core’ And Working With Neill Blomkamp | Forbes

35 comments • forbes.com
The Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson

149 comments • reddit.com

I started the Mars Trilogy recently and while the science and world building is extremely cool, I don’t like many of the characters. Does this get better? I really want to read them but annoying characters really eat into my desire to finish a book. This may be a me problem but thought I’d put it out there anyway.
Mini-reviews of SF books I've read recently

37 comments • reddit.com

I’ve recently entered a personal Sci-fi renaissance, here are my thoughts on books I’ve read since last summer:

Tales of the Dying Earth, Jack Vance (1950, 1966, 1983, 1984) - ⁹⁄₁₀. Melancholic, witty, original. Mankind’s transient hopes, dreams and ambitions are beautifully contrasted with the enormity of the sun’s impending death. Cugel (main character of two of the books) is such an entertaining character, never a dull moment!

The Fifth Season, N.K. Jemisin (2015) - ⁵⁄₁₀. Fantastic worldbuilding wasted on a story and characters that can only be described as “juvenile”. The book lacks different perspectives; the bad guys are cardboard cutouts that serve only to define the main characters in a suppressed-minorities-style. Lots of eye-rolling during this read.

The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula Le Guin (1969) - ¹⁰⁄₁₀. Exquisite and thought-provoking stuff about gender, loved the descriptions of the environments. Very economically written at just over 300 …

r/television

r/movies

China Mulling Ban on Hollywood Film Releases in Response to Trump Tariffs (Report)

1190 comments • hollywoodreporter.com
Official Poster for 'Tron: Ares'

1180 comments • i.redd.it
Tron: Ares | Official Teaser Trailer

1621 comments • youtube.com
First Image of Joaquin Phoenix & Pedro Pascal in Ari Aster's 'Eddington'

565 comments • i.redd.it
‘Dune 3’: Legendary Circling Robert Pattinson For New Role In Upcoming Installment

681 comments • deadline.com
The Phoenician Scheme | Official Trailer | Directed by Wes Anderson

1025 comments • youtube.com

TV & Books #7

Sat, 05 Apr 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #7

r/fantasy

GRRM and Joe Abercrombie were such a huge huge change in fantasy. Leaving behind goblins and trolls, dwarves and elves. Realistic fantasy and I love the trend but…

491 comments • reddit.com

I’m reading Feist - Magician. I was hesitant to go back into my past because I thought it would just read like d&d. I’m having an absolute blast. All the old tropes. Does David Eddings still hold? Please recommend old fantasy that still holds the line.
OFFICIAL r/Fantasy 2025 Book Bingo Challenge!

416 comments • reddit.com
WELCOME TO BINGO 2025!

It’s a reading challenge, a reading party, a reading marathon, and YOU are welcome to join in on our nonsense!

r/Fantasy Book Bingo is a yearly reading challenge within our community. Its one-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new authors and books, to boldly go where few readers have gone before.

The core of this challenge is encouraging readers to step out of their comfort zones, discover amazing new reads, and motivate everyone to keep up on their reading throughout the year.

You can find all our past challenges at our official Bingo wiki page for the sub.

RULES:

Time Period and Prize
- 2025 Bingo Period lasts from April 1st 2025 - March 31st 2026.
- You will be able to turn in your 2025 card in the Official Turn In Post, which will be posted in mid-March 2026. Only submissions through the Google Forms link in the official post will count.
- ‘Reading Champion’ flair will be assigned to anyone who completes the entire …
Funniest line you’ve read in a fantasy story

443 comments • reddit.com

What’s the funniest line you’ve come across when reading fantasy? For me, it’s one in the Red Queen’s War series.

“I’m telling the truth!” I lied.

Makes me chuckle every time I think about it.
China Miéville says we shouldn't blame science fiction for its bad readers | TechCrunch

81 comments • techcrunch.com
r/Fantasy 2025 Bingo Book Challenge

262 comments • reddit.com
Welcome to BINGO 2025!

r/Fantasy Book Bingo is a yearly reading challenge within our community. Its one-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new authors and books, to boldly go where few readers have gone before…. Well, this year we are asking to go where we have been before! Each square was specially and thoughtfully designed by one of the lovely members of r/Fantasy’s Bingo team!

The core of this challenge is encouraging readers to step out of the subreddit’s hivemind, discover amazing new reads, and motivate everyone to keep up on their reading throughout the year.

You can find all our past challenges at our official Bingo wiki page for the sub.

RULES:

Time Period
- 2025 Bingo Period lasts from April 1st 2025 - March 31st 2026.
- You will be able to turn in your 2025 card in the Official Turn In Post, which will be posted in mid-March 2026. Only submissions through the Google Forms link in the official post will count.
- ‘Reading Champion’ …
Ryan Condal responds to George RR Martin's Criticism of House of the Dragon

149 comments • ew.com

Background: Last year, George RR Martin wrote a (now deleted) blog post (archived here) criticising the changes some of the showrunners made in season 2 diverging from the source material, referring to how they will likely lead to unintended consequences (e.g. the butterfly effect). The post ended with the ominous line, “And there are larger and more toxic butterflies to come, if HOUSE OF THE DRAGON goes ahead with some of the changes being contemplated for seasons 3 and 4…” The post was unusual for Martin, who is typically quite exuberant about the adaptations and has almost entirely avoided criticising the original Game of Thrones show, even when its ending was being panned.

Condal, the showrunner for House of the Dragon, has now addressed the post in a recent EW interview. While he reiterated that he is a long-time fan of A Song of Ice and Fire, and of Martin, he defends his creative decisions and process.

I will simply say, I made every effort to include George in …

r/books

Trump administration reportedly moves to ban Jackie Robinson biography from Naval Academy library

483 comments • sports.yahoo.com
Entire staff at federal agency that funds libraries and museums put on leave

379 comments • npr.org
Waterstones is no longer shipping to the US Because of Latest Tariffs

401 comments • waterstones.com
An Obvious PSA: Use the Library

323 comments • reddit.com

I honestly feel a bit embarrassed even writing this post. Part of me feels like everyone here already knows all of this. However, I am a lifelong reader, and I’m just realizing this in my late twenties, so maybe there are others here who could use the gentle reminder:

Libraries are amazing and we should make the effort to use them!

I’m someone who is on booktok/booktube a lot and who is constantly, impulsively buying books to keep up with trends. I used to believe that I was building my home library (and I have no judgement towards anyone who wishes to do that). However, I personally found that I was rarely returning to books, other than a few favorites, and the books in my home were just taking up a lot of space after I’d finished them. Additionally, I often fell into the trap of buying off of amazon because it was so quick and easy (again, no judgement if you do this).

As a teacher who doesn’t make much, this was really starting to impact me financially.

I went to my local …
The Careless People Won - A controversial new book about Facebook serves as a field guide for the DOGE era.

115 comments • theatlantic.com
US nonprofit National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), recently embroiled in AI and content moderation scandals, shuts down after 25 years, citing financial issues

276 comments • techcrunch.com

r/printsf

Recommend me your top 5 must-read, S-tier sci-fi novels

484 comments • reddit.com

I’ve been out of the sf game for a while and looking to jump back in. Looking for personal recommendations on your top 5 sf books that you consider absolute top-tier peak of the genre, that I haven’t already read.

I’ll provide below my own list of sf novels that I’ve already read and loved, and consider top-tier, as reference, so I can get some fresh recs. These are in no particular order:

- Hyperion

- Rendezvous with Rama

- Manifold Time/Manifold Space

- Various Culture books - The Player of Games, Use of Weapons and Excession

- The Stars My Destination

- Peter F. Hamilton’s Night’s Dawn trilogy and Commonwealth duology

- First 3 Dune books

- Hainish Cycle

- Spin

- Annihilation

- Mars trilogy

- House of Suns

- Blindsight

- Neuromancer

- The Forever War

- A Fire Upon the Deep/A Deepness in the Sky

- Children of Time

- Contact

- Anathem

- Lord of Light

- Stories of Your Life and Others

So hit me with your absolute best/favourite …
Any love/fans of Connie Willis here?

90 comments • reddit.com

It’s funny but I have not thought of her in years! Even though clearly remember loving many of her novels, like Passage and To Think Nothing of The Dog when I was in high school. Back then I classed her easily among my top favourite women speculative fiction writers. Up there among Robin Hobb, Lois Bujold and Jo Walton. But have not seen much mention of her on Reddit in recent years. Are there any other Willis fans, or anyone enjoying her books lately? Would love to read some of your thoughts 😃
Project Hail Mary is surprisingly good…

113 comments • reddit.com

I was expecting good things - I had lived the Martian, and all the SF subreddits were super positive about this - but I have to say it totally blew me away. First time in 5 plus years that I did the “I’ll sleep when this book is finished” move. No regrets.

AW really knows his niche and executed very well on it.

One Q - >!How did Rocky’s species develop so much astronomy knowledge with no vision?!<
MorningLightMountain, I forgot you

31 comments • reddit.com

Gone back to read some of my older books as I’ve been disappointed by a lot of newer popular stuff. Picked up Pandoras Star of the Commonwealth Saga and made the grave error in thinking the Primes were in a whole other series.

Reached THAT chapter last night and bloody hell, I forgot how absolutely terrifying it is.

Typical horror like ghosts, monsters etc doesn’t bother me but that is seriously horrifying.

Don’t read before bed if you want sweet dreams 😁
Where's Robert Charles Wilson these days?

22 comments • reddit.com

It seems my favorite author has dropped off the map. I know he published a sort of non-fiction religious book a while back, but I haven’t seen any SF from him since “Last Year” in 2016. I loved his books. The Chronoliths, Spin, Mysterium, Blind Lake, this is all legit stuff. Anyone know if he is working on anything?
New Clarkesworld is up!!

13 comments • reddit.com

Looks to be a good one too! As possibly his biggest fan it was a beautiful suprise to see a new Rich Larson story. Clocking in around 3k words it was a quick read. Wonderful as almost always. This guy just gets how to write stories in a way that most authors just cant.

Ive also seen Thomas Ha is published in this months too. He always has some great writing. Pretty sure he is short listed on many best ofs for 2024. Perhaps this new story will be one for 2025?

I havent even checked out any of the stories but one so far in this months edition. Im optimistic it will be better than last months. Which was one of the weakest in recent memory. Almost every single story from that was set in space or on a spaceship. Felt like a theme and ive never known them to do such. So i assume it was just an anomaly.

If anyone else has any thoughts or reviews for this months edition id love to hear them.

r/television

Russell Brand Charged With Rape & Sexual Assault

660 comments • deadline.com
Walton Goggins Is the Best Character Actor on TV, Period

631 comments • collider.com
Antony Starr is glad ‘The Boys’ is ending: “I don’t like seeing things outstay their welcome”

787 comments • nme.com
'The Last of Us' HBO showrunner says "flat out" that "I am not going to go past the game" like 'Game of Thrones' did with George R.R. Martin's novels

420 comments • watchinamerica.com
Shows that aren't "rich people doing rich people things"?

2057 comments • reddit.com

I watched Season 1 of White Lotus and I just can’t tolerate all these shows that are wealthy people doing ridiculous.

I love Bobs Burgers because the kids are pretty much always playing with junk and the family enjoys life despite obvious issues/struggles.

I’m going through cancer treatments and have a lot of free time at home, trying some new stuff to keep occupied but it’s god damn infuriating sometimes.
‘South Park’ Season 27 Sets July 9 Premiere and Takes Aim at Diddy, Ketamine and a War Against Canada

370 comments • variety.com

r/movies

Comedian Russell Brand charged with rape

4638 comments • bbc.com
Val Kilmer, Film Star Who Played Batman and Jim Morrison, Dies at 65

4149 comments • nytimes.com
This Studio Ghibli AI trend is an utter insult to the studio and anime/cinema in general.

5261 comments • reddit.com

What’s up with these AI Ghibli pics recently? Wherever I go, I just cannot escape it. Being a guy who loves the cinematic art in any form, seeing this trend getting this scale of traction is simply sad. I have profound respect for the studio and I was amazed by their work when I discovered movies like Castle in The Sky, Grave of the Fireflies, Spirited away, etc. And when I got to know how these movies are made and how much manual effort it takes to produce them, my appreciation only increased. But here comes some AI tool that can replicate this in a matter of minutes. This is no less than a slap on the faces of artists who spend hours imagining and creating something like this.

I am not against AI, or advancements it is making. But there must be a limit to this. You can cut a fruit as well as stab someone with a kitchen knife. Right now, it is the latter happening with the use of AI tools just for cheap social media points. Sad state of affairs.

What do you think? Do you guys …
The Naked Gun | Official Teaser Trailer (2025 Movie) - Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson

3075 comments • youtube.com
YouTube Turns Off Ad Revenue For Fake Movie Trailer Channels After Deadline Investigation

768 comments • deadline.com
‘Coyote vs. Acme’ Lives: Ketchup Entertainment to Release Shelved WB Film

1018 comments • thewrap.com

TV & Books #6

Sat, 29 Mar 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Mailshine - TV & Books #6

r/fantasy

Snow White (2025) is currently rated the worst film of its size on IMDB. Is it really that bad? A review.

479 comments • reddit.com

I have been watching the downfall of Snow White with quiet fascination. Part of the drama is occurring over at IMDB where, on release date, it started with an abysmal 2.7, and has only fallen since then. For a while it reached #13 on IMDB’s lowest rated movies of all time, but it was eventually removed from the list completely. (This is a common occurrence for movies getting review-bombed). But if you do an advanced search, you can still see that it is currently the lowest rated film of all time with 107k+ reviews. And you won’t find a film with a lower rating until you get to 97k reviews. (That honor goes to Sadak 2).

So then, the question is, is it really that bad? Well, I’ll just cut to the chase: No, it’s not that bad. It’s not great, but it’s not terrible. I’d give it a ⁶⁄₁₀, maybe a 7. Here’s my non-political explanation of why (if you want to know about the controversies surrounding the film, but have nothing to do with the …
THINGS of THIS and THAT: An Exhausting Modern Trend

203 comments • reddit.com

Pardon the rant, but I can’t be the only one feeling this way. I was browsing Amazon hoping to find my next obsession in fantasy fiction when I noticed this trend of modern fantasy written in the last 5-10 years where every other damn book, even by different authors, has a title like “THING of THIS and THAT”. More and more scrolled by and I found my mind immediately dismissing every book with this kind of title. I blame both George RR Martin and Sara J Maas. A Song of Ice and Fire, A Court of Thorns and Roses, House of Flame and Shadows, what’s next? Kingdom of Shits and Giggles? When will this trend end? Does this get on anyone else’s nerves?

I await the comments of thoughts and opinions.
r/Fantasy Top Novels 2025: Results!

440 comments • reddit.com

Hello everyone! You posted your list of top 10 favorite books or series and we have (finally) completed the list. This list includes all entries with 5 or more votes.

Voting thread here

Full list can be found here.

Previous poll results from 2023 and the Top Lists Wiki

This year had nearly 1,074 individual votes with over 10,000 total votes. There are nearly 1,348 series/novels on the full list.

Special thanks to the other mods for helping out majorly, especially u/Valkhyrie for wrangling so many Goodreads links.

|Rank|Series|Votes|Author|Rank Change| |:-|:-|:-|:-|:-| |1|Middle-Earth Universe|404|J.R.R. Tolkien|1| |2|First Law World|353|Joe Abercrombie|1| |3|A Song of Ice and Fire|336|George R.R. Martin|1| |4|The Stormlight Archive|293|Brandon Sanderson|-3| |5|Realm of the Elderlings|269|Robin Hobb|2| |6|Malazan Universe|240|Steven Erikson and Ian C. Esslemont|3| |7|Wheel of Time|222|Robert Jordan|-1| |8|Discworld|210|Terry Pratchett|0| |8|Mistborn|210|Brandon Sanderson|-3| |10| …
The modern publishing industry does not hate male readers.

536 comments • reddit.com

So, I’ve seen this weird idea floating around that the publishing industry is dead-set against male readers–like there’s some hush-hush boardroom meeting where executives rub their hands together, plotting to exclude every man from the literary world. Trust me, that’s not happening. Publishers are out to make money, and if there’s a market for it–be it epic fantasy sagas with wizard bros, gritty contemporary thrillers, or even romance novels set on moon colonies–they’ll publish it.

But let’s pause for a second and look at what’s actually happening in bookstores and across the broader literary landscape. Walk into one–I’ll wait. See that fantasy section with 47 different sword-wielding dudes on the covers? The thrillers where a grizzled ex-CIA guy saves America from a vague European villain? The romance novels featuring a rugged billionaire who definitely isn’t toxic? Those aren’t dusty relics. They’re still selling like hotcakes, with extra syrup. Nobody’s …
This is your sign to email your fave authors

144 comments • reddit.com

The other day I emailed Nathan Ballingrud and Vajra Chandrasekera, both incredible writers. I just wanted to let them know that I loved their work and asked them a question or two about it. They both got back to me very quickly and seemed really happy to hear from a fan. Not all writers have emails or contact forms available, and some are definitely too famous to reply, but give it a shot especially with your lesser known faves.
The Strength of the Few (Hierarchy #2) will release on the 1st of November 2025!

63 comments • reddit.com

From the publisher’s Instagram:

https://preview.redd.it/e4qjl888xlqe1.png?width=493&format=png&auto=webp&s=c7c48682b1dafeaaea4421c03041215fc5796267

r/books

US blocks Canadian access to cross-border library, sparking outcry

208 comments • theguardian.com
Show up for libraries

44 comments • app.oneclickpolitics.com

On March 14, President Trump issued an Executive Order to drastically cut the Institute of Museum and Library Services. “If the administration follows the same playbook it has in targeting other small agencies for closure, IMLS could be shut down.”

IMLS provides vital grants like the Grants to States program and National Leadership Grants, which support programs in communities, art conservation, and accessibility efforts. If these functions are disrupted, it could affect the core operations of museums and libraries everywhere. This means summer reading programs and grants for electronic resources like Libby and Overdrive across the country.

Please take a few minutes to email or call your representatives to urge them to protect IMLS.

Email with a template from ALA: https://app.oneclickpolitics.com/campaign-page?cid=9CyapZUB9sorxFLO4J0c&lang=en

Call with a script: 5 calls https://5calls.org/

Find your representative to call or email: …
Meta Used a Database of Pirated Books - Including Simon & Schuster and Macmillan - to Train Its Meta AI

180 comments • theatlantic.com
Mutiny brews in French bookshops over Hachette owner’s media grip | Booksellers take stand against influence of conservative billionaire by limiting orders of his company’s books and placing them on lower shelves

59 comments • theguardian.com
Australian Author arrested over erotic book “Daddy’s little Toy” for containing pedophilia

1001 comments • reddit.com

Erotic fiction author Lauren Tesolin-Mastrosa — who writes under the name Tori Woods — is facing charges over producing/possessing child abuse material.

The book in question, Daddy’s Little Toy, features a DDLG relationship with a 29 year age gap between the male and female protagonists with the story starting when the girl FINALLY turns 18. The book depicts the male attracted to the girl when she was 3 years of age and has an entire section dedicated to the toddler’s private parts in details. The content of the book, particularly in relation to when the girl was underage, has raised questions over the author - the cherry on top is her dedication to her children who she claims “she will never see the same way again” People Magazine The Guardian

Edit - I don’t know if arrested is necessarily the correct term here.
20 Years of Banning Looking For Alaska: In 2005, John Green's first novel Looking for Alaska was published. 20 years later, it's still one of the most banned books in the country.

138 comments • bookriot.com

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'Old Man's War' hooked me from start to end

81 comments • reddit.com

Just finished ‘Old Man’s War’ and I have to say - what a novel. Lot of novels start well but then kinda get draggy halfway through with too much exposition or world building that often gets in the way of crisp storytelling. But this one always had some or the other surprise being uncovered and I especially loved how much humour Scalzi was able to generate from the idea of making super-soldiers out of 75 years olds. He also didn’t dwell too much into the moral dilemma in what the CDF was doing (not to say that those points were not brought up).

Also, the aliens really felt like aliens in that they were totally unknown quantities (like Clarke’s ‘Rendezvous with Rama’ or Chiang’s ‘Story of Your Life’) and only a person good at improvising can figure out a way to deal with the crazy situations presented in the book. The thing that most stayed with me were the passages of him remembering/telling about his wife and how that …
My sci fi collection so far!

64 comments • reddit.com

Pic 1: First contact books

Pic 2: Random sci fi books I’ve acquired second hand except the last three which are alien-haunting-people books

Pic 3: The Spin trilogy. Spin happens to be my fave sci fi book of all time

Pic 4: All together
Looking for depressing, sad, tragic Sci-Fi in which the depressing tone isn't a gimmick

290 comments • reddit.com

I’m very deep in depression. Trying to read anything positive isn’t helping so I want to wallow in misery a bit. The kind of book I’m looking for is hard to describe. I want something heavy and depressing to read, but I don’t want that to be its gimmick and its sole focus. It doesn’t have to be sad constantly, in fact it should do it strategically. A good example would be the Rifters trilogy by Peter Watts. Not talking about the fucked up elements in it in particular, just the atmosphere it had so to speak. As a bonus, preferably it won’t end on a positive note.

Just to be precise, I’m looking for something more futuristic and high tech-y, but I won’t complain if your suggestion fits the atmosphere I’m searching for even if it isn’t high tech future.

Sorry if this sounds like too much and thanks in advance!

Edit: Oh wow, that was an overwhelming amount of suggestions so fast! Going slowly by each one by one, thank you all! …
'Halcyon Years' by Alastair Reynolds details

15 comments • reddit.com

Sept 18, 2025 496 pages

Yuri Gagarin is a private investigator, who picks up small cases from his local community, runs into trouble with the local police, and generally ekes out a living as best he can. He’s aboard the Halcyon - a starship, hurtling through space, carrying thousands of passengers with thousands more sleeping the journey away.

Only his usual investigative work - catching cheating spouses, and small time con artists - is about to take a turn. He’s hired by a mysterious woman called Ruby Red to look into a death in one of Halcyon’s most elite families … and then warned off the case again by a second mysterious woman called Ruby Blue. Caught between the two, he’s about to be embroiled in a murder mystery in which - at any moment - he could be the latest victim.

Gripping, fast-paced fun this is a classic noir mystery with a science fiction twist, which will keep you guessing, and on the edge of your seat, to the end.

A fresh new …
"A Master of Djinn" by P. Djèlí Clark

17 comments • reddit.com

I just finished this 2022 Nebula Award winning novel. I thought the idea of the world was pretty cool. We start off in a 1910’s Egypt, where 40 years after djinn are released back into the world, things are looking a bit different. The steampunk aspects of the book are mostly in the background which I liked. Meeting different types of djinn was also a highlight, reminding me I really should finish “One Thousand and One Nights.” Which the reading of was a great primer for this world I know very little about. The author’s seeming obsession with fashion was a bit off putting for me, but I’m sure it will appeal to some readers. My favorite thing about this book was the action scenes, which I felt were very well done. So many authors try to make action scenes big, or grand, or dense, or… whatever. But Clark really did a great job at showing the excitement without getting bogged down in the intricate details of combat. The central mystery and …
Did you know The Lord of the Rings was once burned for being ‘satanic’? Found this while exploring the weirdest banned books.

58 comments • knowin10.com

r/television

Severance Is the Only Show I've Seen That Truly Understands How Much People Hate Their Jobs

952 comments • reddit.com

Not in a relatable sitcom joke kind of way. Not in a “ugh, Mondays” kind of way.

Severance understands the quiet, spiritual erosion of doing something meaningless for money. The strange violence of smiling while you feel yourself disappear.

It gets that work isn’t just “boring”—it can be dehumanizing in ways we don’t have words for yet. That’s what makes it so compelling. It doesn’t exaggerate anything. In its own way, it just looks at modern office life with total honesty.

And when you do that? It already looks like horror.
'Harry Potter': Nick Frost Poised To Play Hagrid In HBO Series

934 comments • deadline.com
Rashida Jones says it 'made sense' she was let go from The Office: 'People did not like me'

670 comments • ew.com
TVLine Performer of the Week: Adam Scott in 'Severance'

480 comments • tvline.com
'Game of Thrones' Star Sean Bean Doesn't Mind Being a Meme: 'I'm Not Really Dead!'

207 comments • ign.com
Jon Stewart on Which Speech Is Free and Which Will Cost You in Trump’s America | The Daily Show

379 comments • youtube.com

r/movies

‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Cast Includes ‘X-Men’ OGs Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, James Marsden, Alan Cumming Rebecca Romijn, Kelsey Grammer

2695 comments • deadline.com
Warner Bros. is Tearing Down the Looney Tunes Building on Their Studio Lot

1062 comments • deadline.com
Just walked out of the IMAX showing of Princess Mononoke in 4k…holy shit

637 comments • reddit.com

*JUST SAW (sorry for the crap grammar, I did not leave the movie early)

I have seen this film before many times, but I’m telling you - seeing a film as beautiful as this in IMAX 4k just took it to another level.

There were certain moments that felt completely fresh to me (a lot of the scenes of nature and solace) that just took my breath away (the raindrops covering rocks, dewdrops on moss dripping, rolling thunderstorms in the valley…)

Our theatre was very full tonight and you could hear a pin drop during the quiet moments in the Deer Gods pond because of just how gorgeous the scene was. Joe Hisaishi’s score just soars, it truly is perfect.

If you have any opportunity to catch this limited showing this weekend - don’t miss this. It’s a true work of art.
‘No Other Land’ Co-Director Hamdan Ballal Has Been Freed, Yuval Abraham Says

222 comments • variety.com
LEAVING NEVERLAND, the 2019 Michael Jackson documentary that shook the world, has effectively vanished after HBO-MAX removed it due to a non-disparagement clause

1372 comments • slate.com
First Image of Tony Todd in 'Final Destination Bloodlines', His Final Film Role

349 comments • i.redd.it

Mailshine - TV & Books

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WELCOME TO BINGO 2026!

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The Universe Box. by Michael Swanwick. 2026

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