What to read this weekend: Near-future dystopian fiction and a new approach to explaining life's origin

New releases in fiction, nonfiction and comics that caught our attention. Hum by Helen Phillips Robots have become a regular fixture of the workforce, and humans are losing their jobs to AI. Climate change is wreaking havoc on the planet. It’s getting harder and harder for the average person to make ends meet. Facial recognition technology is being used for surveillance. Sound familiar? In her new novel, Hum, author Helen Phillips paints a picture of what our near-future could look like. Its main character, May, has lost her job after technology made her role obsolete, and, desperate for money to support her family, she agrees to participate in an experiment that alters her face to make her undetectable to facial recognition. With the extra cushion from the payment, she takes her husband and children on a short, technology-free vacation to the Botanical Garden — but things go dangerously awry. Hum is a captivating, unsettling work of dystopian fiction that makes it impossible not to draw parallels with our current reality. Life as No One Knows It: The Physics of Life's Emergence by Sara Imari Walker There’s so much we don’t know about the origins of life on Earth, and how it could appear on other worlds. Arizona State University theoretical physicist and astrobiologist Sara Imari Walker tackles the enduring question, “What is life?” and so much more in her book, Life as No One Knows It: The Physics of Life's Emergence. It explores assembly theory, which, as Walker... Continue reading at 'Engadget'

[ Engadget | 2024-08-10 19:43:55 UTC ]

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Announcing the 7th Annual Self-Published E-Book Awards Winners

Congratulations to the winners of the 6th Annual Self-Published E-Book Awards! Grand Prize               Steel Hand, Cold Heart by Rachel Menard (rachelmenard.com) Fantasy First Place Willow of Ashes by Ellie Raine  (ellieraine.com)   Honorable Mentions Fog & Mist: The Canens Chronicles,... Continue reading at Writer's Digest

[ Writer's Digest | 2020-05-05 14:08:04 UTC ]
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Desert-island books: Science fiction tales set in isolation that feel just right now

Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea novels, Christopher Priest’s “The Islanders” and more Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-05-04 14:00:00 UTC ]
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Literature on Lockdown 4: #CultureConnectsUs

Like moons, Ancient Greece and adolescence, spring has given writers inspiration for centuries. “To what purpose, April, do you return again?” asks Edna St Vincent Millay, noting the “redness / of little leaves” and “the spikes of the crocus”. To Shakespeare, this time of year puts “the spirit... Continue reading at British Council global

[ British Council global | 2020-05-01 14:56:50 UTC ]
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Richard Matheson: Science Fiction Is Unlimited

This 1956 article by renowned science-fiction writer Richard Matheson explains his thoughts about the limitless possibilities in the genre. The post Richard Matheson: Science Fiction Is Unlimited by Amy Jones appeared first on Writer's Digest. Continue reading at Writer's Digest

[ Writer's Digest | 2020-04-30 10:57:16 UTC ]
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Literature on Lockdown 3: #CultureConnectsUs

Many lives are radically different right now. But birthdays, anniversaries, and public holidays come and go as before. The pink supermoon would have appeared whether we’d watched it from our windows or outdoors among a crowd of strangers. This week, Earth Day, Shakespeare’s birthday, and World... Continue reading at British Council global

[ British Council global | 2020-04-24 14:34:13 UTC ]
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Crime writers launch anthology for Samaritans during Covid-19 crisis

A group of crime writers are publishing a digital short story anthology to help raise funds for charity Samaritans in the light of the coronavirus crisis. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-20 05:15:57 UTC ]
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Feminism Means a Lot of Things, and This Book Contains Them All

The anthology “Burn It Down!,” edited by Breanne Fahs, collects manifestos from a range of perspectives and voices. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-04-15 09:00:01 UTC ]
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University of Oklahoma’s Neustadt Prize Announces Its 50-Year Anniversary

News and Events WLT The Neustadt International Prize for Literature, one of the most prestigious global literary awards, has entered its 50-year anniversary at the University of Oklahoma. Often referred to as “the American Nobel,” the biennial award... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2020-04-14 14:03:16 UTC ]
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20 Must-Read Feel-Good Science Fiction Books

These 20 feel-good science fiction books will suit different tastes and moods, but they’re all comfort food of some variety. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-04-14 10:34:55 UTC ]
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A Lost Tale from Frances Hodgson Burnett

Frances Hodgson Burnett is best known for children’s classics like The Secret Garden and Little Lord Fauntleroy, but a new anthology of lost stories reveals her “weird” side. At the Guardian, Alison Flood writes about “The Christmas in the Fog,” an eerie story set on a New York-bound liner. “Ten... Continue reading at The Millions

[ The Millions | 2020-04-13 20:30:07 UTC ]
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Here are the finalists for the 2020 Hugo Awards.

Today, the finalists for the Hugo Awards, as well as for the Astounding Award for Best New Writer, were announced by CoNZealand, the 78th Worldcon. The prestigious Hugo Awards, first presented in 1953 are “the longest-running fan-voted awards in science fiction and fantasy,” and they recognize... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-07 20:51:28 UTC ]
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Cover Reveal for BODY TALK: 37 VOICES EXPLORE OUR RADICAL ANATOMY

Why BODY TALK is more relevant than ever: a look a the cover and description of BODY TALK, the third anthology edited by Kelly Jensen. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-04-06 10:33:57 UTC ]
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Loanwords for the Anthropocene: On Matthew Schneider-Mayerson and Brent Ryan Bellamy’s “An Ecotopian Lexicon”

IN HIS FOREWORD to Matthew Schneider-Mayerson and Brent Ryan Bellamy’s An Ecotopian Lexicon, acclaimed science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson notes, “people playing with language can help bring things and events into sharper cognitive focus.” Indeed, since familiar objects and ideas often... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-04-04 19:00:34 UTC ]
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An Entertaining Hodgepodge: On “Odd Partners”

ANNE PERRY’S ANTHOLOGY Odd Partners, a showcase sponsored by the Mystery Writers of America, is an entertaining and compelling hodgepodge. If the reader anticipates a particular kind of mystery story, the book will challenge expectations. The selections are remarkably diverse, featuring... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-04-01 17:00:04 UTC ]
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Unique Magical Cities You Might Want To Visit

Taking a look at some of the most magical cities in science fiction and fantasy books for your next trip across the page. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-03-26 10:42:56 UTC ]
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5 Urban Sci-Fi and Fantasy Novels to Add to Your 2020 TBR

Don't miss exploring the magical cities of these fantastic urban science fiction and fantasy books hitting the shelves this year. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-03-26 10:41:17 UTC ]
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6 Debut Fantasy Novels Starring Black Women

I often talk about how I created A Phoenix First Must Burn, my anthology of fantasy stories by black women authors, for my younger self, a girl who loved fantasy and science fiction and so desperately wanted to see herself in those worlds. It’s a strange experience to create the thing you wanted... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-03-25 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Hope Is the Most Powerful Arrow: A Conversation with Joshua Wong and Jason Y. Ng, by Tiffany Hawk

Interviews Tiffany Hawk In 2012, at sixteen years old, Joshua Wong and the pro-democracy student group he founded took on the Hong Kong government, mobilized more than one hundred thousand student protesters, and surprised the world by successfully... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2020-03-23 16:00:04 UTC ]
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PRH Audio partners with comic book publisher Rebellion

Penguin Random House UK has announced a new partnership between its audio division and Rebellion, a publisher of comic books, fiction and video games, in response to increasing demand for science fiction audio. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-18 22:09:16 UTC ]
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We Need to Resacralize the World

BOTH JACK MILES’S Religion as We Know It: An Origin Story and Karen Armstrong’s The Lost Art of Scripture are contributions — powerful in their own ways — to the comparative study of religion. Miles was general editor to the Norton Anthology of World Religions, and his new book — more of a... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-03-16 12:30:52 UTC ]
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