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 ]

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


Book Review: Children’s Science Fiction Novels by Donna Barba Higuera, Patricia Forde and Jeanne DuPrau

Jeanne DuPrau’s “Project F,” Patricia Forde’s “The Girl Who Fell to Earth” and Donna Barba Higuera’s “Alebrijes” answer the question, Could this be the beginning of the end? Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-11-03 09:01:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Everything You Need to Know About Groundbreaking Queer Feminist Science Fiction Writer Joanna Russ

When she was in high school in the early 1950’s, Joanna Russ (1930–2011) read Mark Twain’s short story  “A Medieval Romance,” about a duke without a male heir who brings his daughter up to fill the role, hiding her gender from all. Things get complicated when the duke’s niece falls in love with... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-11-03 08:41:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Riot’s SFF Deals for October 30, 2023

The best science fiction and fantasy book deals of the day, curated by Book Riot. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-10-30 14:38:41 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Goosebumps Remixes Its Source Material to Satisfying Results

Adapting a property like Goosebumps, R.L. Stine’s beloved series of children’s horror novels, for the big (or small) screen in 2023 is a tricky proposition. Each of the sixty-two books in the original run, apart from a handful of sequels, stands alone, so an anthology format, like the one... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-10-27 08:37:33 UTC ]
More news stories like this


6 books to get you started with Black horror, classic and new

Black horror pioneer Tananarive Due helps us pick 6 great books from the genre, from a Toni Morrison classic to a new anthology by Jordan Peele. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-10-26 10:00:53 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Here are the winners of the 2023 Hugo Awards.

The winners of the 2023 Hugo Awards—one of science fiction and fantasy’s most prestigious awards, decided by the popular vote of WorldCon members—were presented this weekend at the 81st WorldCon in Chengdu, China. Here are the winners in the literary categories: Best Novel: Nettle & Bone, by... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-10-23 17:32:12 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Hugo, Lodestone, Astounding Award Winners Announced

The Hugos and several other major science fiction award winners were announced this week. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-10-23 14:50:11 UTC ]
More news stories like this


A Summary and Analysis of ‘Through a Window’ by H. G. Wells

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) The influence of H. G. Wells (1866-1946) on science fiction goes without saying. Brian Aldiss, in Trillion Year Spree, call him the Shakespeare of science fiction, acknowledging his role in raising the emerging genre to an art form. The tales of The... Continue reading at Interesting Literature

[ Interesting Literature | 2023-10-20 14:00:09 UTC ]
More news stories like this


From ancient Jewish texts to AI, a sequence of figures turns matter into meaning

Computer languages are ultimately rendered in ones and zeros, even AI programs. Though this technology is new, the concept it’s hinged on is not. Isaac Asimov’s iconic science fiction collection I, Robot, tells the story of androids created at U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men Inc. The androids... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2023-10-17 06:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Best SFF eBook Deals for Oct 16, 2023

The best science fiction and fantasy book deals of the day, curated by Book Riot. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-10-16 14:13:47 UTC ]
More news stories like this


How a Collective of Incarcerated Writers Published an Anthology From Prison

It would make sense that any history would begin at Stillwater Prison, where so much of the story and mythology of prison in Minnesota also begins. It is where Cole Younger of the famous James-Younger gang did their time, and where they spent their own money to start the Prison Mirror, the... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-16 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


9 Science Fiction Books that Mix in Medieval Elements

These nine medieval science fiction books play with limits of time, space, and history to tell fascinating stories with medieval elements. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-10-13 10:32:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Revisiting The Brownies’ Book, a Magazine for Black Children Published by W.E.B. Du Bois

An anthology that combines new work with selections from The Brownies’ Book, a children’s magazine launched by W.E.B. Du Bois, is bringing its mission to bear in a new national context. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-10-09 13:26:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Riot’s SFF Deals for October 9, 2023

The best science fiction and fantasy book deals of the day, all picked by Book Riot. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-10-09 11:52:40 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Review: ‘Joanna Russ: Novels & Stories’

A new collection of her novels and stories is a showcase for a science fiction pioneer. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-10-08 09:00:34 UTC ]
More news stories like this


October is for Horror Fans! Here are 8 Scarily Good New Releases

Horror fans, this is the month where we all grow into our full power, and October is choc full of great new horror book releases, including Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror edited by Jordan Peele. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-10-06 10:31:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Riot’s SFF Deals for October 2, 2023

The best science fiction and fantasy book deals of the day, curated by Book Riot. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-10-02 14:03:24 UTC ]
More news stories like this


From Serialization to Novelization: On the First Iteration of Frank Herbert’s Dune

If anyone has ever told you Dune is a “tough read,” it would be interesting to see if that same person was able to read an eight‑hundred‑page Stephen King or Harry Potter novel. Although there are dozens and dozens of characters, and various layers of politics, religion, philosophy, and science... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-09-27 09:40:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Hands-on: Windows 11’s new AI tools aren’t ready for prime time

AI will change the way that we work. Or so says the most fervent purveyors of the tech, which now includes Microsoft. But after seeing ChatGPT, Dall-E, and other AI systems integrated into the latest versions of Windows 11, Office, and the company’s Microsoft 365 platform, I can’t say that... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2023-09-26 17:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Best SFF eBook Deals for September 25, 2023

The best science fiction and fantasy book deals of the day, curated by Book Riot. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-09-25 13:38:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this