Science fiction

From the miniseries that kicked off one of the greatest sci-fi TV shows of the past 20 years to that controversial series finale On March 20th, 2009, the final episode of Battlestar Galactica aired — and people were pissed. Too much soft sci-fi. Too much deus ex machina. Too few answers. But while feelings on the finale were mixed, it’s important to not gloss over how special Ronald D. Moore’s reimagination of the 1970s sci-fi show was as a whole Our journeys with Kara…

Mad Max: Fury RoadImage: Warner Bros.If you subscribe to Apple TV+ for its outstanding line-up of sci-fi TV shows (For All Mankind, Foundation, Severance, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, the just-announced Neuromancer), there’s a bonus waiting for you next time you sign on. While you’ll still find mostly Apple-produced projects, there’s now a category marked “Limited Time: Great Movies on Apple TV+” filled with licensed titles.While the selection isn’t huge, and it doesn’t dig very deep into the genre realm—sorry, horror…

These days, if you’re an epic sci-fi story looking to be told, there’s only one destination: Apple TV+. From popular novels like Foundation and Silo to originals like For All Mankind and Severance, the streamer is a haven for weird, bold sci-fi. Which is why it feels like the perfect, natural home for William Gibson’s Neuromancer.Prepping the Sandworm Scenes in Dune: Part TwoThe landmark 1984 cyberpunk novel has been on Hollywood’s wishlist for decades, with multiple filmmakers attempting to bring it to the big screen.…

So, where were we? Oh, right. House Atreides, the noble family that oversaw the rule of the spice-rich planet Arrakis, is no more. Its patriarch, Duke Leto, is dead. His heir Paul Atreides, and the young man’s mother Lady Jessica, are both presumed to have been killed as well. House Harkonnen, led by the corpulent and cybernetically enhanced Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, will once again take control of Arrakis and mine its deserts for its prized — and extremely hallucinogenic — resource. Unbeknownst to the Baron, his…

The new Apple TV+ drama Constellation has atmosphere to spare. What it lacks is a story to live up to its creepy vibe. Created by British TV vet Peter Harness, Constellation stars Noomi Rapace as Jo, a Swedish astronaut engaged in a long mission on the International Space Station. An experiment commissioned by celebrated astronaut-turned-scientist Henry (Jonathan Banks) goes tragically awry, and when Jo makes it back to Earth, everything feels off in some way. The family car is the wrong color. Her husband Magnus…

You’d think the biggest headlines surrounding an annual celebration of sci-fi and fantasy writing would be applauding the winners—but that’s not always the case with the Hugos. Its latest controversy involves works being deemed “not eligible” for consideration at the 2023 event, which was presented by Chengdu Worldcon in Chengdu, China. Now, we have a touch more clarity about what happened—and an apology from the organization as it looks to the future.The 2023 Hugos were handed out in October, but rumblings about the…

Image: HeadpressOk, this isn’t a sci-fi or fantasy book, but it’s definitely in the realms of horror. In the hands of film scholar and director Kier-La Janisse—who made Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched, the definitive documentary on folk horror—it’s guaranteed to be a fascinating adaptation. Severin Films announced the project earlier this week in a press release, and described the book as follows: “Documenting the intersection of ethnographic documentary, the dystopic future visions of JG Ballard, and the 1970s snuff…

Apple just dropped a trailer for its Constellation. The series follows an astronaut, played by Noomi Rapace, after an emergency return to Earth. However, the homecoming is fraught with mysterious occurrences and plain-old sci-fi weirdness, leaving audiences wondering what happened to her up there.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dAaLbsQSzIWe don’t exactly know what type of sci-fi this is. There are hints that it could be a multiversal story, something that draws from like the Mandela Effect. There are also hints that…

A robotic lander built by a private company suffered a technical problem on its way to the moon on Monday, threatening to upend the first U.S. soft lunar landing in over 50 years.The issue with the lander's propulsion system followed a successful launch of a new Vulcan rocket debuted by a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin.Space robotics firm Astrobotic's Peregrine lunar lander launched at 2:18 a.m. ET from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on the first flight of Vulcan, a powerful rocket that had been under development for…

Image: Bandai, Larian Studios, Sony Pictures Animation, Vicky Leta/Gizmodo, IFC, Mario Tama (Getty Images), and HBOA new year is upon us, but don’t say goodbye to the old one just yet! For the past 3 weeks io9 has been delivering our Year in Review for all things 2023—our favorite films and shows, cool toys, people we lost, the trends that defined a year of sci-fi, fantasy, and genre pop culture, and so much more. Why not take a look and see what you missed? Image: Bandai, Larian Studios, Sony Pictures Animation, Vicky…