For years now, Babylon 5 has been one of my bucket list shows. I've been wanting to put it on and watch for a while now. I've heard great things. I've heard that is very similar to Deep Space Nine in some regards (and yes, I'm aware of the old controversies in which some accuse DS9 of copying, but I try not to pay those stories much mind), and as DS9 is easily my favorite Star Trek series, and one of my favorite shows in general, I've never really had a reason to doubt that I'd enjoy Babylon 5.

I think I've always just kinda struggled with the pilot. But I'm gonna try and buckle down and finally give this series the proper watch it's always deserved. And with the news yesterday that Walter Koenig has sadly passed, I think it's an appropriate time as I know he had a recurring role here.

So... wish me well! I hope to finally dedicate proper time to this show!

Do not fear the end. Dune: Part Three only in theaters and IMAX December 18. Tickets on sale now around the world.

From Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures comes Dune: Part Three, bringing Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Denis Villeneuve’s epic trilogy to a breathtaking conclusion.

Dune: Part Three is set nearly two decades after Paul Atreides seized control of the Imperium. Now a ruthless Emperor, Paul must face the consequences of his reign as old allies return, terrifying new threats emerge, and betrayal lurks in every shadow. Haunted by visions of Imperial collapse and the reappearance of his long-lost love, Paul is drawn into a sweeping conspiracy, with Chani at the heart of its unfolding mystery. As rebellion brews and enemies close in, Paul must confront the true cost of power and the fate of those he loves the most.

The film stars Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, Oscar nominee Florence Pugh, Rebecca Ferguson, Isaach de Bankolé, with Oscar nominee Charlotte Rampling, with Anya Taylor-Joy, and Robert Pattinson, and Oscar winner Javier Bardem.

Villeneuve directs from a screenplay by Villeneuve and Brian K. Vaughan, based on the novels written by Frank Herbert. The film is produced by Oscar nominees Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Villeneuve and Tanya Lapointe, and Joe Caracciolo, and executive produced by Joshua Grode, Thomas Tull, Herbert W. Gains, Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt, Kim Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson, Richard P. Rubinstein, John Harrison and Jessica Derhammer.

Joining Villeneuve behind the camera are Oscar-winning director of photography Linus Sandgren, Oscar-winning production designer Patrice Vermette, Oscar-winning editor Joe Walker, Oscar nominated costume designer Jacqueline West, Oscar-nominated casting director Francine Maisler, and Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer.

Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures Present A Legendary Pictures Production, A Film By Denis Villeneuve, Dune: Part Three, only in theaters and IMAX® across North America on December 18, 2026 and internationally beginning 16 December 2026. The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures and in China by Legendary East.

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I just finished a reread of Ender’s Game and searched up some opinions on Reddit (and yes, the author is a piece of shit, I already know that). I was really surprised to see the harsh opinions. A lot of old threads think it’s a shallow space battle book and call it a “nerd fulfilment fantasy” (some threads like this one or this one. I personally agree with the top comment on the second one). Like if you read the book at face value, then yeah, I guess. There are some cringe (and mildly sexist) moments, sure, and the battle games do take up a big portion of the story.

But now as an adult reading it, I don’t understand this criticism at all. It’s nowhere close to a power fantasy to me because Ender has absolutely NO agency in his life at all. He’s genetically engineered for it, first of all. Then every single “win” he accomplishes, from bonding with the launchies or pushing back against his bullies, is encouraged or manipulated by the adults around him. Every act of violence occurs because the adults have deliberately made Ender aware that no one will ever help him. I don’t think the author intends for us to derive satisfaction from these moments when the author makes it soooo clear over the novel that Ender has been a victim of so many people making decisions for him. Ender is awfully naive (because he’s still a child) and flawed and I fail to see how anyone could criticise him for being a Mary Sue.

One of the reasons I keep coming back to Battlestar Galactica is that a lot of the characters feel competent without feeling invincible. People make bad calls, get exhausted, panic, argue, and still somehow have to keep everything moving.

I like sci-fi with big ideas, but honestly I’m usually more interested in how normal people react when the situation gets completely abnormal.

What show do you think does that especially well?

I'm nearly done with Children of Dune. The first three books have been fantastic and my first introduction to reading sci-fi. The lore, politicking, religion, subterfuge, and overall world building blew my mind considering these books are from the 60s.

What else are you into and where has sci-fi been since these books came out?

Eventually I'll return to the series but looking to take a break for a bit.

I loved Children of Time and I really enjoyed Ruin for the most part. Memory has some good moments, but for the most part I kind of feel like nothing happens. I'm a bit over halfway through and there have been multiple teases of major plot progressions, and basically none of them have paid off. Is there a pay off at all or should I just read a synopsis and skip to Children of Strife?

Decades ago I started reading, but it turned out not to be a trilogy so I was stuck waiting for book 4. That didn't end it either so I quit. Never read a series before it's finished. (Glaring at Patrick Rothfuss.) He kept cranking out books for so long that I forgot this existed.

Now it occurs to me I might like to revisit the series. But **is it done yet?**

China Mieville. Let’s talk favorite authors. Mieville is such an amazing writer, inventive, engaging and insightful. Embassytown is one of my all-time favorites, full stop. The City and the City? Wonderful. Absolutely in love with just about everything he’s penned.

I've been working through this and have got 2/3rds of the first book done (it's a looong one). I have strong vibes I've read this but at the same times lots of details seem different/new. Is there another book that uses the motile/immobile alien species concept or have I just forgotten all about it in mere decade or two? Some of the characters seem familiar like the sex Barbie kneeing nuts, but she's only got brief appearance so far. I can't remember the conspiracy angle either.

EDIT: thanks for the suggestions everyone, lots for me to check out!

I ask because I read one recently and wondered if anyone knows any books which uses that dynamic.

To be clear what I'm talking about, the book was Hands Tied by Rhys Harper. In it, an AI has taken over the world, and using nanobots has restructured it so that there are mythical creatures, magic, portals, no high tech, etc etc. It's kind of meta lit-rpg.

I don't really like much fantasy anymore because I find the suspension of disbelief to be shaky, but this really worked for me.

Do we know any other similar setups?

I'm honestly not sure if this counts as Sci Fi or not. Its dystopian satire that includes technology... but also vampires and demons and whatnot. Anyway the iHunt feature film was announced this morning and I just wanted to bring it to peoples attention/find out what people thought.

https://variety.com/2026/film/news/ihunt-killing-monsters-in-the-gig-economy-movie-1236930441/

Haley Joel Osment gave a great performance as the humanoid robot David. To begin with, it's a strong deliberate performance which has uncanny valley vibes which matches what you'd expect from such a machine boy. Admittedly, he gets more boy-like as the film progresses but I found this even more disturbing.

David reminded me so unnervingly of how AI, in this day and age, like Gemini or Chat GPT etc, speaks when you ask it a question or to write something out.

It's unclear how the film wants the viewer to feel about him and concept of AI. It seems at first, we were meant to be unnerved by him. As the film progressed, however, I got the sense we were gradually supposed to be rooting for him. He goes through plenty of scrapes and near catastrophes.

Yet, I found the whole concept of a fake child/little boy robot being used so repulsive that I wanted him to fail or be "obliterated" (as the film puts it) at every turn.

There's a moment where Brendan Gleeson points out how problematic the captured David is as a creation as he's been designed to mirror human emotions - but the crowd turn on Gleeson and David escapes. It seems like the film's "hurrah" moment. But I was finding myself nodding along to Gleeson, and thinking 'quite right' and gutted when that damned fake kid got away again. (I'd have had a great time at that Flesh Fair - seemed a hoot!)

There were also moments where David seemed so unhinged I thought there was going to be some big twist where ended going on a killing spree or end the world, in some way.

So, the ending where the future beings magically bring David's 'mother' back to life left me feeling cold as I wasn't emotionally invested in the character or his emotional climax because I found David thoroughly problematic and off putting.

A few more observations:

The teddy bear genuinely seemed the most intelligent AI bot out of all of them, even David and Jude Law.

Jude Law gave the most incredible performance and best I have seen from him. His physicality. Truly the highlight of the movie. Stole every scene.

Not sure what was going on at the end. Future beings say the mother was brought back to life for one day - but why no questions or concern about her real family?

My 12 grade sci fi kids just finished the gauntlet of Frankenstein and I need the rest of the week to grade

I want to show a film and my school is quite progressive as to what is allowed and I’m considering a few:

Attack the Block
12 Monkeys
Brazil
Get Out
5th Element
District 9

I can make a case for all of them and have access to each…

Help?

I just think the World Fair in general is a cool concept and I was just wondering if anyone had an examples of sci-fi version of the world fair or world fair like events in any form of fiction? Be it books, shows, films, comics, games or any other form of media I forget to list here.

I'm reading a Kindle sample of the first book in Robert Anton Wilson's Schrödinger's Cat Trilogy. I was reading an article about the Schrödinger's cat puzzle in quantum physics (because I love QP and named one of my cats Schrödinger) and there was a citation pointing to this trilogy.

I have GOT to recommend that you check it out.

It's got parallel worlds.

It's got hilarious depictions of humans, politics, nuclear threats, and other stuff.

There are twists and turns: wait a minute, what just happened??

It's got QUANTUM PHYSICS, but no equations so far. I never got that whole algebra thing and never needed it anyway.

This book is not formulaic. It's not like so many sci-fi books that's basically a soap opera with a war and a hero and a few space ships and maybe some gimmicky glitch in time or space thrown in.

This is complicated and you have to pay attention. I've actually had to go back and re-read some sections. No dozing off with this one.

I've read The Expanse (11volumes), all the Rusch books, the Ancillary series, The Three Body Problem, the Red Rising series, everything by John Scalzi, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Jasper Fforde, MurderBot, Asimov's Foundation (sure its a classic but from an old world--at least the TV series had a woman in it), and pretty much every other sci-fi series and book that was highly recommended here.

But I've never encountered anything as non-linear and idea-packed and cynical and funny and just-plain-deranged as this. So... I don't know how far I'll get with this series. I get bored easily now and if it turns out to be too affected or ostentatiously complicated I'll bail. But I got excited reading the first two chapters (in which the author is actually a character, quite confusing at first) and I wanted to tell you about it.

Alien
Aliens
Alien 3
Alien Resurrection
Alien vs Predator
Alien vs Predator: Requiem
Prometheus
Alien: Covenant
Alien: Romulus
Alien Earth

I enjoy watching the original Alien followed by Aliens, Alien 3. Prometheus was such an awesome movie in my opinion… had the studio allowed Ridley to continue his vision to explore the Engineers world rather than k!ll them right in the beginning of Covenant would have been such a treat.

Unfortunately, we never got to see that world. Instead we got another Alien: Romulus which frankly was not amazing.

Alien Earth is visually nice but it lacks something. Curious to know your ratings and thoughts!

Hey, I'm really interested in when sci fi can be used to discuss difficult social issues. One of my favorite books that does this is Kindred. But I'm also trying to think of some books that attempt to do so but miss the mark. So I'm trying to think of some sci fi novels that are poorly done, very transparent allegories for US slavery. So just literally: here's blue people and they're slaves, here's red people and they're in charge. The sillier and more transparent the better, thanks!

I've been on a tear lately of space operas, hard sci-fi and prose that transcends the genre. I need a break. I need something lighter, funnier and more easily digestible. I need a sci-fi beach read. I like the salvagers series by Alex White and some of the Scalzi one-offs like Redshirts and Kaiju Preservation Society. What else do you think will give me the feel good vacation I'm looking for?

Hello!

I’ve been reading fantasy my whole life. I love *The Book of the New Sun* and *The Malazan Book of the Fallen*. I’m also a fan of weird fiction. Currently, I’m reading *Stations of the Tide* by Michael Swanwick, and I’m looking for something with a similar vibe—something with an immersive atmosphere. I’ve also read *Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?* by Philip K. Dick. I’d appreciate any recommendations.

One of my favorite scripts in sci-fi history, just quote after quote after quote, this is one of the most emblematic pieces of media this genre has ever seen. The slow labored pacing in the first two acts is perfect however leads to the final act feeling rushed in sections. Other than that, in my view, this is a near flawless movie.

It reached 5th on the Hot Upcoming New Cyberpunk releases on release week too!

Tapeworld is a new cyberpunk book series with a twist on cyberspace: you access it by sticking a strip of duct tape on your temple.

There's elements of sci-fi, dystopia and more. If you love Dark Matter, The Peripheral or The Matrix, there's something in this book for you.

Plot:
A kickboxer / climate change activist meets a VR sports star / cyberspace jockey. When she realises his life is in danger, she'll go through tech corpo hell to make sure he's safe.

The book is available right now on Amazon, and it's also available in 2 bookstores.

Tapeworld is a labour of love, born from my passion for all things virtual reality, cyberpunk, and sci-fi.

Hope you love it!

The photo is me at my first indie author event.

I'm so grateful for the community, who has received me as a new fiction author so positively.

EDIT:
Zero AI was used! The cover is human designed by J Caleb Design. He's amazing at this 3D modelling render style and you can find his work online easily. The book was written by me over many years and many revisions. I had a developmental edit, a line edit, a final proofread, all professionally.

Thank you so much everyone here for your support!

I’m kidding but this is crazy similar and it came out in 2009! I think it’s kinda insane I am the only one that I’ve seen that can see the almost scary connection between red rising and muse album the resistance. Just look at this album. We have this dude waking the stairs going from red to yellow (gold) and all the colors in the background. This is literally just a metaphor for Darrows journey in red rising. And if that was not enough pretty much all the songs describe the injustices that the society does in pretty much all the songs, and they always talking about space and sci fi. Especially this one song, no not uprising but unnatural selection. I they genuinely sing out Darrows story in detail. Look at these lyrics or just look what I took out of it:
They'll laugh as they watch us fall
The lucky don't care at all
No chance for fate
It's unnatural selection
I want the truth
I'm hungry for some unrest
I wanna push it beyond a peaceful protest
I wanna speak in a language that they'll understand
Dedication to a new age
Is this the end of destruction and rampage?
Another chance to erase then repeat it again
Counter balance this commotion
We're not droplets in the ocean
Ocean
They'll laugh as they watch us fall
The lucky don't care at all
No (hey)
Chance (hey)
For fate (hey)
It's unnatural selection
I want the truth
No religion or mind virus
Is there a hope that the facts would ever find us?
Just make sure that you are looking out for number one
I'm hungry for some unrest
Well, let's push it beyond a peaceful protest
I wanna speak in a language that you will understand
Counter balance this commotion
We're not droplets in the ocean
Ocean
They'll laugh as they watch us crawl
The lucky don't share at all
No (hey)
Hope (hey)
For fate (hey)
It's a random chance selection
I want the truth
Try to ride out the storm
Whilst they'll make you believe
They are the special ones
(We have not been chosen)
Injustice is the norm
You won't be the first
And you know that you won't be the last
Counter balance this commotion
We're not droplets in the ocean
Ocean, ocean, ocean
They'll laugh as they watch us fall
And the lucky, they don't care at all
No (hey)
Chance (hey)
For fate (hey)
It's unnatural selection
I want the truth
I want the truth
I want the truth
I want the truth

The whole unnatural selection is the institute or the color hierarchy depending on how you see it or both, which is pretty much the entire song (basically just red rising) but not just that, look at these examples:
“I wanna push it beyond a peaceful protest” is pretty much what Darrow did after his dad died in a peaceful protest
“I wanna speak in the language that they understand” meaning violence
“I want the truth”talking about the lie the reds been told
There are so many more, you’ll probably find more than me. It’s just to much correlations to be true. Can’t we at least make this like the song everyone uses for edits, or mention it? I think it genuinely needs to be the global anthem for the first book, if you don’t have any better examples of course. Maybe we could even get this into the new movie if we are lucky, as a trailer or maybe intro. Well that’s all, what do you guys think?

​

I've found myself picking up more and more sci-fi recently, and love the looks of the SF Masterworks books.

Not counting any Philip K. Dick (I'm on a journey with him anyway), what's everyone's favourites from the range, nice to have opinions for the next purchases.

what are some of the best scifi shows released in the last six months, other than silo and dark matter? i am looking for something positive and optimistic like dr stone or a dramatic sci fi mystery like fringe.i am also open to watching more solarpunk shows, if there are any, that show a future with optimism, renewable energy and technology coexisting with nature

I watched this a few nights ago.

From Wikipedia:

The film is about two human clones, Lincoln Six Echo (McGregor) and Jordan Two Delta (Johansson), who live in a dystopian compound isolated from the outside world. After Lincoln learns that the compound inhabitants are clones used for organ harvesting as well as surrogacy for wealthy people, the two escape with the goal of exposing the illegal cloning movement.

It has a ton going for it in the action department, with explosive set pieces and car chases! I found the first thirty minutes somewhat slow as it sets up the world and its premise, but once the first big action sequence kicked in, things really picked up.

Lincoln and Jordan have decent chemistry, though I wish their relationship had been fleshed out a little more, but I found it easy to look past as the rest of the movie was pretty strong.