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DODGER FAN by Will Stanton Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June 1957 Link I first read this over fifty years ago.

No science fiction franchise has been more influential than Star Wars. (Sorry, Star Trek fans!) Over the last 40 years, the space opera saga created by George Lucas has delivered 1,062 minutes of lightsaber duels, intergalactic dogfights and dynastic drama. Even non-fans are likely to immediately recognize iconic imagery like Darth Vader’s helmet, the Millennium Falcon, or Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber. Which begs the question: of the hundreds, maybe thousands, to choose from which Star Wars moments are the best? The series, now owned by Disney, turns 40 on May 25. So TIME's entertainment team and sundry Star Wars super fans...

Seth MacFarlane is gearing up for a trek across the final frontier. Fox announced this week that this fall, it will launch a new science-fiction TV series, called the "The Orville." The show will star funnyman executive producer and actor MacFarlane ("Family Guy," "Ted") as the commander of the titular starship. Adrianne Palicki ("Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.") will portray MacFarlane's executive officer — and ex-wife — with a ragtag crew rounding out the cast. Think "Galaxy Quest" meets "Family Guy," and you're on the right track.

Parents need to know that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 continues the adventures of Marvel's motley group of space outlaws first introduced in the smash hit Guardians of the Galaxy. Expect lots of interest from kids of all ages, but it's most appropriate for tweens and up. There's frequent fighting with weapons (swords, guns, and more), space chases/battles, executions that involve people being "spaced" (forced out of airlocks to die in the freezing cold of deep space), and more. Spoiler alert: A popular character dies. Language, while not frequent, can also be strong, with everything from "douche" and "d--k"...

Though Ridley Scott is best-known for directing feature films, including this week’s Alien: Covenant, he’s also extremely involved in TV—one recent example being his producing role on The Man in the High Castle. Next up, he’ll be working with TNT to bring even more science fiction to the airwaves. Deadline reports that Scott will fill what’s described as “a night of original scifi programming” with, potentially, “hourlong series, short-form programs and other formats to be developed in collaboration with the filmmaker.”

Older fans know Babylon 5, the game-changing 1994-1998 series, but younger fans may not have had a chance to watch it. Here’s your internet-sized window of opportunity. B5 has come to streaming service Go90. According to showrunner J. Michael Straczynski’s Facebook page, “This is the first time B5 has been streamed online or available in the US for a very long time.” Go90 is offering all five seasons for free, without commercial breaks. I tested it myself, and it looks great. For those who don’t know, B5 popularized the story arc in sci-fi television. (Robotech and other anime beat B5...

The finalists for this year’s Hugo Awards and John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer were announced by Worldcon 75 on April 4... The final round of voting will open this coming week, and close on July 15. The 2017 Hugos will be presented at the 75th World Science Fiction Convention in Helsinki, Finland, on August 11. The finalists are: ...

There's nothing quite as frustrating as a bad movie ending. Failure to stick that landing in the final act can totally ruin an otherwise great film, or give us one more reason to hate one that was already a dud. Here's a look at some of the most annoying movie endings in recent memory. And it should go without saying, but spoilers ahead… The Matrix Revolutions | 0:23 X-Men: The Last Stand | 0:59 Signs | 1:44 The Amazing Spider-Man 2 | 2:43 Now You See Me | 3:27 I Am Legend | 4:15 Man of Steel | 5:14 Lord...

In the past decade or so, science fiction on television has seen a dramatic uptick in both quantity and quality. Shows like Westworld are keeping critics engaged and audiences coming back for more week after week, but while a number of sci-fi shows over the years have developed significant cult followings, others have become notorious examples of just how bad the genre can be when it isn’t executed effectively. Here’s our look at some of the worst sci-fi shows to ever hit the small-screen. For the record, we’re focusing specifically on live-action series only. So any infamous animated shows won’t...

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress Summary How It All Goes Down Book 1: That Dinkum Thinkum Manuel Garcia O'Kelly-Davis, or Mannie for short, goes on a routine computer repair job… only to learn that the super computer has gained self-awareness. It's just another day in a science fiction world, really. Mannie befriends the personality—naming it Mike—and helps it gain an understanding of human behavior. To this end, Mike requests Mannie bring a recorder to a "Sons of Revolution" rally.When the Warden's bodyguard busts in to arrest everybody, Mannie helps revolutionary Wyoming Knott escape, and like all classic heroes, he gets dragged...

In this collection of potential reading, Mark Yon suggests books that you may appreciate whilst considering your vote. It may have escaped your attention that during this week there are elections in the US. Whilst we do not endorse any particular candidate or party at SFFWorld (and the person mainly writing this is non-US anyway!)  but on behalf of SFFWorld we thought we would compile a list of ten SF books that use politics as an important part of their world. Be warned – not all of these are future visions you may like…

We do not see, often enough, the people who love Hillary Clinton, who support her because of her qualifications rather than because of her unqualified opponent, who empathize with her. Yet millions of Americans, women and men, love her intelligence, her industriousness, her grit; they feel loyal to her, they will vote with enthusiasm for her. Human beings change as they grow, but a person’s history speaks to who she is. There are millions who admire the tapestry of Hillary Clinton’s past: the first-ever student commencement speaker at Wellesley speaking boldly about making the impossible possible, the Yale law student...

Marvel Studios' "Doctor Strange" is expected to draw a massive audience this weekend, providing some much needed medicine for Hollywood during a bruising fall box office season. Analysts expect the visually stylish Benedict Cumberbatch comic book movie to collect $65 million to $75 million in ticket sales from the United States and Canada through Sunday. Some more optimistic industry observers predict the film, about a former neurosurgeon who harnesses mystical powers, may reach $80 million in domestic grosses... "Doctor Strange is a C-level Marvel character, and the fact that you can pull an $80-million debut is ludicrous when you think...

The New York Times’ multi-part series profiling President Barack Obama’s legacy on global warming reveals the president is a fan of a book on how “climate change and overpopulation” could cause modern civilization to collapse. Obama was apparently a fan of Jared Diamond’s 2005 book “Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed,” which “explored the environmental changes that wiped out ancient societies like Easter Island and discussed how modern equivalents like climate change and overpopulation could yield the same destruction,” according to NYT. An Obama aide told NYT he “recalled” the president mentioning Diamond’s book. Diamond is also the...

<p>Just what we need in these fractured times — a smart parable about open-mindedness and unification.</p> <p>Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner play academics enlisted by the military to make contact when alien spacecraft land on Earth in Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi drama.</p>

The 2016 Hugo Awards were presented on the evening of Saturday, August 20, 2016 at a ceremony at MidAmeriCon II, the 74th World Science Fiction Convention. Administration of the 2016 Hugo Awards is exclusively the responsibility of MidAmeriCon II. The Hugo Awards are not administered by the Hugo Awards Web Site. 3,130 valid final ballots were cast by the members of MidAmeriCon II. Per the WSFS Constitution, each category must have at least 25% (1,488 ballots) participation; otherwise “No Award” must be presented in this category. This did not happen in any category. In the list below, we show the...

This November, the National Geographic Channel will take audiences into outer space in a way we haven't seen before. From producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer comes Mars, a six-part TV miniseries that blends documentary and science fiction to dramatize humankind's first trip to Mars in 2033--and io9 is proud to exclusively debut the first trailer.

Actor Jerry Doyle, also a talk host, has died at 60

It's odd to think that, once upon a time, a TV show set in space -- one that declared, in its opening narration, as the cosmos being the "final frontier" -- was considered the pop-cultural equivalent of an unwanted party-crasher. Yes, a concept like Star Trek was both of its time and clearly ahead of it; history has more than vindicated Gene Roddenberry's notion of boldly going where no man had gone before. But given the number of top-notch shows set in the far reaches of the galaxy and that used genre for pulpy and profound purposes over the last...

Were the 1950s the Golden Age of Science Fiction Cinema? I think so. What do you think? From Wikipedia: List of science fiction films of the 1950s A list of science fiction films released in the 1950s. These films include core elements of science fiction, but can cross into other genres. They have been released to a cinema audience by the commercial film industry and are widely distributed with reviews by reputable critics. This period is sometimes described as the 'classic' era of science fiction theater. Much of the production was in a low-budget form targeted at a teenage audience....