Sci-fi
Dystopia Is All Too Plausible in The School for Good Mothers
Jessamine Chan's new novel makes a world full of surveillance android children seem very real.
A Staple of Sci-Fi Space Travel Will Likely Remain a Fantasy
Physicists say an interstellar engine popularized in the ’60s is technically feasible, but it would take a more advanced civilization to build one.
WIRED's Picks for the 7 Books You Need to Read This Winter
Now is the perfect time to curl up with a good read. From pop culture histories to time-traveling immortals, here are some of our favorites.
Can Science Fiction Help Solve Our Biggest Problems?
This week, we hear from the acclaimed novelist Neal Stephenson about climate change, the metaverse, and the role fictional stories can play in shaping our future.
Star Trek: Discovery Is Tearing the Streaming World Apart
Season four of Discovery is boldly going where no multibillion-dollar franchise has gone before—and fans are outraged.
How Dune’s VFX and Sound Teams Made Sandworms From Scratch
The visual effects team invented a process called “sandscreen” to produce epic desert shots. Another group made the worms sound more like god than Godzilla.
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With Dune, Frank Herbert Designed the Maxi Pad of the Future
Don’t tell him, but the legendary sci-fi writer came up with a pretty creative way to pull moisture away from you.
He Charted Marvel’s Massive Story—and Revealed an Epic
For his new book, Douglas Wolk read more than 27,000 comic books. What he found was one single coherent saga: the Uncanny American Novel.
Brian Herbert on Dune: ‘My Father Could See Into the Future’
Frank Herbert’s son is the keeper of the canon and the ultimate defender of his dad’s work.
Denis Villeneuve on Dune: ‘I Was Really a Maniac’
The director has wanted to adapt Frank Herbert’s book since he was a teenager. Now he’s finished (the first half of) what he hopes will be the ultimate Dune.
We Are The Caretakers Puts Afrofuturism Front and Center
An action RPG about protecting animals—and the planet—from extinction is also a perfect venue for one of speculative fiction’s best genres.
No, Lovecraft Country Didn't Need a Second Season
The Emmy-nominated HBO series has been lauded for subversive storytelling. But its final episodes had fallen apart.
The Best Made-Up Worlds Are Made Up of Real Parts
Helene Wecker’s The Hidden Palace brings magic to 20th century Manhattan. Turns out that’s easier than putting the wrong stormtroopers into Star Wars Land.
WIRED’s Picks for the 9 Books You Need to Read This Summer
From sci-fi to queer magic, these tomes have what you need when you’re headed to the beach—or anywhere else.
The Long Journey of Usoni, an African Postapocalyptic Game
Usoni means “future” in Kiswahili. In its first game, Kenyan studio Jiwe envisions a world where Europe is hell and Africa is the new El Dorado.
One Thing Covid Didn’t Smash to Pieces? Monster Movies
If you liked Godzilla vs. Kong, there’s more—and better—where that stupid, mindless clobberfest came from.
Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary Is The Martian, Again
The author of the hit sci-fi novel explains how he’s swapped physics for planetary science and astrobiology.
Outriders Is Grinning Through the Apocalypse
The game bounces wildly between violence and wry humor, with some dark and harrowing commentary. And it's certainly worth your time.
Lapsis and the Rise of Gig-Economy Sci-Fi
Like Sorry to Bother You, Noah Hutton’s feature debut uses genre to prod the callous excesses of capitalism.
Films of the Era Will Be as Unbalanced as the Pandemic Itself
What will films look like because of Covid-19? The same as during any other traumatic event. Some good, some bad, some brilliant.
Raised By Wolves Questions Whether Humanity Can Be Saved
Ridley Scott’s new HBO Max show struggles to determine if people and society are doomed.
Project Power Is a Secret Lesson About Science's Dark Side
Netflix's new film updates a played-out superhero trope with a hidden message about the evils of human experimentation.
Sci-Fi Has a Somber Lesson for This Crisis
Technology can save the world. But discord between humans persists, and it's the kind that kills.
This 30-Year-Old Sci-Fi Epic Is a Saga for Our Times
Clocking in at five hours long, the restored director’s cut of Until the End of the World arrives as if on cue, with spooky prescience.