The Best (and Worst) Sci-Fi Movies of All Time & More SFF Links
Hello, my little fuzzies! In today’s round-up of recent sci-fi and fantasy links, I have stuff to share with you about the best (and worst) sci-fi movies, the new Nnedi Okorafor novel, an awesome essay about small press SFF, and more!
Read an Excerpt From Nnedi Okorafor’s Death of the Author
We are only a couple of weeks away from one of the most exciting releases of 2025! Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor is about an author named Zelu who writes a novel outside her usual genre, about robots and AI in the future, and it becomes a huge bestseller. It also changes the course of the world. “When Zelu finds the courage to share her strange novel, she does not realize she is about to embark on a life-altering journey—one that will catapult her into literary stardom, but also perhaps obliterate everything her book was meant to be. From Chicago to Lagos to the far reaches of space, Zelu’s novel will change the future not only for humanity, but for the robots who come next.” Sounds amazing, right?!! Well, check it out, Reactor has an early peek of the novel. (Related: You can also check out all of Reactor’s short fiction of 2024.)
NBA Star Jaylen Brown’s Sci-Fi-Inspired Clothing
I am wicked excited about this because I love any chance to talk about the Boston Celtics! Celtics star Jaylen Brown is an NBA championship winner, a Finals MVP, and a National Basketball Players Association vice president. But did you know he’s also a genius? It’s true! He is the youngest person to ever hold a lecture at Harvard, and NASA wanted him to work for them. (And it’s not at all surprising that his idol is Bill Nye the Science Guy.)
Brown also has his own line of shoes, 741, and the company just released a line of science fiction-inspired clothes. “I love science fiction, I love futurism, so I’m expressing myself creatively through that,” said Brown. I don’t think I can justify spending $125 on a hoodie, but if I was going to splurge, I would definitely get the Rover sneakers because, oooo shiny.
The Best Science Fiction Movie, According to IMDB
Things that make you go hmmm: I am not going to be all clickbait-y and make you click through another link to find out what the best sci-fi movie is, according to IMDb scores. It’s Christopher Nolan’s Inception from 2010. While I have seen it, I honestly don’t think I would have thought of it if I was asked to name the best sci-fi movie, for any reason. My money would have been on Blade Runner or The Empire Strikes Back.
The Importance of Small Press SFF
Molly Templeton, one of my favorite internet writers, has a new essay up at Reactor about small press science fiction and fantasy books. “Small presses are in some ways facing a version of the same thing any book publisher is: nearly vanished books coverage in major media, endless competition for everyone’s eyeballs, the vagaries of trends, the limits of distribution, the foibles of that one retail website I wish we never had to talk about again. But they’re doing it with smaller staffs and fewer resources. They are the classic underdog, and I feel like SFF readers could do a little more rooting for them. It’ll take a little effort on our part. It’s effort well worth making.” My only reading goal for 2025 is to read more small press books, and this essay further cemented that goal in my brain.
And 10 of the Worst-Written Sci-Fi Movies
You know how I love a list! Since we have already covered the supposed best sci-fi movie, let’s end it with this list from Collider about 10 of the worst. And much like the best movie, I don’t think I would have come up with any of these except Plan 9 from Outer Space, but that’s the movie’s whole thing—it’s famous for being the worst. That’s like someone asking you to recommend a shoe brand and you say, “Nike.” Everyone already knows Nike!
The only other movie on this list that I probably would have been able to guess is Howard the Duck. What a weird, unnecessary disaster that was. As for the other eight titles, I haven’t seen or even heard of some of them, so I was delighted to learn new things. (But I still won’t be watching them.)
Okay, star bits, now take the knowledge you have learned here today and use it for good, not evil. If you want to know more about books, I talk about books pretty much nonstop (when I’m not reading them), and you can hear me say lots of adjectives about them on the BR podcast All the Books! and on Bluesky and Instagram.
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