Which of These Futuristic Sports from Sci-fi Movies Would You Play? — and More SFF Links
Hello, my little woolly mice! In today’s round-up of recent sci-fi and fantasy links, I have stuff to share with you about the best doppelgänger movies, a novel about an employee of an evil corporation who will do anything to get promoted, futuristic sports in sci-fi movies, and more!
This Looks Like Fun: Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World
Reactor recently revealed the cover for Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World by Mark Waddell. It’s about a low-level employee at Dark Enterprises named Colin who strikes a deal with a suspicious figure. In return for a small favor, he’ll get a promotion. But Colin apparently hasn’t read any books about what happens when you make deals with suspicious figures, because the small favor goes cataclysmically wrong. Oops.
From the publisher: “But that small favor unleashes an ancient evil. People in New York are disappearing, the world might be ending, and Management is starting to notice. Getting to the top is never easy, and now it’s up to Colin to save the world. It’s the ultimate power move, after all.”
Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World is out from Ace on October 7, 2025. Mark Waddell also has a fun queer cozy series that begins with The Body in the Back Garden. For more wacky workplace shenanigans, check out the J.W. Wells & Co. series from Tom Holt.
Seeing Double: The Best Doppelgänger Movies
To celebrate the release of Mickey 17, the adaptation of Edward Ashton’s novel Mickey7, Polygon has a list of some of the best doppelgänger movies. I love, love, love Moon, the 2009 film with Sam Rockwell. And I watched the original Dead Ringers a lot when I was a kid (and way too young to be watching it.) I wonder what I would think of it now. The others on the list, I haven’t seen, but Us is on a list of films I want to watch soon. I also want to see Mickey 17, both to see how it compares to the book and also just because it looks absolutely bananapants. (I also noticed the 1993 movie that is literally just called Doppelganger didn’t get a mention. Nor should it, but if watching Drew Barrymore shower in blood is a thing you are into, go for it.)
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Just for a Little While: 10 Must-Watch Sci-Fi Miniseries
They say you can have too much of a good thing, but these sci-fi miniseries decided this was all we were going to get, even if we wanted more.
Starting off the list from Collider is the adaptation of Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, which I think was amazing. And I think it suffered from being a show about a pandemic being released two years into an actual pandemic. The world had pandemic fatigue. The show didn’t get the audience it deserved, but more and more people are still discovering it. As for the others, the only one I have seen is the 1994 adaptation of The Stand, which was an exciting television event when it came out! And it has Matt Frewer, who is the best. (Was your mind blown when you learned Max Headroom was created just using makeup? And did anyone else love Doctor Doctor?!) Which one of these is your favorite?
Check Out the Gorgeous Cover and Read an Excerpt of His Mortal Demise by Vanessa Le
Reactor also had an excerpt from His Mortal Demise, the second book of Vanessa Le’s Last Bloodcarver duology. Like the first book, The Last Bloodcarver, it has garnered heaps of praise! The first book followed Nhika, a bloodcarver, and this one is from the point of view of Kochin, the heartsooth. From the publisher description (with a spoiler ahead!):
“Kochin is a heartsooth—a rare being with the ability to heal any wound. Any wound, that is, except death. Intent on defying nature and bringing Nhika back to life, Kochin keeps her body in a life-preserving casket and waits for a miracle. Stricken with grief and descending into madness, Kochin realizes the answer to his desperate quest can only lie in one place: Yarong, the lush yet battle-ridden island the first heartsooths called home.”
It all sounds so exciting, and I am a sucker for an embroidered cover, so I can’t wait to add this and the paperback of the first book to my collection.
His Mortal Demise (The Last Bloodcarver Duology) has just been released by Roaring Brook Press.
A Sporting Chance: 10 Wacky, Futuristic Sports from Sci-Fi Movies
To end, here is a Screen Rant list of wacky, futuristic sports from science fiction movies, which includes robot boxing, lots of racing, and a horrible game involving the skull of a dog. Does anyone think the future sounds fun? None of these games seem to be particularly enticing, but more like punishments. (Certainly for the poor dog.) But I have seen exactly zero of these films, so what do I know? My idea of a dangerous game is True American from New Girl. Would you want to play any of these sports?
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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