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23 of Our Favorite SFF Librarians

Tue Nov 7, 2023 10:00am 15 comments 4 Favorites [+]

Across fantasy and science fiction (with the occasional stop in horror), there are any number of amazing fictional libraries we’d love to visit—especially to meet up with the guardians of the stacks! After all, what’s a fantasy story without an awe-inspiring tower full of potentially curséd books? Or a sci-fi adventure without the cumulative knowledge of civilization stored somewhere to guide our heroes on their quest?

Here is an overdue celebration of the keepers of knowledge. From experts in Egyptology to far-future book-lovers fighting tyrannical governments to sword-wielding barbarians, we have a librarian for every occasion!

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Eight SFF Books Written in Verse

Fri Apr 28, 2023 12:00pm 16 comments 2 Favorites [+]

Photo: John Jennings [via Unsplash]

Sometimes there is a tale so epic, so lyrical, so otherworldly that plain old prose can’t do it justice! That is when serious writers break out the verse. We’ve collected eight books across a variety of SFF genres that use verse to pluck their readers away form the workaday world and into stories that bend reality.

Let us know if we’ve missed any of your favorites in the comments!

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14 Excellent Groundhog Day-Style Time Loops in SFF

Thu Feb 2, 2023 1:00pm 42 comments 6 Favorites [+]
Screenshot: Columbia Pictures

The now-classic Groundhog Day flirts with (and breaks) the rules of multiple movie genres: romantic comedy, time travel narrative, small town dramedy, spiritual redemption tale—and it’s also given birth to an entire subgenre of its own. The “Groundhog Day episode” is a mainstay of many television series, and the plot even pops up in films, novels, and short fiction. It’s a fun way to play with established characters, putting your faves through the emotional wringer while trying to solve a murder or stop a crime. And it can be an equally effective tool for riffing on entire genre tropes; mixing in high school drama, slasher horror, or other well-worn genres can lead to some fascinating mashups. And in (almost) all cases, the protagonist stuck in the time loop comes out on the other side all the better.

We’ve compiled a list of our favorite Groundhog Day riffs and the most memorable time loops in SFF. Take a break from listening to “I Got You Babe” for the nth time and check out these 14 recursive tales.

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What’s the First Line of the First Book You’re Reading in 2023?

Tue Jan 3, 2023 10:00am 107 comments 7 Favorites [+]

Photo: Mikołaj [via Unsplash]

New year, new books! New Years resolutions can be a pain, but tackling a reading pile feels oh-so satisfying. Do you have any goals? Number of books to read? A series you’ve been dying to tackle? An author you’d like to get to know?

And more importantly: what is the first line of the book you’re reading right now?

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The Memorable Books We’ve Received as Gifts

Wed Dec 21, 2022 1:30pm 16 comments 2 Favorites [+]

Photo: Kira auf der Heide [via Unsplash]

The right book can stay with you forever, especially one given as a thoughtfully chosen gift. Whether it’s your first childhood foray into fantasy, or a new adventure found later in life, these are the books that shape us as readers, and lead us to our next literary discoveries.

Below, some of the Tor.com staff remember the books that they’ve received that have gone on to shape (or reshape) their lives. What will you unwrap this year, and what paths will it lead you down?

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A Few Things that Brought Us Nerdy Joy in 2022

Tue Dec 20, 2022 12:00pm 11 comments 8 Favorites [+]

Since the beginning of time, there have been nerds. And some years ago, those nerds finally began to feel joy. And thus it has become a tradition here at Tor.com to celebrate nerdy joy, in the face of tumultuous times, political upheaval, and the devils of the void. In this list you will find celebrations of Star Trek, odes to David Bowie, multiple dance-offs, and a surprising number of gay pirates.

Join us in repudiating the void, nerds. Tell us about your joy in the comments.

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Cozy Up With 22 Chilly Winter Reads

Fri Dec 16, 2022 12:00pm 7 Favorites [+]

Photo: Kira auf der Heide [via Unsplash]

With winter upon us (in the northern hemisphere, at least), you may find yourself settling down beneath the blankets with a mug of something hot and a good book or three. Some prefer to escape in fantasies of deserts and warmth, but we’re doubling down this season with a list of wintry reads featuring frozen tundras, majestic ice castles, and at least one magical wardrobe…

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Ten Expansive SFF Worlds to Fall Into

Mon Nov 28, 2022 3:00pm 12 comments 4 Favorites [+]

You can tell an epic story at any length; sometimes a standalone fantasy can traverse just as much narrative space as an entire trilogy. But when it comes to fantasy worlds that we can explore every inch of, we are particularly fond of series with nine books or more. Yep, you heard us: we want trilogies upon trilogies (with the occasional side duology/quartet) in our favorite long-running SFF series. From alternate histories to fantasy that slowly becomes science fiction, from lady knights to more than a few telepathic dragons, from sagas that span one generation to multiple centuries, these series are so expansive and immersive that reading them feels not just like visiting a new world, but like coming home.

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Find Your Necromantic Family Among the Houses of the Locked Tomb

Fri Sep 9, 2022 12:00pm 5 comments 2 Favorites [+]

There’s no shortage of things to love about Tamsyn Muir’s Locked Tomb series—Gideon the Ninth, Harrow the Ninth, and the upcoming Nona the Ninth—but if we had to pick just two: (1) it is full of necromancers, and (2) there are nine separate Houses dedicated to their Undead Emperor, each with a purpose, and necromantic talents all their own.

Want to know where you’d belong? You can take our highly scientific quiz (Warning: the quiz contains spoilers for Gideon and Harrow!), or simply head below and pick the house that suits you best.

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Ten Expansive SFF Worlds to Fall Into

Thu Jun 9, 2022 12:00pm 13 comments 16 Favorites [+]

You can tell an epic story at any length; sometimes a standalone fantasy can traverse just as much narrative space as an entire trilogy. But when it comes to fantasy worlds that we can explore every inch of, we are particularly fond of series with nine books or more. Yep, you heard us: we want trilogies upon trilogies (with the occasional side duology/quartet) in our favorite long-running SFF series. From alternate histories to fantasy that slowly becomes science fiction, from lady knights to more than a few telepathic dragons, from sagas that span one generation to multiple centuries, these series are so expansive and immersive that reading them feels not just like visiting a new world, but like coming home.

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11 Unique SF Tales Involving the Education of Clones

Tue May 17, 2022 2:00pm 15 comments 4 Favorites [+]
Screenshot: BBC America

Whether you’ve got a replica, a doppelgänger, or a straight-up clone, having a duplicate of some sort certainly helps you move through life a little bit easier, from a temporary stand-in to a more permanent kind of donor. But they have to know how to successfully emulate their source material, right? Which means that you probably have to train them up. Here are a few of those times that training your duplicate (knowingly or unintentionally, closely or indirectly) came in handy…

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8 Stories to Help You Rebuild After an Ecological Catastrophe

Fri Apr 22, 2022 12:00pm 2 comments 5 Favorites [+]

So you’ve lived through an ecological disaster that’s drastically changed the world (or at least some corner of it): the water’s dried up, the bees have disappeared, temperatures are soaring, multiple pandemics ravaged the earth, and the oil reserves have gone poof. Now what? Here are eight books that not only take climate change as a given, but that skip ahead a bit and show us the aftermath of environmental cataclysm. A few even offer some possible solutions…

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8 SFF Green Man Characters Ready for Springtime

Mon Mar 21, 2022 9:00am 17 comments 4 Favorites [+]

Silver in the Wood cover art by David Curtis

The forest calls to us. It is at once breathtaking and mystical, yet foreboding and dangerous. We go “into the woods” and come out of it changed people. So it is any surprise that our ever-watchful guardian of the forest, a certain Green Man, crops up everywhere in artwork and fiction? They come with poetry, with history, with songs of old. Don’t forget that they’re waiting in the woods…

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Our Favorite Fictional Superfans

Mon Mar 14, 2022 10:30am 2 Favorites [+]
Screenshot: Disney/Pixar

It’s safe to assume that if you’re here on this site you’re a huge fan of something. Maybe it’s Brandon Sanderson’s writing, or V.E. Schwab’s. Maybe it’s DC Comics, or Marvel’s Netflix shows. Maybe it’s all things Star Wars, or maybe it’s the sci-fi genre as a whole. Fandoms can be enriching, they can be found families, they can be outlets of boundless creativity.

And one of of our very favorite things in modern pop culture is that after many years of fans being derided for being too nerdy or even creepy, many films and TV shows have started including characters that are themselves fans, to create a meta Greek chorus.

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