Star Wars #1, Can’t-Miss Short Fiction, and the Best Time Travel Flick…Ever?

Though it’s not quite as cool as Ursula K. LeGuin’s instant intergalactic communication network, the internet is at least as useful for keeping in touch with terrestrial-based genre fandom right here on good ol’ Earth. Here’s what we were reading this week.
As if Tor.com hadn’t already done enough to get the word out about some of the best short fiction of 2014, they also shared a roundup of some of the year’s best work published around the web and in print. Anyone with a feline companion won’t want to miss the quirky cloning story “Tortoiseshell Cats Are Not Refundable,” by Cat (hey, wait a minute!) Rambo.
There’s nothing we love quite so much as a twisty time travel tale, so hearing io9‘s Charlie Jane Anders proclaim Ethan Hawke-starrer Predestination possibly, “the greatest time travel mind-f*ck ever filmed” instantly transformed our weekend viewing plans (which previously consisted of watching Looper on a, um, loop).
At the end of last year we bid farewell to Dark Horse Comics’ long, accomplished run as shepherd of the Star Wars graphic novel universe. This week, Entertainment Weekly gave us our first look at the issue #1 of Marvel’s highly anticipated, million-selling takeover, which is set between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, and kicks off with everything we love about the galaxy far, far away: Cocky Han Solo, fussy C-3PO, and Leia in disguise.
Speaking of Star Wars #1, we’re finding it basically impossible to choose which cover we’re going to buy. With over 30 variants, collecting them all would be impressive… Most impressive. Peruse the gallery over on ComicBookMovie.com. (The Kenner throwback at the top of this post set our nostalgic hearts a-flutter.)
And while we’re talking about covers, A Dribble of Ink pointed us to the UK cover of China Miéville’s forthcoming collection, Three Moments of an Explosion: Stories, due out August 5 in the States. We’re still waiting on the US artwork. Due to staggered international release dates, we’ll also be waiting about a week longer than the Brits to get our hands on the book. As we may or may not own a complete signed set of every book the kraken-tattooed New Weird fantasist has ever published, we find this more than a little upsetting.