Wheel of Time, Clone Wars, and Howl's Moving Castle!

plus Original Fiction from Marko Kloos To view this email as a web page, go [here.]( [Tor.com Newsletter]( [Forward to a Friend]( WHEEL OF TIME [Why Doesn’t Randland Have an Actual Name?]( So, new readers might be rather late to the party here, but the question remains: why the heck doesn’t the world of The Wheel of Time have a name? The continent on which our story takes place consists of many nations bordered by named seas and named mountain ranges--including areas like the Blight, the Aiel Waste, Almoth Plain--that all get their own names. But the continent as a whole has no designation. Sylas K. Barrett takes a look at this weird quirk of the Wheel of Time series. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( CLONE WARS [The Finale of Star Wars: The Clone Wars Puts the Prequels Into Perspective]( After years of hiatus, we finally got the ending that The Clone Wars deserved. It’s been a rough ride in those last several episodes, moving through the parts of the story that match up with Revenge of the Sith. But it’s a fitting end to a show that has always been about one thing above all others: Making the Star Wars prequels make sense. Emmet Asher-Perrin shares some thoughts on the highly anticipated finale. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( ARTIST'S CORNER [The Art of the Cosmere: An Interview With Isaac Stewart]( Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere novels, including The Stormlight Archive and the Mistborn series, have developed a reputation for their rich worldbuilding. As part of that, Sanderson’s novels have become inextricably linked to a wide array of artwork, maps, and illustrations that are facets of the stories themselves. Drew McCaffrey sat down with Isaac Stewart, Art Director at Dragonsteel Entertainment, to talk about his work with Sanderson and creating the art of the Cosmere. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( SONTAR-HA! [Nine Bad Guys You Can Defeat in One Punch]( Fighting the bad guy can be an exciting climactic experience, but there are moments when you’re just hoping for a quick tussle and a cutscene to the next important part of your quest. Thankfully, there are some baddies who fit that bill! Here is a helpful list of nasty minions and villains who can be knocked out with one precise blow, including favorites from Doctor Who, Power Rangers, and more. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( INFINITY AND BEYOND [Far From Any Star: Five Stories About Rogue Worlds]( Rogue worlds, ejected from their home system billions of years ago, are commonplace in our galaxy. They are not quite so common in science fiction, but make a fascinating backdrop for action, adventure, and drama. James Davis Nicoll shares five classic sci-fi stories about naturally occurring rogue worlds, formed far from any star. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( A JEDI CRAVES NOT THESE THINGS [Yoda Was My First Rabbi]( It’s no secret that part of Star Wars’ enduring legacy is that people can find different aspects of the world that speak to them. For M. Evan Wolkenstein, Star Wars presented an otherwise counter-cultural notion: old stuff could be cool, and really, really old stuff could be really, really cool. A self-proclaimed Torah nerd and Star Wars nerd, Wolkenstein explores the intersection of Yoda’s teaching and Judaisim, and the journeys we go on to find spiritual connection. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( AMONG THE FLOWERS [You Can’t Eat Something That Talks: People and Cultures in Martha Wells’ Books of the Raksura]( Sometimes you think you’re talking about an invading army when you’re actually talking about a swarm of locusts. Not in the real world, mind you. But in speculative fiction things get complicated. Sometimes the army looks like the swarm— but sometimes the swarm looks like people. Kali Wallace discusses the rich diversity of the world in Martha Wells’ Raksura books, where we meet countless different species: None of them are human. All of them are people. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( A HEART IS A HEAVY BURDEN [Howl-ever It Moves You: Diana Wynne Jones and Hayao Miyazaki Do the Same Work With Different Stories]( We often see Asian stories adapted for a Western, English-speaking market, but Howl’s Moving Castle is one of the most famous cases of the reverse. Hayao Miyazaki’s 2004 film is a loose adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones’s 1986 novel, one which deeply understands the work the novel does: using popular fantasy tropes to interrogate and disprove dominant social narratives, and thus deprive them of their power. Elyse Martin delves into the nature of adaptations and deconstructing the narratives that are presented to us. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( ON THE STEPS [About Time: Fashion and the Space-Time Continuum, an SFF Met Gala]( Every year, the Metropolitan Museum of Art hosts a large fundraising gala in partnership with Vogue . Dubbed “fashion’s biggest night out,” the Met Gala draws celebrities, socialites, fashionistas, and anyone able to secure a coveted invite. This year’s event has been postponed, so instead we imagined what the Met Gala would be with all of our favorite fashion-forward characters from fiction. We humbly present About Time: Fashion and the Space-Time Continuum, a galaxy of fashion, hosted by Master of Ceremonies Cesar Flickerman & Effie Trinket. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( ORIGINAL FICTION [“Berlin Is Never Berlin” by Marko Kloos]( For over 25 years, the Wild Cards universe has been entertaining readers with stories of superpowered people in an alternate history. “Berlin is Never Berlin” by Marko Kloos draws upon the seedier side of the city, beyond the dance club lights and all-night parties, as one bodyguard with a certain feline distinction goes on the prowl…. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( Follow Tor.com to get updates on all of our original fiction. 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