Robot Fights, Hobbits, and Hellish Homes

To view this email as a web page, go [here.]( [Tor.com Newsletter]( [Forward to a Friend]( ROCK 'EM SOCK 'EM [Five Epic Robot and Mecha Battles]( Since the dawn of time, humanity has dreamed of seeing giant robots punching each other. While there’s still a long way to go when it comes to battling robots in reality, fiction has given us a plethora of epic mecha battles. Django Wexler shares a few favorites from anime and beyond. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( YOU SHALL NOT PASS [The Fellowship of the Ring and the Memes of Middle-earth]( As befits their popularity, J.R.R. Tolkien’s works are full of lines that have embedded themselves in our collective consciousness. The Hobbit’s first sentence, for example, is among the most famous opening lines in English literature. But some of the most iconic lines from the movie version of The Fellowship of the Ring aren’t in the book at all… Austin Gilkeson dives into the ways in which the first film in Peter Jackson’s trilogy lives on in our cultural memory. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( WILSON! [Five SFF Tales of Survival in a Strange Place (or Time)]( Travellers to foreign lands often reject opportunities to enjoy the unfamiliar, preferring to sequester themselves in comfortable enclaves that are just like home. Thankfully there are plenty of SFF novels that up the stakes by marooning the protagonist far from home and taking away all their comforts. James Davis Nicoll discusses five speculative books about castaways, and survival in a strange new environment. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( HEAVEN & HELL [Hell or Something Like It: C.S. Lewis and The Great Divorce]( Lewis spent almost ten years reflecting on the thoughts that eventually came together to form The Great Divorce, a book that asks big questions like Who goes to Hell? And who goes to Heaven? Matt Mikalatos begins a reread of one of C.S. Lewis’ more philosophical works. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( GOTHIC EVOLUTIONS [How Gothic Fiction Changes in the Hands of Historically Marginalized Writers]( Gothic fiction has long been defined by its Eurocentric views and its obsession with class, race, and sexuality that favor the straight, white, rich people that fill its pages. But genre is adaptable, and we’re now seeing gothic fiction, particularly gothic horror, being remade once again, this time with a focus on characters from historically marginalized and excluded backgrounds. Kalynn Bayron takes a look at works of gothic fiction from underrepresented voices. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( EXTREME HOME MAKEOVER [Five SFF Homes from Hell]( Finding a new place to live can be stressful, especially if the house (or planet) is...let’s say, unwelcoming. Unsurprisingly, speculative fiction authors have been swift to see the narrative potential in home renovation. Here are five fictional homes you might want to avoid at all costs. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( MAGIC & ART [The History of Papercutting and the Magic of The Chosen and the Beautiful]( In the world of Nghi Vo’s The Chosen and the Beautiful, magic is a force not unlike electricity, ready to be wielded by the powerful and privileged. Jordan Baker is a naturally talented magician with an instinctive knack for the magic that is inherent to her lost homeland but unknown in the west — papercutting. Vo shares some insight into the history of papercutting as an artform and the magic of transformation. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( ORIGINAL FICTION [“Now We Paint Worlds” by Matt Kressel]( Orna, a representative of a universe-wide trade union, undergoes a drastic change in perspective while investigating the disappearance of three planets and their inhabitants on a newly terraformed world. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( Follow Tor.com to get updates on all of our original fiction. FOLLOW US: [Follow Us on Facebook]( [Follow Us on Twitter]( [Follow Us on Tumblr]( [Follow Us on Pinterest]( This email was sent by: Macmillan 120 Broadway New York, NY, 10271, US We respect your right to privacy - [view our policy]( Macmillan believes piracy hurts writers, readers and everyone who loves books. Learn more and report suspicious activity [here.]( To subscribe to this or other email communications from Macmillan, please click [here](. Visit our [profile center]( to update your email address and/or other information. If you no longer wish to receive this email communication, click [here]( to unsubscribe.