These Are The Best Things I Wrote In 2015

  2015 was a really great year in a lot of ways. I began working at io9/Gizmodo as their weekend editor, as well as Barnes and Noble's SciFi and Fantasy blog.

Over the course of the year, I had the chance to write some pieces that I'm really pleased with, and I rounded them up here.

Word broke that the first standalone Star Wars film would be called Rogue One, which got me excited, because hey! Rogue Squadron! The film isn't the about Rogue Squadron, but it's fun to dream. I wrote up a short history for Barnes and Noble. Before Star Wars: Rogue One Takes Off, a History of the X-Wing Series

The Expanse have been some of my favorite books, and when the television show went into production, I began writing about how the entire story came together. This piece had me interviewing a bunch of people, and visiting the set of the show up in Toronto. Evolution of a Space Epic: James S.A. Corey’s The Expanse

In March, I was a guest at Vericon, where Ken Liu was discussing translations and that got me thinking about the history of Chinese science fiction. I began researching, and it turned into a fantastic history. Narratives of Modernization: China’s History of Science Fiction

I've been a long-time Star Wars EU fan, eating up the books throughout high school. As the new films were coming up, I decided that I wanted to look a bit deeper into the history behind the SWEU, how it formed and where it headed. This turned into a five part series that I'm very, very proud of.

• Building a Galaxy Far, Far Away: The Story of the Star Wars Expanded Universe, Episode I
• Building a Galaxy Far Far Away: Heir to the Films (1990-1994)
• Building a Galaxy Far, Far Away: New Stories (1995-1998)
• Building a Galaxy Far, Far Away: New Publisher, New Directions (1998-2005)
• Building a Galaxy Far, Far Away: Endings and Beginnings (2006-2015…and Beyond)

I've also wanted to write for Clarkesworld, and when the opportunity came up to write some nonfiction for them, I looked into the history of Mars and science fiction in Destination: Mars.

I've been writing for io9 and Gizmodo now for years, but as their Weekend Editor, I've been working for them directly now. It's a very fun job, and I've gotten to write up a bunch of high-profile reviews and features for them.

• The Very Best Science Fiction And Fantasy Books Of 2015
• The Man In The High Castle Is This Year’s Most Political Show, And What It Reveals Is Frightening
• Our Visit to the Mind-Blowingly Realistic Spaceship Sets of Syfy’s The Expanse
• The First Time NASA Docked with a Soviet Spacecraft in Orbit
• RIP Melissa Mathison, The Woman Who Gave Us E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
• To Save The Alien Universe, Fox Should Take A Leaf From Marvel’s Playbook
• This Is What The 2015 Hugo Ballot Should Have Been
• A Girl Was Bullied For Liking Star Wars, And Was Helped In The Best Way 
• Can A Home Drone Kill You? The Mythbusters Test With A Chicken Says Yes
• So You Want To Join The Empire: Building Stormtrooper Armor

In particular, I got to write up a couple of detailed histories on two highly visible (thanks to NASA) points in the Solar System, Ceres and Pluto. These were a ton of fun to research and write:

• When We Discovered Pluto, It Changed How We Saw The Solar System
• The Complete History Of Ceres, The Planet (?) Between Mars And Jupiter

Finally, for Kirkus Reviews, I've been continuing my column on the history of science fiction. This has been a fun year, but the post that stands out the most for me is about Kim Stanley Robinson, and his Mars trilogy: Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars.

In other places, Fragmented was recorded as a podcast, I tore a book to shreds and got to interview one of my favorite authors at one of my favorite bookstores. Oh, and met Colin Trevorrow, who'll be directing Star Wars: Episode 9.

Now, I've left work at Norwich to do this full time. I've got a bunch of projects in the works, and I'm excited to see just what comes up in the next 12 months.