Few names in the science fiction literary world carry as much weight and respect as author Alan Dean Foster. His award-winning 55-year career as a grandmaster of the genre continues with his latest novel from Blackstone Publishing, "Lost on Paradise", and we have an exclusive excerpt to share with our readers ahead of its release this week.

Foster famously ghost-wrote the first "Star Wars" novelization for George Lucas in 1976 and "Splinter of the Mind’s Eye" in 1978, which was intended to be a low-budget Star Wars sequel should the space opera not become a hit. He’s been a mainstay for go-to fantastic adventures featuring engaging characters, dynamic plotlines, and imaginative worlds for six decades.

In addition to crafting the screen story for "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," Foster also wrote the novelizations for the first three "Alien" films, Disney's "The Black Hole," John Carpenter's "The Thing," "The Last Starfighter," "Star Trek," "Transformers," "Terminator: Salvation", and many more.

The near-future, off-world escapades of "Lost On Paradise" are the latest addition to Foster’s acclaimed bounty of bestselling standalone novels and series, including the popular "Spellsinger" series.

"Earth is crowded, polluted, and dismal," states the novel's synopsis. "Like millions of others, Jonos and Liina scrape by on her poorly paying job and what little money he gets selling items scavenged from rich people’s trash. Like millions of others, Jonos and Liina dream of Paradise.

"Paradise: a beautiful, clean, verdant world where three races live in harmony—at least, according to the videos sent back to Earth. There are the Eiquan, masters of astonishing technology; the Lusanata, hunters and farmers; and humans, who may be restricted to a few scattered settlements, but still live a life ten times better than those on Earth.

"On the run after a criminal act, Jonos and Liina finally escape to Paradise. It's everything they hoped for. Until tragedy strikes."

The genesis of Foster's "Lost on Paradise" is something that’s been percolating in his fertile mind for many years.

"I had this notion of a planet called Paradise where everything is perfect, and everything on Earth is seriously messed up," Foster tells Space. "There’s this couple who have problems; they’re poor like everybody else.

"And you have a unique male protagonist because he recognizes that his female partner is smarter than him, so she’s the brains of the outfit, and he supplies the muscle. Although he's not stupid. Too often you get a big, hulking guy with no brains. But she has a potentially fatal disease, and they’re trying to get away like a lot of poor people in the world today. So here's a place called Paradise. How do you get there? It’s expensive and difficult. And what happens if they do? Maybe Paradise isn’t always Paradise."

In crafting a deteriorating New York some 150 years or so down the calendar, it was important to stay sharp regarding developments that pop up in the news to avoid any internal logic conflicts.

"You just don’t want to get caught out by a scientific development that you postulate is near future when it's actually contemporary," explains Foster. "So I was very careful with that. But as you’re building out an alien environment and one that’s supposed to be perfect and beautiful, and then there’s maybe some things about it that aren’t, what do you introduce to show that?

"You don’t want to contradict yourself when you’re worldbuilding. That's a large problem that’s unfortunately common in science fiction," notes Foster. "Where somebody is breathing air, and suddenly they’re breathing methane, and it just doesn’t work. There’s a lot of different variables that come together that prove that Paradise is Paradise in some ways and not in others. A good example would be when the first Europeans reached Tahiti. The problem was that the people who entered this Paradise brought venereal disease and smallpox, to which the Polynesians had no resistance. So it's Paradise until you get there, and then maybe you mess it up."

Now enjoy our exclusive chapter excerpt from Alan Dean Foster’s "Lost On Paradise." Published by Blackstone Publishing.

Why shouldn’t a man and a woman in his and Liina’s position try to get to Paradise? Jonos mused as he treaded his way homeward. Though morning continued its ascent, the sun did not. Or so it seemed, when the omnipresent pollution often rendered day as dark as night. The gloom was useful for masking scavenging activities and for concealing one’s identity. It was less suitable for more plebian activities such as breathing and eating. Or living. Life on Earth sucked.

But on Paradise…

To emigrant humans it went without saying that Paradise was aptly named. Everyone had heard the stories. On Paradise a person could breathe freely. Without a mask, without fear of needing lung implants, without having to worry about inhaling a soupçon of strychnine or similar industrial pollutants. On Paradise food was plentiful and fresh, water devoid of contaminants. There was work, too, for anyone willing to adapt to entirely new surroundings, for those willing to acknowledge the much-talked-about overlordship of the dominant species. For arrivals willing to submit to the experimental, ever-evolving social structure, and to the limitations that were placed on newcomers, the technologically superior Eiquans professed an indifference that amounted to a willing welcome.

Or so the compendium of hugely diverse anecdotes insisted. That’s all they were, Jonos knew. Stories and speculation, rumors and conjecture. Ignoring the spotty rain that had begun to fall, he turned a corner and nearly ran over a couple who scrambled to get out of his way. The man he had accidentally jostled started to say something, quickly realized the size of the individual he was about to chastise, and mumbled on his way, dragging a woman—likely his wife—with him. Jonos paid them no mind. Half of him was engaged in navigating his way home, the other half in dreaming of what Paradise might actually be like.

In truth, he had never met anyone who had actually been to Paradise. He had never met anyone who knew anyone who had been to Paradise. That did not make the distant world any less real. The media periodically released vits and images of the place. These showed an Earth-like planet swathed in an atmosphere perfectly suitable for humans. The indigenous wildlife was fascinating, the few but thriving, improvised communities intriguing, and the rarely seen Eiquans themselves tall, gracile, and sophisticated. So what if they weren’t humanoid? They were bisymmetrical, anyway, highly intelligent, and by all accounts no worse than indifferent to the interests of other species. So beautiful and graceful was their slender physicality, so mellifluous their speech, that even though they were quite alien the idea of living among them held no fear for Jonos.

Anything, he knew, would be a step up from Earth.

Taschen, purveyors of fine art and design special-edition books, have teamed up with George Lucas and his newly opened Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles to present a masterful two-volume catalog of the museum’s illuminating offerings.

Housed in a sturdy slipcase, readers will discover a pair of lavishly illustrated volumes spanning 832 pages and tipping the scales at nearly 14 pounds. At $200 for the pair, it's not cheap, but look on the bright side; hoisting these illustrated tomes will save you a subscription to your local gym!

This immersive collection documents in great detail the astounding scope of rare items on display in Lucas’s treasury of paintings, murals, photographs, sculptures, posters, comic strips, illustrations, costumes, and magazine covers that have spurred humankind’s imagination.

We'd absolutely recommend checking out the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in person if you can.

Our own Chelsea Gohd visited the Los Angeles-based museum ahead of its opening in September 2026 and adored it. But if you're not a California local, getting lost in this collection's glossy pages is the next best thing to roaming the museum exhibitions on a rainy afternoon.

Far beyond a mere companion to the marvels inside the fantastic spaceship-shaped building poised near the University of Southern California campus — the same institution where Lucas attended film school in the late 1960s — these bold editions are an adventure in their own right.

Waiting to be absorbed is an impressive assortment of storytelling expression that showcases beautiful works by everyone from Maxfield Parrish, N.C. Wyeth, and Norman Rockwell to Frank Frazetta, Jack Kirby, and Ralph McQuarrie. Lucas and his wife, Mellody Hobson, curated the museum’s contents that represent decades of collecting narrative art in all of its forms.

Our friends at Taschen were gracious enough to send us one of these Lucas Museum of Narrative Art special editions, and in unboxing this magnificent pair of books, one can feel the quality in the deluxe binding and thick covers. Inside you’ll find an eye-popping array of full-color photography and sharp descriptions for hundreds of artworks, all hand-picked by Lucas and Hobson.

Lucas himself delivers the preface, which is titled "The Art of Story," where he professes his love of art, myth, anthropology, illustrators, and cinema. He recalls when he came to meet his mentor, Professor Joseph Campbell, and how he amassed 40,000 pieces of art beginning when he was a student at USC.

The great director Guillermo del Toro provides a heartfelt foreword praising the importance of the museum and these prestigious companion volumes depicting a multitude of visual wonders.

Between the duo of volumes, sections are divided into chapters dealing with topics such as history, children's stories, the American West, everyday life, romance and adventure, photography, science fiction and fantasy, and, of course, Star Wars in Motion.

They take you on an overwhelming journey through the gallery’s incredibly diverse holdings, not least of which are archival items and concept art chronicling Lucas's involvement in the galaxy far, far away.

This remarkable "Star Wars" section will be of particular interest to sci-fi aficionados, as it contains 100 pages of original props, paintings, concept artwork, costumes, models, and digital renderings created by some of Lucasfilm and Industrial Light and Magic’s best and brightest talents.

Taken with the rest of the 832 combined pages of Taschen's ambitious release that fully captures the dizzying breadth of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, it's a brilliant keepsake to spark your soul and imagination.

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art two-book collection is available now via Taschen's website and Amazon.

Cue the depressing rain, dark trench coats, and a dire dystopian dirge because the Blade Runner 2099 trailer is here!

Cyberpunk is charging back in confident fashion with Prime Video's latest detour into the neon-drenched dystopia of humans and rogue replicants first introduced in director Sir Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" from 1982, then revisited in Denis Villeneuve's "Blade Runner 2049."

Arriving Nov. 25, 2026, "Blade Runner 2099"'s plot turns the tables as resentful artificial beings are now the ones running the show and hunting down Earth’s humans after a successful uprising against their original makers.

This newest atmospheric trailer was unveiled at last week’s New York Comic-Con and has us totally jacked to re-immerse ourselves in that noirish futuristic realm.

Check it out below:

It’s executive produced by showrunner Silka Louisa ("Shining Girls”) and stars Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh ("Everything Everywhere All at Once") as Olwen, playing a fading replicant Blade Runner who joins forces with Hunter Schafer’s ("Euphoria") Cora, a pure human on the run attempting to evade a squad of exterminating Blade Runners while examining their existential natures.

But aside from the dazzling visuals of the City of Angels at the gates of the 22nd century, fans will also be strapping in for some cool outer space action, as evidenced by fresh footage delivering some arresting scenes of space travel, off-world planets, and Yeoh in a bizarre helmet.

"Blade Runner 2099"'s cast includes Dimitri Abold ("The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes") and Lewis Gribben ("Somewhere Boy”) alongside Katelyn Rose Downey ("The Nun II"), Daniel Rigby ('Renegade Nell"), Johnny Harris ("A Gentleman in Moscow"), Amy Lennox ("Only Child"), Sheila Atim ("The Woman King") and Matthew Needham ("House of the Dragon”).

Launching with an 8-episode debut season and executive produced by Scott Free Productions, "Blade Runner 2099" and its new world order lands on Prime Video on Nov. 25, 2026.

HBO and HBO Max's "Lanterns" served up its big cliffhanger finale on Oct. 4, 2026, and we’ve been slowly digesting thoughts on what the creative direction and ultimate legacy of this debut season were.

While by no means a perfect experiment in trying to shake up the aging superhero genre, there are enough worthy elements to consider this sci-fi mystery show an evolutionary step towards the next generation of comic-based storytelling.

After the emerald-tinted dust has settled, there are many lingering questions about where this acclaimed series from creators Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King might be headed and where the twists and turns might lead for a sophomore season should it be greenlit (get it?) for a triumphant return.

Warning: Major Spoilers For "Lanterns" Season 1 Ahead!

One of "Lanterns"' standout achievements is revealing the true costs of superheroism by deconstructing its DNA and examining the ugly guts of it all.

It dives into the fear, trauma, and seduction that drive humans to take up the serious business of protecting the universe and doling out justice against both Earth-bound evil and intergalactic threats. "Lanterns" also explores mental health issues and PTSD that are the inevitable byproducts of a life of unimaginable violence. The compelling series achieves a provocative dissection of it all with rare confidence without the overindulgence of distracting CGI tossed in for sheer spectacle.

It might not have been exactly the Green Lantern TV series fans wanted, but it was the show we got, and kinda the show we needed. Sure, for a series about a noble order of intergalactic space cops, we were treated to very little cosmic action, and instead we're given a grounded slow-burn police procedural à la "True Detective."

As I said before, it's not perfect, but we shouldn’t dismiss "Lanterns" for its mild shortcomings when it gets so much right. We're willing a second season into existence, and with an average of 20 million global viewers and solid reviews, HBO/HBO Max would be very wise to bring it back.

Whether a second season shifts into the heavens to rocket off on an outer space trajectory for a follow-up season is yet to be seen. For now, though, the Lanterns season one finale has left us with plenty of questions to ponder.

Is Hal Jordan really dead?

"Lanterns"' season finale revealed that Kerry, in an unhinged moment of maternal panic trying to protect her mutant son, Noah, had put a bullet in Hal's head. RIP to the original Green Lantern... or is it?

Kyle Chandler was a fantastic choice to play Hal Jordan, and he brought a charismatic gravitas and twisted sense of humor to the storied comic character. His sudden death in Rushville, frozen in the bleachers of the high school football stadium, certainly looked final, but this is the wild topsy-turvy universe of superheroes, so anything is possible.

And don’t forget that the newly-freed Thaal Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen) told the AI “Halogram” and Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart on Antaan's dead planet that the magical green ring could be used to restore Hal’s life. But Sinestro is a sly, slippery foe and is never to be trusted!

Online speculation has proposed that Hal Jordan might be revived and enter the series as Parallax, the living embodiment of fear, but that’s not likely according to the series creators. What’s more probable is that we either see Chandler's Hal Jordan revived, or he'll just turn up in occasional flashbacks or Halogram pop-in scenes.

John Stewart goes rogue?

With his unsanctioned lantern battery now in hand to power his ring, Stewart has become an independent contractor protecting Earth for Guy Gardner’s (Nathan Fillion) Sector 2814.

Fortified with the Sinestro-forged yellow charging unit deemed illegal by the Guardians and the broader members of the Green Lantern Corps., this unattached Lantern is now free to make sure Noah doesn’t turn to the dark side and lean into his evil Manhunter programming.

Will Stewart be seduced into the path of corruption by using Sinestro’s emotionally tainted battery, or steel himself against ill influences and continue to blaze his own trail as Earth's sole protector for the time being?

As a gold-toothed Gardner tells Stewart, "When I take this bull**** up back to Oa, they’re gonna send an army to put you down." This sounds like the perfect setup for an eventful "Lanterns" season 2 where the Lantern Corps come to take Jordan in, dead or alive. It’ll be interesting to see which of the infamous space cops they eventually send. This ain't over!

Noah Macon the Manhunter

Sheriff Kerry Kane (Kelly Macdonald) and the dorky Billy Macon’s (Jason Ritter) immaculately conceived son, Noah, is outed as a Human-Manhunter hybrid that came into being after Kerry’s initial encounter with Manhunter Zoe years ago.

He might be one helluva gunslinging high school quarterback now, but that pales in comparison to what he could become using his frightful shapeshifting Manhunter genes inherited from his grandmother.

With his new Nebraska collegiate ball cap and now headed off to university, the sleeper agent has some vital decisions to make way beyond declaring a major. His desire will be to wipe out the Green Lanterns and the Guardians, but Earthly domination might come first unless he pledges to subdue his instincts and lead a normal life. And is Noah really the last Manhunter, or are there legions more ready to activate?

Sinestro's fate?

Spazkaban (or Space Azkaban), the notorious cosmic penitentiary controlled by the Guardians, lost one of its most lethal inhabitants in the crimson-skinned Sinestro when Noah (Shea Pritchard), the nascent Manhunter, broke him out of jail to craft him a yellow fear-based lantern.

This persuasive villain was last seen wrapped in chains in the season finale, "Dirt and Stars," being dunked in the waters of madness by Stewart on the poison planet after a portal hop, before trying to coerce Halogram to deliver the prized ring for Jordan's resurrection.

Avid comic fans know Sinestro once commanded his own intergalactic corp that fed upon the addictive yellow glare of fear instead of the emerald light’s will-imposed power.

Will he unite with Noah to take down the manipulative Guardians of the Universe and their legion of space-bound enforcers, the Green Lanterns? Will Noah break bad or go good? And is it possible for Sinestro to forge another yellow lantern and a custom companion ring to escape captivity? As Sinestro explains, "If harnessed correctly, fear can be the most powerful force in the universe."

Shards of "Lanterns" will invariably bleed over into James Gunn's "Superman" sequel, "Man of Tomorrow," which soars to theaters on July 9, 2027, so there’s still a lot of life left in DC Studios' DCU.

All 8 episodes of "Lanterns" season 1 are available on HBO and HBO Max.

The eighth episode of Apple TV's "Dark Matter" season 2 has just dropped, and we're all on the edge of our seats trying to guess how the strange saga of Jason (Joel Edgerton) and Daniela (Jennifer Connelly) Dessen is going to finish up. Not even fans of the books know, as this superb adaptation of NYT bestselling author Blake Crouch's 2016 novel broke out of its source material for season 2.

For Edgerton and Connelly, "Dark Matter" has been a whirlwind project as their characters search for a safe alternate universe while being pursued by a multiplicity of Jasons. The physical rigors and emotional toll of shooting the show and presenting its nuanced storytelling often proved difficult.

"There's two exhaustions that I’ve found in movie work," Edgerton tells Space. "It's either mental exhaustion from going to dark emotional places in your brain or complex dialogue stuff. Then there's the physical challenges, like for doing a fight scene. One of the weirdest ones on 'Dark Matter' was doing a gravity scene where we’re dangling on wires inside The Box. There's something deeply exhausting about it and a bit humiliating. You feel like a human teabag."

Connelly was also a part of that tough sequence and reflects on Edgerton’s tireless fortitude.

"Joel's schedule on this show is really brutal," she notes. "He's in almost all of it. This season is better, but season 1 was crazy for him. It’s surprising; sometimes the things that are most difficult are the ones you don’t anticipate. That's more exhausting at the end of the day after trying to get something to work that you didn’t think would be tricky. I like the days that are tiring because you feel drained because you’ve explored a lot in a scene. That's a nice feeling."

For Edgerton, the simplest thing to remember is that when practicing your craft, always make sure that you go home each day feeling satisfied with what you shot.

"There's nothing worse than going home and thinking that you didn’t get the best out of yourself," he reveals. "As they say, as actors we're not digging trenches. It's not hard physical labor; it's a different kind of thing. Until actually I shot a movie where I had to dig a trench."

Working with Blake Crouch on the series and its unnerving portrait of a marriage strewn across the infinite multiverse has produced new insights into their own lives.

"I find there’s something to be learned from each experience as an actor," notes Edgerton. "Each story takes you through something, whether you like to think it or not.

"You either learn a skill or meet an actor that you admire, and they teach you something inspired by their presence. We were tasked with helping Blake build the disintegration of a marriage, and it's the opposite of what you’re hoping for in real life. That each day you hope you're turning up contributing in a positive way to your relationship rather than engineering its demise. It makes you think about how you can be a better person in life. And there's always room for improvement."

Likewise, Connelly sees a sort of emotional mirroring effect to be absorbed that extends beyond "Dark Matter's" detailed sets, dizzying locations, and sound stages.

"I think Daniela, at a point when Jason is going down paths, and they're struggling, recognizes that sometimes it's hard to distinguish what is really the other person and what we’re bringing to our perception of them," she adds.

"She has things in her history that bias her vision, and she takes herself off on a journey to reconcile those things and try to take responsibility for healing. And that's a good lesson to remember in relationships in general. Being on top of one's own part of the dynamic. Sometimes things we see in each other are really things within ourselves."

"Dark Matter" season 2 airs each Friday exclusively on Apple TV, with the season finale (and perhaps the series end if not renewed) arriving on Oct. 30, 2026.