Category: Video Gaming

We’re still waiting for a premiere date for Silo Season 3, but fans of the Apple TV+ dystopian science fiction series can bide the time by reading the source material in a stylish new format. A Deluxe Collector’s Edition of Hugh Howey’s best-selling book Shift was published earlier this week. Season 3 of Silo is based on Shift, so it’s the perfect time to check out this stellar collection of novellas. Shift Deluxe Collector’s Edition is up for grabs for $37 at Amazon or Walmart.

Shift is the second book in the Silo series, though it takes place before Wool (Book 1). Fans can get a matching Wool Deluxe Collector’s Edition for only $20 (was $40) at Walmart. This deal was also available at Amazon, but it sold out earlier this week. Amazon and Walmart also have The Silo Series 3-Book Box Set for an all-time low of only $22, which is saying a lot because William Morrow published the paperback collection in 2020. And if you like ebooks, the Kindle edition of the box set is only $3 for a limited time.

$37 (was $40)

Each Deluxe Collector’s Edition has new cover art, sprayed edges, and illustrated endpapers. A full topographical map of the silos is printed in color on the inside of the dust jackets. Shift’s sprayed edges are blue, while Wool has red edges. In addition to the original three novellas that make up Shift, this 608-page edition has an original Silo short story by the author.

The first two seasons remained faithful to Wool while also carving their own path with unique character arcs and plot beats. It’s expected that Season 3 will also differ from Shift in some big ways while maintaining the general story arc from the book.

Shift and Wool are regularly referred to as novels, and they do read like novels, but sections of each book were originally released as novellas. Shift rewinds the clock roughly 200 years and chronicles the apocalypse as well as the creation of the eponymous Silos.

The stories are largely told from the perspective of congressman Donald Keane, who begins working on the Silo project in 2049. Throughout the three novellas, you learn more about E-Day and the global disasters that led to opening of Silo 1 in 2110. The final section in Shift leads into Wool.

Shift Deluxe Collector’s Edition:

• First Shift – Legacy: A Novella
• Second Shift – Order: A Novella
• Third Shift – Pact: A Novella
• An original short story

$20 (was $40)

The Deluxe Collector’s Edition of Wool has the same features as the new edition of Shift, just with red sprayed edges. Wool has received numerous paperback and hardcover editions since its debut in 2011, but this is easily the best-looking version. Fans should snag a copy for $20 at Walmart before the hardcover sells out like it did at Walmart.

This edition of Wool is 592 pages and includes four novellas and the short story titled Holston, which serves as Part 1 of the Silo series. Howey also wrote an original essay for this edition that has behind-the-scenes details about the Apple TV+ series.

Wool Deluxe Collector’s Edition:

• Holston: A short story
• Proper Gauge: A Novella
• Casting Off: A Novella
• The Unraveling: A Novella
• The Stranded: A Novella

We would guess Dust will get a matching Deluxe Collector’s Edition of its own next fall. For now, you’ll need to settle for a paperback copy, as the hardcover edition of Dust is very expensive on the reseller market.

• Wool Deluxe Collector’s Edition — $20 ($40)
• Shift Deluxe Collector’s Edition — $37 ($40)

Wool tells the tale of a world struggling to survive. What is left of humanity has been forced to live in an underground silo, as the world above is no longer fit for life. Things grow even more troublesome when the silo’s sheriff leaves his post, and a mechanic named Juliette is forced to take his place. What follows is a dramatic sci-fi epic that sees Juliette attempting to unravel a world-altering conspiracy.

Howey originally self-published Wool via Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing program. As mentioned, he released the book in chunks (novellas), which is reminiscent of serialized novels that were popular in the 1800s by authors such as Charles Dickens. The Martian author Andy Weir experienced similar success with a serialized release strategy, but Weir utilized his personal blog to deliver the story to readers.

Wool quickly became one of the early massive success stories on the Kindle publishing platform. That success led to a distribution deal for a print version of Wool and eventually a hit TV series. The Apple TV+ series debuted in 2023 to critical acclaim. The series will conclude its run with Season 4, which is expected to air late next year. This timeline could change depending on whether Season 3 winds up airing later this year or in early 2026.

The Silo Series also has an excellent audiobook version performed by Edoardo Ballerini. Audible members can get all three books for around $30, and non-members will wind up paying about $40. A graphic novel adaptation of Wool released in 2014 and is available for only $11.50 (was $19) in paperback.

More Fiction by Hugh Howey

Howey is also the author of multiple standalone novels and the best-selling duology called The Sand Chronicles. We’ve included a list of Howey’s other books beyond the Silo series below:

Upcoming Deluxe Edition Sci-Fi Novels

Several other popular contemporary sci-fi series are getting lavish new hardcover editions in the coming weeks. Dennis E. Taylor’s irreverent space epic Bobiverse is getting its first hardcover edition October 7. The first printing of We Are Legion (We Are Bob) has sprayed edges with “BOB” written over and over again. It also has fully illustrated endpapers. The best part is that We Are Legion’s Deluxe Edition is only $21 (was $30) at Amazon. Book 2, For We Are Many, is up for preorder for $27.90 (was $30), and Book 3, All These Worlds, is available for $30.

Meanwhile, Pierce Brown’s best-selling Red Rising Series is getting an even fancier hardcover edition on October 14. Red Rising Deluxe Slipcase Edition is up for preorder for $35 (was $50) at Amazon. This edition includes an illustrated foil slipcase, sprayed edges, a fold-out poster, and full-color endpapers.

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I’ve spent a not-insignificant portion of my waking hours the last few weeks thinking (and writing) about Hollow Knight: Silksong, but I may have actually spent more time replaying a description of the game from streamer Northernlion in my head over and over again like a Nick at Nite rerun.

While Silksong was the focal point of online gaming conversation from its late August release date announcement up until the launch of Borderlands 4, Northernlion not only cheerily avoided streaming it alongside other big Twitch channels, but spent the Silksong hype period roasting viewers who asked why he wasn’t playing it.

Just when you thought Fortnite already had too many battle royale modes, Epic Games goes and drops another one. The new mode, dubbed Delulu, is completely unlike any of the other battle royale variations because it does two things the others don’t: It has proximity voice chat, and encourages teaming mid-game with other players not in your group. But it’s also a mode where only one person comes out as the winner. Katniss and Peeta’s trick with the berries will not work here.

Delulu has been a blast so far, and matches feel vaguely like Epic mashed up its normal BR with its Party Royale mode–it’s a battle royale about socializing. You can use an emote specific to Delulu to join and exit other players’ parties on the fly. And since teaming is allowed in this mode, nothing prevents you from collaborating with even more players after you hit the max number for a party.

Since the social aspect is so crucial to the purpose of this mode, you’re required to have a mic, and have the in-game voice chat on and set to Everybody before you can even queue up for it. You can join a round with your friends, but everyone drops in alone, and you’ll eventually have to put them down if you want to win.

Right now, Delulu is live on the weekend only, which means it will be available from Friday morning until Monday morning–and it’s slated to return next Friday for the same span of time, too. And while it’s delightful, there’s a bit of a learning curve since there are some nuances to it that Fortnite itself will not explain to you, so we figured we’d take a moment to highlight three important things you should know as you drop into Fortnite Delulu.

There are no reboots in Delulu, but any play can resurrect any knocked player

No matter how you play it, Delulu is a solo mode that ends each round with just one winner. So when you’re dead, the round is over for you. There will be no rebooting you. However, Delulu players are always knocked before they die, and any other player can res you regardless of which team they’re on or if they’re even in a squad at all. It’s possible your foes will have mercy. It’s not unheard of.

The proximity chat effect applies to your squad, too

Nothing about the voice chat changes when you join a squad–you’ll still only be able to talk to each other when you’re in range of the proximity chat, unlike the way squad comms work in normal BR modes. You’ll want to keep that in mind when you find that your three teammates are all hanging out together out of your earshot–they might be planning to betray you.

Playing as a Delulu non-hostile actually works

While there are people who play Delulu the same way they would any other battle royale mode, most folks seem pretty willing to engage with the social aspect and just hang out. I’ve had games already where we had more than a dozen players roaming the countryside until the endgame forced us to turn on each other.

And, yes, I’ve had more than a few rounds that ended very abruptly after a group of sociopathic teens pretended to be chill, only to shoot me in the face when I let them get close, but I’ve had very few early deaths despite taking a pacifistic approach whenever I could. The whole thing is a lot less anxiety-inducing than I expected.

Don’t try to win in Delulu

While I understand that being the last person standing is the stated purpose of Delulu, this particular BR mode is best experienced with a “let’s see how this plays out” sort of view on things. It’s a rare situation where you can truly say that it’s more about the journey than the destination, and that’s because rounds of Delulu often play out in weird and unpredictable ways. In this mode, the most fun usually occurs from doing things completely differently than you would in the other battle royale modes.

Tyler “Ninja” Blevins has opened up about the state of his streaming career, including how “the internet and trolls” make sure to point out his decline in livestream viewers “every day.”

The content creator spoke about the ups and downs of his time online during an interview with the BBC. He’s dabbled in other popular multiplayer titles like Call of Duty and Marvel Rivals but is undeniably best known for his relationship with Epic Games’ battle royale hit, Fortnite. Ninja’s time with the building-centered shooter saw him become the first Twitch streamer to reach 10 million followers, and he even appeared in-game as a skin for fans to pick up and wear during matches.

Although he once held the title of the biggest streamer on Twitch, Ninja has spent recent years struggling to reach the same heights he did in the late 2010s. Moments like his famous stream with Drake still remain as gargantuan career highlights, but the last few years have been relatively quiet.

“I think I’m the only streamer on the planet who was pulling 100,000 viewers [per stream] consistently,” Ninja said, “but now, I think I get like seven or eight thousand combined from my Twitch and YouTube, if there isn’t a big update on Fortnite or [Marvel Rivals].”

It’s a drop in numbers that is hard to ignore, with the streamer putting at least some of the blame on Fortnite’s diminished popularity in recent months. He’s keeping his streaming schedule chugging along with 19.2 million Twitch followers and 23.7 million YouTube subscribers despite the viewership decline. Of course, that isn’t stopping naysayers from finding their way into his chat.

“So that’s something that the internet and trolls remind me of every day,” Ninja added. “The moderators are constantly banning and blocking. It’s literally every day that I’m getting berated online.”

He added: “It’s tough, man. The last couple of years have been rough.”

Ninja saw tremendous growth on Twitch before making a (brief) switch to Microsoft’s now-defunct livestream platform, Mixer, in 2019. He then made his return to Twitch in 2020, while also establishing himself on YouTube that same year.

Ninja has taken breaks from streaming in the past, and although it seems retirement is on his mind, it doesn’t sound like the kind of path even his biggest haters should expect him to take anytime soon.

“I still love it and have a community that is strong and stays with me,” he added. “I’m a gamer and an entertainer at heart – its in my blood.”

Ninja shared his thoughts on the ups and downs of his streaming career while prepping to launch a 24-hour charity event that kicked off earlier today, September 19. The Gaming for Cause livestream will see the streamer raising awareness about skin cancer following his own melanoma diagnosis in March 2024.

“Me and my wife were going to give to this cause no matter what because it’s going to be important to us for the rest of our lives but it’s not just about us giving our money its the awareness aspect too,” he added.

The Gaming for Cause livestream is currently available to watch on both Twitch and YouTube and has reached $117,190 of its $250,000 donation goal as of the time of this piece’s publication. For more on Ninja, you can see him tell actor Kevin Hart how the Drake livestream came to be.

Photo by Denise Truscello/Getty Images for Amazon’s Crown Channel.

Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).

Swiped is now available to stream on Hulu in the United States.

As an installment in her filmography, Swiped represents a major leap forward for director Rachel Lee Goldenberg. Coming up from direct-to-video entries for The Asylum and made-for-TV Lifetime movies, Goldenberg launched two more prominent features in 2020 with Valley Girl and Unpregnant, only for their rollouts to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Five years later, she now has Disney money to spend (although under the 20th Century Studios name) with Swiped, certainly her most high profile project yet, garnering a Toronto Film Festival premiere before launching on Hulu and Disney+ worldwide. However, the end result is a decent film that could have been stronger if it were willing to take as many risks as its subject.

Swiped Images