Before A Talent to Amuse, before Father of the Bride of Frankenstein, before even Time On My Hands, Daniel M. Kimmel’s Jar Jar Binks Must Die took the sf world by storm, earning him a Hugo Award nomination and a permanent place in the pop culture pantheon. That was fifteen years ago. Now the film critic-turned-novelist returns to his professional roots with Schrödinger’s Dinner Party: more observations on science fiction and movies.

Jar Jar Binks Must Die, published in 2011, is a collection of essays on science fiction classics—film classics—as well as the less-than-classics that are just plain fun. Kimmel is a film critic and a science fiction fan, and in that volume, he combined those two life-long passions for the first time.
 
Now, with Schrödinger’s Dinner Party, Kimmel is back with fifteen more years worth of new film commentary—including “A Guilty Pleasure Four Decades Later,” “Oh, Grow Up, Steven,” “A Matter of Bad Timing,” “What Do Women Want? What Do Men Want?,” and of course the title essay. Once again, he covers the range of science fiction movies from the very beginning to the potential classics of today, telling us not only why we want to watch them, but in some cases why they shouldn’t have been made.
 
Kimmel hasn’t lost his edge in those fifteen years; he’s honed it. But here are a few reviews of Jar Jar Binks Must Die, to remind you of who we’re talking about:

“Displays expertise on the subject along with a lively sense of humor.” —Edge Boston
 
“Powerful and serious and smart and even sassy at points.” —The Drink Tank
 
“This is the guy you want sitting next to you when Channel 45 has a weekend ‘sci-fi’ movie marathon.” —Analog
 
“One is left wanting more, which is a testament to Kimmel’s writing abilities.” —Sci-Fi Movie Page
 
“Kimmel’s a terrific guide to classic though underappreciated works.… his brief essays are addictively readable.” —The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
 
“This is an encyclopedic mind at work.” —Amazing Stories
 
Schrödinger’s Dinner Party… more observations on science fiction and movies
by Daniel M. Kimmel
256 pages, November 24, 2026
case laminate hardcover: $26.99, ISBN 978-1-5154-6999-5
trade paperback: $16.99, ISBN 978-1-5154-7000-7
 
Schrödinger’s Dinner Party—and all Fantastic Books books—are distributed via Ingram. Review copies are available upon request.