Omni Daily News

Crichton's legacy: HarperCollins will publish a new novel by Michael Crichton this fall entitled Pirate Latitudes, a historical novel that may seem to be a departure from his bestselling science and technology-driven thrillers. Pirate Latitudes is one of two books by the cryptic author ("Mr. Crichton was 'the most private of all authors that I have ever met in my life'...he never showed his agent or his editor any material before he had a complete draft"), discovered posthumously by his assistant after he passed away last November. [via The New York Times]

Last chance to vote: Vote today for the worthiest title in Audible's Tournament of Audiobooks--it's Stieg Larsson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo vs. Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book. Watch for our report on the winner tomorrow. Audible's prediction? "Not even Gaiman's shiny Newbery Medal can protect him from this fire breathing Dragon."

Goodbye, Gabo? It's been reported that Gabriel Garcia Marquez has decided to stop writing. Reading the report over at The Guardian, I have to say it feels like a noble choice. I could (if not so easily) read and re-read his books for the rest of my life and continue to find them as epic and beautifully complex as ever. [via The Daily Beast] Update [via GalleyCat]: Says GGM: "My job is to write, not to publish ... I'll know when the pastries that I have in the oven are ready for the eating."

Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto: Did you know that "robotics" and eight other now-common-ish words and phrases had their genesis in science fiction? Fun trivia even for a non sci-fi fan like myself (and I particularly love the extended commentary on the origins of "robot." Oh, the righteousness!) [via The Oxford University Press blog and BoingBoing] --Anne