he glory that was Robotech has been recaptured by a newly launched official Web site dedicated to the 1980s series. Robotech consisted of three anime series imported from Japan, combined into one, dubbed into English and then syndicated around the United States. It was wildly popular and introduced a generation to Japanese animation, including the legendary Macross saga,
the first major story arc in the Robotech series.
Long-suffering Robotech fans--who saw a sequel to the series fail and have had to make do with novels, comic books and Macross imports for years--will salivate over the new site's features.
The "official news" section finally provides a place for fans to find out the real deal about upcoming Robotech releases, especially the new DVDs and re-released soundtrack. Those who thrive on gossip and rumor will find plenty of it in the site's discussion forums, where folks analyze every aspect of the series and speculate about what else might be coming down the pipe. There's also an encyclopedia, mecha write-ups, an official timeline and an episode guide. The encyclopedia and mecha write-ups are works in progress, but more content is promised.
Robotech.com also encourages fan interaction, awarding points for logging into the site, posting fan art work and other activities. The entire site's easy to navigate and even easier on the eyes. It's all more than enough to bring in new fans while reminding old ones of the series' heyday.
-- Kenneth Newquist
Site of the Week -- February 26, 2001
his page is Harlan Ellison's home on the net, the unimpeachable source for information on one of SF's most passionate and influential writers. An exhaustive guide to all things Ellison, Webderland contains everything a fan might need or care to know. It is all here--recent news, listings of coming appearances, photographs, a searchable bibliography and much more.
For surfers who have somehow missed out on Ellison's writing before now, Webderland offers tantalizing samples of his work. His story, "Paladin of the Lost Hour," is available in its entirety--both in text form and as a live reading. Non-fiction picks include older works, from the collection Stalking the Nightmare and an outstanding book of columns called An Edge in My Voice.. More recent essays discuss Ellison's 1996 quadruple bypass surgery and the role of science fiction in the Rancho Santa Fe mass suicide. Readers who find these samples are only sufficient as appetizers will be pleased to see that the Web page also provides information about the Harlan Ellison Recording Collection, a mail-order company which offers Ellison's books and recordings for sale.
For those who are already solid fans, Ellison Webderland contains a richness of personal information about the author. Nothing can compare to reading one of Ellison's autobiographical essays, but the presented accounts of some events--the formation of the groups Friends of Ellison and Enemies of Ellison, particularly--are highly entertaining. Get an express ticket right away to visit this site, the gateway into one of SF's most original universes. Ellison Webderland is well worth the trip.
-- A.M. Dellamonica
Site of the Week -- February 20, 2001
ometimes narrower is better. Searching for Star Wars on Google yields more than a million results, a quantity through which even the most diehard Lucas fan would be hard pressed to surf. Over on the Star Wars-specific search engine Bantha Tracks though, fans will find a far more focused database of just over 4,000 links. The number of links may not be as impressive as the big search engines, but their quality more than makes up for any numerical shortfalls.
The sites in the database are ranked and rated by Bantha Tracks' editors and visitors. Even better, each of the links includes icons to let folks know the site's 0-to-5 star rating, as well as whether or not it has any video, sound, graphics or links resources on its pages. Those are options that visitors won't find on most of the mega-search engines and it makes browsing for the good Star Wars sites a heck of a lot easier.
Like many of its kin, Bantha Tracks lets visitors browse its listings by category, but it also includes a "top-rated" page which lists the best sites by rating and number of votes. There's also a "hot sites" section that ranks sites by their traffic (how that traffic is measured isn't mentioned) and a "random site" link for those who are feeling a little lucky.
-- Kenneth Newquist
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