he Encyclopedia of Arda is a tremendous resource for J.R.R. Tolkien's works, providing thousands of entries about the world of The Lord of the Rings.
The site is organized according to indexes, starting with an alphabetical listing and continuing with ones based on race (including men, elves, dwarves and dragons), places (such as cities, natural features and realms) and miscellaneous (featuring animals, plants, events, songs, languages and calendars).
Each individual entry is extensively hyperlinked—for example, the "Battle of Pelennor Fields," which takes place in Return of the King and involves the fight for Minas Tirith, includes hyperlinks for the aforementioned town, Sauron, Gandalf, the Rohirrim and Gondor. Where possible, maps are included, as well as notes about planned updates (including exactly how many updates are planned).
While the site's good as a reference, it has several other interesting features. Its list of "old and rare words" defines all of the obscure English words that Tolkien used in the novels. The "interactive calendar" allows the user to choose a real-world date like "16 March" and get all of the Middle-earth equivalents, such as 24 Rethe by Shire reckoning. Also good are the site's two moviegoers' guides, which dissect the Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers movies, comparing and contrasting the plots and characters with the books.
While the Web version of the encyclopedia is available for free, diehards can choose to buy a downloadable version in Adobe Acrobat format. The offline version includes search tools, interactive tools, bookmarks and a year's worth of updates (a slightly more expensive version features a lifetime of updates).
— Kenneth Newquist
Site of the Week—March 17, 2003
ci-Fi Guys is a Web site and newsletter offering science-fiction news and rumors. That's hardly anything new on the Internet, which has hundreds, if not thousands, of fans who do the same thing. But
no one does it with quite the same mix of humor and geeky insight as the Sci-Fi Guys.
A roughly twice-a-month e-mail newsletter is the driving force behind Sci-Fi Guys. Each one starts off with "Long Range Scans," which features news and rumors coupled with geek-friendly punchlines and inside jokes. The news roundup is followed by the "Issue Arena," which lets readers sound off on topic thrown out by the Guys—the best two responses appear in the next newsletter. After that come movie and book reviews, followed in turn by editor commentary. Also good is the "Sci-Fi Guru," who attempts to answer all manner of science-fiction questions, ranging from "Did Tolkien invent hobbits?" to "Was Ashley Judd on Star Trek?"
Those who choose not to subscribe to the newsletter can still get their Sci-Fi Guys fix by visiting the Web site, which features news from the latest addition, as well as an extensive archive dating back to 1998.
— Ken Newquist
Site of the Week—March 10, 2003
hile Ghostbusters 3 may be deader than the ghosts that the boys in gray usually chase, loyal fans will find that the franchise lives on at Ghostbusters.net.
The fan site opens with a news page carrying all of the latest rumors about the Ghostbusters, many of which originate on its own discussion boards. Recent speculation revolves around a new cartoon or comic book that promises to return the focus back to the original four Ghostbusters. The news is backed up with prototype art, so folks can check it out and decide for themselves whether it's really going to happen. The news page also includes announcements about rare memorabilia that's up for bid on eBay and announcements of new GB-inspired software.
Separate sections represent all of Ghostbusters' incarnations, from the original movie to its sequel, the "real" Ghostbusters cartoon and its own "extreme" Ghostbusters follow-up. Each section includes links to related news items, fan fiction and props, and the two cartoons' home pages even include links that let fans watch episodes online via RealVideo. The quality isn't spectacular, but for those who missed out on a particular episode of one of the series, it's a godsend.
The site offers interviews with writers, actors, artists and others associated with the Ghostbusters legacy, links to all manner of movie and TV merchandise, numerous links to other GB Web sites and even a Doom II conversion that lets players recreate the original movie. The props section is worthy of special note—it includes not only photos of props created by fans, but also plans and tips so that visitors can build their own reproductions.
— Kenneth Newquist
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