n the beginning, writers of fan fiction primarily turned out stand-alone short stories—amateur attempts to recreate professional SF. But today, fan fiction has grown ineradicably linked to the notion of shared universes, as fans write additional scenarios for their favorite shows and books. Star Trek fandom pioneered this transition, with the infamous "slash" fiction devoted to homosexual relations between Kirk and Spock (abbreviated "K/S," and further shortened to "slash"). Now the medium has reached the stage where nearly every professionally produced drama or novel has its own corps of emulators, producing reams of new, unauthorized stories involving their favorites. And FanFiction.Net is the central place to find such works.
The organization, level of detail and ease of use of this site is highly impressive. Eight major categories—Anime, Cartoon, Game, Movie, Book, Misc, Comic, TV Show—form the gateways to thousands of stories, varying in length from a hundred words to several thousand. Each story is given a movie-style rating and blurb on the list screens. Links to each author contain creator profiles. Reviews of each piece are easily accessible. Additionally, nearly 20 regular columnists offer think pieces on the art of fan fiction. Searching and sorting is available as well.
The range and volume of fiction here boggles the mind. Over 15,000 Sailor Moon offerings. Over 75,000 Harry Potter episodes. Nearly 20,000 Lord of the Rings outings. But not only fantastical tales abound. Les Miserables, West Wing and even The Virgin Suicides all have their scribbling partisans. I was surprised and saddened to see that comic books have the fewest adherents, a reflection of their falling sales, I suppose. Even Spider-Man could muster only some 500 entries, although the X-Men achieve nearly 5,000.
Of course, Sturgeon's Law applies to the quality of these fictions. Some reek, others impress. Still, if you're bummed by, say, the cancellation of Futurama, you could do worse than solace yourself with "Quantum Cheap," by TwilightTears.
— Paul Di Filippo
Site of the Week—June 2, 2003
hat is the future of science? This is a question asked in many different ways by science fiction. Writers extrapolate the technology of the future to a wide variety of degrees—Geoffrey A. Landis creates a next generation of tools that might be used on voyages to Mars, while Linda Nagata imagines far-flung nanotech creations so powerful that they render humans virtually immortal ... while changing them so completely they might as well be aliens. Also critical to the genre is consideration of the role humanity's inventions will play in shaping society, for good or ill. Often these visions are dark indeed.
The Academy for Future Science sounds like the stuff of SF: an organization that takes these same concerns about science into the real world, it sets for itself the mission of resolving current global resource problems and building "a new scientific civilization with a positive future in the twenty-first century." This futuristic vision takes the Academy all over the world, where its scientists work (among other things) to improve renewable energy sources, study the development of space law, encourage multiculturalism and participate in archaeological digs.
The site has articles on all research of interest to the Academy: remote sensing, biomedicine and terraforming, to name just a few. Environmental issues are a particular focus of the group and receive a great deal of attention. All of the essays are laced with ideas for writers and readers alike, making for an intriguing afternoon's reading. Perhaps more importantly, the optimistic and science-friendly outlook of this organization is uplifting. Just as the original Star Trek television series offered fans a bright and compelling future to embrace, a visit to this site is emotionally satisfying as well as informative.
— A.M. Dellamonica
Site of the Week—May 27, 2003
n its incarnation as a print fanzine, Firelight Shocks had a promising startup in Scotland in 1999. Now, having expanded onto the Web and available to a wider range of readers, this toddler of a horror 'zine not only provides coverage of cult and offbeat cinema, but also sponsors Shockerfest, an annual film festival held in California.
At present, the site has four issues under its belt, with a fifth to come soon. (For those who prefer the print version, it is available and can be ordered at the site.) Contents of these first issues include reviews of new DVDs (including truly esoteric fare like the Blair Witch Project-influenced The Collingswood Story), interviews, horror links and news on personalities and upcoming films of interest to horror fans.
The feature articles at Firelight Shocks are a gourmet menu of fun and strangeness. There is an article about the writer/director of the upcoming Sasquatch movie The Untold, which will star Millennium actor Lance Henriksen. Another piece focuses on slasher films, arguing that the genre is the last great exploitation-movie fad. A recurring item called "Low Budget Hell" chronicles the making of extremely inexpensive movies, in one case tracing the history of a number of cannibalism flicks. The interviews are similarly quirky—there is one with all three of the actresses who appeared in The Evil Dead, and another with actor Michael Berryman of The Hills Have Eyes fame.
Firelight Shocks has a sparse archive of articles at the moment, a natural side effect of its being a relative newcomer to the Web. The quality of what is there already, though, makes this site worthy of support as it continues to grow and add content.
— A.M. Dellamonica
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