osted by authors Bruce Sterling and Jon Lebrowsky, the Mirrorshades Postmodern Archive is a gateway to endless Internet thrills and mind-twisting sights. Home to the forward-looking Viridian Design Movement as well as the Dead Media Project (the latter catalogs the lives and deaths of various types of information and entertainment media), the archive also has a Cyberpunk section, one whose links and articles offer insight into just what that subgenre of SF is—and isn't.
A quick glance at Mirrorshades will show that it has a strong interest in deflecting Web surfers to even cooler Internet climes. The archive provides links to sites covering a range of topics, from antique phonographs to ghosts. Its Guide to the Web offers endless browsing on no particular theme—visitors can ride it to a story co-written by Sterling and Paul Di Filippo, or just as easily check out the photos of abandoned and demolished buildings that make up the Fabulous Ruins of Detroit.
In its bookstore, Mirrorshades provides links to all of Sterling's books, naturally enough, but its true virtue is the other featured titles—both hosts have provided lists of their favorite works of science fiction and other writing, in every case providing a blurb that spells out what's compelling about a particular publication.
Mirrorshades does not lean on flash or other high-end graphic trickery to dazzle its guests. Rather, this site is mostly about prose: articles and interviews in which a reader can get lost; tasty, laughter-provoking rants; and a platform for locating a host of other thoughtful and entertaining matter once the site's own textual treasures are exhausted.
— A.M. Dellamonica
Site of the Week—November 3, 2003
ara*doxa is a critical journal that focuses on all forms of paraliterature. Otherwise known as genre fiction, this field includes SF, horror, mystery fiction, westerns, romance, and much more ... almost anything, in fact, except mainstream literary fiction. This magazine's official site, as one might expect, offers a taste of Para*doxa, a sampling of articles and excerpts from recent issues, as well as links to writers and other friends of the journal.
Para*doxa looks closely at the criteria that separate literature from its often slightly regarded cousin, paraliterature. In a section about the journal's mandate, SF author Samuel R. Delany discusses the need for genre writers and researchers to move beyond defensiveness about the legitimacy of their writing, shifting instead to a focus on critical thinking and research. Elsewhere, Ursula Le Guin struggles with the very word "paraliterature," while Michael Moorcock and Interzone editor David Pringle tackle other aspects of this same question. These authors—and the others featured on the site—love genre fiction. Their affection for the topic infuses everything in this page, making it a delight to read.
Unlike journals that exist strictly in an online format, Para*doxa does not offer a complete archive of its articles on the Web. What it does have is a solid sample of content for those who might be interested in subscribing or picking up a single issue. A quick glance through any given issue's table of contents will be enough to intrigue most visitors: The most
recent focuses on the fiction of the 1950s, and includes book reviews by L. Timmel DuChamp, an interview with author Richard Matheson, and an article by Justine Larbalestier and Helen Merrick, one temptingly entitled "The Revolting Housewife: Women and Science Fiction in the 1950s."
For readers who take their SF (or other genre) fiction seriously, Para*doxa provides a strong dose of heady, thought-provoking and sheerly inspiring material.
— A.M. Dellamonica
Site of the Week—October 27, 2003
ans who have been amazed or delighted by William Shatner's latest forays into being a self-mocking goof will want to drop in on the actor's official Web page. Offering a dose of his (somewhat less zany) online persona, the site is the home of the man once known as Capt. James T. Kirk. It is also a unique mix of fan activity, celebrity news and Star Trek kitsch.
Despite a recent spate of hammy performances in television advertisements, not to mention movies like Free Enterprise, Shatner keeps his home page relatively serious. It is the base for his official fan club, Shatner and Friends, and also hosts weblogs by both Shatner and his daughter, Lisabeth. Visitors will find a calendar of events and Shatner appearances, discussion forums and even information on the charity paintball tournaments that the actor participates in annually.
This in no way implies that Shatner's association with Star Trek has not left a heavy footprint on the site. In fact, it offers gloriously cheesy links to Web campaigns such as "Bring Back Kirk!" (for fans who want to see the Kirk character resurrected from the dead, on film) as well as a store that has Trek and Shatner merchandise. Visitors can also purchase the film Mind Meld, a documentary that consists of a conversation between Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, a sort of mutual interview about their time together on the series.
Ultimately, Shatner's site is a resource that makes a genuine SF icon—love him or no—accessible to fans in a way that has only recently become possible, a radical change from the time the show was originally produced. It is a cozy haven on the Web for those interested in Star Trek's first captain and the current doings of the man who brought him to life.
— A.M. Dellamonica
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