ubbish or masterpiece? At SF Bookcase, fans rate SF and fantasy novels, post reviews, plug favorite authors and offer book recommendations to like-minded readers across the Internet.
This fan-run archive has amassed thousands of reader opinions on books and authors. A lively and well-established community, it covers everything: from classics like Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination to the latest Star Wars tie-in novel. Visitors can search for specific titles or authors, rate books on a scale from 1 to 10, and post spoiler-free comments on any novel listed at the site. (Moderators do screen comments sent by non-members before posting them—to avoid delays, just sign up.)
SF Bookcase maintains a list of 100 top authors, a ranking that shifts constantly as new recommendations come in—though J.R.R. Tolkien, in the lead, is a comfortable 700 votes ahead of the first runner-up, George R.R. Martin. There is a similar list of top-rated novels, of course, as well as links to author Web pages, fan clubs, SF-inspired video games and other relevant sites.
Literary snobbery has no place at this Web site: The SF Bookcase community leans to an informal posting style, and its membership enjoys all the speculative genres from hard science fiction to high fantasy. For readers who wish to speak their piece about a particular book, track the career or popularity of a favorite author, or just join a discussion on any new work of SF or fantasy, this page is a definite must-see.
—A.M. Dellamonica
Site of the Week—June 20, 2005
ummer is here, and with it comes the high season for science-fiction conventions all across the globe. In six short weeks, SF fans, artists and writers from around the world will gather in Glasgow, Scotland, for Interaction, the 63rd World Science Fiction Convention. With Jane Yolen, Christopher Pickersgill, Lars-Olov Strandberg, Christopher Priest and Robert Sheckley slated to appear as guests of honor, this international event promises to be the best Worldcon yet.
Interaction's site is the place to pick up all the information a convention guest could want in order to make the Glasgow con, scheduled for August 4-8, a memorable and pleasant experience. The usual facts and figures on hotels, volunteer opportunities and programming are available here, along with FAQs, progress reports and a souvenir book. Eligible voters for the Hugo Awards can browse through the ballot and then cast votes electronically. The site's links connect visitors to Worldcons past and present, as well as a sprinkling of other SF resources. Finally, this page also offers tips on seeing Scotland in style.
This close to the convention, the Web site is being updated on an almost daily basis, but visitors can most easily catch up on news at Interaction's beautifully organized and fully searchable blog. The Worldcon also has its own LiveJournal community, which allows attendees and volunteers to communicate informally on any number of topics.
One piece of information is, as yet, missing from this convention's Web site: Guest of honor Robert Sheckley has been ill, and there is no word yet on whether he will be well enough to attend. That news will no doubt be posted on the site as soon as it is available; in the meantime, Interaction promises to be a superb Worldcon, and visiting its home page can only serve to heighten a fan's excitement about the upcoming event.
—A.M. Dellamonica
Site of the Week—June 13, 2005
nly a few weeks have passed since the release of Star Wars: Episode III ... but already fans around the world have helped Movie Mistakes rack up over 20 continuity errors in Revenge of the Sith. Celebrating flubs—howlingly obvious errors and technically subtle ones, too—in television and motion pictures, this site makes for entertaining reading. It can also serve as a lighthearted reminder of the complex process involved in taking a story from script to screen.
A well-rounded film lover's site, Movie Mistakes offers movie trivia, memorable quotes, screen captures of classic film errors and a list of "perfect" (mistake-free, in other words) pictures. The Web page has an extensive listing of easter eggs, hidden content concealed within the menus of DVDs. Visitors who become members of Movie Mistakes can earn a handful of extra privileges—credit for mistakes spotted, full access to the site's image archive and, best of all, freedom from viewing its many advertisements.
Movie Mistakes does not specialize in SF. It has mistake listings for classics such as The Thirty-Nine Steps, sitcoms like Friends, romantic comedies, thrillers and every other type of show or movie. However, SF gets more than proportional representation: of the 30 movies with the most mistakes, the majority are genre films, with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets topping the
list at 286 errors. The "Best Mistakes" listing, a compilation of all-time funniest mistakes, contains entries from The Matrix, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
The Movie Mistakes FAQ makes it clear that this site isn't nit-picking film errors out of malice, and that a movie can have dozens—even hundreds—of errors and still be utterly enjoyable. In fact, poring over a film to identify its tiniest flaws is a labor of love, something only a dedicated fan would do. The community behind this Web page genuinely loves movies, reviewing them so often and so intently that they catch glimpses of something most viewers miss—the behind-the-scenes effort that goes into creating the illusion.
—A.M. Dellamonica
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