hile searching through the sometimes barren expanses of the Internet, explorers occasionally stumble across massive reservoirs of information, oasis-like Web sites that merit an instant bookmark and a closer look. SFF Net is one of those sites.
It promotes itself as a resource for genre fiction, notably fantasy and science fiction, but also horror, mystery, military and romance. Although a fee-based service, the general public has free access to many of the site's Web pages and public newsgroups, as well as guest access to its chat rooms.
Membership--of which there four levels--brings more privileges and more access, at a price. Basic membership includes a 20MB Web site, an e-mail account, a Usenet discussion area and other goodies. Corporate membership earns a virtual domain as well as the benefits of the lower levels of membership, and there are discounts for professional writers, editors and journalists.
The site sports four "e-mail clubs" which range from a writing club for people in and around Eugene, Ore., to Romance Foretold, a club for "readers and writers of fantasy, futuristic, paranormal, and science fiction romances." Digest versions of the clubs are also available. SFF Net's Usenet discussion groups cover topics from new books to Babylon 5 to speculations about the future of sex.
On the hosting front, the site is home to a dozen Web sites, such as the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, the Horror Writers of America and the Reading for the Future Project, which is dedicated to using science fiction to promote kids' reading. The site has also launched a "net mall" where visitors can buy SFF T-shirts, the SFF Net Anthology Between the Darkness and Fire and mugs.
Good, but not great
SFF Net is an expansive site that could use a healthy dose of portal-mania. Although the site itself has a huge amount of information, it's very spread out. It would be nice to have more of the information bundled together on the front page a la Excite or Yahoo.
As is, the site isn't particularly difficult to explore, and each of its pages has links back to major content areas. Dead links are rare on SFF Net--visitors probably won't see any during their recons of the site.
The site's broad range of hosted content is impressive. The Market List is a writer's resource providing intelligence on more than 100 online and print magazines and zines. Basement Full of Books provides an excellent place for readers to locate hard-to-find and out-of-print books. Fandom Domain is a fine links site that sends visitors to a variety of science fiction, fantasy and horror Web sites. The SFWA and HWA sites are, like many of the sites hosted here, worlds unto themselves.
Fortunately, there's an easy way to search through all these worlds--the site search engine. This handy tool lets users sift through the entire site, member sites, the Basement Full of Books and the Locus archives. In the final analysis, SFF Net is a great resource for anyone who enjoys science fiction or the other genres the site covers. A redesigned, more modern-looking front page could launch this site to truly impressive heights.
