The SF Site: The Best in Science Fiction and Fantasy

Letters: We love letters. They make us think. They make us laugh. They make us sit up and take notice.

World Fantasy Awards Nominations: is your choice on the list?

Lydon's Lament: Did you read what Paul T. Riddell had to say about The Blair Witch Project?

Ian McDonald Reading List: Critics love his unique stylings. Try him and you might too.

Magazines: Locus and Eidolon are only two of the magazines that have a Web site. Here are some others.

Award Sites: Who won the Hugo last year? How about the Nebula? You can find the answers at one of these sites.

Are you a writer? Do you know about these writers' resources?

Author & Fan Tribute Sites: we've built 26 pages of them (plus one for Mc).

Our Contents Page highlights reviews of Shiva 3000 by Jan Lars Jensen, The Rainy Season by James P. Blaylock, Safe As Houses by Carol Anne Davis and The Company of Glass by Valery Leith.

HindSite: we've summarized and listed the SF Site's past editorials for your convenience.

SF Site Interviews: In past issues, we've interviewed Neil Gaiman, Gregory Benford, Bruce Sterling and many others. If you missed any, here is an easy way to see which ones.

Conventions: we've updated our coverage to include listings broken down by date, by location and by category.

SF Site Chronological and Alphabetic List: wondering what appeared in previous SF Site issues?

Or perhaps you're just interested in our recent issues:

SF Site is host to:

Visit our sister site

for the best in SF-oriented chat.

For SF TV movie listings from SF Site and TVNow, visit

Talebones It is with great pleasure that we announce the addition of *Talebones* magazine to the SF Site. *Talebones* is the quarterly in-house magazine of Fairwood Press featuring dark science fiction and dark fantasy from established and up-and-coming writers. It is fiction with a dark slant, stories and poems with punch -- sometimes experimental or psychological, sometimes laced with black humour. At their site, you'll find information on the current issue, ordering, excerpts from the publication, and connection points to other places of interest. Thier new issue features fiction by such writers as Hugh Cook, Leah R. Cutter, Paul Melko, Jennifer Rachel Baumer, Charles S. Pfister and columns by Ed Bryant, A.P. McQuiddy, and Duane Wilkins along with an inteview by Ken Rand with Ed Bryant.
Little Green Men by Christopher Buckley reviewed by Peter D. Tillman John Oliver Banion hosts an influential political talking-head show on TV. He has a beautiful house in Georgetown, a permanent spot on the A-list of every Washington hostess of note, and commands lecture fees of $25,000 and up. Life is good -- until he's abducted by aliens at the fourth hole of the Burning Bush golf course. The Stone War by Madeleine E. Robins reviewed by Lisa DuMond Perhaps it started with Alas, Babylon or On The Beach, but some of us can't get enough of post-apocalyptic fiction. Or dystopias, for that matter. It may be a morbid fascination, but whether and how people and societies survive is endlessly engrossing. Combine this with Armageddon and you have the ingredient for a winning novel. The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove by Christopher Moore reviewed by Todd Richmond The sleepy town of Pine Cove threatens to boil over when their sole clinical psychiatrist decides to takes all of her patients off anti-depressants after one of them commits suicide. This is a strangely delightful story with a zany group of characters, a 100-foot lizard, and a totally unpredictable plot. The Haunting a movie review by Rick Norwood Don't let the critics scare you away. This is a good, old fashioned, "things that go bump in the night," horror movie. It's not art house horror; it's a Hollywood special effects movie -- with some very impressive effects. The Blair Witch Project a movie review by Rick Norwood You've heard the buzz. You know it is a low budget horror film that is now the cover story in *Time* magazine, a real rags-to-riches tale. With no clear supernatural element, Rick places it in the "lost in the woods with rednecks lurking" genre of horror, like Deliverance. New Magazines compiled by John O'Neill The FictionHome page brings you the latest from the world of SF, Fantasy, and Horror magazines. This issue we look at new issues of *Asimov's SF, Analog, Dark Regions/Horror Magazine, and many others. Analog, July/August 1999* reviewed by Ken Newquist Analog beats the summer doldrums with a July/August edition that will have science fiction fans drooling for more. The best story of the edition -- and one of the best of 1999 -- is Adam-Troy Castro and Jerry Oltion's "The Astronaut From Wyoming." Spinners by Donna Jo Napoli and Richard Tchen reviewed by Jeri Wright A young man in the throes of first love makes a foolish boast that he can clothe his beloved in a wedding dress of gold. He makes good the boast, but loses both the girl and the better part of himself. Double Helix: Infection by John Gregory Betancourt reviewed by Todd Richmond Jean-Luc Picard, in his first year as Captain of the Enterprise, is sent to Archaria III, where a raging epidemic is sweeping the planet. It's a particularly nasty disease that only strikes down individuals with mixed genetic backgrounds. (Perhaps you'll want to take a moment to think of which Enterprise crew members are at risk...) August Books compiled by Neil Walsh This past month has seen reprints of several old SF classics, including Alfred Bester, Philip K. Dick, and Russian author Yevgeny Zamyatin. We've also seen reprints of not-so-old classics, including the likes of Suzy McKee Charnas, Jack Dann and Charles de Lint. And if you're looking for something fresh and new, there's no shortage on that front either, with new works by Ben Bova, Roger Zelazny & Jane Lindskold, Robert Silverberg, Stephen L. Burns, Peter Watts, L.E. Modesitt, Jr., Timothy Zahn and many more! The 3rd Alternative, Issue #20 reviewed by Lisa DuMond *TTA* is a quarterly magazine from the UK. It contains cutting-edge speculative fiction, features and interviews, and has won several awards. The fiction can range from surreal to humorous, dark to quirky -- but it's always fresh and innovative. Take a break from the status quo and give it a whirl.		Year's Best Fantasy & Horror, 12th Annual Collection edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling reviewed by Charlene Brusso In fantasy literature, like most other genres, novels usually get the bulk of the attention. Thankfully we have brave and tireless editors like Datlow and Windling who can do the sorting for us and come up with a final tally of the past year's notable fantasy and horror short stories. Metal Fatigue by Sean Williams reviewed by Lisa DuMond This is a tough, violent novel of decay and defiance. Kennedy Polis is the only remaining metropolis in what was, at one time, the United States. As the rest of the country disintegrated around them, Kennedy viciously defended its borders and survived. 40 years later, though, the city is just barely shambling along and Kennedy is wearing out around the inhabitatnts. Lydon's Lament commentary by Paul T. Riddell SF Site's columnist gives us his take on the merits and demerits of Hollywood's continuing effort to bring us feature films based on one superhero comic book character or another. Paul admits to having his sanity questioned for getting such an unabashed thrill out of Mystery Men, but he'll tell you why he liked it. Rewind by William Sleator reviewed by Victoria Strauss Fans of Sleator's creepy and complicated SF stories may be surprised by this relatively straightforward tale, in which there aren't any particularly strange goings-on -- other than the fact that the narrator is dead, of course. But not permanently dead, or at least not yet. He is given a chance to go back and prevent his death. The Dream Spheres by Elaine Cunningham reviewed by Don Bassingthwaite Not exactly a sequel to Thornhold, it is the story of a new magic which has come to Waterdeep -- small milky spheres holding a single perfect illusion to be cast into the mind of the user like a dream. As word of their existence and addictive power spreads, various factions struggle to exploit, control, or contain them. Babylon 5.1 TV reviews by Rick Norwood In his column, Rick tells us 2 of the best television programs of all time will be rerun in the last half of August but that *Crusade* will be remembered only as an odd footnote to *Babylon 5. The Alleluia Files* by Sharon Shinn reviewed by Charlene Brusso Not everyone wants the truth, if indeed it does exist, to be uncovered. A faction, led by the Archangel Bael, who fears loss of power and influence, are hunting down and killing Jacobite agents. Fortunately not all the Angels have joined Bael's pogrom against the Jacobites. The Sun, the Genome, and the Internet by Freeman J. Dyson reviewed by Peter D. Tillman This book covers scientific revolutions, technology and social justice, and the exploration and colonization of space -- familiar Dyson topics all, and delivered with his usual clarity of thought, graceful use of language, big ideas expressed modestly, and sense of history. The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen by Baron Munchausen a game review by Don Bassingthwaite Wax your moustache or tighten your bodice, and call the potboy for another round of drinks. The year is 17__ and Baron Munchausen is tired of being pressed into relating the tales of his remarkable adventures for unappreciative hosts. To free himself from such mundane demands, he has created his own roleplaying game.