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Celebrating the greatest, quirkiest and most committed SF and fantasy sites in the webverse. Vote now for your favourites
Welcome to the first ever SFX Blog Awards, where we celebrate the best that SF and fantasy fan-driven and insider-developed internet activity has to offer. These awards aren’t for big, profit-making sites but for sites that were created for the love of the genre, and are maintained by people out of love rather than money*.
They’re called Blog Awards, and while we do have many trad blogs among the nominations, but we’ve applied the term loosely to include a couple of less bloggy sites that still feel in the right spirit. Consider “Blog” a shorthand term, because “The SFX Fan-Driven And Insider-Developed Website Awards” just ain’t catchy enough.
There are six categories to choose from, and the nominations have been drawn up from suggestions made by members of the SFX Forum , SFX team members and the SFX Bloggers.
All you have to do now is browse through the various nominees (we’ve provided handy links for each one) and decide which ones you want to vote for. You will be, to all intents and purposes, the Blog Academy, deciding the winners. And we think you’re going to enjoy the judging process.
So, allons-y, Alonso. Or whatever your name is…
* That’s not to say that some don’t have a commercial element, but we’ve tried to make sure we’ve only chosen sites where that money appears to be ploughed back into the sites rather than into the creators’ pockets.
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BEST SF PODCAST
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The Geek Syndicate
http://geeksyndicate.wordpress.com/
How they describe themselves: “ The Geek Syndicate is a UK-based group fronted by David Monteith and Barry Nugent, producing a weekly podcast celebrating all aspects of geek life including comics, books, movies, TV, games, tech …and booze. It's irreverent, touching, intellectual, nonsensical, fairly drunken, incredibly sexy, hilarious… er …and stuff.”
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Small Press Big Mouth
http://smallpressbigmouth.blogspot.com/
How they describe themselves: “ Small Press Big Mouth is our podcast focusing on the small press and indie side of the comic world. It is hosted by Stacey Whittle and The Lovely Lee Grice.”
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Escape Pod
How they describe themselves: “ Escape Pod is the premier science fiction podcast magazine. Every week we bring you short stories from some of today’s best science fiction stories, in convenient audio format for your computer or MP3 player.”
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Doctor Who Podshock
http://gallifreyanembassy.org/vortex/
How they describe themselves: “ Doctor Who: Podshock is the longest running Doctor Who podcast presented by the fan-run Gallifreyan Embassy and is the official podcast of the Gallifrey One conventions. We feature interviews with the Doctor Who cast and crew along with the latest Doctor Who news, reviews, interviews, commentaries and discussions from an international perspective. Hosted by Ken Deep and Louis Trapani in the US and James Naughton in the UK, with segments and contributions from regular correspondents around the world.”
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BEST FAN COMMUNITY
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Gallifrey Base
http://gallifreybase.com/forum/
About the site: Gallifrey Base grew out the of Outpost Gallifrey forum, and has continued to be the number one site on the net for Doctor Who discussion. Comprehensive in scope, with a vociferous and opinionated userbase, it has also become a site that breaks news stories – thanks to the detective work of some of its more tenacious members – as well as remarking on them. In fact, a site so sure of its own status within the fan community it hasn't even got an “about us” section.
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The Trek BBS
How they describe themselves: “The Trek BBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans. Login to see our full range of forums as well as the ability to send and receive private messages, track your favourite topics and of course join in the discussions.” And we love the fact they still have BBS in the title. It’s like the Radio Times .
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Whedonesque
How they describe themselves: “ Whedonesque is a community weblog discussing the work of TV maker Joss Whedon. Anyone can post a story or comment to this site, as long as it pertains to Joss Weldon's work. Share your views on Buffy , Angel , Firefly and any other projects in which Joss is involved. Blood and Burba weed will be served. Bring your own demon.”
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GateWorld
http://www.gateworld.net/index.shtml
How they describe themselves: “From its humble beginnings GateWorld has grown into one of the web’s largest and most popular Stargate sites. While the episode guide remains the core of the site, we have expanded to news, an encyclopaedia of the Stargate universe, licensed products like books and comics, interviews, editorials, episode transcripts and photo galleries, fan fiction, and much more. And we’ve got some great new ideas for the future! The site remains independently owned and operated, thanks to generous support from fans.”
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BEST SF NEWS BLOG
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Big Dumb Object
http://www.bigdumbobject.co.uk/
How they describe themselves: “ Big Dumb Object is a blog about science fiction that was started 242 internet years ago and covers anything to do with science fiction, where science fiction is taken in the broadest possible sense. It's run by James Bloomer. I will now stop talking in the third person because it confuses me.”
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Down The Tubes.net
http://downthetubescomics.blogspot.com/
How they describe themselves: “This site was originally created to be a resource base for people seeking comics artists and writers but has mushroomed over the years to deliver British comics news and features. Compiled by writer and editor John Freeman, downthetubes is also intended as a resource for comics editors or others looking for comics creators who can bring more than a spark of originality to your next design project, be it print, new media or something more.”
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The Doctor Who News Page
How they describe themselves: “ Doctor Who News is the unofficial repository of news about Doctor Who and its spin-off series. We provide information on news, products and events; we also have several sub-sites that provide details on media interest in the series (eg in the press), where the show is broadcasting around the world, plus reviews and competitions. This site is the continuation the original Gallifrey One news site, including archived news articles going back to 2003.”
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SFcrowsnest
How they describe themselves: “Yahoo has ranked SFcrowsnest as among the best in the genre; we’re one of only four websites to make it into the Mammoth Encyclopaedia of Science Fiction ; our ranks of users still swell every month; and the nice emails we get from thousands of kind fans helps keep our morale up.”
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BEST LITERARY BLOG
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The Wertzone
http://thewertzone.blogspot.com/
About the site: Adam Whitehead’s regularly updated blog isn’t exclusively literary but predominantly so, and besides which, it was strongly supported by the SFX forum members in the category so who are we to quibble over details?
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Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review
http://www.graemesfantasybookreview.com/
About the site: Another favourite of the SFX forumites, this is the site of Graeme Flory: “I’m working my way through as much sci-fi, fantasy and horror literature as is humanly possible (and then some). This is the place where I tell you all about what I'm reading...
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Ansible
About the site: What the legendary David Langford produces when he’s not writing about dead authors in SFX . Okay, it‘s won a zillion awards already, but we’re sure this is the one he really wants to win..
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SF Signal
About the site: A “speculative fiction” site, SF signal often invites SF authors to comment on topics-of-the-day and has a very active community section where lovers of SF and fantasy books can share their passion.
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BEST FRANCHISE SPECIFIC SITE
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Supernatural Wiki
http://www.supernaturalwiki.com
About the site: The most comprehensive Supernatural site on the web, established in 2006, Supernatural Wiki is a well laid-out, intelligently designed, easy to navigate Aladdin's cave of Winchester goodness.
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ChuckTV.net
About the site: Most Chuck sites are shamefully shoddy, so this one doesn’t need to try a tenth as hard as it does to shine. But we’re glad it does. Great design, regularly updated, intelligently written, and admirably opinionated.
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The One Ring
How they describe themselves: “Founded in 1999 by a group of like-minded Tolkien fans so anxious for the coming Peter Jackson Lord Of The Rings films that they were gathering up every scrap of production information to be found, TheOneRing.net continues today in bringing fans the latest news on the beloved figures involved in the making of the wildly popular Lord Of The Rings movies as well as the newest information available on upcoming productions, Tolkien-centred events, new publications, and fan gatherings.”
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The Leaky Cauldron
http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/
How they describe themselves: “ The Leaky Cauldron is an all-purpose site for the Harry Potter enthusiast. It started in 2000 as a badly-designed one-page roll of news; it has now turned into a destination for fan entertainment and discussion, and has become the Harry Potter site of record, hosting the oldest and most comprehensive Potter news archive on the web.”
Life, Doctor Who And Combom
http://lifetheuniverseandcombom.blogspot.com/
About the site: A lot of the sites in this section may lay claim to being “market leaders” but you don’t need to be to get a nomination. Combom is a magpie site, gathering things from wherever it can, but it does it with a wit, style, clarity and attitude that always makes it worth a visit (and we love the minimalist design).
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Who Fix
How they describe themselves: “Obscure, nostalgic, sublime and occasionally ridiculous, Who Fix is your daily dose of Doctor Who goodness. Updates are daily, except for ‘Twin Dilemma’ Tuesdays when you get two for the price of one.” TV archaeology of the highest order, and often very, very funny.
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BEST CELEBRITY BLOG
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Paul Cornell
The lucky blogger: “I'm a novelist, and a comics and TV writer, notably for Doctor Who and Action Comics . I'm also the creator of Bernice Summerfield.” He also writes a wonderfully esoteric, and loveably personal blog where you’ll probably learn as much about cricket and folk bands of the home counties as Doctor Who and Captain Britain .
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James Moran
http://www.jamesmoran.blogspot.com/
The lucky blogger: “Hello! I wrote Severance , and episodes of Torchwood series 2 and 3, Doctor Who series 4, Primeval series 3, Crusoe , Spooks series 7, and Spooks: Code 9 . I’m currently working on more movies and TV things. Blog contains strong language, reading while pregnant may harm your child’s mind.” Reading James’s blog is like realising your best mate has got your dream job… but somehow has still remained your best mate, because underneath he’s still excited about the same things you are.
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Neil Gaiman
http://journal.neilgaiman.com/
The lucky blogger: Writer of Sandman , Neverwhere , American Gods and now Doctor Who , Neil Gaiman is a man so busy he sometimes gets someone else to write his blog (take a bow, Dan Guy), and still no one seems to worry. That’s how loved this man is.
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Wil Wheaton
http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/
The lucky blogger: The teen everybody used to hate on Star Trek: Next Gen has successfully reinvented himself as the beloved king of the geeks with a blog that guarantees squeeness in abundance.
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Jane Espenson
The lucky blogger: The busiest (and sharpest) woman in Hollywood genre circles ( Buffy , Battlestar Galactica , Torchwood , Warehouse 13 ), provides regular updates with writing tips and what she had for lunch. Genius.
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Warren Ellis
http://www.warrenellis.com/ (NSFW)
The lucky blogger: The online musings of the legendarily outspoken comic scripter isn’t the wall-to-wall rant you might expect. It’s a thoughtful, insightful, passionate blog that often puts a different spin on the comics world and can open your eyes to all sorts of new stuff. But there’s the occasional rant too.
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John Scalzi
The lucky blogger: Author John Scalzi ( Old Man’s War, The Android’s Dream ) may not be one of the most instantly recognisable names on this list (though that may change when the film of Old Man’s War comes out) but his blog, Whatever , is renowned for its insight, wit and ability to rant at length without becoming remotely dull.
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Kate Griffin
The lucky blogger: Fantasy author Kate Griffin made so many new fans at the SFX Weekender we expect that they, like we did, immediately sought out her blog. And it was well worth the search. A hugely entertaining and utterly random old school blog – you never know what she’ll be writing about, but she always makes it interesting.
