Five blogs you should be reading (and their friends)

So Livejournal is going down today for a few hours, leaving many fandomers bereft of one of their main sources of information. My Livejournal friendslist is one of the first things I read every morning and perhaps my main pipeline of internet goings-on (Which I then filter for you here! And here!) And by the time I wake up, it will be down for the duration.

But luckily, I also have about a bagillion bookmarks. So here, for you, are five blogs that are of vital importance to the cause, worth checking out while LJ is incommunicado. (And that you might not already know – for the obvious, just see the blogroll.)

Whatever
The Whatever is the blogging fortress of science fiction author John Scalzi. If you only read one personal blog of a science fiction personality, you could do worse. (Plus he’s supremely snarky – we love those types around here.) See also: Tor, Neil Gaiman, Antick Musings.

TV Tattle
The blog as information disseminator in the most basic form (it doesn’t even have an RSS feed!) Generally I have at least a half-dozen blogs for any given topic, but TV Tattle is quite literally the only TV blog I check on daily basis. See also: It’s all you need, really. But if you’re obsessed with just one particular show or creator, best look for a site devoted to the topic, ala Whedonesque.

io9
When Gawker starts a blog that covers your area of interest, you pretty much have to read it, at least on my end. Even if they do sometimes post some seriously stupid shit. See also: ‘The lady Gawker,’ Jezebel, Boing Boing, Topless Robot.

SF Signal
Serious about genre? This is the place. They are strong in the art of finding everything that could possibly be of interest, and their features are top-notch stuff. Seriously, no complaints, and sometimes they link us! See also: Big Dumb Object, Underwire, Binary Bonsai.

/film
There are a lot of movie blogs out there, but /film is my favorite. They hit the major stuff without making me having to slog through a dozen pages for a single day, with a great eye for video and random ‘cool stuff.’ And yes, this is fanboy territory. Be strong. See also: Cinematical, The Movie Blog, MTV Movies.

Want to contribute? Link your own favorites in the comments! (Yes, basic HTML works, though if you have a lot of URLs your comment may be held for approval.)

New Hitchhiker novel to come

Hyperion books is announcing today a new novel in the beloved Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series.  The new novel is to be written by the author of the Artemis Fowl series, Eoin Colfer.  The title of the new book is And Another Thing… The project is endorsed by Adams’ widow, Jane Belson.

The new book is scheduled for release in October of 2009, so we have a year of debate ahead of us if this is a good idea or not.

Poll: Did Star Wars novels get you started on genre?

A point that’s often made when arguing the merits of media tie-in novels is that they bring additional readers to the science fiction/fantasy genre. My own experience runs completely counter to this: Star Wars didn’t get me into SF/F; SF/F got me into Star Wars. Granted, I grew up in a family of readers, and Heir to the Empire was not the first genre novel I borrowed from my parent’s bookshelves before I was old enough to drive. So, I admit, I get a little miffed at the notion that reading these things makes us knuckle-draggers. (What’s wrong with an intelligent reader enjoying a little melodramatic space trash, huh? Wait, don’t answer that.) So, for the sake of science random internet polling: Continue reading “Poll: Did Star Wars novels get you started on genre?”

Bujold Guest Blogs – New Vorkosigan Confirmed Again

Bibliophile and (former?) Stargate Atlantis producer Joe Mallozzi recently convinced Lois McMaster Bujold to come answer questions on his blog after her book Cordelia’s Honor was selected as one of his Books of the Month. (A large percentage of CJers are rather insane for this woman’s writing.)

Interesting insights into the Vorkosigan and Chalion sagas. And she confirmed, again, that she’s working on another Vorkosigan book for 2010. Yays!