Nine Science Fiction Blogs You Should Keep Track Of

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In my efforts to connect with my fellow bloggers who are active participants in the science fiction community I’ve taken it upon myself to list some of the better sci-fi blogs I’ve come across during my endavours over the past week. So without further adieu, here they are. Hope they are of some use.

Robert J. Sawyer’s Blog (www.sfwriter.com)

Robert J. Sawyer is often credited as being one of the first science fiction authors to have a consistently updated blog on the internet. He adopted the name SF Writer as its domain name early on back in 1996, when URLs were freely available and created his blog a few years after that for the better part of a decade.

One thing I get out of Sawyer’s blog is the importance of promoting yourself, not just to your fans, but to the public at large. His website is full of helpful resources and advice for the aspiring writer in all of us. But more importantly, SF Writer chronicles the life of one of our generation’s best science fiction writers, and the amount of effort it truly takes to make it as a full-time author. For anyone who wants a reality check, go see this blog.


Whatever Blog (http://whatever.scalzi.com/)

This is the blog of Science fiction author John Scalzi, a man who in recent years has been launched to stardom in science fiction circles with his Old Man’s War trilogy, which has gone to be nominated for numerous awards. His first novel, Old Man’s War, was essentially published online for free and picked up by Tor editor Patrick Nielsen Hayden. Since then his blog now reaches in excess of 40,000-50,000 hits a day.

What’s great about Scalzi is that he doesn’t take himself to seriously, and while there are solid posts regarding book reviews, the art of writing, and the state of science fiction today, much of his content is focused on suburban family life juggling alongside the daily tribulations of being a science fiction author. Humorous, irreverent, I often go to the Whatever blog whenever I need a good laugh.

SF Signal (www.sfsignal.com)

While these blogs are listed in no particular order, SF Signal is by far the most comprehensive science fiction blog on this list. With two editors helming the site and a handful of regular contributors, this website brings the most up to date content, not just across science fiction media (books, films, television, comics, etc.) but also across the science fiction blogosphere at large – for which I’m truly thankful.

Honestly, you can get sucked into this website for hours just reviewing a week’s worth of content and links. One great thing that I’m appreciative of is they are very accepting of submissions by outside contributors, so fellow bloggers be aware. This is a site that should not be missed.

Io9 (www.io9.com)

Even before I write this I can see people rolling their eyes at this nomination. Io9 is one of the sites that makes up the Gawker Media Network. One of the criticisms in recent years has been that the site has become too saturated with media content and while they do post a heavy volume of daily posts many readers question whether it’s a matter of quality or quantity when it comes to attracting readers.

The fact is sometimes you want a second opinion and Io9 is a great site for getting varied points of view to this year’s leading movies, television shows, and to the community at large. It also provides a comprehensive caldendar every month of new tv shows, movie and DVD releases, as well as convention, which frankly is enough to keep me returning. If you can mind the atrocious color scheme, cartoon images, and oversized photos, Io9 can be a great asset.

SFF Media (www.sffmedia.com)

One of the things I like most about this site is its page layout and accessibility. While it may not provide as much daily content as some of the other blogs its homepage appears more like an oversized three-column RSS feed. The quality of the articles is great and you can tell when reading them that the editor has not only a varied opinion but also an excellent understanding of the science fiction community as a whole. Overall, it’s a great site to visit and add to your RSS feed.

SciFi Scanner (http://blogs.amctv.com/scifi-scanner/)

SciFi Scanner is one of the networked blogs provided by the television channel AMC (alongside Horror Hacker and Future of Classic) and you’d think that a blog promoted by AMC would be hackneyed, makeshift, and generally low quality. What you do get is a well thought-out blog with original content posted by such science fiction authors (like John Scalzi).

The core of SciFi Scanner, however, isn’t it’s updates and reviews, but it’s articles that are both opinionated, funny, and thought provoking. It looks at science fiction as a whole rather than just the sum of its parts and produces something exceptional. How the culture of science fiction interacts with our daily lives in ways you probably never thought before.

Locus Online (www.locusmag.com)

I like to think of Locus Online as the Publisher’s weekly of science fiction and fantasy publishing. It is one of the best resources for keeping up with the publishing news and reviews in the United States, simply by virtue of the fact that there are few websites that cover this type of content, or has the same amount of access to it.

Most of their articles can be accessed through the site, however, a few are only excerpted. Nonetheless this is a worthwhile site that is updated semi-weekly by some of the best insiders in the industry. It’s especially useful if you’re trying to get published and don’t have a real sense of the publishing market.

Scifi Wire (http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire)

Let’s face it. The Sci-fi Channel is here to stay. The website sci-fi weekly was thrown out and in its place was scifi wire, a blog-style site that I admit is not as good as the previous installment. However, Sci-fi Wire can in many respects be seen as the counterpart of Locus Magazine, focusing on television and movies in a way that few other blogs can even attempt to capture. Sci-fi Wire has a huge audience and a wealth of information already at its disposal. Frankly, there’s no stopping this force.

SciFiWatch (www.scifiwatch.comoj.com)

While I know it’s probably a little crass to promote your own blog on a top ten list keep in mind that this is the top ten blogs for science fiction, not websites. The fact is one of the main reasons for starting this blog was my frustration with the lack of good content for the science fiction community.

The fact is I’m an aspiring author with a finished manuscript seeking representation for my novel ‘Second Death’ (read ‘Second Death’ here). And until that day comes I’ll continue to bring you the most up-to-date content available as I’m allotted, within certain time constraints.

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