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Sci-fi & Fantasy forums?

Tiktaalik

Half True Scotsperson
Tiktaalik
Joined
Sep 29, 2006
Messages
3,666
Anybody hang out at any sci-fi or fantasy forums or blogs? Which do you like and why?
 
I'm on the LMB mailing list, and also haunt the official Pathfinder forums occasionally (which is not really the same thing).

Very interested in what else is out there.
 
AvalonXQ said:
I'm on the LMB mailing list, and also haunt the official Pathfinder forums occasionally (which is not really the same thing).

Very interested in what else is out there.
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What's LMB? Where is the Pathfinder forum located?
 
Lois McMaster Bujold is my favorite author.

Pathfinder is an RPG; the forums are located on Paizo's website.
 
Westeros.org and Tower of the Hand, when I have time. I haven't read much fantasy other than GRRM the last several years. I used to visit The Leaky Cauldron sometimes when I was reading Harry Potter. Note that I've never posted on any of these; just lurked.

Don't know of any good SF forums, but I'm sure they're out there.

ETA: Just noticed that you asked for a "why." For all three, probably because of the large amount of material posted by the sites' owners; in a lot of cases it's of higher quality than the stuff posted in the forums. All three have extensive references covering the books in question.
 
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catsmate1 said:
Several Traveller related and alternatehistory.com.
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I loved the "alternate weapons of war" thread. Amazing creativity.

I was on "Fireflyfans", and I'm still keeping an eye on "SFSeries.nl", but the former is too uncomfortable for me to keep up with, and the latter is just too inactive. I'm afraid the Netherlands is just too much of a fantasy and crime novel country.

Not much into fantasy, but I do like to read the occasional oddball novel, like the "Cycle of Fire" by Janny Wurts. Doesn't warrant enough interest to go to a fantasy forum.
 
Bram Kaandorp said:
Could be.

Could also be that the humour is not for everyone.

For example, I don't particularly like Dane Cook's humour, but many people do, so there is something there. I just doesn't do anything for me.
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Quite agree. But I'm not saying HHGG isn't funny, now that I expect it to be. It's just that I didn't "get it" the first time around. So it read as very dark to me.
 
Gawdzilla said:
The first time I read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy nobody told me it was supposed to be funny.
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I don't think anyone told me it was supposed to be funny, either, but I couldn't get through the introduction without my tongue-in-cheek meter going off the scale (and cracking up at least twice).

On the other hand, similar to what you're describing, I've never caught on to that "social gaffs" comedy some authors use; it just makes me cringe and feel bad for the characters until somebody points out it was supposed to be a joke.
 
Bram Kaandorp said:
What did you find especially dark?

Oh man, this could be a real thread, if we're lucky.
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The entire human race murdered in Chapter One? And later we find out it was just an bureaucratic error? Mass murder didn't strike me as funny. I guess, as has been pointed out above, irony is a subset of humor, and something I missed about the book the first time through.

To salve the furious souls, I did re-read it after a dusk-to-dawn marathon chat with an English chap about it. We were at Taormina and the wine helped things along. The rumors of drugs can neither be confirmed nor denied. (As I have very little recollection of the events after 9 PM.)
 
Gawdzilla said:
The entire human race murdered in Chapter One? And later we find out it was just an bureaucratic error? Mass murder didn't strike me as funny. I guess, as has been pointed out above, irony is a subset of humor, and something I missed about the book the first time through.

To salve the furious souls, I did re-read it after a dusk-to-dawn marathon chat with an English chap about it. We were at Taormina and the wine helped things along. The rumors of drugs can neither be confirmed nor denied. (As I have very little recollection of the events after 9 PM.)
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Adams has said that he came up with the idea when drunk under a tree in Innsbruck. Maybe the alcohol helps. I guess I'll never know, but regardless, I really loved all of them (even the really dark "Mostly Harmless").

On topic:

I think I'll check out Westeros. Not to post, just to see what it's about.

ETA: Ah, right. Ice and Fire.
 
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Gawdzilla said:
The entire human race murdered in Chapter One? And later we find out it was just an bureaucratic error? Mass murder didn't strike me as funny. I guess, as has been pointed out above, irony is a subset of humor, and something I missed about the book the first time through.

To salve the furious souls, I did re-read it after a dusk-to-dawn marathon chat with an English chap about it. We were at Taormina and the wine helped things along. The rumors of drugs can neither be confirmed nor denied. (As I have very little recollection of the events after 9 PM.)
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It's definitely a British humor thing. It helps if you went in being a Monty Python fan.
 
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