Fandom Books

I must say when I started to read the book, I had started to wonder what the rest would be like as I could only wonder. When I continued to read, I was able to get into the idea of wanting to read the entire series and I can't wait til the next book comes out!

I read through a friend's copy of this book, and I have to say that it was fairly enjoyable. However, a lot of the plot felt rushed. I would've liked to see more detail to it, instead of trying to cram in as much as you can. This is supposed to be a series, things could be pushed up into the next book if need be. Also, the next book really needs to be edited better. There were numerous mistakes that shouldn't have made it into the book. It's very distracting to have misspellings and missing letters pop up in the middle of a good story.

I first found this story online. I couldn't stop reading it until I was finished. I ordered the book and it was much more better then what is online. I would put this book down as a must have book.

Something I can definitely recommend as a good read. Not since the Sholan Alliance books have I been so drawn in to a fantasy like this. Took me a week to read the book (an hour a night, which is slow for me) and I had a hard time putting it down! While a few points seemed a bit "quick" plot wise, it's overall flow and pace was maintained pretty well. Eagerly awaiting book two in this series!

This book was amazing! I first found it online, and after reading through, decided that I had to buy it for myself! With an intriguing plot and a fascinating race of characters, this story drew me in from page one. Wonderful writing and a powerful imagination create a vivid world of interstellar excitement that almost makes you feel like you're right there doing it all yourself! Definitely one of the best books I've read in a long time.

One of the things I found particularly interesting (and enjoyable) about reading this book was how it mirrored discussions held with fan communities about what they do. Along with a helpful bibliography on fan studies, and more than one review of fan fiction history (its origins as well as academic study on the topic) there are various, sometimes contradictory, perspectives on the writing of fan fiction. These discuss the various forms it can take, and what models the writing fits into. Also very interesting is the history of machinima, one of fandom's latest art forms. A bit academic for the layman but still a useful introduction to those not familiar with fan fiction studies.

This is an essential book for anyone interested in contemporary fan communities and their creative products: fanfic (including slash fiction), fanvids, online RPGs, and much more. The writers are all both active fans and credentialed academics, and the book as a whole maintains academic rigour while remaining clear and comprehensible to readers who don't know the jargon.

For members of fan communities, the language and activities described will be familiar. For those who are new to this subculture, Busse and Hellekson's introduction gives a succinct and readable account of the intellectual genealogy of fan studies while outlining the state of internet communities at the time of writing (admirably avoiding the common danger for books about the internet, the making of grand claims for a landscape that will be out of date by the time the description is in print, by emphasising the history and time-sensitivity of the world they describe), and Coppa provides a history of science fiction and media fan communities as they developed into the cultures which all the essayists examine and explore.

Each of the essays presents a snapshot of fannish life, considering the communities which form around fan fiction writing, video making and other activities through fresh and interesting theoretical lenses. I was particularly intrigued by Coppa's reading of fanfiction as performance, Busse's and Lackner, Lucas and Reid's examination of writers' and readers' interactions as potentially and sometimes problematically queer acts, and Willis's depiction of slash fiction as making space for queer subjects in normatively straight textual worlds, but others will find different selections from this smorgasbord of literary and cultural analysis to be most appealing.

I am not an academic, but I found this book very readable. Beyond that, it was inspiring to read such a diversity of thought about the fannish culture to which I belong. Unlike the few other books I've read about media fandom, I wasn't just nodding my head and thinking "Yes, I know this already." Several of the essays introduced new ideas, new ways of thinking about fans and how we interact with one another and with our texts, that were not just novel to me but well-argued and fascinating.

My particular favorite was the essay that suggested a view of canon, fanon, and fan-created texts as part of an "archive" of a particular show, movie, or book, erasing the boundary between canon and fannish creations in a way that is, IMO, nothing short of revolutionary.

I would enthusiastically recommend this book to any fan interested in meta, and any scholar interested in media fandom.

Unless you are an academic steeped in modern modes of literary criticism AND an afficianado of Star Trek/Buffy slash fan fiction, don't waste your time on this book.

All of the authors write in an academic style that will be stultifying and unilluminating to even a well-read reader. The promise of the book's title is never fulfilled due to the focus on reviewing and citing the prior works of other academic authors.

The book is further marred by the repetition of a false assumption -- that ALL romance novels are of the Mills & Boon/Harlequin style. This assumption is not only wrong, it is grossly wrong. The Harlequin style has not dominated the romance novel market for more than twenty years, as even a cursory glance at any bookstore (new or used) would attest. This blatant error -- used as the basis of more than one argument in the book - casts doubt on on ALL assertions made by the authors. If such an easily-verifiable or refutable assumption is made in error, one must wonder what other significant errors are being made, especially in the far-more complex and layered world of fanfiction?

Welcome to the world of Ironclaw! I guess. I'd never heard of the Ironclaw RPG on which "Scars" is based until happening upon this book by chance. The Ironclaw realm revolves around four rival 'Houses', each lording over a share of an island- the Equine Avoirdupois, the Boars of the Doloreaux, the Bisclavet Wolves and the main focus of this novel, the Foxes known as the Rinaldi.

The plot centers around Danica, a bounty hunter just 'doing her job'. When the Don of House Rinaldi is murdered, along with (seemingly) both of his sons, the prosperous port city of Triskellian is thrown under a shadow of suspicion and paranoia. Rumors abound that one of the Don's sons, Fabrizio di Rinaldi, has survived, somehow...and then a mysterious party hoping to restore Fabrizio to his rightful throne hires Danica to apprehend a pretender to the line of Rinaldi succession. Thus begins a twisted tale of politics, duty vs. honor, and dealing with 'scars' in more ways than one...

As a hardened, cynical hunter, unopposed to doing what she has to to 'finish the job', Danica is somewhat of an antihero. This is contrasted with her unsolicited accomplice for much of the novel, would-be paramour Tucker, who is a refreshing deviation from a typical thief stereotype- cheerful, outgoing...and painfully naive. Both are dynamic characters and as the novel progresses, the plot almost becomes more about the changes the perilous bounty hunt has wrought on Danica and Tucker than about the pretender, culminating in a near-tragic ending, as both are forced to reexamine themselves and all they held dear. Do you really know someone? Friendship, honor and even their own convictions regarding right and wrong are put to the test. "Scars" is an appropriate title, as it applies in multiple meanings, for multiple characters...I won't elaborate, because I don't want to spoil the plot; this is definitely a book worth reading.

"Scars" is very well-written, albeit with some errors. Mackinnon uses the right balance of action and description, and adds 'flavor' to some characters through use of accents, such as the Gaelic-tinged English employed Innkeeper Delaney and the Bisclavret wolves. I really liked the 'introspective' style from the viewpoints of multiple characters. Mackinnon allows the reader to know what goes on in the minds of his characters, lending them a depth that serves to enhance the plot, as well as make the reader genuinely care about them. As the main character, it's no surprise that the best example of this is Danica, whose unfortunate past is fed to the reader in appetizing tidbits that engage, rather than confuse the reader, in understanding why Danica is the way she is.

Of course, "Scars" is not without a few minor detractions. First, typos abound throughout; the publisher should have run this manuscript through a spell-checker before publication, because it's a shame to see spelling errors and inexplicable white spaces in paragraphs in a book with an otherwise stellar script and professional cover. Second would be the use of RPG terms. While it is done sparingly and in most cases, the context is apparent, there are 1-2 places that did not make sense.

At an all-too-short 128 pages, "Scars" packs the punch of an epic, but won't take you a month to read. Well worth the money, and here's hoping there's a sequel to tie up the few loose ends from the conclusion of "Scars"!

I received this book as a participation prize for playing in an Ironclaw game at a convention.

The storyline was good once you worked around confusing character introductions in the first few chapters of the book. Combat was described realistically without getting either technical or boring. Due to the author's confusing over which version of English he was using, as well as some glaring - but non insurmountable - editting errors, I had to knock off a star. In the few uses of magic in the book, the spells were described in detail rather than with just a spell name.

Even if you haven't played the game, this book is a good introduction to the Ironclaw world.

Awsome book... realy cool story line, and an interesting veiw of what goes on in someones head as they take the little steps that lead them to the moral point of no return. I actualy cared about the characters and loved the setting. Only two things keep the book from being a 5 (if the rating thing had a 4.5 i'd give it that) The first is the length. The book is kinda short...,but what can you expect from a small publishing company? (still well worth it though) The second is that the text has gaps in it in odd places. This sometimes had me going back trying to figure out if i'd missed something.

Kudos to the author for the great story, and to the artist for the awsome cover.

Robert Bloch was one of those rare creatures who didn't stop his fannish writing when he turned pro. Like Bob Shaw and Terry Carr, he continued to turn out hilarious writing for fanzine editors despite the pressures of a professional career. This is a collection of truly funny short pieces that were published in the fanzines of the 50s. It contains essays about the conventions of the time, collaborating with a long deceased Edgar Allan Poe, SF gone Hollywood, and how SF fandom should replace the beatnik movement. To appreciate these essays it is necessary to have a familiarity with the issues concerning fans and pros in the 50s. While there are many histories of science fiction literature, I can only think of one fan history: A Wealth of Fable by Harry Warner, Jr. ISBN 0963309900 and other editions. As a fan of fannish history and writing I am grateful that The Eighth Stage of Fandom remains in print.

If you never believed that 90's football was about enjoyment of the masses and had a sneeking suspecion that it had more to do with business then this is the book for you! It neatly dismisses all those long forgotten myths that football is for the fans and replaces it with the notion that football is about the business ethos. It takes a look at power, control and the men in grey suites who are determined to take the game away from the true fans and place it in the hands of the only people who can afford the ticket prices! It also serves the excellent perpous of confirming the fans view of their identity and where it comes from. This will make all football fans realise that you don't have to be a Nick Hornby to care . . . but it helps! If you are one of the few who still care and want to know a bit more about how they are dirtying the beautiful game, get a copy now!

I found this book on the new books shelf at the university library. It's a cross between a media studies/cultural studies expose of the study of fan culture. The different chapters in the anthology cover different genres tv shows (Sopranos), women in violent movies (_Kill Bill_) and the aesthetics of fandom.

The book was well-written, researched, and entertaining. I ate up this book and this says lots since I'm really in research and teaching mode. This book will be best served by a lay audience who is already interested in popular culture, media studies, communication, etc. A university audience will also find this book interesting in various courses in the humanities and social sciences.

I can't decide which chapter was my favourite---they were all great. But, I do think the Into, Sopranos, and Kill Bill chapters were the highlights for me.

The Lure of the Vampire is, as the title suggests, a book about vampires. However, it's not about vampires per se, but rather an analysis of people who admire vampires and everything they stand for, people who have meticulously read every single book by Anne Rice about Louis and Lestat and her other characters, and who live their daily lives closely identifying and relating to the vampire worldview. In other words; hard-core vampire fans. True, some of them have more of a casual interest, while others more or less base their entire worldview, existence, and philosophy on the mythology about those pale, immortal beings who only live at night and drink blood whenever the thirst becomes too strong. But all fans - whether they are completely satisfied with watching the latest vampire-flick or if they choose to spend all their free time online with other devotees - have one thing in common: They're all suckers for vampires.

And this is what Milly Williamson devotes most of the pages in her book to explore and analyze. When she doesn't discuss fans and fandom she explores the origin and evolution of the vampire novel along with extremely popular vampire shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer. However, as I said before, most pages are devoted to fans, not vampires.

(Or at least not "real" ones; quite a few of the fans wouldn't mind turn immortal if Louis or Lestat showed up on their doorstep and offered a quick bite and instant immortality).

Williamson is especially interested in female fans, and argues that the ones more or less devoting their lives to the vampire has done so because they "found in the vampire a figure that expresses painful outsiderdom and love in a way that echoes their own experiences in the world" (pg. 189).

Countless of people all over the world are interested in, and fascinated by, vampires, but The Lure of the Vampire is still not a book for everyone. It's a book written by a scholar, and it soon becomes apparent that its intended audience is other scholars or university students, not the everyday reader. Which obviously doesn't mean it's a bad book in any sense. Quite the opposite actually; as long as you have the necessary patience and training required to deal with it you'll find that Williamson has written a book that's both very informative and interesting, but if you don't and just want a book about vampires in general, then you're probably better off buying a different book.

In the section preceding chapter five, "Vampire Fandom: Rebels Without a Cause? Theorising Fandom in the Field of Cultural Production", Williamson informs the reader that she's about to offer a model to "understanding fandom in contemporary culture" (pg. 96), but in fact the entire book, not just chapter five, is an attempt to do just that.

Now, a thorough analysis is never a bad thing, but why does Williamson - along with many other scholars of contemporary culture - have such a hard time simply admitting that some people appreciates vampires and vampire movies without really considering why? Is it really necessary to analyse every single aspect in meticulous detail? I mean, I'm a vampire fan too, but I'm not sure I could tell you exactly why. I just like them.

Another strange thing, perhaps less important though, is the absence of discussions about films like Underworld, Van Helsing, and the Blade trilogy. On the back of the book these movies are mentioned, giving the impression that they will be discussed in the book, but as it turns out, only Blade is mentioned, and only in a sentence or two. Not that this feels like false marketing, well, in a sense I guess it does but it doesn't really matter that much, but it's still weird.

So now, then, is The Lure of the Vampire a good buy? Yes, as long as you belong to the right group of people who are able to fully appreciate her analysis. But no, not if your interest in vampires is more emotional than it's scholarly. Make sure to figure out what group you belong to before you buy it.

Gary Robson's anthropological picture of this infamous South London club provides a rich incite into the lives of fans, historical background and social practices of Millwall followers. "No one Likes us, we don't care," the anthem of the club, is an appropriate title for this book. Robson attempts to go behind the mythologies and media stereotypes of fans as unreconstructed neo-fascist hooligans, and attaches more significance to working class identities. Robson, has managed to do a detailed piece of research into working class male culture without boring the reader to tears with academic jargon, and the early chapters of the book are particularly fascinating. The voices of South East Londoners shout out at readers off the page, and records urban memories of the Old Den and the move to the New den. Any football fan who finds this book will not be disappointed.

Whether it's dealing with celebrity image or political figures or understanding the politics and privacy of the Internet and a website, WILL THE VAMPIRE PEOPLE PLEASE LEAVE THE LOBBY? TRUE ADVENTURES IN CULT FANDOM is raucous, raunchy, funny and pointed: an observation of cultural laws, oddities and changing 'norms' which pokes fun at just about all aspects of Western culture, especially as it meets the machine world. A hilarious, fun read recommended for all libraries, from general-interest lending libraries seeking sharp contemporary humor to college-level collections strong in sociology or social observation.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

A good laugh generator and it isn't bad in that it makes you think. Discussions of internet groups was a good arena to dig into, and how the unseen people tend to be full of themselves and flaunt impossibilities about their backgrounds (a great great great grandson of Walt Whitman). The books tone isn't as waspy as other books I've encountered on fandom, but that's not the author's inclination. Here the dissent is to inform you about people and not wound them.

Much of it is devoted to Joss Whedon worship. I'm not a fan of Buffy, but picked up this book solely because of the title, and I like books about fanatical fans. My own daughter being one of the Whedonites.

Worth a borrow.

For those who are a Whedon fan like me, this is a hilarious look behind the scene of fan conventions and events. I was laughing on the plane all the way to one such event. Most recommended.

From the description, I expected this book to be laugh-until-your-sides-ache funny, a sort of David Sedaris does the internet. Wrong. Not funny. Also, hoped for some behind the scenes action on my favorite show ever, Firefly. Turns out, the author loves Joss Whedon, but hated this show. This book is a personal memoir, essays on the wonderful power of fandom and the great friends she's made, how the web is not a dangerous, scary place.

For a hilarious read which lampoons sci-fi fandom, try BIMBOS OF THE DEATH SUN by Sharyn McCrumb.

Being a "Bronzer" I was really excited to read this book. I was really saddened to realize it was nothing more but a book on how great the author thinks she is.

I find it insulting that there was no mention to where the majority of "Bronzers" found home after the UPN tore out our beloved Bronze, which was over at HMC.

The book it full of explanation of how MySpace is evil and what "trolling" is and how cool she was in dealing with them. It's full of the obvious and chocked full of vanity. Don't bother purchasing this book. If you really want to read it, you can find my copy in the dumpster out back.

I think people could be surprised at how much fanfic, esp on the Internet, can mean to people. Let alone that it was a big enough topic for people to write books and scholarly essays about! Could be something of a surpise, esp if you had no idea so many people enjoyed this hobby.

Being a woman who is an occasional writer of Klingon fan-novellas, I was interested in this scholarly book on fanfic and its female following. The author does an in-depth study of female fans of not only Star Trek, but Blake's 7 (a British sci-fi series), Starskiy & Hutch, The Man From Uncle, Alien Nation, Doctor Who, and other TV shows. Her conclusions: 98% of fanfic is written by women, who prefer intimacy, character-interaction, and continuity over action and special-effects. (I guess that makes me a "2%er" -- I prefer plot-driven adventure, decriptive carnage, and characters of my own creation.) Immersing herself in the subculture, Bacon-Smith delves into the very personal and sometimes secretive world of 'zines and fannish writing. With great respect toward the community which generously contributed to her study, she exposes the genres of fiction which appeal to most female writers and readers. They are the "MarySue" and "LaySpock" which are basically an extension of the writers' own personnae and fantasies; the "Hurt-Comfort" tender tales of nurturing and caretaking; and "Slash" or erotica featuring explicit sex between established characters. Bacon-Smith also cautiously explores the underground realm of homoerotic "Slash" (sometimes called "K/S" after Kirk/Spock) in which female fans envision intimate relationships between the two male partners of various favorite series. This is an intriguing book, containing much technical terminology and psych-evaluation. I thought I might identify with it, but instead I found the subculture wholly alien (no pun intended). At least I know now why my klinzines are not a big hit with the mainstream fandom!

A fascinating look at fandom, managing to catch the world of zines, video, and small communities just before the 'Net fully hit fandom. Occasionally a bit too filled with academic lingo for the average reader, but an utterly engrossing read for anyone involved in fandom.