Top of the Net:

The Ten Best Sci-Fi Websites

by Kristi Kates

Sci-fi fans exist in all varieties.  From the loyal Star Wars or Star Trek

follower to the occasional viewer, from the fantasy/sci-fi book collector

to one who perhaps only favors the works of Ursula Le Guin, H.G. Wells or

Robert Heinlein... from the person who carefully hunts down all of the collector's

items (the figurines, the mugs, the t-shirts, the official stickers) months

ahead of time, to the person who is content simply seeing the movie once or

twice when it finally hits theatres.

But those differences don't mean that the casual fan is any less

appreciative of the genre than the devoted fan may be.  Contrary to

standard stereotypes, sci-fi has a wide range of approaches, story

originations, character types, and settings that make for intriguing

stories that can literally take you right out of this world.

Sure, there are some cliches - as there are in any genre of artwork - but

the variety that the sci-fi fan can find to watch, read, or listen to are

truly stunning.

And the internet serves as the perfect portal to the sci-fi world - housed

comfortably in a medium that would've have been thought sci-fi itself just

some twenty-odd years ago, sci-fi artists and fans have taken to the 'net

like fish to water, and have put together hundreds of websites dedicated to

the medium.

We think that these are among the best.

1.  Space.com  

Let's start off with one of the biggest sci-fi sites out there.  Well,

perhaps it's a little more sci than fi, but that still makes it a great

place to start, combining both elements brilliantly into an ambitious

jump-gate that's both entertainment and information.

The latest space info anchors this site, from news on the most recent NASA

projects and shuttle launches to space images and satellite views that you

can both view for fun and download as wallpaper for your computer.

Leaning more towards the sci-fi side of things, Space.com also tells you

about how you can purchase real estate on the moon, shows you where to get

and/or download the perfect set of skywatching tools (so important if

you're planning off-planet trips any time soon), and offers you a section

to design your very own alien species.

If you want to get a feel for the space that sci-fi lives in, this is the

site that will give you all the basics and then some.

2.  Starport 

Although Starport is directly affiliated with Space.com, it's definitely

living on an alien world of its own, full of quirky features and space-age

fun.

An extensive news section is one of the best things on this site, with tons

of feature articles on UFOs, scientific advances (fiction and non), sci-fi

tv shows and movies, and info on Hollywood bigwigs like Tom Hanks, and

sci-fi authors like Arthur C. Clarke.

Starport also frequently offers up interviews with people that can give a

real insight into the real deal, like SETI astronomer Seth Shostak and

astronauts from the MIR project.  But that doesn't mean that it's all

seriousness at Starport - just check out the features on space rock n'roll

bands, the space trivia section, the tricky constellation quiz, and the

ever-so-popular Starport Cantina hangout - it's like the Cheers or the

Central Perk of the galaxy.

3.  Sci Fi Space (www.scifispace.com)

Another good portal is that of Sci Fi Space, the site that's chock full of

news, events, special reports, and loads of information on conventions and

clubs for those die-hard sci-fi fans out there.

Upcoming movies and shows get lots of airtime on this site, and they've

even got an extensive special section for the new Star Trek series,

Enterprise, where they've somehow managed to snag episode synopsis for

episodes that haven't even aired yet, and chats with Enterprise cast

members like Connor Trineer, who plays the intrepid Trip on the show.

Once you've browsed through all of Sci Fi Space's reading material, you

might want to take a break in their Game Room before surfing out into

cyberspace - if a good game of Defender of the Moon won't clear your head,

we don't know what will.

4.  Star Trek 

Speaking of Star Trek - well, how could we not speak of Star Trek, the

series that's become a sci-fi institution?  They've got their own official

portal, and it's a must-see for anyone that's ever appreciated any of the

Star Trek shows, whether you're a fan of the original series, the animated

series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, the new Enterprise,

or even any of the Star Trek movies.

Designed with that crisp, clean, and oh-so-familiar-to-Star-Trek-fans LCARS

graphics style, this site is so loaded with things to see that you'll have

to skip your Starfleet Academy classes to check it all out.

There's a virtual tour of the Enterprise ship, tons of behind-the-scenes

info, a Starfleet Lounge and a virtual Holodeck, Starfleet surveys, a

listing of Star Trek-related birthdays, and so much more - there are even

two regular columnists from the Star Trek universe, the Ferengi Pelgar

(whose advice often ends up being more cranky than helpful) and the stoic

Klingon K'Plett.

And one of the most fascinating sections of the site is the library, where

you can peruse detailed info on all of the Star Trek characters, ships,

foods, alien cultures, and maps - it's so much fun, you might even forget

to beam back to Earth.

5.   Star Wars 

We couldn't list Star Trek without, of course, listing that other behemoth

of the sci-fi world - Star Wars.

With Episode Two: Attack of the Clones nearing release this spring,

interest in the Star Wars series, which is usually quite high, is even

higher as fans wait to see if Lucas' latest chapter will live up to his

original efforts.

On the official Star Wars site, you'll find the requisite news on upcoming

episodes, and you can join other Star Wars fans in the site's community

section, whether you want to discuss the films or dig up some cool Star

Wars collectibles - there's info on the new Star Wars toy line and upcoming

Playstation 2 games, too - but we like the Databank section best of all.

In the Databank, you can look up, much as you can on the above Star Trek

site, everything from characters, droids, and locations to vehicles,

technology, and wildlife - for instance, did you know that Nunas are

"flightless, 1/2 meter tall fowl native to the Naboo swamps" or that a

Gaffi Stick is "the traditional weapon of the Sand People?"

It's a rich world that Lucas has created for Star Wars, and this site is

your chance to be a tourist in it.

6.  Sci Fi Station 

If it's sci-fi stuff that you want, this is probably the site for you - you

might need to look on the official sites of many movies and shows to get

show-specific items, but for everything else, Sci Fi Station is the place.

Space toys and toy robots abound on this site, especially sci-fi model

kits, which you'll find from such classic shows as The Time Machine, 2001,

Forbidden Planet, and War of the Worlds - but that's not all that the savvy

sci-fi shopper will be able to unearth.  You can find loads of sci-fi

soundtracks and box sets to listen to while you're surfing the rest of the

sci-fi net, and you can grab movies like The Iron Giant, Tron, Barbarella,

The Last Starfighter, or even the classic Metropolis to watch later.

This site also specializes in hard to find sci-fi movies on both DVD and

VHS formats - did you ever think you'd be able to have a copy of Atomic

Brain, Attack of the Puppet People, Cat Women of the Moon, Zontar, The

Thing From Venus, or Teenagers From Outer Space for your very own?

Now all you need are a couple of friends, and you can host your very own

Mystery Science Theatre 3000 party, sarcasm not included.

7. Zealot (www.zealot.com or AOL keyword ZEALOT)

Zealot is a simple but classic site for sci-fi and fantasy fans.  Focusing

mostly on text features, there's plenty here to keep you reading for days,

starting with the latest news - Zealot always seems to have the jump on

what's going on in the sci-fi tv and movie worlds, whether it's news bites

on Star Wars, Spiderman, the new Buffy cartoon, or the pending Catwoman

movie project.

And it's not just tv and movies that Zealot pays attention to - they'll

also clue you in to what's happening on the sci-fi books and sci-fi games

frontiers, and there's a whole section devoted just to anime that will keep

animation and Japanimation fans in the know, too.

8.  The Sci Fi Channel 

Yeah, yeah - so, it's the propaganda site for the Sci Fi cable channel, but

that really doesn't make it any less cool - in addition to the expected

show schedules and channel promotions, there's a lot of essential stuff

here for the any sci-fi fan.

There's sci-fi news, of course, on tv shows (duh) as well as movie projects

like The Time Machine and Men in Black II, but The Sci Fi Channel also

offers up lots of polls, chat events, a nifty and useful web guide, the fun

"This Day in Sci-Fi" feature, and a great "Sci-Fi To Go" section, where you

can download great browsers, skins, and sci-fi stuff for your PDA.

If you want to listen while you surf, you can check out the site's Seeing

Ear Theatre, where original sci-fi stories are presented featuring the

voices of actors like Steve Buscemi, John Ritter, or Bebe Neuwirth.  And

did we mention that The Sci Fi Channel is also the home for such shows as

Star Trek, The Outer Limits, Mystery Science Theatre 3000, Lost in Space,

Battlestar Galactica, Quantum Leap, and Twilight Zone?  Even if you don't

get the channel, it's still well worth a visit to the site.

9.  Galaxy Quest (www.galaxyquest.com)

Sci-fi isn't known to be a humorless genre, so we figured it might be good

to showcase at least one humorous sci-fi site in our list of the ten best -

and, By Grabthar's Hammer, we just couldn't leave out the site for the hilarious

sci-fi spoof movie Galaxy Quest, starring Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver.

Set up just like every badly-designed fan site you've probably ever seen

(complete with clashing colors, screen captures, and lots of annoying gif

animations), this site pays tribute to the fictional Galaxy Quest TV

series, a Star Trek wannabe show that is the focus of the real movie.

The host of the site, the way enthusiastic (and also fictional - uh, we

hope) Travis Latke, used to work at a TCBY Yogurt store, but now spends his

time filling this site with a Galaxy Quest episode library, gushing

tributes to the "actors" on the "show," overviews of the ship, and lots of

spelling errors.

If you didn't know that this site was put up by Dreamworks, you'd think it

was a real fan site... or is it?

10.  Cybertown 

Billing itself as the "Civilization For the Virtual Age," Cybertown lets

you take a shot at living your own virtual sci-fi life online, complete

with a 2-D or 3-D avatar of yourself.

Both fun for the gamer or casual surfer and a cool extra tool for the

roleplayer, storyteller, or writer, Cybertown offers you the opportunity to

"immigrate" in, set up your own house, meet fellow Cybercitizens, hold a

job, shop, dance in an outer-space nightclub, play games, and attend live

online celebrity chat events.

If you really want to get involved in the community, you can check out

their City Council reports or even the news reports from CVN (Cybertown

Virtual News) - or, if you just wanna hang out and party, they've got

dozens of virtual worlds you can virtually "rent" to hold your next bash at

- it's all there for the taking once yoou become an official Cybertown

citizen.

And that's our list of The Ten Best Sci-Fi Websites - so boot up your

computer, sign on to the 'net, and have fun checking out this month's

Review Magazine's Top of the Net.

Happy surfing!

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