Doug's Library -- Book Links

I finally got so many ideas for book links (especially links related to Speculative Fiction) that I decided to organize them a little better and provide some explanation for each. I'm happy to accept new ideas for links here. To go to (or return to) my own SF book reviews page, you can click here. This is not meant to be a comprehensive list of all SF Web sites out there. Other people (linked to here) do a fine job of that, so no need for me to duplicate it. This page is more to describe a sampling of some of my own favorites.

General Book Resources

Internet Book Information Center (IBIC)

The "definitive" book resources site, IBIC serves as the WWW Virtual Library on Literature (linked from the CERN Subject Index). This is a great place to start looking for general information on books. It has recently switched from a very structured format to more of a text format, and it actually makes it a little harder to find things in a methodical fashion.

Library of Congress

Contains links to many current American historical resources at the "real" LOC (such as a Gettysburg Address exhibit, among other things). The LOC is also developing a "Global Electronic Library" that ties together links to all U.S. government agencies on line (federal, state and local) and many other WWW resources (sort of like the Yahoo site but with a better signal-to-noise ratio, depending upon what you're looking for).

Bookwire

A very comprehensive site for books, with descriptive links to hundreds of different interesting sites. It's like a Yahoo site for books only. Well worth exploring.

Speculative Fiction Resources

Rutgers SF Resource Guide

Probably the most comprehenive Science Fiction resource guide on the Web. Enough said!

Fandom Domain

Very well organized collection of links for fans of science fiction and fantasy, everything from authors to gaming to conventions to tv shows. A must-see!

Science Fiction Weekly

Here's a new Web magazine that started up in August 1995 and attempts to follow the world of SF on a weekly basis. It looks sharp and has a great deal of content, especially considering that it is free and just starting up. This is a good site to follow.

Booksellers and Publishers

Amazon

The Big Daddy of Web-based booksellers, Amazon is worth watching if only to see what sort of marketing gimmick they come up with next. They are actively encouraging people (like me) to link reviews to their site and get a kickback, but I don't want to commercialize this site. Also, I'm not sure I'd trust the review of someone who gets money if the book gets sold. Still, there's a good argument for doing this for a favorite author or two, so I'm not opposed. Just not participating.

Barnes and Noble

This is comparable to Amazon, but to be honest, I think the best use for on-line bookstores is finding rare or out-of-print books. If I buy a book, I usually go to Half-Price. Or I go to a place where I can sit comfortably and browse.

Tor Books

Visit the publisher of many of the most popular SF books and authors of today, including some of my own personal favorites like Steven Brust and Greg Bear. You can find sample chapters from many Tor books here and find out plenty about the SF publishing industry in general and find many resources particular to Tor books and authors in particular. A well-organized site.

Del Rey Books

Six of one, a half-dozen of another. Del Rey keeps up just an impressive site as Tor with many similar kinds of resources, including the Del Rey Internet Newsletter.

Baen Books

Here's another publishing house on the Web. Plenty of previews of new books, sample chapters, etc.

Bantam Spectra

One of the most consistent publishers of high-quality SF, in my opinion. A very entertaining site.

Steven Brust

This is the real deal. Steven Brust's own home page. I suppose he qualifies as a bookseller, so I include him here, if only for the indulgence of providing a link to my favorite author's home page.

Other Book Review Sites

IBIC Virtual Review of Books

Here is the real strength of the IBIC site, imho. It has a very comprehensive listing of all book review resources on the net, including a special section of SF & F reviews.

The Book Engine

Here's a site similar to mine (but much better looking) that enables readers to submit their own reviews. As of July 1996, there were only a few reviews there, but this is a great concept that deserves to grow.

PostViews

Finally, someone else is doing what I'm doing! Go here to find a whole bunch of short reviews of Speculative Fiction books, well-written and well-organized!

The Good Reading Guide

When I last updated my book links page in July 1998, I could no longer find this resource on the Web. If anyone can track it down and send me the URL, I'd greatly appreciate it. Heck, if anyone has a copy of the text, I'd be happy to host it!

As it says in my own book reviews page, this was the site that inspired my own page. In a sense, I consider my site to be only a companion resource to this site, which lists far more books than I do and usually provides several different opinions on each. Unfortunately, the Good Reading Guide is "closed" in that it doesn't accept new input (to the best of my knowledge), so I hope people submit comments at least to my own mailbag or write similar pages of their own. For my money, the Good Reading Guide is one of the best sites on the Web.

Homespun's Book Recommendations of Real Folks

This site makes it easy for people to submit lists of their own favorite collections. It's a great place to browse and is really the next stage in the evolution of resources like the Good Reading Guide. I strongly recommend this site if you're interesting in book recommendations and really aren't particular about a specific genre.

Meta-link to more book reviews

This site has links to several general book review sites (not just SF) as well as a few out-of-the-way book links.

Karl Anderson's Post-Apocalyptic book reviews

Another review page in the spirit of the Good Reading Guide, this site focuses on "doomsday" books. Quite a few good ideas to be found here for that genre.

Reader's Robot

Another interactive reviews site. This place invites your contributions to its database, and based on your own favorites, it offers you a list of other books you might enjoy.

Internet Book Review Resource List

This site attempts to be comprehensive about what is out there, and the author also provides his own ratings as far as depth and breadth, including indications of what kinds of reviews you can find at a given site. He was certainly kind to my page!

Huntress' Book Reviews

Here's a smaller collection of organized book reviews by someone else out there on the Web. It looks pretty sharp (if hard to read in places).

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