Fan activity is certainly at a low ebb now, if it wasn’t already. The Dell forums have been shut down for months, with only a brief revival in the middle of that period of time to provide hope that they wouldn’t be shut down permanently. The F&SF forum is creeping along with most of its messages relating to when and whether F&SF has been received, and information about blogs which have posted reviews of the magazine, which is a chief interest of the editor. The Slush God is no longer active and Van Gelder has replaced him at their forum.

     Most of the other, non-magazine-related science fiction forums have closed down; there are two left that are worth much attention, one of which is interactive. FANDOM DIRECTORY’s site has ceased accepting free advertising or is malfunctioning, one or the other, and A FANNISH HOME PAGE is approximately inert. Other science fiction sites are chiefly annals and informational sites. Syfy’s forum is getting narrower and narrower, and is calling science fiction links posted there spam. It is plain they are cold-shouldering fandom. Meanwhile, non-sf-related advertising is prevailing at the site, not differing substantially from spam.

     In some contrast to this, the fanzines at efanzines dot com are getting both handsomer and livelier. You need a special reader installation to get to them, but it may be worth doing the installation. Especially recommended are editto and A Meara for Observers. Shelby Vick’s Planetary Stories also continues to promote the fannish tradition. Maybe we are seeing the darkness before the dawn.

     Regular mail fanzines have been picking up too; Robert Jennings is showing signs of being a fan activist and his fanzine Fadeaway is putting in some improvements from the fannish perspective. Kent McDaniels’ Dumbfounding Stories is publishing science fiction stories, Joanne Tolson’s Blue Moon Poetry is in rapid motion, and Tom Sadler’s The Reluctant Familus (now available also at efanzines) is getting more of a science fiction perspective. There’s something of a Ninth Fandom spirit about these zines. Again a sign of the darkness before the dawn.