Rewrites...

Every good author (except Heinlein) edits and rewrites their stories, sometimes until they're sick of the things. Hopefully that won't happen to us. Here's what we've done so far:

March 1: Let me start by apologizing to everyone that this update is a week late. My only excuse is that I've been ill, and that's not much of an excuse, ne? But rest assured, this update is complete.

First, we have the second ever annual Top 100 list up! Out of 196 books, series, comics, etc., we have selected 101 (there was a tie at the end) to recommend to you, our readers. Check out the list, and maybe you'll find a new author or book you've never tried before. Most of the authors have a page up now, so you can study them in-depth before you buy (or borrow) more great books.

Second, we are now up to 450 books reviewed, with 105 authors! This has been a prodigious effort on the part of no less than 6 reviewers over the course of the month, and many more before that! New authors for this update are: Roger Zelazny (by Tim), Phillip K. Dick (by Tim), Robert E. Howard (by Tim), Caroline Stervermer (by Shawna), Jane Yolan (by Shawna), Lewis Carroll (by Tim), and John F. X. Sundman.

New books have been added for Terry Pratchett (by Bina), Sheri S. Tepper (by Bina), Edgar Allan Poe (intro) (by Tim), L. E. Modesitt (by Dragon), David Eddings (The Belgariad and the Mallorean) (by Erika), and Neil Gaiman (fantasy).

Third (and finally), have you looked at the counter on the main page? We have passed 2000 hits in the past few days! If you notice a search engine or link list for sites like ours that we're not listed on, go ahead and add us. Don't forget to use our banners wherever possible- Dragon put in a lot of effort to make them.

Thank you, everyone! Danke! Graci! Merci! Arigatou, minna-san!

• February 9: This site's first birthday is coming up, and we are hoping to get almost 500 reviews with over 100 authors by that time, as well as giving you the results of the second annual Top 100 contest. Other surprises are also planned, so please come back on February 21 for the fun!
  
  We have over 400 reviews and six new authors: Martha Wells (by Bina), Eiji Yoshikawa (by Tim), Robert Jordan (by Dragon), Traci Harding (by Dragon), Michael Moorcock, and Tom Williams. New reviews are up for Emma Bull (by Bina), Terry Pratchett (by Bina), Elizabeth Moon (collections)(by Bina), Katherine Kurtz (Gwynnedd), and Anne McCaffrey (Pern).
  
  Dragon is our reviewer of the month for January- congratulations! Also this month, the reviewers are voting on the top 100 speculative fiction books of all time. This should be up by our birthday.
  
  
• January 28: We have 13 new authors: Meredith Ann Pierce, Ray Bradbury, Wayland Drew, Isaac Asimov, Fay S. Lapka, Pamela Dean, Susan Sanchez, Isabo Kelly, Dick Claassen, Clare Bell, John Brunner, Kenneth Grahame, and L.E. Modesitt (by Dragon).
  
  New reviews are up for Anne McCaffrey (Pern) (by Dragon), Tolkien (tributes), David Brin (Post-apocalyptic) (by Bina), David Eddings (The Elenium) (by Dragon), Neal Stephenson (Snow Crash), Terry Brooks (by Dragon), Robert Heinlein (Miscelaneous, Future History, Juveniles), David Feintuch (fantasy) (by Bina), and Terry Pratchett (by Bina).
  
  Robin McKinley is author of the month for February. The final nominations are up and the reviewers will be voting in the next couple of weeks.
  
  
• December 31: Added new authors Poul Anderson (by Roberto), Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, C. Walter Hodges, and Thomas Bulfinch. New reviews are up for Morgan Llewelyn, Joe Haldeman, Larry Niven (Known Space) (by Roberto), C. J. Cherryh (Faded Sun) (by Bina), Terry Pratchett (Discworld) (by Bina), and J.R.R. Tolkien (tributes).
  
  We have reached 350 reviews! Only 150 more to go before February 21! In related news, added more nominations for the second round of the top 100.
  
  Updated the points and chose Bina as the Reviewer of the Month for December. Did some editing based on suggestions from Dragon, Tim, and Bina. Thanks, y'all!
  
  We joined the Colony 2 ship- look for it on the links page. Added several more links. Will perform another link check sometime after Y2K.
  
  
• December 9: Administrative additions include How to Write a Review; all authors whose names begin with K through O are now in a new folder called "ko", so please update your links accordingly; we have joined the Reader's Ring and the code works; the page about reviewers has moved, as has the one just for reviewers; our newest reviewer is Josiah; the new Raven's Choice Author is Julie E. Czerneda, and the new Raven's Reviewer for November is Tim; there are new nominations; and we've added even more links and have seperated the link lists from the general info pages.
  
  Author additions include: Neil Gaiman (The Sandman)(Tim), Julie E. Czerneda (Bina), Connie Willis (new), Mercedes Lackey (Valdemar), J.R.R. Tolkien (other), H.P. Lovecraft (whole new page)(Tim), Rosemarie Bishop (new)(Shawna), Umberto Eco (new)(Tim), William Gibson (new)(Josiah), Lois McMaster Bujold (Miles Vorkosigan adventure), Joe Haldeman, and Crockett Johnson (new).
  
  In other notes, we received 112 hits in the week of December 1st, so our hit count is rising. My apologies for not updating sooner, but I had trouble uploading to the server. If this happens too many times, we will switch locations.
  
  Dragon's beautiful image is finally on the main page ^_^. I will fix the number on it properly as soon as possible.
  
  
• November 8: Several parts of the site have been revamped. Added a new index image and new banners to link to this site by Dragon. Changed the main page layout, and changed the poll. Please vote for your favorite nominee from the World Fantasy Awards. Started the second Top 100 nomination list to be completed next January and voted on in early February. Included a voter's manual to explain the procedure.
  
  Added pages allowing you to submit books for review or for readers to request a review. Added a page on our Browser Compatibility. Checked all links on the link page, added on-line booksellers, added some more author links- 200 total links. All webrings joined as of this date now work. You still should not follow the "Browse Author" links at the bottom of some of the pages- they are being haphazardly removed and no longer form a ring.
  
  Added new authors Debra Doyle and James D. Macdonald (by Bina), Julie E. Czerneda (by Bina), John Barnes (by Bina), William Goldman, Andre Norton, Martin H. Greeberg, and L. Sprague De Camp. Added reviews for Robert Heinlein, Charles De Lint (by Bina), and Mercedes Lackey.
  
  The winner of the monthly reviewer award for October is Bina! Arigatou, sempai! We reached 300 book reviews today (well, actually, 3 days ago, but the uploads were completed today). Our hit count is picking up- in the week from October 27 through November 2, we had 71 hits (real hits- our hit counter does not count reloads and back commands).
  
  
• October 15: Added new authors Joe Haldeman, Terry Pratchett (by Bina), Jodell Abrams, Zilpha Keatley Snyder, Henry N. Beard and Douglas C. Kenney, Julian May, and Harry Turtledove (by Tim). Added new reviews to the pages of Katherine Kurtz (Knights Templar and Vampyr-Ss), Future Boston (short story in 2041 A.D.), Robert Heinlein (miscellaneous), R. A. Salvatore (sequels to Drizzt), and Mercedes Lackey (Bedlam Bard/SerrAted Edge)
  
  Added our page to a new ring- The Ultimate Science Fiction and Fantasy Webring. Updated the contest section of Just for Reviewers page to reflect each month's contributions versus overall contribution. It is now the Reviewer of the Month section. Also, the "Browse Authors" links are slowly being removed- please use the Authors page to browse from now on. Thank you.
  
  Added six new categories, Military, Quests, Time Travel, Apocalypse, Computers, and Religion.
  
  
• October 8: Wow! We have a new reviewer, Dragon, who has added an introduction and book review to the page for Terry Brooks and his Shannara series, as well as series and book reviews for Sharon L. Reddy. Dragon's bio was added to the "About the Reviewers" page.
  
  Also added three book reviews from the "Narnia" series (by Sarah). An introduction for Neal Stephenson is up now (by Roberto). To be fair, I retrospectively awarded Tim our Reviewer of the Month Award for August, 1999. We received our first request to do a paperback today.
  
  Added a poll to the main page- if you could vote for the Hugos, which novel would you pick? Yes, you have to pick one, rather than ranking them. Finally put up a list of almost 150 useful or fun sci-fi links. Added us to another webring, A to Z book reviews.
  
  
• October 5: Added a search engine to the main page, authors page, and book titles page. Please send me feedback as to where else in the site you would find this function helpfull. Also added a program to allow you to pick an author at random.
  
  Added my own views on the "Uplift" trilogy to David Brin's page, added a new book to Madeleine L'Engle's page, and added a new author, scifi/romance writer Sharon Reddy.
  
  Began a new award, Reviewer of the Month. It will be given at the beginning of each month to the reviewer who contributed the most to the site the previous month. The reviewer for September 1999 is Roberto.
  
  Because some pages were taking a while to load, authors with more than about 15-20 books were split into two pages. You will still be able to find their books from their main page. Several pages were also spell checked ^_^;
  
  
• September 29: Added one book to David Eddings, along with an author review.
  
  Added us to the Ring of Book Reviews- it could take a few days for the links to work properly. Also added some transparent banners for you to use as links to us.
  
  
• September 27: Added a new editor, Denise Little, and a new author, Neil Stephenson (by Roberto). Added six books from Anne McCaffrey's "Talent" series; added two books by Sheri S. Tepper (from Bina). We reached 251 books today!
  
  Fixed a link on the main page, fixed some of the category pages, and changed some images on the main page, including the title image.
  
  For a news flash about Marion Zimmer Bradley, please visit her page. Thank you for telling us, Tim
  
  
• September 18: Added this site to two webrings, Science Fiction Book Review Webring and Fantasy Book Review Ring. Added a page for webrings so the images wouldn't clutter up the main page. Please be patient for a week or so until the ringmasters add us to their list.
  
  Added a page describing how to quote us, as well as a Site Map. Added a new category for Ebooks and moved the Rating System to its own page to reduce the clutter on the main page.
  
  
• September 16: Added a new author, Willo Davis Roberts; added six books and a bibliography for the Darkover series by Marion Zimmer Bradley; added six books by Robert Heinlein; added four books by Mercedes Lackey; added one book by Charlotte Boyett-Compo; added one book by Charles De Lint.
  
  
• September 11: Added a new author, Larry Niven (by Roberto); added one review to Orson Scott Card (by Roberto); added two reviews to Robert Heinlein. We received our second request to review an author. Added Roberto to the list of reviewers without a bio. Changed the index page somewhat. For the fun of it, each category now has an appropriate "Star Wars" quote at the top. Updated Raven's Reading.
  
  
• August 31: Added three new authors: Charlotte Boyett-Compo, Alexandre Dumas (by Tim), and R. A. Salvatore (by Tim). We received our first request to review a writer.
  
  
• August 4-5: Added more reviews to the pages for Anne McCaffrey, C. J. Cherryh, Charles de Lint, and Robin McKinley. Expanded the entry on "New Frontiers" series by Peter David.
  
  Added two new authors: Douglas Adams and Sheri S. Tepper. Also put up reviews and an introduction for Elizabeth Moon, Joan D. Vinge, and Frank Herbert's "Dune" series. Reached 203 reviews, with 40 authors.
  
  
• August 2-3: Changed the layout of much of the site. Added more images but made sure the loading time was not made worse. Added 9 new categories to help readers choose books and began filling them. Added a page with banners for you to use to link to this site. Moved the Children's Corner, so please update your links if you did a no-no and linked to that page directly ^_^.
  
  
• July 26: Added a counter to the main page courtesy of Webcounter. It doesn't include the 100+ hits while the page was on geocities, or however many may have occured on fortunecity before the counter was installed.
  
  
• July 21-22: Added 23 new reviews. Added a new author, E. B. White, with 3 reviews. Added 11 reviews for Anne McAffrey; 3 reviews for Lois McMaster Bujold; 3 reviews for J. R. R. Tolkien; 2 reviews for Jerome Beatty; and 1 review for Morgan Llewelyn.
  
  Updated the Children's Corner to reflect all the new children's books now reviewed. Plans are under way to create more categories of interest to make browsing easier.
  
  
• June 29: Added a new author- Jerome Beatty, Jr., author of children's books about natives of the moon.
  
  Fixed some errors from the last update.
  
  Added another mind-blower by Octavia Butler.
  
  Made a list of authors I really need Reviewers to write about.
  
  
• June 22: At Tim's suggestion, added the number of reviewers that voted on each book to Top 100.
  
  
• June 21: Tim's been really busy. Added his new and improved review of the Future Boston series, with another book review and a bibliography of all stories he knows exist in the series.
  
  Also added his counter-commentary on the Oz series and on Robin McKinley's Beauty.
  
  
• June 20: Added Tim's review of a trilogy by Diana L. Paxson and an introduction to her work.
  
  
• June 15: Added four more book reviews for Ursula Le Guin.
  
  
• June 13: Added two more book reviews for Ursula Le Guin and one more for Robert Heinlein.
  
  
• June 12: Added two more book reviews for Robert Heinlein.
  
  
• June 11: Added four more book reviews for Ursula K. Le Guin
  
  
• June 10: Added more book reviews for Robert Heinlein.
  
  
• June 9: Finally finished the Top 100 list. Check out the results! Also created companion pages for the list: how I calcuated the scores (and cute little facts), and a list of other awards including Hugo-Nebula double winners and Newbery winners that are SF&F related. Whew!
  
  
• June 6: Added a Charles De Lint review by Bina.
  
  Added an author review and several book reviews for Robert Heinlein.
  
  Changed the Just for Reviewers page to reflect the end of the contest.
  
  
• May 20: Put up Sarah's reviews of Marion Zimmer Bradley and Peter David.
  
  
• May 19: Fixed the problems with the Future Boston Project review.
  
  Finally put up the full page for the Children's Corner.
  
  
• May 17: Added Tim's review of the Future Boston Project and one of the novels in that universe by David Alexander Smith.
  
  Added Tim's bio.

• May 10: Added 3 Oz book descriptions and an introduction for L. Frank Baum by Sarah. Added Sarah to reviewers list without a bio.
  
  Added a review for one of Morgan Llewelyn's novels.
  
  
• May 8: Added two Charles De Lint reviews and his introduction by Bina. She reached 12 and is the second winner.
  
  Improved descriptions of two Robin McKinley novels about Damar.
  
  Added information on how to write bios to Just for Reviewers page.
  
  
• May 5: Added Top 100 nominations. Deadline for voting by reviewers has been set at May 20.
  
  Also added information on voting and on reviewing to the Just for Reviewers page.
  
  Added 3 reviews for novels by Morgan Llewelyn.
  
  Added Tim's information about H. P. Lovecraft. Added Tim to the reviewers list without a bio. That's it for today!
  
  
• April 6: Whoohoo! We reached 100! Ursula LeGuin now has 5 book reviews up. Everyone congratulate Kristin!
  
  
• April 3: Reorganized main page to be both more visually pleasing and more easily navigable. Reviewers- please note the number 95 on the main page. 100 is coming up fast... get the prize before someone else does!
  
  
• March 25: Added reviews for David Brin's Uplift universe- reviews written by Bina. We are up to 95.
  
  
• March 18: Raven's Reviews moved into its new home today. Please update your links. If you have any suggestions for improvement in the new site, please send email. Thanks!
  
  When we moved in, the following major changes were made: book titles were moved to their own page, reviewers were encouraged to write a paragraph about themselves, and reviews were added for Octavia Butler, Mercedes Lackey, and David Feintuch.
  
  

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Last Updated: March 1, 2000


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