# Internet Fiction Recommends?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-fiction-recommends/491313>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [March 30, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-fiction-recommends/491313 "2009-03-30T15:13:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\
**Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-fiction-recommends/491313/1 "2009-03-30T15:13:40Z")

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Okay, being a knowledgeable group, we all know Sturgeon’s Law, right?

\*\*cue chorus of “90% of _everything_ is crap” \*\*

Well, many of us have good Internet access but not a whole lot of discretionary funds to run out and buy new fiction, or access to a library that does.

Sooo… quite a lot of people have posted works of fiction on the Internet. Quite a lot of publishers have put up samples of their wares on the Internet. All this is accessible at no charge – and probably most of it is worth every penny one pays for it.

But there’s always some gems in the slushpile, “There must be a pony in here somewhere”… and that’s what I’m looking for.

Give me your recommends, with a quick critical review, of things you read on the Internet that, so to speak, “survive the Sturgeon filter.” I particularly enjoy science fiction, I’m not turned off by slashfic, though a fair amount of it is deadly boring. There is even the occasional well-done Mary Sue that rises above the Deathly Swamp the way a quality detective story or Western will shine by comparison with the hackwork that surrounds it. So, given that, what do you recommend, fellow Dopers?

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-fiction-recommends/491313/2 "2009-03-30T15:27:11Z")

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[Strange Horizons](http://www.strangehorizons.com) is a well-respected SF webzine.

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**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\
**Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-fiction-recommends/491313/3 "2009-03-30T16:21:14Z")

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[Warbreaker | Brandon Sanderson](http://www.brandonsanderson.com/book/Warbreaker) (I haven’t actually read it yet-- waiting for the Tor published version).

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**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\
**Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-fiction-recommends/491313/4 "2009-03-30T16:34:45Z")

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The only fiction I read regularly on-line is Othar Tryggvassen’s Twitter.  
Phil Foglio is writing a novel (or at least a novella) 140 characters at a time. And it is clever.

[http://twitter.com/Othar](http://twitter.com/Othar)

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**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\
**Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-fiction-recommends/491313/5 "2009-03-30T16:53:15Z")

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I assume you’re looking for current stuff, as opposed to works in the public domain that are available someplace like Project Gutenberg, but in case you’re interested in the latter, there is a [current thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=511701) of recommendations.