Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

As someone who has been actively into cosplay, cons and other nerdy things since the early 2000s this was neat to read. It covers all the main aspects of the topic: the beginning of fanship, terminology, the rise of fandoms, fandoms online, turning points of their history, fanfiction, fanart and cosplay and everything in-between.

NetGalley, victoria catron

Swinyard provides so much information – the good and the bad. When I finished this book, I knew so much more that was useful in informing my own concept of fans and fandom. For the more well informed there are some constructive lessons on how to use that knowledge and experience safely and wisely. And lest it all sounds gloom and doom, Swinyard ensures that all the positives of communicating through fandom, gaming, and associated features has its positive aspects also. I feel very gratified to have had the opportunity to learn more about fan culture through this informative and thoughtful book. It’s a work that I shall reread with enthusiasm.

NetGalley, Robin Joyce

I've been waiting for someone to write a book on this topic for so long and I got so hyped when I saw this one! It ended up being a good informative read and I like the inclusion of pictures.

NetGalley, Ajla Gobeljic

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

The idea of fandom seems like a current thing so it was interesting to see the fanatic ideologies from other time periods.

NetGalley, A D

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I was attracted to this book because I am a fan myself and was curious to see what could be possibly written about the phenomenon of fandom in general. This book proved to be quite the interesting read, and was surprisingly (and refreshingly) amusing. The author truly knows her onions about fandom, being a fan herself and it's clear that she has put in the time and extreme effort to do very extensive research. Not only does the book focus on modern fandoms (such as the relatively modern Doctor Who and Lord of the Rings) it also focusses on the far older fandom (by comparison) of Sherlock Holmes. (taking a much-needed detour through the realms of Star Wars and Star Trek among many others.)

It also covers such phenomena as fanfiction, fanart and cosplay (and everything in-between) without being judgemental or preachy. (again, given the author is a fan herself, I doubt that she really would go the judgemental route.) She covers all the bases, touching on sites such as LiveJournal, tumblr, and Twitter as well as such paraphernalia as fanzines.

This is something that I definitely would recommend to people.

NetGalley, Quinn 1066