As if there weren’t already enough places for geeks to hang out online, another challenger approaches! Popular science fiction publisher Tor has re-launched their website as a mini scifi geek social network, and I have to admit, it has an excellent set of initial features and offerings.

First things first: here’s my profile. It will be added to the sidebar just as soon as I get a chance to re-install Flash on the computer and create a new fancy button (a story for a later time).

So, what is there to see and do on the new Tor.com site? Plenty. The main focus of the site appears to be a multi-author blog with contributions from leading names in the ever-clashing world of geeks: John Scalzi, Jo Walton, Irene Gallo, Bruce Baugh, Patrick Nielsen Hayden – great content, which looks like it will be updated often.

And what else would you expect to find on a literature site? That’s right, free stories! Already a couple of short stories by John Scalzi and Charlie Stross have been posted, with the promise of more on the way. A great marketing tactic to get newcomers interested in purchasing the long form fiction: get them hooked on the free samples. Really looking forward to seeing more of this in the future.

Besides literature, there’s also art galleries featuring creative works of some utterly phenomenal science fiction and fantasy artists. Amazing work to be found here.

The profiles are another aspect of the new site. A bit boring if you’re already used to filling out profiles on other social networks, but it’s a nice way to connect everything together in a central dashboard. Especially nice is the ability to bookmark specific sections of the site for referencing later. For instance, I’ve bookmarked both of the posted short stories to get to when I have a free moment, as well as a gallery of artwork that has been modified into traditional computer wallpaper. Slick. I can also point people directly to my bookmarks. I think we have a winner.

Want a photo gallery? Well, even if you don’t, it’s in there. So you get to either use it, or ignore it. It will likely come in handy for showing off photos from geek conventions of you posing awkwardly with semi-famous writers and bloggers. Not that that ever happens. To me.

The message board system is a wonderful invention, probably because it reminds me so much of how FriendFeed works. You can go in and create separate threads, just like in a regular message board. However, comments can be posted on blog posts, stories, or even the individual art pieces. All comments everywhere on the site are coalesced and fed into one location, making following conversations damned simple and satisfying.

So far, I’m definitely enjoying the new redesign, even though I haven’t had much time available to do anything more than poke my head around the various features that have been implemented. I hope to actually participate soon, and look forward to seeing the site evolve over time as people begin to settle in, make friends, and enjoy geek conversation.