The Sword and Laser discussion

So, this was just posted over at SF Signal.

So disappointing. SF Signal was one of my go-to SF blogs. I always looked forward to their mind-meld posts and their link round-ups. They also had so many good interviews and essays. I just don't see how this hole will be filled.

Any other regular readers here? Also, any recommendations for other good genre blogs?

A sad day indeed.

I never read SFSignal for some reason. Tor.com has a descent SFF blog though. Can't say how well it compares.

They talk about a variety of stuff, and not just their own books though.

Some other SF & F blogs

Barnes & Noble SF and Fantasy blog
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sc...

Tor's website has a lot of interesting articles and short fiction
http://www.tor.com

What else do Sword and Lacerates read?

Io9 of course.

I read i09, Nerdist, Tor.com. I tried out Blatr, but found it rarely had anything the others didn't.

Polygon is largely a gaming blog, but they sometimes cover some nerd stuff. Mostly TV and movies though, not books.

Comicsalliance.com for comics.

I avoid any site owned by Gawker Media for reasons of basic moral hygiene. Even if io9 isn't itself operated by skeevy, amoral scumbags, the people who make money off the site are.

For general SF news, I go with File 770, with James Nicoll's Livejournal my preferred source for snarky commentary.

Black Gate also seems worth mentioning, especially given their recent actions in response to being slated on the Hugo ballot.

"Spend more time with our families"?

That's something a politician usually says right before he's indicted for shopping at the intern store.

Was there a green-skinned alien chick involved here?

Maybe they actually just like their families?

I assume the site never brought in enough to pay them as a full time job, too, so for those people who ran the site and had a job it was really like a second job that didn't pay (or didn't pay much).

So basically like writing for the Huffington Post.

Rob wrote: "Maybe they actually just like their families?"

I suppose anything's possible in sci-fi.

but under your control (if you were one of the people running the site).

Sites like that generally don't make a lot of money, certainly not enough to support 2-5 people in a middle class lifestyle. I've no inside knowledge on this case but a site would need to generate $150K+ just to support a couple of people full time and that's without paying contributors, etc.

Rob wrote: "Maybe they actually just like their families?"
That's crazy talk
;->

I agree with the guess that running the site was a full time job.
And a non paying full time job at that.
;-<

Great. First time I find out about something that would interest me and it's when it's closing.

There are some good recommendations here. It's funny. I'd occasionally followed a link to File 770 or Black Gate. Now that I give them a closer look, they both look great.

I especially love the Pixel Scroll posts at File 770. Among all the great posts at SF Signal, I looked forward to their regular Link Posts. Pixel Scrolls look like they'll fill that void.

SF Signal has been on my morning coffee break list for ages. I'm definitely going to miss it.

I loved SF Signal, sciencefiction.com just doesn't compare....

SF Signal was one of two sites that did a comprehensive "What Books are being Published This Month" list.

Unfortunately, the other one, My Bookish Ways just announced they're also closing.

Lindsay wrote: "SF Signal was one of two sites that did a comprehensive "What Books are being Published This Month" list.

Unfortunately, the other one, My Bookish Ways just announced they're also closing."
This might help- Locus posts the new books each week-
http://www.locusmag.com/Monitor/2016/...