Sending people to my competition is not exactly the smartest idea I have ever had, but there is some great content out there for fantasy and science fiction readers that you might not be aware of. So for today’s post, I thought I would compile a short list of other resources that I use myself to keep in the know, read awesome reviews, and connect with the reading community.
Bigger sites for news and opinion pieces:
/r/Fantasy – This one is pretty obvious for most of us, but since I pretty much live there I thought it would be worth mentioning. /r/Fantasy is a great compilation forum for news and has some great discussion. Unfortunately, I find it is not a great place for reviews, and I often turn to smaller blogs which I trust more. The side bar has some excellent resources for information on upcoming releases, community events, and info on the genre all stars that every review recommends.
Tor.com – Tor offers a lot, but the best thing it offers is discussion pieces on books new and old, as well as on the genre as a whole. I like to take a short peruse through their articles once a day and often find a great discussion piece or thought starter. While it isn’t a good site for staying up to date on book news, they have in my opinion the best op ed content out there and I highly recommend you take a look.
Unbound Worlds – Penguin Random House’s site and another great place for op ed pieces. Unbound Worlds offers both news and opinion pieces, though they post a lot less frequently than /r/fantasy or Tor. I usually check in with them about once a month, but they provide some great reads – in particular when it comes to their own books (which there are a lot of).
Macmillan Newsletter – The sign up for the newsletter is on the right hand side of the page. I subscribe to a lot of newsletters, but Macmillan takes the cake as they are great at telling me about author events in my area. They aren’t a fantasy and sci-fi only site – but they still have been my best resource for finding out that Sanderson or Danial Abraham are coming through NYC.
HarperVoyagerBooks – A great site that just had a relaunch (and looks gorgeous), Harper Voyager mostly promote their own work – but do a great job with it. They have lots of interesting pieces by their authors and editors about books, current events, and the genre as a whole. I am a big fan of this group as they have a lot of heart and really care about the genre, so I recommend you give them a read.
Smaller sites I usually go for reviews:
Mighty Thor JRS – James is ridiculous – both in the amount of content he produces and its quality. He is a great writer and I love reading his content. We have similar, but varied enough, taste in books that I like to read his opinions of the same books I review to see if we agree. Hes a great guy with a good site and I recommend you check him out.
BiblioSanctum – I think that Biblio does a great job in their critical reviews, and while I often disagree when they don’t like a book, it is rare for me to find I don’t enjoy a book they recommend. I am not a fan on their 5 star system (hence why I use out of ten) as I find it makes it difficult to identify good middle of the road books, but their 5/5s are almost always books I find amazing. They have a talented team of writers and I love binge reading their posts from time to time.
Bookwraiths – So Bookwraiths and I rarely agree on anything (right now he has a review of Red Sister up that breaks my heart). Wendell and I have very different taste, but I think he writes excellent well though out reviews that are impressively detailed compared to what a lot of other people are putting out. It is always important to be open to opposing opinions, especially when rating a book, and I like to think of him as a great counterpoint to my own work. If you are looking someone with a different POV than The Quill to Live Bookwraiths will provide it with high quality writing.
Mark Lawrence – Mark is the author of multiple best selling fantasy series, including the previously mentioned Red Sister, but he also runs a pretty great fantasy blog as well. Mark provides a great window into the world of being and author and helps show a lot of whats under the hood when it comes to writing books. His posts are informative and interesting and I usually read through everything he posts.
The Quill to Live – You knew I was going to do it, stop rolling your eyes. I think what we have going on here is pretty great. As we go into our second year of this site we are working harder to try and provide you more content and more interesting content. If there is anything you readers would like to see more of (or less of) please let me know in the comments or drop me a email through the contact tab. I love hearing from the people who read our stuff and I hope you like reading it too.
Awesome post! You know your site is great! No one is leaving! Thanks for the shout out!
I hate we disagree about books so much, but I always love reading your thoughts. And, believe me, I still feel like a traitor to Mark Lawrence for not loving RED SISTER. 🙁
I never really thought of other sites as competition to be honest. Just more places to share opinions. And I think Wendell was absolutely on point when it comes to Red Sister =)