Babel Clash: Borders Launches SFF Blog

While stopping in for a cuppa over at Fantasy Café, I learned that Borders has recently launched Babel Clash, a blog dedicated to science fiction and fantasy, which claims to be home to “the greatest debates in the galaxy.” This appears to be no empty claim, as posts aim to spark discussion of speculative fiction’s core elements. Borders has also scored illustrious guest bloggers; so far, Kim Harrison and Brandon Sanderson have contributed several posts each.

So is Borders changing its tune regarding speculative fiction? Last year io9 reported that the chain was cutting orders for books in the genre. Judging from rumors and purely circumstancial evidence–a Borders near me closed down just after the New Year–I think the company is really struggling. At this point, they need to make every effort to bring readers onto their site and into their stores. Babel Clash is evidently part of that campaign.