What Genre of Fiction do you read most often?

[HomeInMyShoes]

Originally Posted by Geralt

Mostly fantasy with occasional science fiction book.
I'm surprised nobody here reads horror. (none that have voted anyway)

It's not that we don't read horror, but when it says most read then horror probably falls by the wayside for many. I read the occassional horror novel now. I used to read lots in late high school and university, but tastes change. My reading is really less genre-based then it used to be and I tend to read just fiction. Most places call that literature, but I'm definitely not that high-brow.

[Geralt]

Originally Posted by Luffy

I have a question to ask, and this site(though not this thread) is the perfect place to ask it... what are the connection between the "Steven Erikson Malazan - Book of the Fallen Series" and "Malazan Empire Series by Ian C. Esslemont"...?

Those books are all part of the Malazan series. https://www.goodreads.com/series/49674-malazan
This is the reading order if you are interested:

Spoiler:

1. Gardens of the Moon
2. Deadhouse Gates
3. Memories of Ice
4. House of Chains
5. Midnight Tides
6. Night of Knives
7. The Bonehunters
8. Return of the Crimson Guard
9. Reaper's Gale
10. Toll the Hounds
11. Stonewielder
12. Orb Sceptre Throne
13. Dust of Dreams
14. The Crippled God
15. Blood and Bone
16. Assail

Those two are buddies, they created and write about Malazan together.

[Geralt]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

It's not that we don't read horror, but when it says most read then horror probably falls by the wayside for many. I read the occassional horror novel now. I used to read lots in late high school and university, but tastes change. My reading is really less genre-based then it used to be and I tend to read just fiction. Most places call that literature, but I'm definitely not that high-brow.

That must be it. I think maybe horror appeals to younger readers as you yourself said, and I got a feeling that people on this site are bit on the older side, like 40s, 50s and up.

[Apache]

I am all over the place with genres. From Alexander Dumas to Roger Zelazny.
Apache

[Luffy]

Originally Posted by Geralt

Those books are all part of the Malazan series. https://www.goodreads.com/series/49674-malazan
This is the reading order if you are interested:

Spoiler:

1. Gardens of the Moon
2. Deadhouse Gates
3. Memories of Ice
4. House of Chains
5. Midnight Tides
6. Night of Knives
7. The Bonehunters
8. Return of the Crimson Guard
9. Reaper's Gale
10. Toll the Hounds
11. Stonewielder
12. Orb Sceptre Throne
13. Dust of Dreams
14. The Crippled God
15. Blood and Bone
16. Assail

Those two are buddies, they created and write about Malazan together.

That list saved me a lot of time.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Geralt

That must be it. I think maybe horror appeals to younger readers as you yourself said, and I got a feeling that people on this site are bit on the older side, like 40s, 50s and up.

What age range do science fiction and fantasy appeal to? It feels like a majority of people here are heavy readers of those genres.

[Geralt]

Originally Posted by Catlady

What age range do science fiction and fantasy appeal to? It feels like a majority of people here are heavy readers of those genres.

I don't know. I just think kids/young people get more kick out of a horror novel than somebody older. On average. There are always exceptions.

@Luffy
Glad I could help.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Geralt

I don't know. I just think kids/young people get more kick out of a horror novel than somebody older. On average. There are always exceptions.

@Luffy
Glad I could help.

You may be right (I'm 43 and I do read/watch less horror than I used), though as you say there are exceptions. I do on occasion read a bit of Stephen King.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Geralt

I don't know. I just think kids/young people get more kick out of a horror novel than somebody older. On average. There are always exceptions.

Not me. Can't stand horror.

I always got the impression that young people favored Sci-Fi/Fantasy in general. I may be projecting, though.

[Hampshire Nanny]

My personal reading preferences are mystery, science fiction, and fantasy. I'm not a big fan of traditional fantasy or "high" fantasy -- more of paranormal and urban fantasy.

Originally Posted by crich70

In truth I forgot about historical fiction. My bad. I left literary off because it's so hard to define (IMO).

In my own reading statistics, I usually find that historical fiction I read also fits one of the other genres -- particularly historical mystery (Brother Cadfael by Ellis Peters), historical fantasy (Deryni novels by Katherine Kurtz) and occasionally historical romance (Neville Family by Liz Carlyle).

Originally Posted by Catlady

What age range do science fiction and fantasy appeal to? It feels like a majority of people here are heavy readers of those genres.

One reason why you find a strong correlation between people who read eBooks and those who read SF/F might be Baen books. Baen was the first publisher to actively promote electronic books.

Personally, I started reading all the SF I could get my hands on when I was about 13. My mother also read SF, so I never had to beg too hard to buy a new book! As an elder, I tend to have exhausted the classic authors (Robert Heinlein, Ben Bova, H G Wells, Jules Verne, Isaac Asimov, Damon Knight, Donald A. Wollheim, Frederik Pohl, James Blish, Arthur C Clarke, A E van Vogt, Ray Bradbury, Frank Herbert, Roger Zelazny, Harlan Ellison, Ursula Le Guin, Andre Norton, Zenna Henderson, Hal Clement, Anne McCaffrey, etc.) Along the way, I diverged into other genres, particularly mysteries -- classic mysteries and even cozies -- so there are quite a few contemporary SF authors that I have not read such as China Mieville and Iain M Banks. But recently, I've accumulated a large number of books from Baen that I'm reading through, particularly David Weber and David Drake.

Fantasy is relatively new to me as well. I have never read Lord of the Rings or The Wheel of Time, for example. But when I picked up Sheepfarmer's Daughter by Elizabeth Moon, I was hooked. Shortly after finishing that trilogy, I quickly read Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy and Books of the Raksura by Martha Wells.

[Byrdie]

Hm, not sure where I fit on the poll. My reading preferences are gay romances that are also very heavy on mystery/crime and sci-fi/fantasy story lines. Of course, I also read mystery, thriller, fantasy and sci-fi books that have NO romance as part of the plot. Also a lot of fan fiction, does that count as a genre?

[zerofatzreturns]

Originally Posted by xg4bx

Lately fantasy. I'm reading the newest Brent Weeks in between plugging away at the Malazan and Wheel of Time series'.

I love the wheel of time series. I need to re-read that whole thing. I have been too busy lately.



Kam
[Promotional link/text deleted - MODERATOR]

[crich70]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Not me. Can't stand horror.

I always got the impression that young people favored Sci-Fi/Fantasy in general. I may be projecting, though.

I still enjoy SF/Fantasy stories. Of course I favor books that are written much like the styles of books written by the authors I grew up with. Author's like Issac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke and of course even older writer's like Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. I imagine I'm in good company though as many of the big names in Sci Fi and Fantasy today probably got their start by reading many of the same author's that I did.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by crich70

I still enjoy SF/Fantasy stories. Of course I favor books that are written much like the styles of books written by the authors I grew up with. Author's like Issac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke and of course even older writer's like Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. I imagine I'm in good company though as many of the big names in Sci Fi and Fantasy today probably got their start by reading many of the same author's that I did.

I secretly suspect that everyone prefers Sci-Fi/Fantasy.

Even if they don't admit it!

[Geralt]

Originally Posted by Hampshire Nanny

One reason why you find a strong correlation between people who read eBooks and those who read SF/F might be Baen books. Baen was the first publisher to actively promote electronic books.

Never read Baen in my life, nor bought from them.
I never read any genre book because x, y, z publisher.

I don't think medium (ebook or pbook) here is important. The poll is regarding what genre you read, not what genre you read on your e-reader.