Do you have a favourite genre? - Page 2

NatCh · 10-07-2008, 02:48 PM

You say that like it's a bad thing ....

Over · 10-07-2008, 02:55 PM

It's not that bad... but this poll should be deleted, so that MR's reputation isn't damaged.

DMcCunney · 10-07-2008, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Over

It's not that bad... but this poll should be deleted, so that MR's reputation isn't damaged.

Er, what reputation?

______
Dennis

astra · 10-09-2008, 11:27 AM

Voted for SF/fantasy, although it is fantasy only for me.

ficbot · 10-09-2008, 04:14 PM

I am not a big fan of the dragons and spaceships kind of sci-fi, but I like some of the paranormal stuff (people with super-powers etc.) and have a few authors I enjoy who write non-spaceship non-dragon sci-fi (Connie Willis, some of Robert J. Sawyer, John Wyndham etc.) I like general fiction, mystery, suspense/thriller etc. Eclectic

nekokami · 10-09-2008, 04:22 PM

I picked SF/Fantasy, but I'm not exclusive about it. I do read a fair number of mysteries and historical fiction (or books that could be both, like Barbara Hambly's Benjamin January stories). I generally avoid romance. I'm not a big fan of "just fiction" because I guess I like something with a bit of a twist to it, but I did have to read Shantaram last semester for a class, and I was surprised that I liked it as well as I did. (I didn't like the other books assigned for that class-- and it wasn't supposed to be a class about fiction in any case, but about curriculum theory. Go figure.)

I also have quite a collection of non-fiction, ranging from physics books by Feynman and Hawking to social science books by Gould and Elgin (note that some of these authors have also written science fiction!)

babyd · 10-09-2008, 06:20 PM

I went for Sci-fi/fantasy too, as this is approx 80% of what I read (fantasy).

nekokami · 10-10-2008, 02:56 PM

Wow. I expected to see quite a few other SF/Fantasy readers around here, but not quite that high a proportion. (It's at 67% right now.)

DDHarriman · 10-10-2008, 05:16 PM

Science Fiction!

But I regret the SF/Fantasy option… dam! Do not mixture things!
Science Fiction is one thing, the other … is… well… - please do not see this as disrespect to the people who love that gender - something else.

I do not care that it’s traditional (today) to put them in the same bag.
Dam! They are not!

I love Science Fiction and do not care less for the other thing!

Anyway I have chosen the “combo” above as there was no other option.

DMcCunney · 10-10-2008, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DDHarriman

Science Fiction!

But I regret the SF/Fantasy option… dam! Do not mixture things!

You cannot help mixing them.

Quote:

Science Fiction is one thing, the other … is… well… - please do not see this as disrespect to the people who love that gender - something else.

I do not care that it’s traditional (today) to put them in the same bag.
Dam! They are not!

Please classify the following as SF or Fantasy:

Anne McCaffrey's Pern stories

Randall Garrett's "Lord Darcy" stories

Melissa Campbell's "Silence Leigh" stories

Suzette Hayden Elgin's "Ozark Trilogy"

Patricia Kenneally's "Celts in Space" series

Justify your classification.

______
Dennis

DDHarriman · 10-10-2008, 06:35 PM

Yes I can!

Before going on, let me say one thing: I do not believe it's your way, this lecturer position "Please classify the following"...

Now to what you ask, I will just indulge the first:
Anne McCaffrey's Pern stories? Science Fiction all the way!!!

PS: please do not see my words as a harsh position; we just see this mater differently.

RWood · 10-10-2008, 06:49 PM

I read almost everything (OK, romance books are just not something I ever care to read again.) One of the true joys of ebooks s that I have been able to read so much Voltaire that I could never find. Patricia has posted a great amount of his works (in English) that has been a joy to read.

Almost all of the classic works are available free.

desertgrandma · 10-10-2008, 06:56 PM

I voted for "Crime", but I'm hoping its fictional detective/coroner/psychologist type crime novels, a la Jonathan Kellerman, Agatha Christie, not the true crime books........

DDHarriman · 10-10-2008, 06:56 PM

Correct!

I read "The Count of Monte Cristo” this summer in the beach on my Cybook and it was a blast!

I had forgotten how good and actual it was! (and cool!)

DMcCunney · 10-10-2008, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DDHarriman

Yes I can!

Before going on, let me say one thing: I do not believe it's your way, this lecturer position "Please classify the following"...

Now to what you ask, I will just indulge the first:
Anne McCaffrey's Pern stories? Science Fiction all the way!!!

I agree with that. But the Pern stories are one of the edge cases I think of. They have the fantasy tropes - feudal social structure, medieval level of technology, fire breathing dragons - so that folks coming to the series part way through can decide (and have decided) that it's fantasy. They haven't seen the setup described in early stories that makes Pern a lost colony whose inhabitants got there by starship, and that the dragons are products of genetic engineering on the indigenous fire lizards.

For the rest:

Randall Garrett's "Lord Darcy" stories:
Alternate history based in a world where Ricahrd the Lionhearted settled down after ebing wounded in the Crusades to become a very good King, and founded a Plantagenet dynasty that still exists. That society developed magic instead of science. Darcy is a criminal investigator, and his partner is a master sorcerer using forensic sorcery to gather evidence that Darcy can use to solve crimes. The stores were first published in Analog magazine by the late John W. Campbell.

Melissa Campbell's "Silence Leigh" stories:
Silence is a sorceress in a civilization that has developed alchemy instead of science, and travels the stars with her two husbands in a ship powered by mystic forces. Science and magic are both valid paradigms in Silence's universe, but mutually exclusive. If you use one, you can't use the other.

Suzette Hayden Elgin's "Ozark Trilogy":
Elgin's characters are colonists in a distant system originally settled by people from the Ozarks, and use both science and magic on a daily basis.

Patricia Kenneally's "Celts in Space" series:
Kenneally transforms St, Brendan the Navigator of Celtic lore into Brendan the Astrogator, who led the Tuatha De Danaan into space, and a Celtic space empire is locked in combat with their ancient enemies the Fomorians. Kenneally has computer controlled starships delivering naked, blue painted Fian warriors to battlefields where they will wield broadswords in mano a mano combat with their enemies, while sorcerers cast spells in support. Both magic and science work in Kenneally's universe.

Are the above SF, fantasy, or both?

My point is simply that it's really hard to draw a sharp line dividing the two. They are different on the ends but tend to meet and overlap in the middle.

I like the late Sf critic Damion Knight's definition: "SF is what I'm pointing at when I say the words!"

______
Dennis

View Poll Results: What is your preferred genre?
Crime	4	4.00%
Historical	4	4.00%
Humour	1	1.00%
Literary fiction	14	14.00%
Romance	10	10.00%
SF/fantasy	57	57.00%
Thrillers	4	4.00%
No preference	6	6.00%
Voters: 100. You may not vote on this poll

10-10-2008, 06:35 PM	#26
DDHarriman Guru Posts: 860 Karma: 4380 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Almada, Portugal Device: Cybook Gen3, Sony PRS 505, Kindle DXG and Samsung Galaxy Note	Yes I can! Before going on, let me say one thing: I do not believe it's your way, this lecturer position "Please classify the following"... Now to what you ask, I will just indulge the first: Anne McCaffrey's Pern stories? Science Fiction all the way!!! PS: please do not see my words as a harsh position; we just see this mater differently. Last edited by DDHarriman; 10-10-2008 at 06:54 PM.

10-10-2008, 06:56 PM	#29
DDHarriman Guru Posts: 860 Karma: 4380 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Almada, Portugal Device: Cybook Gen3, Sony PRS 505, Kindle DXG and Samsung Galaxy Note	Correct! I read "The Count of Monte Cristo” this summer in the beach on my Cybook and it was a blast! I had forgotten how good and actual it was! (and cool!) Last edited by DDHarriman; 10-10-2008 at 07:05 PM.

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10-07-2008, 02:48 PM	#16
NatCh Gizmologist Posts: 11,615 Karma: 929550 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Republic of Texas Embassy at Jackson, TN Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3	You say that like it's a bad thing ....

10-07-2008, 02:55 PM	#17
Over Wizard Posts: 1,462 Karma: 6061516 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Cascais, Portugal Device: Kindle PW, Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2", OnePlus 6	It's not that bad... but this poll should be deleted, so that MR's reputation isn't damaged.

10-09-2008, 11:27 AM	#19
astra The Introvert Posts: 8,307 Karma: 1000077497 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: United Kingdom Device: Sony Reader PRS-650 & 505 & 500	Voted for SF/fantasy, although it is fantasy only for me.

10-09-2008, 04:14 PM	#20
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	I am not a big fan of the dragons and spaceships kind of sci-fi, but I like some of the paranormal stuff (people with super-powers etc.) and have a few authors I enjoy who write non-spaceship non-dragon sci-fi (Connie Willis, some of Robert J. Sawyer, John Wyndham etc.) I like general fiction, mystery, suspense/thriller etc. Eclectic

10-09-2008, 04:22 PM	#21
nekokami fruminous edugeek Posts: 6,745 Karma: 551260 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Northeast US Device: iPad, eBw 1150	I picked SF/Fantasy, but I'm not exclusive about it. I do read a fair number of mysteries and historical fiction (or books that could be both, like Barbara Hambly's Benjamin January stories). I generally avoid romance. I'm not a big fan of "just fiction" because I guess I like something with a bit of a twist to it, but I did have to read Shantaram last semester for a class, and I was surprised that I liked it as well as I did. (I didn't like the other books assigned for that class-- and it wasn't supposed to be a class about fiction in any case, but about curriculum theory. Go figure.) I also have quite a collection of non-fiction, ranging from physics books by Feynman and Hawking to social science books by Gould and Elgin (note that some of these authors have also written science fiction!)

10-09-2008, 06:20 PM	#22
babyd Addict Posts: 384 Karma: 1567 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: UK Device: Sony:505, 600, 350, 650, Kindle 3 & PW, Kobo Mini & Aura HD	I went for Sci-fi/fantasy too, as this is approx 80% of what I read (fantasy).

10-10-2008, 02:56 PM	#23
nekokami fruminous edugeek Posts: 6,745 Karma: 551260 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Northeast US Device: iPad, eBw 1150	Wow. I expected to see quite a few other SF/Fantasy readers around here, but not quite that high a proportion. (It's at 67% right now.)

10-10-2008, 05:16 PM	#24
DDHarriman Guru Posts: 860 Karma: 4380 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Almada, Portugal Device: Cybook Gen3, Sony PRS 505, Kindle DXG and Samsung Galaxy Note	Science Fiction! But I regret the SF/Fantasy option… dam! Do not mixture things! Science Fiction is one thing, the other … is… well… - please do not see this as disrespect to the people who love that gender - something else. I do not care that it’s traditional (today) to put them in the same bag. Dam! They are not! I love Science Fiction and do not care less for the other thing! Anyway I have chosen the “combo” above as there was no other option.

10-10-2008, 06:49 PM	#27
RWood Technogeezer Posts: 7,233 Karma: 1601464 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Virginia, USA Device: Sony PRS-500	I read almost everything (OK, romance books are just not something I ever care to read again.) One of the true joys of ebooks s that I have been able to read so much Voltaire that I could never find. Patricia has posted a great amount of his works (in English) that has been a joy to read. Almost all of the classic works are available free.

10-10-2008, 06:56 PM	#28
desertgrandma Enjoying the show.... Posts: 14,270 Karma: 10462843 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Arizona Device: A K1, Kindle Paperwhite, an Ipod, IPad2, Iphone, an Ipad Mini & macAir	I voted for "Crime", but I'm hoping its fictional detective/coroner/psychologist type crime novels, a la Jonathan Kellerman, Agatha Christie, not the true crime books........