How many read both SF and Fantasy?

[manephelien]

I certainly got into sci-fi much earlier than fantasy, because I used to raid my dad's shelves and he doesn't read much fantasy at all. I only got into fantasy in my mid-twenties about ten years ago.

The last book I read was Pratchett's Guards! Guards! and now I'm reading Clarke's Fountains of Paradise.

 

[HoopyFrood]

It seems I'm more of a fantasy reader. I haven't read very many Science Fiction novels (except, of course, the one that inspired my delightful name!) although after browsing this site and getting flooded with recommendations (especially from a certain someone...yeah, you know who you are ) I'm sure I'll read more of this genre in the future.
Although, I have to say, horror has always been and will continue to be my favourite genre. Fantasy is probably a close second. But hand me a book from any genre and I'll read it (well...unless it's a trashy romance novel, which I will throw back in your face!)

 

[Riselka]

Fantasy nudges out Sci-Fi for me at the moment, but not by all that much. It used to be the other way around, and I imagine the pendulum will swing towards Sci-Fi again in the future.

/ebbs and flows

 

[Razorback]

I read mostly SF, with only a touch of fantasy. I enjoyed some fantasy in my earlier years (The Hobbit, LOTR, EarthSea trilogy), but I have a much stronger affinity for SF. Stories that could plausibly happen at some place and time are just more compelling for me. One of my projects is to read all of the Hugo and Nebula novel winners. I pick up some Fantasy there, and I like the occasional break from SF. I recently read American Gods and thoroughly enjoyed it, but I don’t expect to change my mix anytime soon.

 

[Rane Longfox]

Read equal amounts of both, probably, but sci-fi is my preferred genre.

 

[dsmith]

I read more fantasy than sci-fi, although I do like both genres, and also enjoy the horror genre.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I used to read more SF simply because there was more of it to read. As more Fantasy became available, the percentage slowly began to shift. Then there was a time when the only new SF I read was books by favorite authors, or books that my husband bought (being convenient to hand). I think there may even have been several years where I didn't read any SF at all, except to reread a few favorites. That was the period when my husband finally stopped reading science fiction himself, so there were no longer SF books that I read just because they were there.

In the last year, I've read maybe a dozen SF books, which could mean my interest is beginning to revive a little. Still, by far the majority of the books I read are Fantasy.

 

[littlemissattitude]

My vote was "equal amounts of both", but I would have preferred an option that said "sometimes more of one, sometimes more of the other, depending on mood".

I started out with science fiction at a very young age, came relatively late to fantasy, and which I read depends completely on my mood. I also read a lot of other stuff (I'm reading a memoir and a novel in the DaVinci Code mode, only much better, right now), so that I'll go for long periods sometimes without reading either science fiction or fantasy. Also, when I read fantasy, it is much more often urban fantasy rather than classic fantasy in the Tolkein tradition.

 

[Nesacat]

I read mostly fantasy and supernatural horror but I also read some science fiction. I guess the science fiction tends to lean towards fantasy and is not hard core. I like Orson Scott Card's science fiction as well as William Gibson's but prefer Isaac Asimov to Arthur C Clarke for example.

I do agree that it is getting harder to choose a fantasy book. The shelves are packed to the brim with them both for adults and young adults and many are depressingly alike with shallow plots and characters.

There are some gems out there. It's just getting harder to find them especially here where bookstores are just opening up to science fiction and fantasy and therefore tend to play it safe. They'll being in a book if it's making waves and then they'll bring in all the books exactly like it and try to ride that wave.

 

[Stig]

Mostly SF, but sometimes it is difficult to see what´s what.

 

[gigantes]

IME SF is the serious literature of the two and fantasy is pretty-much warmed-over tolkien imitation at best.

IME of course.

 

[j d worthington]

IME SF is the serious literature of the two and fantasy is pretty-much warmed-over tolkien imitation at best.

IME of course.

Sadly, this is far too true these days (in general -- as said, there are notable exceptions, some very notable). But earlier fantasy... that's another matter. There are mountains of really good, wonderfully written fantasy out there, but sometimes you have to go looking for the older things to find it....

 

[Ragnar]

I used to read a lot of fantasy when I was younger but stopped reading it (Pratchett being the sole exception) about 20 years ago & read SF mostly (with occaisional forays into historical or crime fiction). I've recently been seduced back to fantasy by Robin Hobb's first Farseer trilogy. I'd still class myself as a predominantly SF reader though.

 

[Taltos]

For me it's a balancing act. When I read too much of the same (this happens more with fantasy I have to add) I need to change genre

And I just have to ask, why isn't horror mentioned ... where did you put the horror!? Not that I read it myself

 

[j d worthington]

I include horror (in general) with fantasy, as the majority is based in the supernatural. That dealing with natural causes -- psycho-killers and the like -- I tend to put more in with "thrillers"; more closely allied to mystery. Then there are those "science fiction terror tales" (to use the title of an old Groff Conklin anthology) -- those I put in with sf, as I see them predominantly as sf, but with an horrific mood (after all, The Chrysalids could well be fit into that category, not to mention Day of the Triffids, The Midwich Cuckoos, "Who Goes There?", "Blind Alley" [by Arthur C. Clarke], " -- All You Zombies --" by Heinlein.....)

Besides... why are so many so hesitant about horror? A good horror tale is every bit as capable of being good literature as any other type of tale, as a survey of the history of the "tale of terror" will quickly reveal.

 

[gigantes]

Sadly, this is far too true these days (in general -- as said, there are notable exceptions, some very notable). But earlier fantasy... that's another matter. There are mountains of really good, wonderfully written fantasy out there, but sometimes you have to go looking for the older things to find it....

i think my problem is that i'm not looking for pure entertainment anymore.

i don't doubt that there is some stellar fantasy out there, but the thing i like about good SF is that it examines the human condition (ie PKD) and / or is extremely funny (ie harry harrison).

ideally i'd like to learn something tangible about humanity, natural law, the cosmos... stuff like that, in addition to enjoying a cracking-good read. fantasy seems to be predicated too much on getting away from reality and creating elements that have no real relevance to the real world. once the last page is read the illusion begins to break down and you're left with nothing much more than the desire to rekindle the illusion.

i'd kind of like to be proven wrong, tho. if there's some fantasy that goes beyond the usual limits i'd love to hear about it.

 

[j d worthington]

i think my problem is that i'm not looking for pure entertainment anymore.

i don't doubt that there is some stellar fantasy out there, but the thing i like about good SF is that it examines the human condition (ie PKD) and / or is extremely funny (ie harry harrison).

ideally i'd like to learn something tangible about humanity, natural law, the cosmos... stuff like that, in addition to enjoying a cracking-good read. fantasy seems to be predicated too much on getting away from reality and creating elements that have no real relevance to the real world. once the last page is read the illusion begins to break down and you're left with nothing much more than the desire to rekindle the illusion.

i'd kind of like to be proven wrong, tho. if there's some fantasy that goes beyond the usual limits i'd love to hear about it.

Well, that's what I was getting at -- I may just not have expressed it very well. I'm not much of one for pure entertainment anymore myself... I've got far too many really meaty things to read, and I'm getting close to 50, so I've just not got the time to bother anymore unless I'm going to come away richer. That's why I suggest the older fantasy writers in general, rather than a lot of the newer ones. Mostly I'm meaning those before Tolkien's work took off so, as you had a lot of writers who were both trying to entertain, and to express some genuine thought about the human condition (whether through humor, drama, or stark tragedy).

While by no means all of the books in these series would fit that description, a fair number would, and I'd suggest looking into them... most of them you'll have to find at used book shops, or through libraries; and you needn't go for this specific edition of many of them, as they've had others. But, just for a taste, here goes (I'm providing two ways of finding out information about each):

Ballantine Adult Fantasy series - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

BIBLIOHOLICA: Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series

Newcastle Forgotten Fantasy Library - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Haunted Bibliophile- Newcastle Forgotten Fantasy Library

For intelligent, humorous fantasy that is also exquisitely written and has more than a bit of an edge to it, there's James Branch Cabell's Biography of the Life of Manuel (18 vols.). Not all of these are fantasy in the usual sense, nor do they have to all be read, nor in this order, though if taken in this order, they take on many added dimensions, and you see a lot more of the implications of Cabell's thought (these I do suggest the Storisende edition, as it was the revised set; however, if you can find some of these with the lovely Frank C. Pape illustrations, those add an entirely new dimension to the irony):

I. Beyond Life: Dizain des Demiurges
II. Figures of Earth: A Comedy of Appearances
III. The Silver Stallion: A Comedy of Redemption
IV. Domnei and The Music from Behind the Moon: Two Comedies of Woman-Worship
V. Chivalry: Dizain des Reines
VI. Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice
VII. The Line of Love: Dizain des Mariages
VIII. The High Place: A Comedy of Disenchantment
IX. Gallantry: Dizain des Fetes Galantes
X. Something About Eve: A Comedy of Fig-Leaves
XI. The Certain Hour: Dizain des Poetes
XII. The Cords of Vanity: A Comedy of Shirking
XIII. From the Hidden Way and The Jewel Merchants: Dizain and Comedy of Echoes
XIV. The Rivet in Grandfather's Neck: A Comedy of Limitations
XV. The Eagle's Shadow: A Comedy of Purse-Strings
XVI. The Cream of the Jest and The Lineage of Lichfield: Two Comedies of Evasion
XVII. Straws and Prayer-Books: Dizain des Diversions
XVIII. Townsend of Lichfield: Dizain des Adieux

And, of course, if you're interested in looking at the darker side of fantasy, which also has numerous sterling pieces of literature (in every sense of the term), you ought to take a look through Lovecraft's Supernatural Horror in Literature, and see which of those he suggests sound intriguing. A lot of them are currently available on the 'net, through places like The Literary Gothic and such, so you wouldn't need to track as many down.

Supernatural Horror In Literature by H. P. Lovecraft

Works Referenced in Supernatural Horror In Literature by H. P. Lovecraft

The Literary Gothic - the premier webguide to pre-1950 Gothic-tradition literature

But essentially, fantasy is as rich a field as any other for students of serious literature, it's just that it is going through one of those phases where the vast majority is again fluff, and that makes it difficult for someone who hasn't been reading the stuff for a long time to know where to find the quality work.

And, of course, there are always people like Fritz Leiber, with his Fafhrd and Gray Mouser series, as well as others.....

 

[gigantes]

I've just not got the time to bother anymore unless I'm going to come away richer.

haha, i heard that.

anyway, awesome info... thanks! i've read some of that stuff but i'll have to give some of the other stuff a shot.

 

[j d worthington]

I've just not got the time to bother anymore unless I'm going to come away richer.

haha, i heard that.

anyway, awesome info... thanks! i've read some of that stuff but i'll have to give some of the other stuff a shot.

You're welcome. Just call me your friendly neighborhood book-pusher....

 

[Fried Egg]

I tend to read mostly fantasy but I enjoy a good SF novel just as much as a good fantasy novel.