Fantasy vs Science Fiction: A Poll

Which do you prefer?

  • Total voters
    406
I switch between the two; I like both well written fantasy and well written (hard to find) SF.
currently I'm reading Fantasy but after a couple of weeks of elves, swords and spells I will probably change back to actual hard SF; possibly space opera or military SF for a bit.
 
I used to love sci fi, but lately there is just so much more fantasy I consider readable. I used to love sci fi that dealt with space or First Contact stories, but those seem to have become rare.
I just don't care about the cyberpunk, computer science focused stuff, or military sci fi that seems to predominate now.
 
Rinman said:
elves, orcs, and that sort of deal.
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A lot of Fantasy used to use the Tolkien/D&D template, but that's become rare. Urban Fantasy seems o have taken over. A lot of that is just as derivative, but it's a different template.

Sci Fi can have an enormous scope, but not many writers seem to be taking advantage of it.

If you want Fantasy with a different kind of charterer, how about "The Cloud Roads" by Martha Wells.
 
One of the things that inspired me to write my book was the lack of Tolkien and Donaldson type fantasies. I just love elves, orcs, giants, good and evil wizards, dragons, fair maidens and noble heroes.

Most of what I read seemed to be cookie-cutter fantasies like Raymond Feist. It seemed like he just threw in things just to be different. However, I'm not into vampires and zombies. There are however exceptions: Brandon Sanderson and Kevin Hearne.
 
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Lafayette said:
One of the things that inspired me to write my book was the lack of Tolkien and Donaldson type fantasies. I just love elves, orcs, giants, good and evil wizards, dragons, fair maidens and noble heroes.
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Oh, man! Totally agree! It seemed like, suddenly, these things were anathema!
 
It really depends on my mood. Great sci-fi for me is dystopian and/or satirical, like a bad trip or what have you. Great fantasy, is uh, fantastic. Takes you beyond the limits of reality. (guess I'll be voting fantasy)
 
I prefer reading Fantasy and watching Sci Fi especially the TV shows. The only good "Sci Fi" movie I have enjoyed lately is Interstellar, I am not counting Ready Player One as SF. I think I have read maybe 2-3 SF books my whole life. I have mostly read Stephen King and Dean Koontz and Joe Abercrombie.
 
I read/watch/write both, but I think I favor Fantasy over Sci Fi. I find Sci Fi more likely to fall into ruts than Fantasy and start to get kind of same-same after awhile. I do enjoy a good Science Fantasy hybrid though.
 
Laura R Hepworth said:
I read/watch/write both, but I think I favor Fantasy over Sci Fi. I find Sci Fi more likely to fall into ruts than Fantasy and start to get kind of same-same after awhile. I do enjoy a good Science Fantasy hybrid though.
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I used to say I don't like my fantasy and scifi mixed. Then I noticed I keep slipping scifi into my own fantasy!!

:oops:
 
Although I have read both, fantasy gets my vote. I love the Hobbit, and one day I may attempt to read the Game of Thrones series, but as they are quite chunky I am put off, unless someone can convince me to read them.
 
Ian Fortytwo said:
Although I have read both, fantasy gets my vote. I love the Hobbit, and one day I may attempt to read the Game of Thrones series, but as they are quite chunky I am put off, unless someone can convince me to read them.
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Although A Song of Ice and Fire is not my favourite series, it was one I always recommended specially to people who love the TV series, I'd tell them if they really wanted the true feel of the richness of the characters and world read the books. I even stopped watching the TV series, not wanting anything to mar the enjoyment of reading.
I've give up now and I'm currently binge watching the series need some sort of closure as I've lost faith in the books being finished. Still worth a read but I'm disappointed would preferred the written version complete before the visual.
 
nixie said:
Although A Song of Ice and Fire is not my favourite series, it was one I always recommended specially to people who love the TV series, I'd tell them if they really wanted the true feel of the richness of the characters and world read the books. I even stopped watching the TV series, not wanting anything to mar the enjoyment of reading.
I've give up now and I'm currently binge watching the series need some sort of closure as I've lost faith in the books being finished. Still worth a read but I'm disappointed would preferred the written version complete before the visual.
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I've never seen the series, because I don't have sky.
 
I prefer sci-fi. I never could get into fantasy that much. I think it's because a lot of the fantasy that I've seen or read could be very contrived at times. "Oh, you need to get to the top of the mountain? Well, I have a magic [fill in the blank] that can transport you there in the blink of an eye." How convenient...
 
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