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Post by June Scarlet on Jul 5, 2019 20:44:30 GMT -5
We seem to have a pretty good smattering of readers around here. So what's your favorite genre to read? What are some examples of the genre? Let's discuss!
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Personally, I love real-world fantasy, that is, fantasy set on a place recognizable as modern-day Earth. Where it's plausible that it could really be happening. Stuff like The Sisters Grimm, the Spiderwick Chronicles, Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl, The Seems. I favor middle-grade fiction as well, as you can probably tell by my list of examples. But there's just something so magical about a secret world that goes with our own.
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Post by Thorn on Jul 5, 2019 21:32:19 GMT -5
I love all kinds of fantasy! High fantasy novels can sometimes feel a bit tired and cliched, with people reusing the same Tolkien-esque tropes, but when it's done well I love escaping into that type of world very much. Examples of books which I think execute high fantasy well include: works by Tolkien himself (I won't discount his contributions even though everyone following after him tries to copy his work!), and Range of Ghosts by Elizabeth Bear (I need to read the rest of that series but love it very much!) Also The Stone in the Skull, the first in a series set in that same universe but with different characters; and The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie- author of my very favourite book in the whole world, Ancillary Justice.
Urban fantasy is also grand- I adore the Skulduggery Pleasant series, as well as Vivian Shaw's Greta Helsing novels. There's something about being able to imagine secret magic existing within the real world, I agree! I would love to read more urban fantasy set within my own country, but all I've found of that so far are works by Margaret Mahy, and Summer Wigmore's The Wind City. Hunter by Joy Cowley is not quite urban fantasy, but it had a big influence on me in childhood, as it was one of the first novels I read which a) showed me my own country depicted in fantasy, and b) represented a non-European culture.
Science fiction may be my favourite genre. I guess SFF is one genre, really, so I'm really just talking about the one genre in this post! I love its potential- through the lens of science fiction and fantasy both we can explore imagination and the human condition in such different ways than we can in more 'realistic' literature. My favourite book ever is Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, which presents a vision of a future so distant that few remember what planet humanity originally game from. It gives us a society which lacks gender, poses the usual question of how to treat hypothetical sentient AI (but in a fresh and wonderful way), and also, the main character used to be one segment of a massive spaceship's AI. Which is a really great way to approach the theme of personal identity. Then there's Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries- which also explores the theme of identity through the titular character, an android-like entity; as well as themes of guilt and healing and personal responsibility- all kinds of good stuff!
Disclaimer: while I said I love sci-fi, I mean sci-fi that makes you think. Military sci-fi holds little appeal for me at all.
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Post by Ian Wolf-Park on Jul 5, 2019 22:23:26 GMT -5
For me, it's unsurprisingly, mysteries, given what the majority of my written works in the Neopian Times are. Fantasy novels like Harry Potter and The Wind in the Willowsare ones that I like to read as well, for similar reasons to June Scarlet, but there's also the fact that it's a whole new world with a lot of potential.
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Post by Ginz ❤ on Jul 6, 2019 0:32:44 GMT -5
I'm with you, June. I also love real-world fantasy! I love the idea that magic exists in our world, and that while not everyone may see or notice, it's there and it's real. Harry Potter is my favorite book series, to no one's surprise, I bet. XD Finding about a whole secret magical world is really cool! I also really like magical realism, which I guess is very similar? But even just having a few magical elements, or a touch of magic in an otherwise realistic setting is so fun and enjoyable for me. I've always been very drawn to magic! <3
I guess I could say my favorite "genre" is Young Adult, but that's actually really broad. I mean, there can be fantasy, and sci-fi, romance, and contemporary, and mystery, and dystopia, and just about anything within YA! It's such a huge umbrella. But I guess I like the common themes of figuring yourself out. Asking all those big human questions about who we are and why we're here, where do we fit in, what's our purpose and what's important. They really resonate with me.
Honestly, taking a look at the bookshelf I have in my room, I notice that I also seem to really like just slice-of-life contemporaries? I like reading about other people's lives and experiences, and it's so much easier to relate to them or see parts of myself reflected back when the setting is our world, and the characters' experiences are mundane, yet extraordinary.
Sorry if this post reads a bit disjointed. XD; I had a few thoughts come up at once and wasn't really sure how to transition from one to the other. Honestly, I would like to read more broadly, and get into genres I don't always read or think to read, but I usually pick up books based on recommendations, and I would need to grow my pool of where I get those too!
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Post by Moni on Jul 6, 2019 0:52:25 GMT -5
yeah this is gonna make me sound like an elitist weeb but my favorite genre of fiction is the stuff that came out like... in like between the boundaries between the transition from romanticism to realism, or early realist works... like balzac and eliot are my faves. there's something about that era. middlemarch is my fave novel in the english language bar none.
but aside from hon hon oui oui baguette classics (at least one person is more of a nerd than i am in this department, i haven't really been reading consistently in ages). my favorite genre is science fiction/fantasy... which is a bit weird, because i tend to dislike books in those genres, but when it's good oh man it's good.
edit: i said "elitist weeb" and nothing here has to do with japan or animu but i'm keeping that in anyways. nerds.
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Post by Allison on Jul 6, 2019 12:10:01 GMT -5
It used to be Christian fiction. But as I got into my 30s and realized nearly every Christian fiction book has a subplot of "God gives girl prefect guy" and most of the females are pining away for the "one God has chosen..." Well, let's just say seeing as I've never even been on a date, that... annoys me a bit. lol Why does every Christian girl have to have a guy??? (Rhetorical question specifically aimed at many books) So recently I've gotten into sci-fi and dystopian YA novels. I just finished "Ready Player One" and loved it. Need to find something else. I've read Ender's Game, many of Orson Scott Card's books, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Maze Runner, and Divergent and loved all of them.
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