What about science fantasy? that looks like a fascinating genre. I mean if you can justify magic with some out there science then I might pick it up.
Look up Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, or anything borderline steampunk for that matter. Steampunk novels tend to associate the fantastic with alternate timelines/universes and the technologies held within. I tend to gravitate towards science fiction the most, though mid-low fantasy does tickle my fancy. Just finished Ender's game and Neuromancer. A Song of Ice and Fire is calling me back though.
I voted for crime/thriller although I read just about any genre if the fancy takes me. My general taste does seem to shift from time to time, a few years back all I read was science fiction and fantasy. Until recently I was well into science fiction, Stephen King?Richard Bachman, Clive Barker, etc. Just now I am into crime and thrillers. Martina Cole being who I am reading at this moment.
I like romance books, classics, fantasy also manga writing. Those are my favourite, but if I had to pick one in particular, it would be romance.
This is actually a tough poll. My favorites are horror and humor, as each of them seems to bring out the most in a character. I'm going to have to say horror though, just so long as the story has a decent amount of dark humor in it.
I'd have to go with Transgressive Fiction, which is sort of an obscure genre, but from what I've read it captures how I feel about life and people. The genre involves usually a character who is either unlikable and usually selfish and/or self-destructive/destructive. The character usually gets involved in serious crime or drugs and the world is usually a very depressing one, and they usually attempt to try to find meaning in it all at the same time as their world falls apart. Books like A Clockwork Orange, American Psycho, Less Than Zero, Fight Club, are all part of this genre. Very few writers call themselves Transgressive writers. The only ones I know, as a matter of fact, are Bret Easton Ellis and Chuck Palahniuk.
I use to love fast paced thrillers, but it was the fast pace that eventually put me off. I'll still read non-fiction thrillers though, if the truth isn't stretch too much. I like books that slow down and give me the more technical details, maybe this is why I've gone back to sci-fi. I still don't know why non-fiction isn't on this poll. There's nothing like being entertained and learning something at the same time, without the droning and procrastination of the History Channel.
It has just occurred to me that my favourite 'genre' isn't covered in this poll, and I'm not sure if I like the company of other I have accepted my place amongst the other. I suppose 'non-fiction' covers my favourite 'genre,' but I would personally settle for any of mythology and religious texts/psychology/philosophy. I will sometimes read scientific journals or books if they are on a subject that interests me like astronomy or evolution or virology, and because I write fantasy and also for nostalgia because it was my favourite genre before I left for school, I read fantasy novels. Also, I am still convinced that the only objectively correct answer is both. Other, I suppose, is the closest to both.
Fantasy all the way, baby! I can’t believe how many people read fantasy here. Good, at least there’s an audience for it
Historical, mostly. I like some fantasy, but it has to be easy accessible, like Lord of the Rings(or I pick out fantasy that's just not very good and I therefore don't understand much of what is going on ) Somehow fantasy is just too difficult for me.
I'm really surprised by the amount of people on the forum who love fantasy?! I always thought it was quite marginal in literature. I liked it as a kid but now I like contemporary fiction. It wasn't an option in the poll.
Fantasy easily is the top of my list. Though I do like Sci-Fi and some other stories, fantasy is the one I read 90 percent of the time. I've always been fascinated by fantasy since I was a kid, and I've written so many fantasy stories over the years that it's quite an ingrained part of me.
I'll go for any kind of fiction, though I usually only read what's listed as the top books. For example, the top row of my bookshelf is completely devoted to the Dark Tower series, the Da Vinci Code series, the Lord of the Rings, the Count of Monte Cristo, and the Dune series As to genres, I usually go with fantasy, if for no other reason than that is what I usually write. It is a bit difficult to get into the fantasy worlds, especially Stephen King, but once you do they are pretty amazing.
Fantasy: to read and to write as there are less limits, though every world needs rules or it falls apart. Have recently fallen in love with Steampunk though I guess that counts as my original vote.
Cyberpunk, 'Literary', Philosophical, Fantasy, and General Fiction. I'm not really into science fiction with massive amounts of technology porn ('hard' sci-fi is guiltiest here, in my opinion), and I also find interplanetary civilisations with multiple sentient species involved annoying; a completely alien psychology is, by definition, impossible to portray well. I love 'low' science fiction as a genre, though, where the lives of normal people are largely similar to the modern day, political influences notwithstanding. My favorite future technology that I've ever created is a 'thought scorer' - when activated, it writes your thoughts onto any surface with a low-powered laser beam. Essentially it's a pen replacement; everyone in the areas where the technology to create one is available owns one (the solar-powered ones are increasingly popular). Maybe that gives a good idea of the sort of technology I like.
Well, horror and fantasy are actually similar genres. Horror usually involves many fantastical elements, just like fantasy does. I'm guessing by fantasy you're thinking Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter type stories. I myself prefer reading science fiction and fantasy. Horror keeps me up at night watching the shadows in my closet.
I thought general fiction (which was my vote) would win by miles... Don't have a lot of fantasy, unless you count King. Now that I look at it, I guess he's straddling the fence b/w horror and fantasy- lately more in the yard of fantasy... Anyways, I too was surprised at the abundance of fantasy readers here. Really, double GF?
