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Favourite Book Genre?

What's your favourite book genre, and why?
Personally I love reading Sci-Fi. I like other genres too, but Sci-Fi is my favourite. They're a great expression of the author's imagination. Some of the classics are a little dated now, but you can still admire the depth of though that went into creating a futuristic universe, and the technology and cultures that make it thrive.

AntonyCopeland 4 Feb 19
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3

Sci-fi / fantasy horror.
Best example, The great and secret magic show, By Clive Barker

Oh Clive Barker - read one of his early ones as a teen! Didn't go back for a long time. 😉 Creepy scary!

I love Clive Barker. He and Poe have definitely influenced my horror stories

@AntonyCopeland How about Manly Wade Wellman?

@RobAnybody I don't know that author. Which book would you recommend I read first?

@AntonyCopeland Who Fears the Devil. Appalachian folk weirdness.

2

Fiction. Most fiction? Sci-Fi, Horror, Fantasy, Suspense, Romance, Mystery and Crime Solving.

Not sure what the Pendergast series is categorized under? [en.wikipedia.org] Best if read in order,

Loads more just having a foggy brain day! J.R. Ward is a favorite. L.K. Hamilton.

I've laid off "the end of the world as we know it" books. Too real right now? 😉

I agree that it is best to read a series in order, but I am sure that the 1st Pendergast novel I read was the fourth in the series: Still Life of Crows. It is still my favorite, followed by the first two in the series: Relic and Reliquary.

@PappyOnWings I didn't know it was a series when I grabbed the book off a library shelf. So that's why I mention there is an order. It didn't hurt my interest one bit either!

@RavenCT Same here. When I read Still Life Of Crows, I did not know it was a series. I looked up the author and Wow - it is quite a series. So far, I've only read about eight, and will probably pick it up again later. Do you have any favorites in the series? Have you read The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story by the same author? It is kind of an update of The Lost City of Z. I really liked it.

@PappyOnWings No I haven't read Lost City - so there's a good suggestion! I like the authors of Pendergast independently as well.

And I don't have a favorite in the Pendergast novels - I really just love their ability to give such a great ride on the printed page.

2

Historical fiction. Thinking back, I thought I would have been a sci-fi and fantasy "nerd". But apart from JRR Tolkien's work (TLOTR and Silmarillion) and Stephen Lawhead's Arthurian books (which he tied to the Roman Empire and the paganism of the British Isles - which is at the far edge of historical fiction) for fantasy and some Arthur C Clarke's works (Rama, 2001), I didn't pick up any other fantasy (e.g. Narnia) and sci-fi books (e.g. Ringworld - is that even sci fi? I don't know). I did read an Elric of Melnibone book which I found very interesting but it didn't "grab" me to continue reading the series.

In my mid twenties, I picked up, by random, Wilbur Smith's When The Lion Feeds. I got hooked on historical fiction since then. In the last few years, my chosen favourite is Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander series. My books from these two authors outnumber any other genre in my collection.

O'Brian even over Forester. Sharp, Flashman (really caustic commentary on heroism), BIG chunks of Phillipa Gregory, even Georgette Heyer. It comes behind Fantasy and SF but not far. Harry Turtledove does a brilliant combination of the two, and George RR Martin is clearly rehashing the Wars of the Roses.

If you want some really good historical fiction, you ought to check out Colleen McCullough's books about ancient Rome.
The First Man in Rome is a great, well researched book set around the time of Julius Caesar. A lot of historical accuracy in the writing. There are seven books total in the series. The name of the series is Masters of Rome.

@Lincoln16 thanks for the recommendation. I thoroughly enjoyed Manfredi's novels on Alexander The Great - even if some of the prose didn't really translate as well into the English from the Italian.

I've seen her paperbacks on the shelves but didn't look into them, not knowing they were historical fiction.

I'll check them out.

2

Scandinavian mystery stories. Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish. Plus English mysteries.

I read Last Rituals by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, and am planning to read the next book in the series soon

What makes them stand out from the English equivalent?

1

Sci-fi, of the John Scalzi, Robert A. Heinlein kind, where there is a fun plot and plenty of character in the characters.

Next favorites, autobiographies/biographies of interesting people, including slave narratives, American Indian captive stories, LGBTQ people, famous people, fictional historical autobiographies, etc.

John Scalzi is my newest favorite SciFi author. Sadly miss the SciFi authors from the Golden Age of SciFi. Also Joe Haldemen but not writing a lot lately.

@buzz13 I found both Joe Haldeman and John Scalzi through following a Twitter service that suggested new books, gave reviews, and both of them were under the heading,"Authors to read if you miss Robert A. Heinlein."
I think John Scalzi is as good, if not better, and reread his books as often as Heinlein's.

3

Well, as an author of SciFi/Fantasy/Romance I think that is where my favorite stories have come from and why I became an author myself. Of course I’ve only published two books so far. Working on the third now.

Self-published or traditional?

Self @AntonyCopeland

1

Non-Fiction, but I don't really read much anymore.

What sort of non-fiction?

Books by scientists and dictionaries or encyclopedia's

3

oddly enough, anything SF-ish with a religious angle. Book of New Good Things is an example.

Try imajica clive barker Incredible piece of work. Most of his best stuff is beyond making into a film.

4

I'm big into sci fi and fantasy. Yes I know the difference. No I'm not going to argue about the difference. I like both! Deal with it.

I like both too. I also like Sci-Fan (science fantasy).

4

Biography
Horror

6

My fave is fantasy, but for movies it is sci-fi. In both cases I like the escapism, love the imagination in creating alternate worlds, but any rules they create for physics or magic in their world must hold true in the story or I lose it.

2
  1. Spy novels. 2) Good courtroom drama.
0
1

100 year old contemporary books. I enjoy the things that are "as out of fashion as a 15 stone chorus girl" to use a 1915 colloquialism. I enjoy reading how crowded and sweaty the NY electric train was at the turn of the century, OK one more century back.

1

As an author of Science Fiction I'm partial to the genre.

Gohan Level 7 Feb 19, 2018
2

Definitely Sci-Fi, but I also like many classics.

3

Nuts and bolts scifi. If astrogation and ships engineering is a big part of the story I'm all about it.

1

Horror, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense.

1

Nonfiction then Sci-Fi.

gearl Level 8 Feb 20, 2018
0

Real crime

2

Easier to list the genres I don't like. Self help/ motivational, 19th century soap opera (Flaubert, Dickens et.al.), and technical manuals.

1

crime fiction but every so often go back to the old favourites teh classics

1

I like almost all genres. I tend to read a lot of MM romances for a kind of odd reason - I got so frustrated with how authors were writing "strong" women. I found these women to be extremely selfish and cruel. I like smut because I can read it quickly over my lunch at work to decompress before heading back.

1

Non fiction. I like reading about actual events

0

Mainly science, essays mixed with popular "reporting", hobbyist 'zines... sci-fi and some fantasy while out traveling. Have Herbert's Dune books w/ me (currently out in Fr. Polynesia).

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