What we are reading

[RedMage]

In the A BIG Day thread, @Hobbit described some of the changes the forum has undergone since he joined several decades ago. He said this about the community's reading and discussion habits:

Generally the attraction of the different genres has ebbed and flowed a bit. When I started, fantasy was by far the most active area on the site. These days the fantasy area is fairly quiet in comparison. Horror was very quiet but now seems to have become more popular again.

I guess the busiest areas these days would be SF, or perhaps TV & Film, with the greater accessibility due to streaming.

Now I'm wondering, what are we actually reading? In my early days here--the early 2010s--it seemed to me that grim dark dominated the Fantasy forum discussions and community's reading habits. I wasn't into scifi in those days and I've only read a little horror in my life, so I can't speak to what was going on with those. Where are we today? Are Abercrombie, Martin and Gemmell still the big names in Fantasy for our members? Have forum discussions actually shifted toward horror, scifi, TV/streaming/film as Hobbit said?

 

[Ropie]

For me nothing has really changed over the past 2 decades as far as balance of SFF is concerned: it's mostly science fiction. However, my consumption of genre fiction has probably decreased by 50% and I tend to read more non-genre novels now compared to 20 years ago. I also read much less overall than I used to a decade ago - I blame Youtube for this but I am now trying hard to reverse this trend..

 

[RedMage]

The largest change for me is an explosive increase in my reading over the past decade. I listened to audiobooks during family roadtrips as a kid in the 90s--books on tape back then--but rediscovered audiobooks two or three years before the pandemic began. Since then, about 90% of my reading is by audiobook.

I write as well as read SFF. I say that as another big change for my reading habits are that the last two novels I finished writing were both for middle grade audiences, a first for me after writing multiple adult and YA novels and short fiction. So I've read more middle grade SFF novels over the past three or four years to learn more about the market. Some are wonderful and imo highly appealing to readers of all ages. Meanwhile, I am too old for others, but readers in the MG age range probably love them.

Horror was not an interest for me until the past few years--my imagination was too big and I scared easily! However, I've read a literal handful of horror books each year since the pandemic. Authors are primarily Grady Hendrix (adult), Kate Alice Marshall (adult/YA) and Lora Senf (MG), but there are others as well.

I'm also reading more scifi. Jack Campbell is a favorite--his John Geary military scifi is excellent and has become a comfort read that I've reread three or four times through since discovering it since the pandemic while I find his scifi/fantasy quintet starting with Dragons of Dorcastle simply good.

This year and last year, I've made an effort to read more epic and high fantasy, as that's something I'd like to write. That's what got me into SFF as a kid, but I fell away from it in my late teens/early twenties. I also have a habit of not finishing book series or TV/streaming series that I love, not watching the final episodes, seasons or the last book so that the adventures continue in my mind. I'm also making greater efforts to actually finish some of these series, both books and TV/streaming.

 

[Ropie]

Since then, about 90% of my reading is by audiobook.

It's really interesting that audiobooks have become so popular in recent years, but they engage different parts of the brain and require different levels of attention to scanning a page. I'm not saying they're bad but they're definitely not the same as 'reading'. I started a thread about this a few years ago.

 

[Westy]

I read quite a bit of horror and dark fantasy (Clive Barker) in the early 90's, with a few SFF books here and there, then for the next 10 years didn't read many new books; mostly re-reads here and there.

But from around 2010 a couple of people in a music forum recommended Perdido Street Station which I read and loved. From then on I've been reading 90-95% genre books, usually more fantasy than SF (most of my favourite books are some sort of Fantasy), and around 50 books a year. This forum and Goodreads has definitely helped with recommendations and maintaining my interest.

Also in the past 5-10 years I've also been much more active in buying special editions of books I like for the shelves; the days of just buying a standard hardcover are pretty much gone for me. Special editions is something in the market that's noticably grown at the same time, with publishers like Broken Binding, Inktone, Illumicrate, etc etc becoming very prominent and publishing affordable nice books. And every now and then I splurge on something from Subterranean Press or Curious King.

 

[RedMage]

It's really interesting that audiobooks have become so popular in recent years, but they engage different parts of the brain and require different levels of attention to scanning a page. I'm not saying they're bad but they're definitely not the same as 'reading'. I started a thread about this a few years ago.

I totally agree: different parts of the brain are used when listening to audio than when reading a page of words with your eyes, be those inside a physical book, a sheet of printed paper, or an electronic page on a computer or ereader. Saying it's "not reading" though, that's not something I've heard from others. But I'll take the discussion to your other thread! We're going to talk about this.

 

[Fryan]

Back when I was previously active here my reading was much different than it is now. At that time I was reading either Fantasy (Abercrombie, Martin, etc.) or comics (predominantly stuff from Image, Dark Horse or other smaller imprints.)

Then I sort of phased out of comics completely, and fantasy was starting to leave me feeling a bit cold. My reading tastes shifted almost fully to literary fiction, with a smattering of speculative fiction mixed in. While I thought I had maybe “matured” out of genre fiction, what I was really doing was honing my tastes more towards better prose and stuff that wasn’t the most latest, mainstream offerings.

I think for a while I was also treating reading more like a mission to achieve, read lots of books, write reviews and post nice photos on IG, and it sucked the fun out of what has been a life long hobby of mine. Now I just read whatever seems to be calling my attention the loudest. If something isn’t clicking, I’m fine with DNFing and moving on. (I have a massive list of hundreds of books and authors I hope to get to someday) so no shortage of things to read if my current reading isn’t doing it for me.

 

[Raf]

I've been reading mostly science fiction and historical fiction for the last few years. And like Red Mage, if it isn't clicking, I'll DNF and move on. I always have a book going, though, and at least 3 on tap in my Kindle to try out.

I do occasional forays into Fantasy. My last truly memorable fantasy reads were John Gwynne's Viking inspired "Bloodsworn Saga" and Logan D. Iron's, "Oaths of Blood Saga" which was a really good werewolf series set during the Crusades. Unfortunately, both of those series were last year or older. Subsequent fantasy reads have been mostly DNF. More and more, I look for something outside the norm for fantasy.

Usually, the only time I read horror is in October to contribute a review or 2 here.

 

[Randy M.]

I'd largely given up on s.f. That said, I finally got to Blindside this year and occasionally feel a hankering for short s.f.

For several years now, at end of year and into the first months of the new year I'm reading a pile of mysteries/thrillers with the occasional "classic" thrown in for a change.

I still read horror, more some year than others, and the occasional fantasy or s.f. or mainstream work. A poster elsewhere has gotten me thinking about Americana for this 250th anniversary, which prompted me to start a gift from my wife, the non-fiction, 1929 about -- well, 1929. Not quite half-way through and I think I'll concentrate on American works for the rest of the year.

After that -- who knows?

 

[Fryan]

Not quite half-way through and I think I'll concentrate on American works for the rest of the year.

After that -- who knows?

If you are gonna read some American works, I can recommend a book by an Indigenous writer: Fools Crow by James Welch. One of my all-time favorite books!

 

[suciul]

In the early 2000's, when I started getting involved in sff forums and the like, sf, historical fiction (and history books), and literary fiction with a sprinkle of mysteries were my main reading - very little fantasy; later, when I got involved with Fantasy Book Critic (2008-2016 or so) I kind of caught up on fantasy so to speak.

Today in fiction the arc has been away from mainstream publishers and towards KU or smaller presses (eg these days I am a big fan of Russian/Ukrainian translated sff at MagicDome) - cannot say why precisely, but I find most genre stuff published by Tor, Orbit and the like not really on my taste anymore - even Baen which used to have at least one title a month of interest, started being less interesting in recent years

 

[STEKI]

Been a while since I've given a go at sf. Most like because I felt that I had to hit a finer point between what is out there, I scoffed off much of the 2000s scifi things out there for... well completelly different genres. Picked up The Rings of Saturn from London for barely a euro.

From South American literature to ancient religious texts I mostly roamed around there giving a go at Gurjieff, Plato, Virginia Woolf, Joyce, El Cid, Kazantzakis. Great journey all and all, but right now as I am writing this, I feel very disconnected from all of them, with the exception of Joyce. Right now even the translated Sacred And Terrible Air seems off, which I believe is a great book, in like any moment other than this one.

Last book I finished was the Symposium by Kazantzakis who seemed great up until I read this one. Sloppy work, had to say it, very self-centered and myopic despite having some of the best summer-flowery colour prose.

Perdido Street Station seems like a good recomendation. Might give this one a go, might give many things a go here, hope to push me back into where I am normally.

I've also read Mindscan from Tor publications years ago (watching suciul's reply above). Thought it kindof... bland?

Perhaps I am too new to join this conversation here.

 

[Randy M.]

Perhaps I am too new to join this conversation here.

Not at all and welcome to SFFWorld.

 

[Hobbit]

Perhaps I am too new to join this conversation here.

What Randy said: not at all, all views welcome.

 

[RedMage]

In danger of sounding like a broken record, everyone is welcome to join into whatever thread and discussion they want!

@STEKI there's no way to gain experience in the community, to get to know other members, yada yada, without jumping in and joining conversations. I know it's scary, but you can do it! What's more, we were all in your shoes once up on a time, and on this site too.

 

[Fryan]

Last book I finished was the Symposium by Kazantzakis who seemed great up until I read this one. Sloppy work, had to say it, very self-centered and myopic despite having some of the best summer-flowery colour prose.

I have a copy of Christ Recrucified on my shelf. It was recommended to me by a bookseller in Greece as a good starting point for Kazantzakis.

I enjoyed The Rings of Saturn when I read it, hope you enjoy it too!

Perdido Street Station seems to split evenly between like and dislike for most readers here. I loved it (but with the caveat that I read it about 20 years ago). Mieville is one of my favorite genre writers. It’s VERY heavy on fantastical ideas, which might make for a challenge if you are knocking off genre rust after some time away. Perhaps someone who keeps the fantasy elements minimal, like Guy Kay who writes mostly historical fiction with the dial turned slightly towards the fantastic would be a softer landing? I’ll throw Christopher Priest’s name into the mix as well.

 

[Hobbit]

Perdido Street Station seems to split evenly between like and dislike for most readers here.

Just had somebody ask for China Mieville recommendations; am tempted to still say start with Perdido, but other books are available. Any other suggestions?

His new book, The Rouse, due out later this year, is a HUGE book, by all accounts. I'm hearing 1200 pages.... but that might just be the Advanced Copy.

 

[Fryan]

Just had somebody ask for China Mieville recommendations; am tempted to still say start with Perdido, but other books are available. Any other suggestions?

His new book, The Rouse, due out later this year, is a HUGE book, by all accounts. I'm hearing 1200 pages.... but that might just be the Advanced Copy.

Hmm… maybe Last Days of Nee Paris? It’s a novella and fairly fast paced. Has all the hallmarks of a typical Mieville read.

 

[STEKI]

I have a copy of Christ Recrucified on my shelf. It was recommended to me by a bookseller in Greece as a good starting point for Kazantzakis.

I enjoyed The Rings of Saturn when I read it, hope you enjoy it too!

Perdido Street Station seems to split evenly between like and dislike for most readers here. I loved it (but with the caveat that I read it about 20 years ago). Mieville is one of my favorite genre writers. It’s VERY heavy on fantastical ideas, which might make for a challenge if you are knocking off genre rust after some time away. Perhaps someone who keeps the fantasy elements minimal, like Guy Kay who writes mostly historical fiction with the dial turned slightly towards the fantastic would be a softer landing? I’ll throw Christopher Priest’s name into the mix as well.

Oh yes. Christ Recrucified is one of his top books. I think I didn't read that one fully, left it somewhere halfway, but I have a hard time imagining its better than Zorba or The Last Temptation. I went through these two in their original greek and later english translations briefly, just to check if greek sounds as full as in english. And honestly it kind of does. Hope this little input sways you off from learning greek lmao. Anyways, personal feelings on Kazantzakis aside, The Last Temptation has a great ending and it recontextualizes Jesus' life in a way that makes it hard to understand why a lot of people tried to excommunicate him. Zorba is an amazing book start to finish. I just love books that have this two-character formula that constantly goes back and forth without being too biased on either character. This one does it well and keeps a very fresh, summer aesthetic going through it and does not pull its punches when the time is right.

Also, I noticed I kinda derailed the thread a bit by... uh... gathering that newbie attention into me. Just pretend I've been here for a while or something.

 

[Westy]

Just had somebody ask for China Mieville recommendations; am tempted to still say start with Perdido, but other books are available. Any other suggestions?

The City and the City would be one as more accessible, but yeah PDD for the full fantasy vibe.