What Do You Read When Not Reading S&S?

[Clint]

I needed a break from my steady diet of S&S; instead of reverting to my old standby of science fiction, I read Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett which led into No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. Both are violent and feel pulpy.

What do you read other than Sword and Sorcery?

[The Joy of Erudition]

As far as fiction goes, I read various other kinds of fantasy besides sword & sorcery, as well as various types of science fiction, science fantasy, classics, occasionally horror, thrillers, or mystery, and sometimes modern-ish adventure stories or comedies.

[Randy]

Zombie apocalypse...

[Steve]

Outside of the realms of fantasy and s.f., some of my other favourite writers include Charles Bukowski, J.G. Ballard, Oscar Wilde and P.G. Wodehouse. I just finished re-reading MOTHER NIGHT by Kurt Vonnegut, one of my all time favourite novels.

[Matthew]

I only write sword and sorcery. Mostly, I read suspense/crime fiction. I recommend Lawrence Block and James Lee Burke for serious stories, Robert B. Parker and Robert Crais for fast-moving, highly engaging reads.

[Jon]

I find Louis Lamour's westerns to have a lot of the S&S vibe, just without the magic.

[Joseph, Master Ultan]

Mostly I read other fantasy -- big, fat, fantasy series, weird stuff, new stuff, old stuff, whatever strikes my fancy at the time. I do occasionally go on more of an SF bender. And every once in a greater while, I'll go for something historical without the fantastical content, or for modern horror, suspense, etc., etc.

As a rule I find it very hard to sit down with some nonfiction book and just read it through cover-to-cover unless it's something that also has a strong narrative through-line.

[S.wagenaar]

I like to read swashbuckling historical adventures, two-fisted westerns and gritty crime thrillers when not engaged with S&S. Always, always the emphasis is on fast moving plots, lean writing with a minimum of padding and blood-spurting, bone crunching action. I’m very action oriented, in both my reading and writing!

[Mary]

Other fantasy. SF. Non fiction, particularly history. Fairy tales

[Christian]

A whole lot of horror - old, new, extreme, quiet, splatterpunk, weird, cosmic, whatever... I love it all.

Also big fat fantasy and scifi. I used to read more of it than I do now but it usually flows in cycles with me.

Stuff like Tolkien, Brooks, Feist, Eddings, and Jordan were my first loves, along with King, Masterton, Barker, Koontz, and Laymon on the horror side.

I read much more non-S&S than I do S&S.

[Jason]

little bit of most everything. I like biographies, WWII and USMC history and novels, espionage, Westerns, big fantasies. Don't read much scifi though.

[Clint]

I have been in a burn out mode lately. I just have not read much. Every now and then I hit a reading wall and just don’t feel it for a few weeks. I have along flight next week, so that may change; however, on a whim I downloaded the iOS version of the board game Scythe. I am addicted. I knew I enjoyed the game, I have since it first released, but having constant access has not been healthy

[David]

I read creature horror and historical.