Why do you select Science Fiction/Fantasy to read instead of other genres?

[Kris]

I read scifi/fantasy for many reasons and it is almost always my first stop when browsing for books. I am curious what the rest of the S and L audience thinks about this issue. Why do you read scifi/fantasy and what makes you pick it over other generes?

[[deleted user]]

Mostly for the swords and the lasers.

Mostly.

[Sean]

What makes you think I pick it over other genres?

[Kris]

Sean wrote: "What makes you think I pick it over other genres?"

Then why do you pick it at all? or put another way what makes you read scifi/fantasy instead of a bestseller if each appeal to you? knowing you would read both in actuality why read scifi/fantasy first?

[Sean]

I read good books. If the good book is a Western, I read a Western; if it's science fiction, I read science fiction. If it's a bestseller ... well, that rarely happens.

[Kris]

Sean wrote: "I read good books. If the good book is a Western, I read a Western; if it's science fiction, I read science fiction. If it's a bestseller ... well, that rarely happens." if it is a bestseller and it is scifi/fantsy?

[toria (vikz writes)]

I read Science fiction and fantasy as part of a wider diet.

[Anne]

I read a lot of different genres. I particularly enjoy SF and Fantasy mostly because I enjoy how writers make up alternate universes. I guess it's the way that SF and fantasy allows writers to just run wild with their imagination and not be bound by any rules that makes it maybe my favorite genres. But I don't stick to it and have a lot of other books of different genres that I read and like.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I actually joined S&L because I didn't know enough about swords or lasers. I enjoy the social commentary of a lot of sci-fi and the world building of both.

This is a weird year where I've read far more fantasy than anything else. Most years I'm reading a majority of literary fiction.

[Brandon]

There are genres other than SF & fantasy? :-P

I have read other genres and as others have said a good story is what I enjoy. The millenium trilogy for example was excellent even lacking swords or lasers.

I read SF & Fantasy because it allows some truely unique settings and cirmustances. Neither genre is constrained by trying to fit within a well defined and documented reality unlike many other genres.

I used read a lot of Tom Clancy, Dale Brown and others 15 years ago and some of them were execllent novels. That said there are only so many ways to fight world war III, stop a terrorist attack etc... and given they are all based in reality a lot of the basics are the same. The same talk about the same equipment, unit training, the same general tone.

SF and fantasy have so many different styles within the genre that if you want to you can usually find something distincly new and different. Its not the adventures of seal team 6 vs. the adventures of delta force.

[Leighann]

I'm one of those somewhat stereotypical fans who reads sci-fi and fantasy for escape. To get away from the real world.

Which I guess explains why I lean much more heavily toward fantasy, and why when I do end up in sci-fi land nowadays, it's almost always either the softer sort... or pretty far out in the future. Entertainment through sheer escapism is my aim most of the time, so if it's too much like reality, it tends to just turn me off. At the same time, that's not a guarantee that I will like it; there are styles and subgenres that drive me insane regardless of other factors.

[Tamahome]

I can't really explain it. I guess I just 'get off' on the scifi tropes, but I don't even like that word. Maybe they have better plots than mainstream books.

[Halbot42]

As a young reader, the first author i read voraciously was Louis L'Amour, and while looking for his books cheap i would often also find lots of scifi cheap at used bookstores and libraries and such. The lasers and rockets and dragons and boobs on the covers got me to pick these books up, then i found them to be much more stimulating than generic western #39. There were new ideas in here, and original settings that beat the hell out of the badlands. As i matured i found that sff writers shared many of my attitudes and interests and the worlds they created intrigued and challenged me. Escapism has to be factored into the equation as well, while the real world seems bogged down in oil spills, bombings, etc, its nice to consider characters who can simply exert their will and change the world. And its unlikely that George RR Martin will ever be as full of it as the 3 cups of tea guy, or the guy who made oprah mad.
I've always wondered why sff gets such a bad rap from the rest of the literary community, for example why is Jules Verne literature but Alastair Reynolds is considered entertainment?

[Richelle]

Science fiction is great because knowing science facts are one thing, but it is imagination that makes someone take the facts and think of a new unique way to use them. Science fiction makes us think about what could do (and should not do) with the knowledge we have.

And fantasy is escapism :)

I do read biographies and history sometimes for balance, and well as theology.

But as for "mainstream" fiction--too much drama. I don't need that in my life. I have enough of my own :)

[terpkristin]

I actually don't know that I limit myself to fantasy and sci-fi, though there are certain things I look for in books:
political intrigue
mystery elements
suspense elements
an ability to suck me into the world/environment

I tend to read mostly fantasy and mystery-thriller type books. I will admit a certain fondness for mideval-ish time periods and all that goes with (knights, kings, swords, etc). I also like dragons. ;)

I will quite often have a harder time reading sci-fi because the authors can't convince me they've done enough background research into the world/theory they're expanding upon (admittedly I'm harsh on this, I have degrees in physics and aerospace engineering and work in the space field).

I also enjoy the occasional non-fiction book...

[Matthew]

Pretty much for the escapism aspect. I don't want to read about the here and now. I want to read about things that either don't exist, can't exist or are just straight up beyond normal comprehension.

[Colin]

Yeah, escapism. Real life is shit enough. You can't walk around and fight off brigands with swords IRL. To easy to get arrested. And shot.

[Transmitthis]

I actually surprised myself, by reading Doomsday Book
which despite having timetravel, is more of a history book. I actually enjoyed it.

Like others say, there are many sub genres, even when you start off thinking its pure SCIFI or Fantasy it turns into a political book, George R R Martin etc..

Mainly though I like Science and anything that shows me a vision of the future be that in Tech, Medicine, Space or society its all good :)

[Anne]

I just thought about it: if you look at the "What else are you reading?" threads in this forum, I noticed that a lot of people here read non SF/Fantasy books. I think it's more a certain preference for the genre and its authors and books, especially when you notice that both genres still have a little stigma in so-called high culture.

[Derek]

I read all kinds of books, mainly just look for a good story. I guess one of the main things I like scifi/fantasy is that with magic or high tech it provides a 'logical' reason for a character to perform near superhuman feats.
if the story is 'real life', but the hero is too good at winning, it's hard to stay interested in the story. It's one thing for the hero to win thru superior planning, or a clever ruse. But he always wins by going in pistols blazing, killing dozens of highly trained opponents, without hardly a scratch, I get pulled out of the story. It's one reason why I don't read Jack Higgins' Sean Dillon books anymore. Sean always ended up finding the bad guys, killing them all, and moved on to the next story. Boring.
Not to say that all scifi/fantasy is good, but if a character does something unbelievable or impossible, at least there's an explaination for it.