Beyond Reality discussion

I'm almost entirely a science fiction fan. I wondered if most people like one better than the other or if most of you read both about equally...

I read both. At the moment more of my favorites are fantasy, but that hasn't always been the case, and I doubt it will always be the case in the future. . .

I read both, but lean more towards fantasy than SF; if you look at the numbers on my shelves, I've got at least twice as much fantasy as SF. Maybe it's just that I'm less picky about my fantasy...I like fluffy fantasy for brain candy, don't read as much fluffy SF, mostly because I probably know too much about science to be able to suspend disbelief and accept the fluff! :)

I used to alternate like clockwork, one fantasy, one SF, one fantasy, one SF... but since I started reviewing for FanLit, 90% of what I read is fantasy. Still, whenever I have the time I pick up SF - right now I'm reading the new Iain M. Banks Culture novel, and it's better than most of the fantasy I've read this year. I need to find a better balance again. Regardless - a good story's a good story, whether it's SF, fantasy, neither, or both, so I don't consider myself a fan of one more than the other.

I prefer science fiction to fantasy, but there's so much more fantasy out there. Therefore, I've been reading more fantasy. I like reading books that aren't formulaic regardless of the genre.

I've also been reading quite a few mystery/thrillers and more general fiction than I used to. Heck, I'll read just about anything as long as it's good and different from other things I've read.

I prefer fantasy to science fiction. A lot of the science fiction I have read was entirely to tech heavy and that is very uninteresting to me. I loved Asimov's Foundation series but most of my favorites were in fantasy. I probably read one science fiction book for every twenty fantasy books I read.

Felina wrote: "I prefer fantasy to science fiction. A lot of the science fiction I have read was entirely to tech heavy and that is very uninteresting to me. I loved Asimov's Foundation series but most of my favo..."

Felina, I simply must respond to your mention of the Old Master, Asimov. In the end, his collection entwines the robot and Foundation threads into a single tapestry. Absolutely loved his plotting and his sociology.

while I thoroughly enjoy both science fiction as well as fantasy, I have to admit to a passion for hard science fiction. I guess I just enjoy stories which focus on ideas. too many squishy books can get to me after a while and I find myself reaching for some favorite classics on the hard side.

I also enjoy mysteries, some horror, and humor.

Yes, I'm also a big fan of horror and historical fiction. So science fiction probably rates 4th on my list of favorite genre's.

I like both but probably read more fantasy. As others noted, there seems to be more fantasy available. But for years I read more science fiction than fantasy. Now I find that the science is sometimes hard for me to grasp and, at times, that interferes with my enjoyment or understanding of the book. But it varies.

I also read some historical fiction, mysteries, and thrillers.

Well I lean towards SF. I started reading because of Star Wars, so I naturally lean towards SF. I then found LOTR and I was off. I tend to read more Fantasy, unfortunately its because SF isnt as plentiful as Fantasy

I consider myself a fan of both, but when it comes to reading, I read primarily fantasy, though I have been getting into Steampunk, which is generally a very soft science. I like alt-history in general, though, and Steampunk qualifies as alt-history for me.

One of the reasons I don't read a lot of sci-fi is the same as Felina - the tech-talk of hard sci-fi tends to bore me, and my eyes start glazing over.

I watch a lot of sci-fi shows, though.

I definitely lean more toward fantasy. I've always wanted to get more into sci-fi, but there are so many fantasy books on my to-read list, it's hard to break away!

I like both, as is I think the majority opinion here...and then we all follow it with "but" (LOL). So, in my case, "but" I find that I have over the years become far more a fantasy fan. I began reading both back in the '60s. Then Science fiction was the more prevalent genre (though some would argue a good percentage of it tended to blend the 2). It was hard to find good fantasy back then as the pulps were fading and the world was just beginning to discover Professor Tolkien. Since then, of course the market has flipped and while there are plenty of both science fiction and fantasy on the shelves, we now have to sift it for our own preferences as none of us could keep up with all of it!

So, while I still read some science fiction, I tend to read far more fantasy. At this point fantasy makes up probably the largest single genre (fiction or nonfiction)I read.

When I started reading speculative fiction back in the early '69s there wasn't much fantasy so I read SF. Then Tolkien got published in the US and Andre Norton starting writing what might be called Science Fantasy and I was reading both. But eventually I found that I wanted to read character driven stores rather than science driven stories and so now I read mostly fantasy with a few SF authors like C. J. Cherryh, Julie Czerneda and R. M. Meluch (the widget won't find her when I search).

I'd say I'm both but I don't switch a lot between genres at one time. I'll go through a couple of years just reading one type of book and then go back to SF or F or whatever.

I read both but I read way more fantasy than SF. Most SF gets to technical for my tastes, I like SF with a really good story to tell to get me past the technical talk or SF without all the technical talk.

Some of my favorite all-time works have been fantasy titles, and I do enjoy reading both.

But by preference, my primary reading choice is SF. I probably read 80% SF, 15% Fantasy, and less than 5% others.

I'm much more into SF than I am Fantasy. I'll only pick up a fantasy book if it comes recommended as a genre-bender. Some other people have mentioned the techy stuff gets in the way of enjoying the story; I like scifi where tech is a driving force and even a character in it's own right.

I think I like best books that can be difficult to pigeon-hole as specifically either science fiction or fantasy. I enjoy a mixture of technology/futurism with magic/supernatural, for example. I find that I don't generally love books that are very strongly bent toward one pole or the other, such as high epic fantasy or classic hard spaceships-and-lasers science fiction.

I'm drawn to cross-genre, fuzzy boundary notions - historical fantasy, alternate history, slipstream, magical realism, surrealism, "soft" sf (whether anthropological, psychological, sociological, philosophical, ecological or other), new weird, etc. I've noticed that many books I really enjoy will be shelved by readers here on Goodreads as both SF and F by different people as well (not to mention historical fiction, mythology, horror, mystery, literary, experimental...)

So, I suppose it's a bit of a cop-out to say "neither and both", yet it's an honest and accurate answer.

Ken said: "Well I lean towards SF. I started reading because of Star Wars, so I naturally lean towards SF. I then found LOTR and I was off."

Yeah, same story. I read about 4 fantasy novels for every 1 sci fi novels these days. I think fantasy just suites me a little better. I love long, sweeping stories that are character driven. Plus, magic and swords are pretty awesome too.

Interesting enough, I think sci fi makes much better movies. Those long fantasy stories rarely translate well into film.

Interesting enough, I think sci fi makes much better movies. Those long fantasy stories rarely translate well into film.

Its so true. I would LOVE to see Sanderson's Mistborn series made into movies but they would only ruin them IMO. Maybe just a collage of the various fight scenes? I'd love to see a live Steel Inquisitor.

Both. Can you be anything else? I enjoy fiction that challenge my imagination, and even though Science Fiction probably fits this bill a bit better I have read Fantasy novels that have blown my mind every bit as much.

Beautiful worlds.

I like both I find that each genre has it's place and strengths. Of late I have been mostly reading sci-fi but I feel a big urge to get into some fantasy. I do like to bounce back in forth, occasionally after a big hard sci-fi book I will yearn for a simpler (in technical terms) format.

I mostly read fantasy but Dune and Ender's Game are both scifi and i like them better than most fantasy books i have read.

I'm a bit of an anomoly in that I prefer Fantasy to SF. I'm pretty new to both genres although I didn't really know that I was always a fantasy reader with stories about King Arthur, vampires and witches (back in the days before Twilight). I've read the occasional SF but usually don't love them --- although I agree that they often make great movies ;-)

I prefer science fiction over fantasy and probably read two or three times as much of it as fantasy. I enjoy hard and soft SF, alternative history, dystopian, and post-apocalyptic - all of which fall on the SF side of things.
I'm also a bit of an anomaly, in that I actually don't like epic fantasy very much. I went through that phase years ago and now most of it seems pretty repetitive to me. I do like reading some of the newer urban fantasy (not the 'paranormal romance' stuff, but the alternate present day stuff) with werewolves (like Benighted) or magic. Some of the alternate history/historical fantasy stuff is also fun (like In Great Waters or The Magicians and Mrs. Quent.)
I also read a bunch of historical fiction, cozy mysteries, thrillers, and YA books, but the number one genre of book I read is definitely SF.

Like most here, I enjoy both fantasy and science fiction.

But if I have my choice between a great fantasy and a great science fiction, I will pick the great science fiction.

Sadly, fantasy seems to be taking over the bookshelves from science fiction in many of the local bookstores, but I am finding lots of great science fiction ebooks online.

I am most certainly a fantasy fan. SciFi is so fundamentally different, there's really no place to compare the two based on the fact that they both are not your regular fiction.

I enjoy both a lot, but tended towards fantasy lately.

I really only gravitate to science fiction and for a long time it was only hard sf. But since there seems to be a dearth of that, I have branched into space opera a little bit and am enjoying it.

Although I've read some fantasy in the past, it's really not my cup of tea and honestly, it bothers me that the two are always shelved together in bookstores because there is so much fantasy and that makes it difficult to find the hard sf I love.

No offense intended, fantasy-lovers, just wish the genres were not always lumped together because as this thread proves, they aren't really that closely related most of the time.

However, I am willing to be pleasantly surprised if some good fantasy recommendations here turn my head!

I like both. I'll read something out of pretty much any genre depending on my mood, but fantasy and sci-fi are among my favorites. My taste in movies is all over the map too.

Most I would guess toward fantasy because Science Fiction is dying.

I wouldn't worry. According to some science fiction has been dying for the last 50 years (and maybe before). So called authorities and critics have been pronouncing science fiction dead for decades yet it keeps right on "trucking" (or maybe "starshipping"?).

I love fantasy, but every once in a while a good sci-fi is fun to read. Basically, I like anything that takes me on an adventure.

Kevin wrote: "Most I would guess toward fantasy because Science Fiction is dying."

i've heard this said before, and it amazes me. i think there's been a fantastic resurgence in SF over the last fifteen years or so, particularly in the UK, with some of the writing being incredibly high quality. Iain Banks, Ken MacLeod, Alastair Reynolds, Jon Courtney Grimwood, Justina Robson. and with SF tropes being used in literary and mainstream fiction by writers like David Mitchell, Kazuo Ishiguro and of course Margaret Atwood (who is really an SF writer)

Most people those days just like more of the space opera.

I definitely like both. I like all kinds of SF from space opera, to SF mystery to rock hard SF. For fantasy I prefer epic fantasy and mythic/historical fantasy. I don't really like urban fantasy though I don't think it well defined.

SF is dying. No, changing, yes.
I have been ready SF for close to 35 years now and I do admit sometimes it hard to find a good hard SF novel like I read back in the day.
These days "mainstream" writers give SF a try, some ackowledge the fact, others do not. They are stuck i the 50's (Atwood).
Karen, I beleive SF and Fantasy are very much the same thing. Especially when we talk about Space Opera and Fantasy. Same coin different sides.

Ken, I think that's very interesting because I don't see SF and Fantasy as very similar. I think sci fi is often fundamentally about how do we humans cope with change and each other. But fantasy is more often about adventure and characters pushing against their own limits.

Well, science fiction is more of the mistakes of mankind, but fantasy is the goodness of mankind.

Kevin wrote: "Well, science fiction is more of the mistakes of mankind, but fantasy is the goodness of mankind."

I agree that a lot of SF has become dystopian. Which drives me crazy so I haven't found a lot of it I want to read in the last few years. But although a lot of fantasy is framed as good versus evil I have a hard time seeing where it shows the goodness of mankind. Much of it is pretty morally ambiguous.

i'd say there's a big Venn-diagram type cross-over between the two, although often a lot of that is stuff that looks like SF because of the furniture but is really fantasy in outlook and execution. one of the best examples i can think of is Ray Bradbury, who almost always writes fantasy, even if it contains space ships. there is something mythic and internal about fantasy - if i had to say what they are 'about' i'd say fantasy is about psychology and sci-fi is about sociology. broadly speaking, of course.

Interesting discussion! :-)

Karen wrote: "I really only gravitate to science fiction and for a long time it was only hard sf. But since there seems to be a dearth of that, I have branched into space opera a little bit and am enjoying it.
..."

Totally agree about the shelf comment - I use my local library a lot and they recently started lumping the two together. Although I love some fantasy (eg Donaldson's "Covenant" series) my real passion is SF and it's sometimes hard wading through the fantasy to find the nuggets of sci-fi

Thanks, Mike ;) I thought I was the only one wishing I didn't have to "wade"!

Someday when I open the bookstore of my dreams, it'll be different... *sigh*

My library simply puts all fiction together. Realize when you have it good. LOL

Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "My library simply puts all fiction together. Realize when you have it good. LOL"

Yep, mine too. I think they separate romance, but everything else is lumped together.

There's so much crossover in speculative fiction that I don't envy anyone's efforts to shelve it in the "right" place. I've found lots of adult science fiction shelved as YA in my library, as well as a few AU fantasies stuck in the Mystery shelves. And where do you put books that fall somewhere along the UF/PNR line but aren't clear cut?

My library does shelve SF separately, but puts fantasy in with general fiction. It isn't a very successful separation and I have no idea how they decide what to put where. Sometimes I think it's just random guess work by whoever entered the book into the catalog system.

Hi Kate Mc., I think it tends to be that way even in a lot of book stores, that's why at best they shelve Science fiction and Fantasy together...the cover art gives them at least an idea it's one or the other... "Dragon, fantasy"..."Space ship, science fiction"..."Dragon and space ship?????, general fiction???well, I'll put it over here with the fantasy and science fiction"...

LOL