SFF Book Study - Genre for August

Which genre should we choose our first book from?

  • Fantasy

    Votes: 10 40.0%

  • Science Fiction

    Votes: 10 40.0%

  • New Weird

    Votes: 4 16.0%

  • Other (Please specify in a post)

    Votes: 1 4.0%
  • Total voters
    25
  • Poll closed .
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brokenfingers

brokenfingers

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OK, let’s get the ball rolling.

I’d like to start broad and general at first and then we can narrow it down as we go. I think we can all agree that beginning with the basics is a pretty good way to begin.

My first suggestions to choose from, genre-wise, are:

Fantasy
Science Fiction
New Weird

I’ve set the poll to run until Friday.

Then I’ll post a thread where everyone who’s interested can suggest books. I’d like to focus (at first) on more successful and popular books written within the past ten, twenty years. This makes it more applicable when studying and also makes it easier for people to get the book, either at a library or at a reasonable price online or at a used book store.

Again don’t be disappointed if your favorite sub-genre of ‘gay steampunk vampire’ stories isn’t listed. As time goes in, if people become involved, there’ll be plenty of opportunity to choose different genres, sub-genres, themes etc.
 
benbradley

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I just about voted for "Science Fiction" but before I vote, could you tell me just what is "New Weird?" Some example titles would help define it.

Gay steampumk vampire - if only I'd seen that at the start of NaNoWriMo...
 
Fenika

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This will be fun :)
 
brokenfingers

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brokenfingers

brokenfingers

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Williebee said:
didn't see no orlando bloom on this here poll. what's that about?
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It may not be on the poll, but he's in the running ;)
Ravenlocks said:
I'm pretty sure the gay steampunk vampire subgenre will win the nom, despite not being on the list.
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TPCSWR

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I voted sci-fi. Considering the large amount of debate regarding sci-fi vs. science fiction and realistic futures, I'd like to see what we think about a book that's science heavy and tries to be realistic to see how well it's pulled off.
 
Dave.C.Robinson

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rosemerry said:
I voted science fiction. Are we including YA books in the genre or only adult? Just curious here.
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Good question: Even though I'm not fond of most YA.

Where I'm curious is how foundational people want to go. Do they want current writers, or some from further back and if so how far back?

Do people base their fantasy on Howard, Tolkien, Moorcock, Eddings, or Jordan-- or maybe George R.R. Martin? Maybe it's someone completely different.

Do they look for SF inspiration to "Doc" Smith or Harlan Ellison?

I think we'll learn a lot.
 
Esopha

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rosemerry said:
I voted science fiction. Are we including YA books in the genre or only adult? Just curious here.
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If we want to read YA, I could give you some suggestions of novels that aren't too YA, if age-specific issues are going to be a turn-off.

eta: Also, are we breaking this down by subgenre? SF is a huge genre. So are fantasy and new weird. It would be easier if we voted on subgenres... just an opinion for the next time around.
 
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brokenfingers

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mscelina said:
And what, specifically are we targeting here? Are we targeting 'new' trends in genre writing?
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I'm not sure I understand the question.

We're going to choose a book and then read it and study things like the opening, characters, writing etc. For more info READ THIS THREAD.

The question in this thread was which genre should we choose the first book from. Many people wanted to check out all kinds of subgenres, and I agree with this, but suggested we begin with the basic genres to get the ball rolling and allow a larger segment of members to participate.

So, I see it's a tie between Fantasy and Science Fiction. I, myself am more of a fantasy reader, but since I've seen more SF readers post, I'm going to begin with Science Fiction. We can do Fantasy for September.

Remember people, it's a good thing to read outside your genre and outside your comfort zone. This is more about learning, hopefully, than just pure enjoyment (though it's that also.)
 
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