To be honest, I've always read the prologue of a book. Until a few years ago, I didn't know there were people in the world who didn't read them and would automatically skip the prologue and start with Chapter 1. I was totally mystified as to why anyone would do this. Then I read a few really poorly written ones ..... All of them were in the Fantasy genre ... sigh .... Okay, now I understand why people skip them.
It happens in other genres as well, it just seems that the masters at writing really bad info-dump prologues write fantasy. And yes, as a reader, you would be pretty safe in skipping the prologue and starting with Chapter 1 in those stories.
So, read the prologue or not? Include one or not? Up until a few years ago, I would have said definitely "yes." Now, it depends somewhat on the genre of the book. I read the first few paragraphs. If it is an info-dump, then I skip it.
It happens in other genres as well, it just seems that the masters at writing really bad info-dump prologues write fantasy. And yes, as a reader, you would be pretty safe in skipping the prologue and starting with Chapter 1 in those stories.
So, read the prologue or not? Include one or not? Up until a few years ago, I would have said definitely "yes." Now, it depends somewhat on the genre of the book. I read the first few paragraphs. If it is an info-dump, then I skip it.