Ooh, I think I'll do the book thing
Jan. 26th, 2007 11:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mmcirvinGenre book memey thing from here:
Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror?
Science fiction, certainly.
Hardback or Trade Paperback or Mass Market Paperback?
Hardback is best in general, but MMPB is better for traveling.
Heinlein or Asimov?
While they're both writers with great virtues and even bigger flaws, I'll have to go with Asimov out of personal history and temperament. Heinlein wrote one of the books that pulled me into the genre, but Asimov was the first SF writer I really got hooked on.
Amazon or Brick and Mortar?
Amazon for gifts, brick and mortar for my own reading (instant gratification).
Barnes & Noble or Borders?
I know they're both supposed to be evil, but I really like Borders.
Hitchhiker or Discworld?
Discworld. I liked the Hitchhiker series a lot once upon a time, but the franchise mostly consists of endless re-adaptations of essentially the same story, one that is amusing but very much anchored in the popular culture of the 1980s. The Discworld just keeps on going and Pratchett's satire actually gets better and more pointed with time.
Bookmark or Dogear?
Bookmark, or remember the page number.
Magazine: Asimov’s Science Fiction or Fantasy & Science Fiction?
I feel terribly guilty for saying this, but I've never subscribed to the magazines. I've been impressed by stories from both.
Alphabetize by author Alphabetize by title or random?
Right now, it's piles and cardboard boxes.
Keep, Throw Away or Sell?
It's been keep for quite some time, but when I look at all those cardboard boxes, sometimes I wonder. Yet I still regret selling some of the stuff I got rid of during my last big selling binge over 15 years ago.
Year’s Best Science Fiction series (edited by Gardner Dozois) or Years Best SF series (edited by David G. Hartwell)?
I was brand-loyal to the Dozois series ever since one of the early volumes introduced me to the joys of the contemporary short SF scene in the 1980s, but in the past couple of years Hartwell and Cramer's taste has impressed me more, and I'm a convert. (Note Kathryn Cramer does get official co-credit now.)
Keep dustjacket or toss it?
Keep.
Read with dustjacket or remove it?
Read with.
Short story or novel?
I like both, but the gradual demise of the short-story market makes me very sad, though I haven't done anything to help forestall it. Actually, sometimes I think the ideal length for SF is the novella or short novel.
Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?
Haven't read either, though I liked the last couple of Potter movies.
Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
When tired, mostly.
“It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”?
A screaming comes across the sky, tuned to a dead channel.
Buy or Borrow?
Buy.
Buying choice: Book Reviews, Recommendation or Browse?
Online buzz and author recognition.
Lewis or Tolkien?
Tolkien, though I admit I haven't read him in a long time.
Hard SF or Space Opera?
Hard SF.
Collection (short stories by the same author) or Anthology (short stories by different authors)?
Tend to read anthologies more.
Hugo or Nebula?
Don't care much.
Golden Age SF or New Wave SF?
Actually, I seem to most like the odd-numbered decades in between the big literary Movements: the 1950s, the 1970s, the 1990s. They're times of ferment when people are trying to figure out where to go next, and strange things happen.
Tidy ending or Cliffhanger?
Tidy.
Morning reading, Afternoon reading or Nighttime reading?
Nighttime.
Standalone or Series?
Standalone.
Urban fantasy or high fantasy?
Urban.
New or used?
Both.
Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?
What "nobody else" are you speaking of? I have a lot of not-popularly-read books that I recommend to people who are not big genre historians, but most of them are considered classics by people who are. Arkady and Boris Strugatsky's Roadside Picnic is not widely read in the US but it is well-known in other places.
I have an irrational attachment to White Light by Rudy Rucker, which is kind of obscure but I'm not sure it's obscure enough for purposes of this question.
Top X favorite genre books read last year? (Where X is 5 or less)
Robert Charles Wilson's Spin; Nick Sagan's Idlewild and Edenborn; Charlie Stross's The Atrocity Archives.
Top X favorite genre books of all time? (Where X is 5 or less)
Stanislaw Lem, The Cyberiad
Greg Egan, Permutation City
Alfred Bester, The Stars My Destination
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
Philip K. Dick, Ubik
This is hard. Ask me next month and I'll say something else. But The Cyberiad will probably still be in there.
X favorite genre series? (Where X is 5 or less)
Terry Pratchett, Discworld series
James Blish, Cities in Flight
John Sladek, Roderick (really one novel published in halves, so maybe it doesn't count)
Top X favorite genre short stories? (Where X is 5 or less)
Not including stuff incorporated into books mentioned above:
Henry Kuttner and/or C. L. Moore, "Private Eye"
James Tiptree, Jr., "Houston, Houston, Do You Read?"
Philip K. Dick, "Faith Of Our Fathers"
Harlan Ellison, "Adrift Just Off the Islets of Langerhans"
Greg Egan, "Reasons To Be Cheerful"
Current Top X favorite genre book cover artists? (Where X is 5 or less)
I'm not sure I have a strong opinion about this. I've admired some covers by Michael Whelan where he seemed to have actually read the book; he painted one for Heinlein's The Cat Who Walks Through Walls that was completely appropriate yet also made the book look much better than it really was, and I'm still not sure how he managed that.
Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror?
Science fiction, certainly.
Hardback or Trade Paperback or Mass Market Paperback?
Hardback is best in general, but MMPB is better for traveling.
Heinlein or Asimov?
While they're both writers with great virtues and even bigger flaws, I'll have to go with Asimov out of personal history and temperament. Heinlein wrote one of the books that pulled me into the genre, but Asimov was the first SF writer I really got hooked on.
Amazon or Brick and Mortar?
Amazon for gifts, brick and mortar for my own reading (instant gratification).
Barnes & Noble or Borders?
I know they're both supposed to be evil, but I really like Borders.
Hitchhiker or Discworld?
Discworld. I liked the Hitchhiker series a lot once upon a time, but the franchise mostly consists of endless re-adaptations of essentially the same story, one that is amusing but very much anchored in the popular culture of the 1980s. The Discworld just keeps on going and Pratchett's satire actually gets better and more pointed with time.
Bookmark or Dogear?
Bookmark, or remember the page number.
Magazine: Asimov’s Science Fiction or Fantasy & Science Fiction?
I feel terribly guilty for saying this, but I've never subscribed to the magazines. I've been impressed by stories from both.
Alphabetize by author Alphabetize by title or random?
Right now, it's piles and cardboard boxes.
Keep, Throw Away or Sell?
It's been keep for quite some time, but when I look at all those cardboard boxes, sometimes I wonder. Yet I still regret selling some of the stuff I got rid of during my last big selling binge over 15 years ago.
Year’s Best Science Fiction series (edited by Gardner Dozois) or Years Best SF series (edited by David G. Hartwell)?
I was brand-loyal to the Dozois series ever since one of the early volumes introduced me to the joys of the contemporary short SF scene in the 1980s, but in the past couple of years Hartwell and Cramer's taste has impressed me more, and I'm a convert. (Note Kathryn Cramer does get official co-credit now.)
Keep dustjacket or toss it?
Keep.
Read with dustjacket or remove it?
Read with.
Short story or novel?
I like both, but the gradual demise of the short-story market makes me very sad, though I haven't done anything to help forestall it. Actually, sometimes I think the ideal length for SF is the novella or short novel.
Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?
Haven't read either, though I liked the last couple of Potter movies.
Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
When tired, mostly.
“It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”?
A screaming comes across the sky, tuned to a dead channel.
Buy or Borrow?
Buy.
Buying choice: Book Reviews, Recommendation or Browse?
Online buzz and author recognition.
Lewis or Tolkien?
Tolkien, though I admit I haven't read him in a long time.
Hard SF or Space Opera?
Hard SF.
Collection (short stories by the same author) or Anthology (short stories by different authors)?
Tend to read anthologies more.
Hugo or Nebula?
Don't care much.
Golden Age SF or New Wave SF?
Actually, I seem to most like the odd-numbered decades in between the big literary Movements: the 1950s, the 1970s, the 1990s. They're times of ferment when people are trying to figure out where to go next, and strange things happen.
Tidy ending or Cliffhanger?
Tidy.
Morning reading, Afternoon reading or Nighttime reading?
Nighttime.
Standalone or Series?
Standalone.
Urban fantasy or high fantasy?
Urban.
New or used?
Both.
Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?
What "nobody else" are you speaking of? I have a lot of not-popularly-read books that I recommend to people who are not big genre historians, but most of them are considered classics by people who are. Arkady and Boris Strugatsky's Roadside Picnic is not widely read in the US but it is well-known in other places.
I have an irrational attachment to White Light by Rudy Rucker, which is kind of obscure but I'm not sure it's obscure enough for purposes of this question.
Top X favorite genre books read last year? (Where X is 5 or less)
Robert Charles Wilson's Spin; Nick Sagan's Idlewild and Edenborn; Charlie Stross's The Atrocity Archives.
Top X favorite genre books of all time? (Where X is 5 or less)
Stanislaw Lem, The Cyberiad
Greg Egan, Permutation City
Alfred Bester, The Stars My Destination
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
Philip K. Dick, Ubik
This is hard. Ask me next month and I'll say something else. But The Cyberiad will probably still be in there.
X favorite genre series? (Where X is 5 or less)
Terry Pratchett, Discworld series
James Blish, Cities in Flight
John Sladek, Roderick (really one novel published in halves, so maybe it doesn't count)
Top X favorite genre short stories? (Where X is 5 or less)
Not including stuff incorporated into books mentioned above:
Henry Kuttner and/or C. L. Moore, "Private Eye"
James Tiptree, Jr., "Houston, Houston, Do You Read?"
Philip K. Dick, "Faith Of Our Fathers"
Harlan Ellison, "Adrift Just Off the Islets of Langerhans"
Greg Egan, "Reasons To Be Cheerful"
Current Top X favorite genre book cover artists? (Where X is 5 or less)
I'm not sure I have a strong opinion about this. I've admired some covers by Michael Whelan where he seemed to have actually read the book; he painted one for Heinlein's The Cat Who Walks Through Walls that was completely appropriate yet also made the book look much better than it really was, and I'm still not sure how he managed that.
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no subject
Date: 2007-01-27 05:35 pm (UTC)It's a little annoying how they assume you're embroiled in the scene sufficiently to care about whether you like winners of Hugos or Nebulas better, but not enough to separate fantasy, scifi, and horror?
no subject
Date: 2007-01-29 01:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-29 07:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-29 01:42 pm (UTC)The rule is that while you may not personally think the winners were the best works in the category, they're usually not bad and are a good place to start if you want to know what the genre has been up to. (I suppose that if you're really picky about discovering what happened *this year*, the Nebulas' eligibility rules are a little wonky on that score.)