Beyond Reality discussion

To start off:
Please (re)introduce yourself and tell us why you love SF/F! Do you tend to read more SF or fantasy?

Hi. My name is Nyssa.

I think I have loved speculative fiction for as long as I have been reading.

I lean more toward fantasy, but my appreciation for science fiction has increased over the years.

The best way I can describe the "why" is that I am a character-driven reader - the larger the variety of characters, the better. Differing societies, rules, and expectations.
Plus, the more abilities displayed, the better still. Magic / Magical realism = Happiness. Making the impossible possible in unique ways.

The Innkeeper Chronicles by Ilona Andrews or The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher are good examples.

With science fiction, I like puzzle-solving and the use of various technologies.

The numerous iterations of Star Trek is actually the first thing that came to mind. The Martian by Andy Weir is another excellent example.

I am not a big fan of horror (I will read it, but I have a limit), and I can not stand zombies (eew). I read a bit of Stephen King in high school, though. Needful Things and The Dark Half are my favorite horror novels (and I am due for a reread of both). I'm not sure if it is a favorite, but the ending of Shadows by John Saul has stayed with me for almost 30 years (I need to reread that one as well).

This was a fun question to visit. Thank you for adding QotW to the group!

Hi, Kathi here. Long-time member (from when Stefan, the group founder, migrated Beyond Reality from Yahoo groups—I first joined at Yahho) and moderator for several years now. I’m a retired special education teacher and lifelong reader.

I am drawn to SF and fantasy (speculative fiction) because of the creativity the authors display in creating new worlds, new species, and new technologies or systems of magic. Both genres provide a vehicle to explore important relationships and themes in unusual ways and to maybe help the reader shift perspective and see things in a new light. That isn’t always possible when writing more conventional fiction.

I probably read more fantasy that SF (about twice as much, according to my Goodreads bookshelf) but really get a pretty hefty dose of both.

Hi! I'm Michelle, known as Shel through my various online communities including here :) I've been a member here for a long time - I knew Kathi from elsewhere in cyberspace and she sucked me in to Goodreads, for which I'm quite grateful! I've been helping mod the group for a few years.

Like Kathi I'd say I read more fantasy than SF, although they're both favorite genres of mine. I think the primary attraction when I started reading speculative fiction in my long ago adolescence was escapism, and I still do love to escape into "fluff" SF/fantasy from time to time. But as an adult I came to appreciate the way that speculative fiction allows us to explore/expand on important themes and concepts without the constraints of the real world.

In more recent years, I've made an effort to diversify my reading more, and spec fic based on/inspired by non-European folklore has helped me to understand more about the various cultures that I had been less familiar with.

Are we going to have new questions every week? That sounds like fun. :)

I'm Random and been a member of Beyond Reality since 2009, which I think was not long after the move from Yahoo groups.

tell us why you love SF/F!

Wow, you know that's a really hard question. I can't remember ever not knowing I loved SF and fantasy. One of my earliest memories, if not the earliest, is laying in my crib at night, unable to sleep (I've always been an extreme night owl chronotype). And then from the living room I would hear the theme music to Star Trek (the original series). I'd climb out of my crib, toddle into the living room, and ask my mother to rock me to sleep. And I'd spend the entire time watching Star Trek. Three year old me had a massive crush on Kirk. Three year old me didn't have very good taste :D

We tend to rear our children in the fantastical, be it the 100 Acre Woods or Vulcan. Its a sense of wonder, exploration, excitement, and a longing so strong that it ached, still aches in my chest to this very day.

Do you tend to read more SF or fantasy?

if I go through my shelves, I've read 8 more Fantasy books (214) than I have Science Fiction (206). Now this doesn't include all of the books I have read, or can remember reading. These are just what I've kept track of since I joined Goodreads in 2009.

I tend to be drawn more towards hard science fiction, as those are the stories that tend to blow my mind and stay in my memory for many years to come.
Blindsight
Dragon's Egg and Starquake
Stories of Your Life and Others
Anathem
Recursion
Some of my favorites that fall into that category.

While I have my preferences, overall I really tend to read whatever fits my mood at the time. Which tends to make planning a reading schedule impossible. If I made a list of books I am going to read for the next few months, I can pretty much guarantee you that a year down the road, few, if any, will have been read. :D

Random wrote: "Are we going to have new questions every week? That sounds like fun. :)”

Yes, a new question posted every Sunday.

Hi, I'm Claudia. As a child, I loved fairy tales, which might explain my love for fantasy. However, I love sci-fi just as much.
To me, the worlds and stories make a perfect escape while dealing with all sorts of real life problems at the same time.
Going by my shelves I've read about twice as much fantasy as science fiction, but then I*m very lazy and usually forget to shelve the books I've read. There have been years when I read mainly sci-fi, and others, where it was mainly fantasy. It depends on what is on offer, and what appeals to my current mood.
Books that really impressed me are the Red Rising trilogy by Pierce Brown, as well as the Martian and Project Hail Mary by Andrew Weir. not to forget the Dune series by Frank Herbert, of course. For fantasy, I really loved the Farseer books by Robin Hobb, LotR, of course, and many more.
Brandon Sanderson writes both genres, and he does both very well, imo.
There's some very good German fantasy and sci-fi books as well, so I'll never lack for anything fascinating to read.

I read a lot of other genres, too, as well as biographies and non fiction.

Hi! I'm Christine, one of the moderators. I generally go by "Chris" in person, but I tend to use "Christine" online to avoid confusion. You're welcome to use either version!

My mother was a librarian, and I read whatever she brought home for me as I was growing up. I particularly remember all the Andrew Lang "color" fairy books, and of course "The Hobbit".

I suffer from decision paralysis whenever I enter a library or bookstore -- I want to read everything! These days I mostly read fantasy and science fiction, but I still read a bit of everything, and I particularly like stories that cross genres.

I'm Jim and I've been out of the loop for a while. I've been a Goodreads member long enough that I can't remember when I started. I'll be turning 80 later this year (not much later), so I'm inclined to favor tales that reflect my old fashioned point of view. Having said that, I like works by Adrian Tchaikovsky, China Mieville, Becky Chambers and Martha Wells. You can probably tell that I favor SF over fantasy. My first exposure to SF came about when I was a young lad and my Father and I both joined the venerable Science Fiction Book Club. Now, almost 70 years later, I still find my most satisfying reads in that category.

I am (and have been for a long time) a volunteer with my local Friends Of The Library. I help with stocking the shelves at our bookshop and am the speculative fiction maven. Another volunteer and I were just recently discussing the fact that (at our age) we don't really know who the up and coming new authors are. The voyage of discovery grinds on.

Space operas tend to get much of my attention. My latest discovered author in that realm is Gareth L. Powell. Good combination of action and literate narrative.

Jim wrote: "My first exposure to SF came about when I was a young lad and my Father and I both joined the venerable Science Fiction Book Club."

I’ve belonged to SFBC on and off over the years. Many of my lovely hardcovers are from them, although more are fantasy than SF. Pre-ebooks and Amazon, they were the best source for a wide variety of authors in the genre,

Kathi wrote: "Jim wrote: "My first exposure to SF came about when I was a young lad and my Father and I both joined the venerable Science Fiction Book Club."

"I’ve belonged to SFBC on and off over the years."

I still have some of the originals. I must have read The City And The Stars 5 or 6 times (and Against The Fall Of Night only a few less)