Lavonardo

The amount of memetics in this blog has significantly decreased since the untimely end of the weekly fiver.

Here’s a literary meme picked up at random (originally from Eating Muffins in an Agitated Manner).

Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror?
Science Fiction. But I’m not averse to good fantasy or horror either.

Hardback or Trade Paperback or Mass Market Paperback?
Mass market paperbacks for the most part, occasionally trade paperbacks or hardbacks (usually when a couple of favorite authors release a new book).

Heinlein or Asimov?
Neither. I cut my teeth on Clarke.

Amazon or Brick and Mortar?
Both. Amazon for planned purchases, b&m (especially Akateeminen) for the less planned ones.

Barnes & Noble or Borders?
Both. But only when travelling, neither chain is available locally.

Hitchhiker or Discworld?
Original hitchhiker as a single book (the rest increasingly sucked), Discworld as a series.

Bookmark or Dogear?
Bookmark. Definitely. Dogearing is equal to defacement in my book.

Magazine: Asimov’s Science Fiction or Fantasy & Science Fiction?
Neither. I prefer Tähtivaeltaja.

Alphabetize by author Alphabetize by title or random?
Random. To be rectified at the impending move. Hopefully.

Keep, Throw Away or Sell?
Keep.

Year’s Best Science Fiction series (edited by Gardner Dozois) or Years Best SF series (edited by David G. Hartwell)?
Neither, really, I’m not big on anthologies.

Keep dustjacket or toss it?
Keep.

Read with dustjacket or remove it?
Remove. And return once read.

Short story or novel?
Novel. Though I don’t disrespect short stories either.

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?
Potter by default. Never read Snicket. And haven’t seen the movie either.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
Chapter breaks. Unless the chapters are excessively long.

“It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”?
Meh. Neither.

Buy or Borrow?
Buy. Some bought after initially borrowing them.

Buying choice: Book Reviews, Recommendation or Browse?
All and none

Lewis or Tolkien?
Tolkien. Though I did like the first Perelandra-novel a lot.

Hard SF or Space Opera?
Hard SF, with occasional space opera for good measure.

Collection (short stories by the same author) or Anthology (short stories by different authors)?
Collections, usually.

Hugo or Nebula?
Haven’t really figured the difference inbetween.

Golden Age SF or New Wave SF?
Neither is perfect, but new wave tends to be more entertaining.

Tidy ending or Cliffhanger?
Tidy ending usually, unless the cliffhanger is really good. And most of them are not.

Morning reading, Afternoon reading or Nighttime reading?
Apart from truly free weekends, nighttime is the only readily available timeslot.

Standalone or Series?
Standalone. Usually rampant serialization is a fantasy-specific crime.

Urban fantasy or high fantasy?
Depends. No single winner in this category. If urban is equal to modern, then it’s not really attractive. If not, then it probably has and edge.

New or used?
New. I like my books pristine.

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?
Haven’t picked up anything spectacular lately.

Top X favorite genre books read last year? (Where X is 5 or less)
This list is in no particular order.
Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch.
Jennifer Morgue by Charles Stross.
Forty Days of Rain by Kim Stanley Robinson.

Top X favorite genre books of all time? (Where X is 5 or less)
This list is in no particular order either.
Startide Rising by David Brin.
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.
Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch.
Anubis Gates by Tim Powers.
The fifth one shall remain unremembered.

X favorite genre series? (Where X is 5 or less)
Again, no order is implied inbetween the entries.
Uplift by David Brin.
Song of Fire and Ice by George R. R. Martin.
Discworld by Terry Pratchett.
Valerian by Jean-Claude Mézières & Pierre Christin.

Top X favorite genre short stories? (Where X is 5 or less)
I’ll give this one a miss, not having devoted much time to short stories lately.