My taste in literature, current version.
May. 7th, 2010 08:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dsrtaoI read to be entertained. (I think learning is entertaining.)
I like first person snarky narration, first person unreliable narration, second person snarky, invisible third person point of view. I have a bias that third person omniscient is less well done, and third person omniscient which tells me the innermost thoughts and feelings of the characters is often excessively manipulative.
I like SF and fantasy, and I want the rules to be internally consistent. If there's a mystery to be solved, I want clues. Ideally, all the evidence needed should be available in the text before a character figures it out. Fiction should make more sense than the real world. The author should know more than what they write.
A sense of place, a well-drawn world, is important to me. Books are my preferred means of travel, as teleport booths are not yet available. Get me involved, immerse me in an alien culture, or show me hidden explanations for mundane things. Just don't bore me.
I vastly prefer that the protagonist be likeable, even if he or she is a serial killer, assassin, professional torturer, mercenary, soldier, engineer, pilot, detective, slave, spoiled brat, student, programmer or wizard. Motivations are important for every single character. Protagonists should be dynamic and effective and display at least a little common sense. Mistakes are fine, failure is fine, but sitting there like a lump is boring.
I like having my sense of wonder tickled. I don't mind gore. Action had better be interesting, or why is it there? Infodumps had better be done well. Lectures need to be entertaining.
I will mock mercilessly any book that doesn't have an ending.
I like first person snarky narration, first person unreliable narration, second person snarky, invisible third person point of view. I have a bias that third person omniscient is less well done, and third person omniscient which tells me the innermost thoughts and feelings of the characters is often excessively manipulative.
I like SF and fantasy, and I want the rules to be internally consistent. If there's a mystery to be solved, I want clues. Ideally, all the evidence needed should be available in the text before a character figures it out. Fiction should make more sense than the real world. The author should know more than what they write.
A sense of place, a well-drawn world, is important to me. Books are my preferred means of travel, as teleport booths are not yet available. Get me involved, immerse me in an alien culture, or show me hidden explanations for mundane things. Just don't bore me.
I vastly prefer that the protagonist be likeable, even if he or she is a serial killer, assassin, professional torturer, mercenary, soldier, engineer, pilot, detective, slave, spoiled brat, student, programmer or wizard. Motivations are important for every single character. Protagonists should be dynamic and effective and display at least a little common sense. Mistakes are fine, failure is fine, but sitting there like a lump is boring.
I like having my sense of wonder tickled. I don't mind gore. Action had better be interesting, or why is it there? Infodumps had better be done well. Lectures need to be entertaining.
I will mock mercilessly any book that doesn't have an ending.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-08 01:05 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-08 01:23 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-08 02:18 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-08 02:36 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-08 02:58 am (UTC)If you read, and did not like, Doomsday Book and "Fire Watch," then don't read Blackout or its sequel All Clear.