this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2023
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Science Fiction

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Lemmy World Rules

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What criteria do you use to determine whether a book is worth your time? (lemm.ee)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/sciencefiction
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It is not possible to read all the Sci-Fi books out there. So you must have a process for selecting what you do read. Reading a book is an investment in your time. Your time is valuable. No one wants to waste that time reading unworthy books.

I have never codified my criteria. And it has changed and evolved over time. I suspect it will continue to change moving forward, as who I am tomorrow is not who I was yesterday.

What is your criteria to date?

Mine is that it must meet ALL the following criteria, some objective and some subjective.

  • it must have at least 1,000 reviews
  • it must have at least 70% 5-star reviews
  • if after reading about it I get the suspicion that it's a romance disguised as Sci-Fi, I automatically reject it no matter what
  • if it's YA, it really needs to be exceedingly compelling to choose it
  • Space Opera also needs to be exceedingly compelling
  • if I get the feeling it's trying to preach I'll reject it
  • if i get the feeling it has (messaging, strong opinions, or political overtones) about today's societal issues, I probably won't choose it. Not judging; I primarily read for escapism.

I guess that's about it. There's probably more but I just haven't put that much thought into it yet.

I'm very interested in how y'all decide to choose a book to spend your valuable time reading.

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[–] LouNeko 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I'm a newbie when it comes to reading novels. But I realized that a lot of movies or series I've seen are based on books. It's far easier to get through a book if you already have visual references for the characters and scenes. It's also nice to go back and experience the story from a diffrent perspective. It's like reading with training wheels.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Understood. I like seeing the movie or series after reading the book, for some reason.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

@nkiruanaya @LouNeko I love reading the book after because it is almost always even better than the movie… more detail, richer character development, bonus extra scenes, 😁.

Where the reverse is rarely true. If I love a book, someone is going to butcher that book when they make a movie about it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Watched all the Expanse series and started reading the Expanse books. I'm now on book 4 (Cibola Burn). When I watched the series, I really could figure out or understand what was going on. I just kept watching due to the charismatic enthusiasm of the fans online. I finished the TV series but still didn't quite "get it" and still felt lost. But now that I'm reading the books, I now understand what's happening and am enjoying it.