I try to maintain a wide literary diet but two genres just don’t work for me: Romance, and High Fantasy. (What exactly counts as High Fantasy has been debated but for the sake of simplicity I’m defining it in this post as “Any fantasy work with a setting that isn’t earth/an earth so vastly different from our own that it might as well be it a totally different place.”)
I have nothing against High Fantasy. I love games like The Witcher and shows like Arcane and Avatar. But when it comes to books, I just *can’t* get into them. I’ve tried The Witcher books, Mistborn, The Hobbit, The First Law (which today I DNFed at book 1, page 81) and numerous short stories.
Trying to keep all the new words, places, and magic makes my head spin even with things like maps and glossaries. It always feels like a chore, and I end up crawling back to detective fiction. I struggle a bit with Sci-Fi too, but not nearly to the same extent.
It makes me feel bad. I feel like I’m some snooty snob who’s looking down on a “lesser” genre even though I dig it just fine outside of books. I lurk r/fantasy often and feel like an unpopular kid who got invitied by mistake.
Anyone else feel this way? What genres do you wish you’d like, but just don’t?
by insane677
8 Comments
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Knee-jerk retort: “Not a chance.”
Seeing your fourth paragraph: “Uh, well, I mean…I’m no ~~uppity snob~~ posh elitist, but I do wince at not having *as yet* published within the company of say *Simon & Schuster* and *The New Yorker*, etc.”
As for my array of tastes and interests covering the multi-vast readable offers out there, conversely, I can’t force myself to ingest material which doesn’t punch me with genuine resonation.
No.. I don’t feel guilty for not liking a thing I don’t like.
Nah, no guilt. I like what I like. You like what you like. There’s enough to go around!
If you don’t like a genre you don’t like a genre. No need to feel guilty about it.
I can’t stand comedy movies for example. Would I like to? Sure, basically everyone else I know loves them and wants to watch them but I just have zero interest so it’s made for some unfortunate get togethers with friends where I’m usually stuck suffering through a movie I have no interest in. But I don’t feel guilty about it.
No one is offended by you not liking fantasy novels. You’re not hurting anyone or anything so guilt has no factor.
Shaksphere- and the bibe- guessing I miss some references because I haven’t read them but no interest in seeing them except as retellings
No, I’ve done nothing wrong by not liking a genre, so there’s nothing to feel guilty about.
Nope. I, for one, despise the romance genre and can’t get into it no matter what. I have accepted that, and the emotion I have regarding it is mostly sadness whenever I’m looking for good reads and the recommendations are 60% romance books. No guilt, though.
P.S. I’m not opposed to some romance in a book, I just don’t like the romance GENRE.