SF reading habit questionnaire, gacked from Neil Gaiman

[madbaker]

The purpose of this questionnaire is to provide material for a book called (provisionally), The Inter-Galactic Playground of Children's Science Fiction to be published by McFarland Press. The research is supported by the Eileen Wallace Children's Library (University of New Brunswick), Middlesex University (London) and the British Academy.

I didn't give this too much thought, but I'd be interested to compare to y'all.

1. (name)
2. 35
3. USA
4. English
5. male
6. male
7. heterosexual
8. 7 to 8 years old
9. not at first...
10. Robert A. Heinlein, Andre Norton, Isaac Asimov, Ursula K. LeGuin, Patricia McKillip
11. anything aimed at the younger set that "talked down"
12. see # 10
13. Heinlein, Jack Vance, Roger Zelazny, Jack Chalker
14. plot, realistic character development
15. #14, plus consistent world-building
16. more of the same, really.
17. yes - ish. More SF than anything else, but I also read history and historical fiction.
18. 10-20%
19. as little as possible
20. very little
21. Starship Troopers perhaps, to the extent that I am more Libertarian than anything else
22. perhaps, in that it encouraged me to think skeptically
23. Libraries! Almost exclusively.

Comments

[aastg.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid I gave it a fair bit of thought (and monopolized the computer for 2 hrs....) Still, here are my answers.

2. 47
3. USA
4. English
5. Female
6. Female.
7. Heterosexual.
8. 6-7 yrs. old
9. Yes.
10. Ruthven Todd (the Space Cat series), St. Exupery (The Little Prince), DC & Marvel Comics
11. N/A -- there weren't that many around.
12. Ruthven Todd
13. Ray Bradbury!!!!, H.G. Wells, Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, Jules Verne
14. It had to be weird, it had to be visually imaginative; it could be humorous.
15. Had to be weird; The science had to be plausible; No self-indulgence on the part of the writer; The female characters had to be reasonably believeable; Extra points if the story challenged assumptions.
16. Same as in #16, only more so.
The best SF is inter-disciplinary, i.e., not just about rockets & space travel, but also about biology, even political science. However, I'm skeptical of obvious political agendas in SF.
17. No.
18. About 3/4.
19. Easily half: history, art/art history, archaeology, paleontology, anthropology
20. About 1/3 to 1/2. My parents, librarians and friends turned me on to books/subjects, but I usually chose my own reading material.
21. Yes and no. I was much affected by "Fahrenheit 451" for example, but less so by "Stranger in a Strange Land".
22. No. I was an atheist from the age of about 9.
23. My parents had a good library at home, mostly adult fiction & non-fiction, but very little SF. I tended to be a browser at the public & school libraries; often, I would hear the names of writers in adult conversations, and check them out on my own. If I liked a writer, I read EVERYTHING of theirs that I could find.

[goldenstag.livejournal.com]

2. 47
3. USA
4. English (American)
5. Male
6. Male
7. Hetero
8. Probably around 14-15
9. No
10. Heinlein, Madeleine L'Engle (can't recall others now)
11. Can't think of any
12. Heinlein
13. Madeleine L'Engle, cannot recall others at this time.
14. Excitement, a good story, lots of action.
15. A good story, action, excitement, and characters that I could relate to ...
16. A good story, plausible science where possible, good characters, character development, interesting situation.
17. Yes. Most of what I read for leisure reading is Science Fiction or Fantasy.
18. At least 50%.
19. Classics including Mark Twain ... school subjects of course.
20. Most of it, but not all ... Parents, teachers.
21. That's a hard call. I suppose some of Heinlein's stuff (The Moon is a Harsh Mistress in particular).
22. I doubt it. My friends affected that more than science fiction.
23. Libraries, friends mostly. Comic books I bought, but I couldn't really afford books much when I was that age.