While showing off and explaining my book purchases to Johan the other night, I was surprised to find distinct trends in the types of fantasy and science fiction I buy (mostly in fantasy, as that’s mostly what I bought.) Intrigued, I sat down and brainstormed the finer points of what I liked in sci-fi and why, to see if anything stuck out at me.

I’m still thinking about both genres and heaven knows I haven’t been overly thorough in my investigation, but so far my tastes in fantasy are as follows:

• I favor magical objects over spoken spells
• I prefer unusual/intriguing magic systems
• I have almost zero interest in urban fantasy and modern settings
• I prefer natural settings, the more rural the better
• I have a fascination with nomadic tribes and horsemen
• I love “fairy tale” settings, royalty, castles, curses, the works

And in science fiction:

• I prefer space opera
• I have an odd fondness for post-apocalyptic settings
• I like my universe dirty, used and pieced together, thank you very much
• I hate utopias
• I prefer settings where mankind has *not* gotten significantly better, more moral, more civilized or more evolved. We suck, it isn’t getting better in future.

In both genres, and in stories in general:

• I prefer grand empires and epic settings/plots
• I love politics, diplomacy and intrigue
• I prefer the previous two to be told through the lens of individual character arcs
• I need great, deep characterizations and complex plots, good dialog and good action
• I like things with mountains, streams/waterfalls/pools, and/or deserts.

I’m hoping this brainstorming work will benefit my own writing. As I figure out what draws me into a story, or towards it, I’ll find what I require of my own stories, and make sure to put those bits in. That’s the theory, anyway.

Did some more character building last night, for the first short story I’m writing in the Selene setting. (Three guesses as to where that might be, first two don’t count.) I’m still a little unsure with what I came up with, going to toddle offline and study it more. (This is, by the way, what I declared I would do, oh, an hour ago. Eheh.)