The current issue of Locus has the results of their annual survey. In the reading section, they asked about what types of SF and fantasy their respondants liked. The speculative genre seems to be doing better across the board.
Under the Do you like… question,
SF hit 90% for the first time, up 3% over last year.
Fantasy hit 77%, up 2% over last year.
Horror hit 50%, up 3%.
Other at 18%, up 4%.
Type of SF:
Adventure 63%, up 1%.
Social Science 63%, up 6%
Hard science, 57%, up 2% possibly a reversal from years past.
Interestingly enough, fantasy doesn’t show the 2% increase when categorized.
High/Heroic 52% down 2%
Humorous 47%, up 1%
Romantic 21%, down 1%.
Is this anything on which to draw a conclusion? Perhaps, but I suspect the responses are all within the (unreported) margin of error, with the possible exception of social science fiction. Consider, also, that the yes answer to “Does SF form the major part of your reading pleasure?” dropped by a percent to 80%.
It’s difficult to draw any conclusion from a survey by a magazine that is effectively the spec fic writers trade magazine, where mostly writers respond (though not as many as you might think–only 54% of responders listed writing/editing as a primary or secondary occupation). Still, I like the trend. Fantasy has had its way with readers for long enough.
Time for an SF revival!