This is the final stop in the genre journey. It covers
romance, science fiction, speculative fiction, thriller, urban fiction, and
westerns.
ROMANCE
Romances are about relationships,
generally between a man and woman. They
often cross over into other genres, and many stories in other genres include
some romantic element. Some subgenres include Christian romance, gay romance,
historical romance, lesbian romance, multicultural romance, paranormal romance,
present-day romance, Regency romance (set between 1811-1820 in Regency,
England), romantic suspense (man rescues woman), sensual romance.
Erotica is another word for
sensual romance, and is now emerging as a genre of its own. It is about sexual
relationships, fetishes, and sometimes taboo subjects. They are usually written
by women.
SCIENCE FICTION
Science fiction is based on
some type of plausible science, such as machines, travel to alternate places,
genetics, or technology. The subgenres include alien invasion, apocalypse or
post-apocalypse (end of world), artificial intelligence, biopunk (uses biological
or genetic research), cyberpunk (futuristic story with cybernetic enhancements
of characters), extraterrestrial, hard sci-fi (detailed scientific
information), gothic (macabre stories), lost worlds, military (soldiers and
conflicts in another world), nanopunk (uses nanotechnology), shapeshifting,
soft sci-fi (science isn’t detailed), space opera (space travel), steampunk or
gaslamp (involves the Victorian era), time travel, xenofiction (strange
cultures).
Speculative fiction takes place
in a different world. It crosses several genres: fantasy, horror, science
fiction, and their subgenres. It also
includes its own subgenres: dystopia (nightmare world), slipstream (fiction
that leaves the reader feeling strange or weird), supernatural fiction, utopia
(perfect world).
THRILLER
Thrillers are exiting, and have
an extreme level of fear. The subgenres
include conspiracies, crime thrillers, disasters, environmental thrillers,
espionage, legal thrillers, medical thrillers, mercenaries, paranormal,
political thrillers, psychological thrillers, survival, and techno-thrillers
(involves technology).
URBAN FICTION
Urban fiction is also called
Street lit. The story takes place in a city, and is defined by the underbelly
of the race and culture of the characters. It includes raw profanity, sex, and
violence.
WESTERN
Westerns are usually set in the
American west, although Australian westerns have been popular. Some of the subgenres include buffalo soldier
(the protagonist is not a white man), family sagas, gunfighter, Indian, lawmen,
outlaw, prospecting gold, settlement of lands, trappers, wagon trains.
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