# Fantasy; sub genres



## nixie (Aug 18, 2017)

Every week I seem to come across a new subgenre of fantasy. We have;

High 
Epic
Sword and Sorcery
Military
Steam punk 
Cyber
Urban 
Historical
Grimdark 
Romantic
Weird
Low

I have probably missed a few million of the list.
Is there really a need to have all the different categories, majority of books can fall into a number of the different subgenres.
I chose my books by reading the blurb/ first few pages or recommendation. I don't need to know what supposed category it fits.

I feel sorry for writers, you can imagine the thought process.
 * my book contains elves, high fantasy, oh wait it's during a conflict and my main character is in the army, so maybe military but a lot of horrible things happen to them, the whole world is oppressed, and they are romantically involved with someone , does that make it Grimdark or romantic. Its five books, so it might be epic. My head hurts *
It's crazy, books are books stop trying to pigeon hole them.


----------



## Boneman (Aug 18, 2017)

And every time a label is applied, they run the risk of putting readers off. Rod Rees's brilliant Demi Monde series was labelled SteamPunk at the beginning. I don't read SteamPunk, and if I hadn't met him at a conference and heard him speak, I never would have gone near it. SteamPunk it ain't in my opinion, and that's what these labels are - someone's opinion. They'll never fit all...


----------



## Overread (Aug 18, 2017)

The thing is there's a massive sea of fantasy books in the world. If people are going to make a choice then using simple descriptive words helps a lot in letting your potential readers find your book in the sea of what is out there. Sure lots of other factors come into play and you do run the risk of missing some readers who might avoid or not be inclined to read certain subgenres; but in general most sub-genres are really just key-words used for marketing. 

Done right it should improve sales and help focus and target your marketing. And yes most book will have more than one key word that sums up the content. You have to be selective though; most books in fantasy have an element of romance, but the romance is but one part of the story and not often the driving force of the story in itself. So you can generally make easy choice on what your story is focused upon an what key words are going to best advertise it. 

Combine that with reviews; interviews; accolades from other authors; your existing reader base (if present); signing events; conventions; heck advertising on forums etc..... And it can all help to drive sales.


----------



## thaddeus6th (Aug 18, 2017)

Yeah, I don't get this really either. Some broad categories I think are fine but every little niche just makes things a sea of confusion.


----------



## Jo Zebedee (Aug 18, 2017)

I had a little rant about it

On genres and reading


----------



## nixie (Aug 18, 2017)

Jo Zebedee said:


> I had a little rant about it
> 
> On genres and reading


Least I'm not only one who has walked into lampposts, missed my stop or done many of the other things you mentioned.


----------



## hitmouse (Aug 21, 2017)

So where do the following fit into this list?

The Magic Faraway Tree
Little Big
Last Letters From Hav
Haroun and the Sea of Stories
My Neighbour Totoro
Where the Wild Things Are
The Cat In The Hat
Uncle
Rumo


----------



## Jo Zebedee (Aug 21, 2017)

Those I know of: 



hitmouse said:


> So where do the following fit into this list?
> 
> The Magic Faraway Tree - MG fantasy
> Where the Wild Things Are - MG fantasy
> The Cat In The Hat - YA humour


----------



## The Big Peat (Aug 22, 2017)

Without trying to get at anyone, I find complaining about genre a bit odd and slightly irritating because if people stopped complaining about genre, pretty much no one would talk about it and then readers could ignore it to their heart's content if they chose. Its genuinely about the only time I see people talk about it. When I go to a library or a bookshop, there's no giant displays about genre I can't avoid looking at or anything. No one demands that I name the genre before I have the book. There might be a few words on the back cover and that's about it. If you want it not to matter, then it doesn't. Genre can have even less effect on your reading experience than the effect of those little gel things and scrunched up bits of paper on the enjoyment you get out of your shoes.

But then, I do find genre useful. Its one or two words that tell me more info about the book than could otherwise be in twenty. Every trade and hobby ends up generating its own words and meanings so that we can communicate about things more effectively. Is it wholly efficient? No, because no system that arises from loose consensus will see everyone using the same words to mean the same things. Is it better than not having it all? It must be, or people wouldn't use these words. You don't have to use them but they're pretty useful if you do want to.

Do we need so many different genres as a reader? Well, we do have a lot of different types of SFF. When the types are sufficiently different that liking other parts of SFF doesn't equal liking this part then, yeah, a new genre name seems sensible. You don't bring out a fork for someone to eat their soup with despite it all being cutlery, you don't use a chainsaw for hammering in a nail despite them all being tools, and we're all on SFFChrons rather than some forum covering all types of books because there are major differences between books and we'd by and large rather talk about the ones that interest us. Pigeonholing is just rational.

Are there too many? I dunno, I only think about SFF genres when people are complaining about it. People do occasionally use genre terms when discussing a book, but there's usually enough context that even if I would be confused just by the genre term, I'm not. 

I guess things a little different as a writer, what with impacting how you sell and the whole 'know your genre to subvert it'. Sometimes people do post "I'm worried about what genre I'm writing". However, they are universally told its not that important; you write the story and figure out the rest later. Unless you're chasing fame and riches, I feel like genre doesn't really have to impact you. For what its worth though, considering genre and seeking out genre-specific advice has been good for my writing.

So there we go. I think genre is a useful classification system for those who likes it. But its really easy to ignore if you don't and I'm perpetually puzzled by the number of people who profess to want to ignore it who don't.


----------



## Cathbad (Aug 22, 2017)

The Big Peat said:


> Without trying to get at anyone, I find complaining about genre a bit odd and slightly irritating because if people stopped complaining about genre, pretty much no one would talk about it and then readers could ignore it to their heart's content if they chose. Its genuinely about the only time I see people talk about it. When I go to a library or a bookshop, there's no giant displays about genre I can't avoid looking at or anything. No one demands that I name the genre before I have the book. There might be a few words on the back cover and that's about it. If you want it not to matter, then it doesn't. Genre can have even less effect on your reading experience than the effect of those little gel things and scrunched up bits of paper on the enjoyment you get out of your shoes.


----------

