# fantasy sub genres?



## kaneda (Jun 17, 2005)

Just curious, from my asking for recommended book thread it seems im not being specific enough on what type of fantasy i like. Maybe im just being naieve (spelling?) but is there a whole set of fantasy sub-genre that I'm not aware of?


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## Tsujigiri (Jun 17, 2005)

So very many


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## Jay (Jun 17, 2005)

> Just curious, from my asking for recommended book thread it seems im not being specific enough on what type of fantasy i like. Maybe im just being naieve (spelling?) but is there a whole set of fantasy sub-genre that I'm not aware of


 ?

I think you should tell us which one you are aware of before we can tell you which ones you may not be aware of.


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## Leto (Jun 17, 2005)

Well you could divide fantasy :
- by the type of myth implied : Tolkien and all his clones, oriental fantasy (Lord Dragon by R.Zelazny is one of the best example), pure nordic fantasy, Conan-like and so on
- by the type of plots : YA novels (usually coming of age stories), romance, military fantasy (my favorite being the Black company by Glen Cook), pure adventure/action..
- by the degree of magic used : from urban fantasy (magical creatures but settings on Earth) to a whole different world were magic and magical creatures are common (like the Discworld). 
And so on...


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## kaneda (Jun 17, 2005)

Ainulindale said:
			
		

> ?
> 
> I think you should tell us which one you are aware of before we can tell you which ones you may not be aware of.


 
might sound really silly but i've never really thought about it! 

The ones i tend to read always have some type of quest involved (LOTR, sword/elfstones of shanara), then you have the dragonlance type ones (but im not sure how i would classify those!) then action (david gemmel) and then my mind went blank!


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## GOLLUM (Jun 18, 2005)

kaneda,

The below link is *by no means a definitive list * but may help to point you in the "general" direction.

http://www.fictionfactor.com/articles/fsubgenre.html

Courtesy of Wikpedia here's a link to a *more comprehensive * list:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy

Cheers..


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## rune (Jun 18, 2005)

Thanks for that link Gollum, I've always been a bit confused about the themes of fantasy that are out there.  I know I like Dark Fantasy, and not always very keen on Epic. But there are so many others that I wasn't sure about  


It would be interesting to look at our own collections and see what theme the books we have actually fall under


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## kaneda (Jun 18, 2005)

ah thats great gollum! thanks


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## Jay (Jun 18, 2005)

I don't prefer one or the other, in regards to liking or disliking oens elements over thw other, I enjoy what I think is good out of each, one, admittedly however  I think most of the current talent (ie the better books) are coming from the segment of the genre that leans toward Magic Realism or Slipstream, or just Post Modern in theme as a whole.


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## GOLLUM (Jun 18, 2005)

kaneda said:
			
		

> ah thats great gollum! thanks


No problem Kenada.. 

Interesting idea Rune but I guess it's no secret the overwhelming majority of fantasy on my bookshelf would fall under the EPIC/High Fantasy banner LOL!


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