Genre fiction

Genre fiction is a term for fictional works (novels, short stories) written with the intent of fitting into a specific literary genre in order to appeal to the fans of that genre. In contemporary fiction-publishing, genre is an elastic term used to group works sharing similarities of character, theme, and setting—such as mystery, romance, or horror—that have been proven to appeal to particular groups of readers. Genres continuously evolve, divide, and combine as readers' tastes change and writers search for fresh ways to tell stories. For a number of reasons, genre fiction is often regarded as the lower-quality opposite of literary fiction.

The genres of genre fiction

As noted, there are many different ways of labeling and defining fiction genres. Following are some of the main genres as they are used in contemporary publishing:

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Action-adventure

These stories, appealing mainly to male readers, feature physical action and violence, often around a quest or military-style mission set in exotic or forbidding locales such as jungles, deserts, or mountains. The conflict typically involves commandos, mercenaries, terrorists, smugglers, pirates, and the like. Stories include elements of courage, male bonding, and betrayal, as well as lore on technology, weapons, and other hardware.

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Crime

Crime fiction stories, centered on criminal enterprise, are told from the point of view of the perpetrators. They range in tone from lighthearted "caper" stories to darker plots involving organized crime or incarcerated convicts.

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Detective

Detective fiction has become almost synonymous with mystery. These stories relate the solving of a crime, usually one or more murders, by a protagonist who may or may not be a professional investigator. This large, popular genre has many subgenres, reflecting differences in tone, character, and setting.

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Erotica

Erotica—fiction dealing mainly with the sex lives of its characters and featuring graphic descriptions of sex acts—has become a mainstream genre only since the 1990s, when many bookstores began stocking such works on their shelves. Prior to that, pornography was a subculture product, available only in "adult" bookstores.

Related Topics:
Erotica - Pornography - Subculture - Adult

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Fantasy

Fantasy fiction features stories set in fanciful, invented worlds or in a legendary, mythic past. The stories themselves are often epics or quests, frequently involving magic. The enormous popularity of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy and J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels demonstrates the wide appeal of this genre.

Related Topics:
Fantasy fiction - Quests - Magic - J.R.R. Tolkien - Lord of the Rings - J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter

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Horror

Horror fiction aims to evoke some combination of fear, fascination, and revulsion in its readers. This genre, like others, continues to evolve, recently moving away from stories with a religious or supernatural basis to ones making use of medical or psychological ideas.

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Mystery

Mystery fiction, technically involving stories in which characters try to discover a vital piece of information which is kept hidden till the climax, is now considered by many people almost a synonym for detective fiction. The standard novel stocked in the mystery section of bookstores is a whodunit.

Related Topics:
Mystery fiction - Whodunit

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Romance

Romance is currently the largest and best-selling fiction genre in North America. It has produced a wide array of subgenres, all of which feature the mutual attraction and love of a man and a woman as the main plot, and have a happy ending.

Related Topics:
Romance - Happy ending

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Science fiction

Science fiction is defined more by setting than by other story elements. With few exceptions, any story set off of planet earth or in the future qualifies as science fiction. Within these settings, the conventions of almost any other genre may be used. A story set on earth in the present or past, unless it involves time travel, extraterrestrials, or other unearthly elements, is generally not science fiction, even if science and technology feature strongly.

Related Topics:
Science fiction - Time travel - Extraterrestrials

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Thriller

A thriller is a story intended to evoke strong feelings of suspense and danger, usually involving a high-stakes hunt, chase, or a race against time. Thrillers often involve espionage, crime, medicine, or technology.

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Western

Western fiction is defined primarily by being set in the American West in the second half of the 19th century, and secondarily by featuring heroes who are rugged, individualistic horsemen (cowboys). Other genres, such as romance, have subgenres that make use of the Western setting.

Related Topics:
Western fiction - American West - 19th century - Cowboys

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