Categories...
Circles within circles.... There once was a time when the words "Science Fiction" covered a very select set of books and no one really had to subdivide them. We don't live in that time, thank goodness. Since everyone has their own tastes, even within these genres, here are a few divisions based on style, plot, character, or setting. If you have more suggestions, please feel free to email them to me.
- Children's Corner
- Books for ages 4-12, including descriptions of any violence, socially unacceptable behavior, or disturbing parts that parents may want to either avoid or explain to their kids.
- Mystery
- Okay, all books have a certain level of mystery in them, but there are some in which the mystery plot is not only dominant, but it takes precedance even over the science fiction or fantasy plot itself.
- Romance
- Anne McCaffrey, Robin McKinley- an author doesn't have to be writing in the genre of Romance to use it as her primary plot much of the time. Many of these novels are well above the supermarket romance level. Some aren't.
- Engineers
- When the "science" is more pronounced than the "fiction", you may have an engineer (or friend of engineers) writing. These books usually contain clear language and lenghthy descriptions of processes or the scientific aspects of the setting.
- Horror
- Vampires, monsters of the deep, zombies, serial killers, etc. Includes both tastefull works and cheap thrills.
- Retellings
- Arthurian legends, Greek gods, Atlantis, Celtic heroes, Native American stories, Fairy Tales, and anything else that was originally part of folklore.
- Animals
- Some of these were written from the perspectives of animals, others are simply focused on them. Alien races are not counted as animals unless they act that way and are not sentient.
- Fairies, Dragons, etc.
- If it contains the elements of traditional "fairy tales" in any form, but is not actually a retelling of a piece of folklore, it goes here. Includes modern versions like Emma Bull's and Mercedes Lackey's.
- Alien First-Contact
- Any novel primarily focused on first contact or on the attempts of humans and other species to learn about each other or to coexist peacefully- or not so peacefully.
- Psi Powers
- Telepathy, telekinesis, empathy, projective empathy, precognition, clairvoyance, mental healing, bardic talents, etc. These are primary elements of the plot, setting, and/or main character(s).
- Humor
- Looking for a good laugh? Look no farther. Every classroom has its clown; every genre has its comedians. Please don't drink and read.
- Ebooks
- Electronic books- the words conjur up images of Star Trek or palmtops. But if you spend lots of time on your computer anyway, why not? They're cheaper than normal books, and you can't tear them up. All the genres available in print, and more....
- Military
- If it's war, the results of war (unless they are apocalyptic), or about the military, it goes here.
- Quests
- This list of fantasy books contains only those with quest-style plots, whether that quest is to obtain something or to destroy something. Running away doesn't count.... ^_^
- Time Travel
- Whether it's a time machine, a cryogenics experiment, too much time at the speed of light, or a confusion of events that creates an alternate universe, temporal confusion reigns supreme within this page.
- Apocalypse
- It's not the fact of the world's ending that's interesting, it's how it happens and what people do about it. Survivalist and fatalist novels extraordinaire grace this page with new and interesting ways to kill off humanity.
- Religion
- From the hallowed halls of the Vatican to old-fashioned paganism, to New Age religions that haven't even been invented yet, these are the times to try men's souls.
- Computers
- Meet the descendants of the screen you're reading right now. Hopefully, most of them will be friendly.... Also includes the descendants of modern computer-whiz adolescents.
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Last Updated: October 14, 1999
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