I read my first steampunk book just a couple months ago. (Armored Hearts, by Pauline Creeden and Melissa Turner Lee if you really want to know.) Since then, the steampunk radar in my head goes off every time I pass a book cover with gears or cool goggles on it. Today we’re digging into steampunk and cyberpunk. While they both have the word punk in them, you’ll find they’re quite different. Steampunk Steampunk has not yet figured out exactly which genre it falls under — science fiction or fantasy. I’ve seen many people placing it under both, and it really comes …
Spec-Fic Subgenres: The Fantasies
Fantasy is where I feel most at home. I used to consider myself a fantasy fan, but as I dug into the genres I realized how ignorant I am. High fantasy? Low fantasy? Dark fantasy? What? High Fantasy (sometimes called Epic Fantasy) You may have been a high fantasy fan all your life and never known it. “One ring to rule them all…” If you know what that’s from (*hint* Lord of the Rings) then you’ve read or watched high fantasy (and hopefully liked it!) As with most subgenres, high fantasy is a little tough to fully break down. The definition either gets …
Spec-Fic Subgenres: Space Opera & Hard Sci-Fi
I’ll admit, when it comes to speculative fiction, I lean much stronger toward the fantasy side of things so today’s post, dealing with some deep sci-fi subgenres, was fun to write — almost like discovering a new world. We’re tackling space opera and hard science fiction. Both of these subgenres fall under science fiction. I’ve met many readers and authors who say the subgenres are getting too specific, but I’m delving into a few of them anyway. 😉 Space Opera We’ve all heard the term soap opera. Well, space opera is a play on words, but I can guarantee you’ll enjoy space opera more than a …
Spec-Fic Subgenres: Dystopia & Utopia
Speculative fiction is just a giant door leading to a hundred tiny doors called subgenres. Anyone writing spec-fic probably knows what his or her subgenre is. Mine is dystopian. What’s yours? Steampunk? Technothriller? Paranormal? Time Travel? I wrote in the speculative fiction genre long before I actually knew what any of the subgenres were. So, I thought it appropriate to do a blog series breaking down one or two subgenres a month for the good of all those who love (or don’t yet know that they love) speculative fiction. Let’s jump right in, shall we? There are three agreed-upon main genres …