When dystopian was treated as a "science fiction" and not realty I paused the video and scrolled to the comments. God is still good but "1984" has nothing on 2020 and so much of these dystopian books are based off the fact that history repeats itself, and because of this it's a cry for you to pay attention. Look at years like 1945 they were horrific, dystopian, and a very real display of how any government can become corrupt in a very short amount of time. Because of this they shouldn't be given the power to play God even if it's to "protect" us. "Protections" from bureaucracy are often illogical and political and they get in the way of having a functional society. Dystopian novels are a gentle reminder that politicians like Mao killed millions with their power trip to "help" people. The last thing Americans should want is to get rid of a business man like Trump and expand the Federal government (as your Democrat governors are calling for) with more of their smooth talking (actual aristocrat) puppets that speak about as much nonsense and lies as your propaganda filled "multi-media" (yes, books and movies too) and news. Wake up America! Pick up a history book and stop hating yourselves into failure over someone who was clearly never "meant" to win but seems to actually care about your country. Wake up! Turn off your CNN and look up primary sources verse those biased clips with narration that tell you what to think, feel, and put fear filled faith into.
"Inspirational Romance" is actually what some consider "wholesome romance" but really it is a romance with no sex but also has an emphasis on religion too.
I always found high and low fantasy to be confusing terms. One of the best explanations I ever found for it was “if you take the magic out and the plot still makes sense, it’s low fantasy. If the plot no longer works, it’s high fantasy.”
There are so many sub genres, especially horror there is splatterpunk, historical horror, supernatural, psychological, comedy horror, satirical horror, partridge and a pear tree horror, so much
HF set in the UK is often categorized by the ruler of that time period (I.e. Elizabethan, Victorian, Regency). Therefore, Regency was the time period in the early 1800s when the timer was the Prince Regent (King was ill, so Prince ruled in his place).
You did a good job breaking down a lot of complex genres. I feel like there are so many sub-genres it's impossible to talk about all of them, because there are so many sub-genres of sub-genres. And lots of books blend different genres (like historical mysteries or fantasy romance).
One of my favorite subgenres is solarpunk, which is like the other "punk" genres but categorized by a more lighthearted/hopeful tone and a focus on technologies that are based on solar energy and other environmentally friendly stuff. It's really different from the other punk genres and I'd love to see more stuff use it.
I personally prefer dark 'sci-fi punk' subgenres. If you like solarpunk - a lighter version of cyberpunk, you may enjoy: *Deco-punk* - a lighter version of Dieselpunk *Post-Cyberpunk* - not as dark as cyberpunk (it's more an romanticized anesthetic of cyberpunk)
So, would the best way to describe the broader "punk" genre be a setting where: 1.) there is a disproportionate prevalence of a given technology type, and 2.) the presence of that technology affects the aesthetic more than a dominant technology typically would.
A very interesting and clarifying video. I died with the gifs, so darn cute! And I didn't know horror had so many subgenres, it's good to know. Seems impossible to keep track of all the subgenres, in general, that are out there! So so many 😂
Good job, especially in a short video! I'm surprised that you mentioned magic as a qualifier for fantasy, tho. I think we have all read fantasy that had no magic system. I don't know that I agree that steampunk is science fiction. Gutter Prayer is a book that seems to be grim-dark fantasy in a steampunk world. Take care.
Well, Mystery can be detective-less. Detective fiction is subgenre of Mystery and Crime and it even has its own subgenre. Also Agathe's Miss Marple is cozy mystery...so just saying classical detective and cozy can bring some confusion. (Instead, we can use eras, like Poe, Wilkie Collins, and Conan's Sherlock are early western Detective genre and Agathe's era is what's called the golden age) For subgenre of detective fiction: • Hardboiled: often dark, violent and with seemingly disturbed sleuth. • Softboiled (cozy): just like you mentioned, but they often try to recreate the golden age feel. • Police procedural, historical, serial killer, courtroom, locked room, amateur sleuth (all are self explanatory) • Reverse whodunit (that's when we know who did it but the mystery is how the detective would be able to catch them) . . . . The detective fiction is kinda dying in the west, but when it was criticized in the modern western fiction, the ones who created new subgenres were the Japanese: ♣ Metamystery/Antimystery: Mystery that utilize the usual structure or troops or prejudice towards how Mystery works then flip it around. (Basically mystery for hardcore detective fiction fans who want something fresh) ♣ Everyday Mystery: Similar to cozy mystery but cozy usually deals with crime. Everyday Mystery can deal with like past of used book or any non-criminal mystery you can come across in your life. ♣ Social: works that deals with social issues along with the mystery ♣ Youth mystery: Are works that combine teen drama or coming of age with detective aspect like "Hyouka" ♣ Bakamisu *Or stupid mystery * Some don't like the term but it's for mysteries that utilizes tricks ignoring the realism aspect but still entertaining. ♣ Travel mystery: When the trick or alibi are related to means of transportation and you can experience a tourist spot through the novel. ♣ Iyamisu: Mystery that focuses on creating disgusting feeling as it digs into the dark aspect of people behavior. (It's often said that Gone Girl is like an American Iyamisu) Example: "Confessions" by Kanae Minato (which people call it Gone Girl of Japan, both of them have different plot tho) ♣ New Orthodox (Shinhonkaku) Influenced by Golden Age, but understand the modern criticism about how many author don't play fair anymore. It's a movement about playing fair in detective fiction but ignoring the old rules and even breaking intentionally. Examples: - Influenced by "And There Were None" by Agathe Criste >Decapitation by NisiOisiN >The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji (Majority of Japanese mystery in English are from Shinhonkaku movement) (Ofc, there are a lot to say about each genre mentioned but me blabbing on one (sub)genre is enough lol)
This is such a cool idea! I thought I was pretty familiar with these genres but it turns out there are tiny niches I didn’t know about. Including ones I need to research because I’m very interested in sampling them!
Erotica isn't always romance because I think romance is technically defined by a happily ever after, but most of the things that come to mind when we think of erotica are erotic romances!
This video was funny and insightful with adorable editing. Easily in the top 5 or so on your channel. And way to go busting out that Warhammer 40k quote.
I LOVED The Troop! So good. Now I've got that out of the way, you did a really great job with this. Everybody classifies their book genres differently, there really is no way to get them all. As I understand it, the Dystopian genre rose out of both the Sci-Fi and Horror genres. Splatterpunk is a subgenre that is basically the GrimDark of Horror. With Gothic fiction, it's not so much the time period, as it is the setting and atmosphere. Usually, there won't be a ton of locations involved and it's more about alluding to what's actually going on than explicitly stating it (Edgar Allan Poe and Daphne du Maurier are both great examples of the subgenre).
I've always thought urban fantasy and low fantasy was pretty much the same (magic parts within our real world), but that was a really interesting seperation!
Yeah, would definitely categorize post-apocalyptic as a sci-fi subgenre. Even the examples you included - The Stand, World War Z - would be grouped in some of the greats of sci-fi. The initial batch were deeply intertwined with the invention of nuclear tech and the fear of mutually assured destruction should the Cold War factions have escalated into a hot war. We could also perhaps include zombie apocalypses as co-evolving with biotech fears. When it comes to dystopian govs I believe it had a lot to do with extrapolations from advances in communication technology as mixed in with the arts of propaganda. In any case, it is a deeply fear-based brand of writing, if that makes any sense. The suite of works captures the various authors’ anxieties about the future.
I didn't expect a 40k reference in this video, but as a fan of it I appreciated it lol. Also, I just realised basically all the stories I write fit into at least one of the sci-fi/fantasy categories in this video
Dystopian is a subgenre of Science Fiction (SF) I was surprised when I started watching RU-vid to find they were regarded as a seperate genre I cant think of a dystopian novel that is not SF The 2 classic dystopian novels 1984 and Brave New World are both SF as are Series such as The Hunger Games
Would you say The Handmaid's Tale is SF? I wouldn't and that's just one example, I definitely think dystopia is a genre in itself even though there are a lot that have SF elements :)
@@imperatrice211 Yes I would say its SF As far as I understand it Gilead is set in the future or at least the future of the date when Atwood wrote it . I would say that if the Dystopia is a real one either current (North Korea) or past (eg the USSR , Nazi Germany ) then its not SF unless it has some other SF element . However, interstingly, I dont think novels set in real Dystopias eg Solzhenitsyns Cancer Ward are what people expect to find in the Dystopian genre
Dystopian absolutely is a subgenre of Science Fiction. Dystopian has been separated from Science Fiction by YA publishers to gain more profit. It was beneficial to make it a separate shelf (subgenres don't have separate shelf - there is too many of them). But because of marketing reasons a snail is a fish and a carrot is a fruit in the EU. It's not the best to rely on the market when defining. You can have a dystopia that lacks sci-fi elements but it's both insanely rare (way less than 5%) and dystopia originated from sci-fi (it has the most crutial part of sci-fi). Dystopian is a large subgenre. Cyberpunk, Dieselpunk are subgenres of Dystopian. It gets complicated.
You put up an image of a Richard Laymon novel! I love that author because he writes suspenseful, disturbing stuff and sometimes writes from the killer's perspective.
Nice roundup! I like to think of Space Opera as mostly a change of setting from contemporary or historical, with maybe a couple of nods to fantastical elements. Star Wars is a perfect example: you could have made it into an ,e.g. Indiana Jones movie, mostly intact. I would have liked to see a mention of hard sci-fi as a contrast to Space Opera. Hard sci-fi basically deals with science as we know it today, with only a little peek into the near future or an extrapolation of current ideas. Kim Stanley Robinson is a great author of the genre.
Thanks for the informative and awesome video, I really loved and enjoyed it. I’m writing a book series called chronicles of Archaeiya and book 1 that I titled the great battle for amarykhanta. The genre of this book is alternative reality fiction, parallel universe fiction and western steampunk with fantasy,adventure and supernatural horror elements . Currently I’m writing book 2 that I titled tales of the old West: haunting legends of the superstition ancient mountains. The genre of that book is Western steampunk, fantasy and supernatural cosmic horror with adventure, time travel/ portal and supernatural horror elements
Yes, discussions of what is or is not "literary fiction" can be pretentious or snooty, but it is a real distinction (at least in the abstract). I would say that literary fiction is concerned primarily with seriously exploring themes (for which the entertainment and plot are secondary), while "genre fiction" - the semi-pejorative term typically used in reference to fiction that doesn't classify as "literary fiction" - typically exists primarily to entertain and focuses more on interesting plot (while themes are secondary). This isn't to say that plot is a throwaway in literary fiction or that themes are a throwaway in genre fiction. It is simply a matter of focus/emphasis.
The Regency romance is based around the time period when George III went mad, so his son was the Regent. It officially took place from 1811-1820, but has been expanded to encompass the early 19th century. But that expansion is kind of a double-edged sword, because now most historical romances are Regency or marketed to appeal to Regency readers, even if they are set in the Victorian era (roughly second half of the 19th century).
I like to read YA dystopian thrillers but as I’m now 41 I had been filling like is not for me anymore, so I don’t know what to read then!!! But I like you’re videos.
Favorite GIF is definitely the disembodied hand lol. I feel like Literary Fiction is one of the hardest genres to really pin down, and you did a good job of explaining it! I think it's definitely more snobbish; for instance, I don't think most (or any) YA books have a writing style that would be considered 'literary' since I see it as a more adult genre? And I liked the way you defined Gothic Horror, it's definitely focused on ancestry and castles, and there's just this particular atmosphere that comes with the genre.
IMO gothic horror is more atmospheric; The House on Haunted Hill, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, and Silent Companions are just a few and none of those featured castles. Also, literary fiction can be found in YA (The curious Incident of the Dog in the Night) and middle-grade (Wonder).
@@anonymousreader3679 Good to know! Just more proof that genres are really hard to pin down in definition. I can see how Incident would be literary fiction, now that you mention it, though I haven't read Wonder yet
@@nonfictionfeminist , I've not read Wonder either, but am intrigued. I think it's classed middle-grade or YA. At times I think people try to pin labels on when non are needed. LoL
I am quite surprised that no one noted that sci-fi actually technically encompasses a lot less in many ways. The difference is that sci-fi even though it seems outlandish at times at least is scientifically plausible given enough time at the time of writing. This term is, of course, flexible as unlikely possibilities that aren't really ruled out are "allowed". A lot of things usually talked about as sci-fi actually are science fantasy. This is where the term "hard sci-fi" comes in. It tries to separate faithful sci-fi that sticks to theoretically known science from the general sci-fi blob that probably contains more science fantasy than science fiction. A popular miss categorization, for example, is star wars. It fits perfectly into science fantasy but still is constantly called science fiction. Two commonly violated deal breakers for sci-fi nowadays are time travel and faster than light travel (which in physics really kind of are the same anyway). I don't want to be pedantic about this and I personally don't care if people are misusing the term sci-fi but as this video specifically is about the meaning of genres I felt like at least someone should mention it. I personally enjoy both genres along with many others equally.
I respectfully disagree. I wrote my thesis on this (I don't mean to sound like a snob, I just mean I did extensive research) and as far as I could find, most definitions of science fiction say the same: the science doesn't have to be right. Science fiction needs to be a speculative novel about science (any science as well, not only exact sciences) be the science wrong or right. This is why when a hard sci-fi book is written and a little while later the theory they based the story on is refuted, it's still considered sci-fi. We know that many things sci-fi authors wrote in the past were proven to be wrong, and we know some science fiction stories even predicted elements that we live with today. Just because, say, a book predicted cell phones and they later became real, it doesn't make them realistic fiction. So why would the science being proven wrong make other books lose they sci-fi status? Also, the genre itself says it's "speculative fiction". This means the author is free to take the science and extrapolate in any way they want, be it possible or not.
@@anaclaracobra I fully agree with the argument you present. That's why I wrote "[...]plausible [...] at the time of writing [...]" and specifically stated that anything that can't be explicitly ruled out at the time of writing can be considered sci-fi. I don't see where your argument disagrees with my description. More loose definitions would inevitably include most fantasy.
Yes, all Regency romances are HR. They take place during 1810-1820 specifically when King George III was rules utterly insane and his son, The Price Regent, was ruling for him. Very specific time period. Haha!
Not an expert in any way but.. Aeronauts Windlass by Jim Butcher The Difference Engine by William Gibson & Bruce Sterling Sherlock Holmes: the Stuff of Nightmares by James Lovegrove Railsea by Chine Mieville These all at least have steampunk elements - and aside from Railsea I enjoyed all of them very much and would recommend those authors anyday. 😊
It is kind of you to have remembered a bit of knowledge I’d passed on to you, and have used it. It is always appreciated when someone does that. Man, that sounds awfully pretentious when I reread it. Nonetheless, it’s true and I can’t think of a better way to say it at the moment. In any case, thanks for the video.
The book I'm writing right now is confusing in this regard so far. It's got elements of High Fantasy, Western, and Steam Punk. What do I call this thing??? High Western Steam-Fantasy? Maybe I just to lighten the load?
Not fully recognized subgenre (I think?) but this article should be of some interest for you, I believe: blackhholesbooks.wordpress.com/2018/09/07/litcrit-dark-academia/
Just pausing at 2.55 to say, and I 100% cannot say where I heard this, but I always thought 'epic fantasy' could be 'high' or 'low' but involves an epic adventure that takes place throughout the novel?
Okay so not related to this video. I just need to vent. SPOILERS FOR MISTBORN THE FINAL EMPIRE Okay so I just finished part 4 (big battle scene) so don’t spoil me heh. Kelsier just died. I’m heartbroken. No. He couldn’t die. I’m in shock. After Yeden wasted the army I have been lost in where the book was going. But this!? (I’m not disappointed just shocked and sad) KELSIER NOOOOO I loved him so much. He didn’t deserve that. At least now he can live happily with Mare in a place with green grass and flowers. And omg Vin and Elend, will they ever have the chance to be together!? Gaaah I cant wait until tomorrow to continue (it’s 2am I need to sleep hehehe) Btw nice video, thanks for some of the clarification, very helpful❤️❤️ And sorry if this was a messy comment I’m just soooo shocked, literally shaking. Btw 2. Venting here because 1 you got me to buy the book❤️ (love it btw) and 2 after I finish my friend will read it so I can’t talk to her because spoilers. Will love to see her reactions though! Can’t wait to star the well of ascension (after I finish, tomorrow, goodnight
I know the different genres and sub genres and joe to read multiple books at once me iv for more fantasy genres than anything else the now lol, but how do I read multiple sun genres at once? I mean say sci-fi fantasy, Stephen kings dark tower fantasy I think that’s dark fantasy, and like game of thrones fantasy can I read the three of them at once or would I need to red one of them from the fantasy genre and another’s genre?
For me when I hear about Grim Dark Fantasy I think of Bakkers Prince of Nothing/Aspect Emperor series, very grim and very dark, and I have always wondered, are the MZ Bradley Darkover novels fantasy, sci-fi or a mix?
Please continue with a song of ice and fire. Not trying to be annoying but I'd love to hear your opinion. The third book is where shit gets too intense
While plenty of the known dystopian books have sci-fi elements, not all of them do. A Handmaid's Tale, for example is just like the current day, but more oppressive.
Thank you for splitting out fantasy and science fiction! It bothers me just how much how these two are lumped together! I get that they have a lot of things in common, but still. Space opera and high fantasy are not even close to being the same thing.
Space opera and epic fantasy at least have a little in common, with world changing events and war etc. But there's a huge difference between fantasy and hard scifi which is more experimental and ideas based which people forget I think
You mentioned Literary Fiction standing the test of time. So are Classics a sub-genre of Lit-Fic or are they their own genre? I always thought of Lit-Fic as the snobby cousin of popular contemporary fiction, and I know a lot of what we call classics today were the popular fiction of their day, e.g. Dickens was published in installments in the newspaper.
YA is a readership, age group, i.e adult, teen (YA), and middle grade. YA is fairly new because publishers discovered there was a gap between children to adult.
The opposite of dystopian fiction is, of course, utopian fiction, which is concerned with ideal societies. There's not as much of it as dystopian fiction, since it's harder to write interesting stories about places where things tend not to go wrong. Iain M Banks' solution was to pit his utopian society, the Culture, against a variety of other civilisations ranging from the flawed to the truly dystopian, which means the Culture novels are often utopian and rather grimdark at the same time. Start with The Player of Games.
Hello Merphy, Idk if you will find this, seeing as this video isn't as recent as others, but I am a Novelist and I am currently writing a collection of series I categorized as Dark-High/Fantasy-Action/Horror. Oye Vey... This comment got long. I apologize in advance, well, sorta 'in advance'... 🤔😅 While the majority of what happens in the story is taking place on another "World", it is technically the same world as "our" world, but on 3 "forgotten" continents. I have some beta readers tell me that it's High-Fantasy while others tell me that it is Low-Fantasy because it is technically our world but with "sprinkles" added (don't worry, the vampyres do not sparkle and the werwulfen do not shift when they get moody🤔😅🤣) jokes aside, I am finding this to be a bit controversial because it's technically "other worldly" but at the same time there are references to other countries that existed at the rough timeframe that the story is taking place and I have a historical fiction novel that I'll be writing soon which takes place during the 1930s and '40s that's "alternative" history because of a certain event that plays a big role in the story that took place during that time, but the MCs find out that these other continents exist, eventually (I am doing everything possible to make sure that it is nothing like my current story which has a "coming of age" character discover this world and immerses himself in it out of need because of a traumatic event.) And so I'm trying to find which "side of the fence" to classify my novels or should I just, "High/Low-Fantasy" them? 🥺😅
It makes me kinda angry when people say dystopia isn't sci-fi. Dystopia is a subgenre of science fiction because science fiction isn't restricted to the hard sciences. It isn't just about physics, chemistry, and math. It's about exact sciences, but also social sciences, like sociology and anthropology. So a dystopian novel is a speculative novel regarding mostly sociology (sometimes with futuristic technology but not always), which makes it science fiction. But most people tend to think science fiction needs to have a kind of technological advancement compared to our world, or that it's only sci-fi if it's about the exact sciences. It doesn't and it's not. Science isn't restricted to technology only.
