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Genres of Fiction

Don’t judge a book by its cover, judge it by its genre!

There are various ways to define a book. Books can be collections of essays, poems or short stories. They can be informative and contain lots of scientific information- dictionaries and encyclopaedias are types of books.

But my favourite type of book is fiction- a novel that tells a made up, unreal story.

Fictional books contains stories that are imaginative narratives. They are cool, because unlike real life, imagination has no boundary. The only problem is, without a boundary, it’s very easy to get lost. So here’s a short list of genres of fiction- ways to categorize different fictional books. You can easily recognize which genre of fiction attracts you as a reader, and it’ll make choosing books a lot easier.

So what are we waiting for? Here we go!

Adventure novels: This category encompasses a wide range of books. An adventure novel usually details a big exciting adventure- an undertaking of some risky, thrilling activity that impacts the characters involved. Adventure novels can be differentiated from science fiction by the fact that they are much more realistic.
Examples:

• Around the World in 80 Days, by Jules Verne.
• The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexander Dumas.

Comic fiction- This type of book usually is combined with another genre to form something like a historical comedy, or a satirical science fiction book. Comic books attempt to amuse the reader as their primary purpose. They do this by describing funny situations or characters. Satirical books are a subgenre of comic fiction, and they involve being comical while criticizing an aspect of reality.
Examples:

• Discworld, by Terry Pratchett.
• Gridlock, by Ben Elton.

Fantasy- This genre of novels relies heavily on fantastical ideas and themes. Unlike science fiction, it stays clear of technological themes and focuses on things like magic and the supernatural in general. Some fantasy novels are targeted towards children, using animals and non-humans beings as title characters.
Examples:

• The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkein.
• Alice in Wonderland, by C.S. Lewis.

Historical/Political fiction- This genre encompasses books that rely on history and real world events, but expand upon them in a fictional manner, or else interpreting them imaginatively. These can be set in any historical setting, and include real world characters or fictional ones, and often both.
Examples:

• A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens.
• Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden.

Romance- These books are romantic by natutre. They revolve around love, and interpersonal relationships of the characters involved. They may also be historical, or even fantastical. Although traditionally considered a “feminine” genre, many male authors and readers exist, and many modern non-romantic books included underlying themes of romance.
Examples:

• Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell.
• The Notebook, by Nicholas Sparks.

Thrillers:- There is a very wide range of thrillers, so subgenres are used frequently. Thrillers in general attempt to thrill the reader using suspence and mytsrey. Horror novels thrill a reader using scary themes. Mystery novels rely heavily on suspence and mysterious circuamstances, like a crime. Legal thrillers, spy fiction and psychological thrillers also exist.
Examples:

• The Street Lawyer, by John Grisham.
• Misery, by Stephen King.

There are many many genres of fiction to choose from. And they’re all wonderfully cool!

Which one is your favourite?