Help! - What Genre Is This Book?

[Bethany J.]

I'm new here, so if this is the wrong part of the forum for my question, please relocate it!

I have been hoping to find a Christian spec-fic forum for awhile now, because I am desperately wondering exactly what genre to call my WIP! So I was excited to stumble upon The Anomaly.

Can anyone weigh in? What IS this madness?

- It's about people from Earth who go to another world to help in a war there. Sounds like fantasy!
- But they travel between the two worlds by teleportation and the other world is full of advanced technology. There is no magic. Sounds like sci-fi!
- It's essentially a war against invading aliens. Sounds like sci-fi!
- But they fight with swords (granted, they're electric) and most of the main characters are part of the cavalry (granted, they don't ride horses). Sounds more like fantasy!

For now I have termed it "soft science-fiction". Does that seem right?

I shy away from calling it "science-fantasy", because from what I understand the genre is pretty esoteric and usually involves magic mixed in with the science (though it might be indistinguishable from technology). My book has NO magic, only technology.

I've tossed around the idea of calling it a "space opera", but......none of it takes place in space. Haha. But I imagine that hits the right "tone".

So, IS this "soft science-fiction", or something else? So far its fantasy-like elements have worked in my favor, because people who don't even like SF have enjoyed reading it, as well as SF lovers. I just want to know what to call it for sure, because I don't want to mislead editors and agents when it comes time to query... I've struggled to make the pitch sound sufficiently science-fiction-y because when you condense the story to a blurb, it sounds too much like fantasy and I feel like potential publishers and agents might be turned off by that.

Thoughts? Sorry to be so long-winded.

[yoda47]

Sounds like Science Fiction to me.

Really, the only part that might "throw" hard-core sci-fi fans is the swords. But then agan, not really. Off the top of my head, Star Wars, There Will Be Dragons, He-Man, and Mobile Suit Gundam are all sci-fi with swords.

It all depends on how you define it, really. The most basic definition: Sci-Fi=High Tech. Fantasy=Magic.

But then, even those lines get blurred on occasion. How does your story feel? From the description you gave, I'd call it sci-fi. Fantasy tends to have less of a tech focus, and more of a focus on the magical and the natural (using that word loosley...).

The sub-genre really doesn't matter that much, and fans will fight to the death over it no matter what the author or publisher calls it anyway. There are people out there that insist that Star Wars is fantasy, and not sci-fi, despite it being set in space and having a heavy tech foucus...

If you're really curious, do a Google search for sci-fi sub-genres. Wikipedia has a good list with some basic definitions:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline_of_science_fiction

[yoda47]

Oh, and welcome to the Anomoly!

(don't pay attention to the gnomes...)

[Kessie]

I think anything involving invading aliens could be called a space opera. Maybe just "soft sci fi" is the right term. Herd sci fi is when you're dealing with the outworkings of real science, like the political ramifications of cloning, or what happens if we learn to manufacture black holes.

You say "alien invasion" I say "Halo" and start jumping around in fan-glee.

[yoda47]

Well, unless it's alien bugs, then I think Starship Troopers.

I like Halo better.

[metalikhan]

Bethany, waaaaaaay back on page 22 of the Space Bar section is a thread about spec-fiction's sub-sub-genres. It has a hefty listing of SF & fantasy sub-, sub-sub-, and sub-sub-sub- genres that might give you some more ideas of how to categorize your book.

And welcome to the Anomaly!

[Bethany J.]

Thank you, everyone, for your warm welcomes!

yoda47 - Thanks! I haven't found SF fans to balk at the swords much (after all, Star Wars...) but more than one has balked at the cavalry. The reason there's a cavalry is, frankly, my youth and inexperience at the time of writing the first draft. I had been steeped in fantasy all my childhood, was woefully unfamiliar with most SF, and only 14. A cavalry made sense to me! Recently my husband and I came up with a good reason WHY there's a cavalry (the enemy cut them off from crucial metal resources right from the get-go, so they have almost no materials to build vehicles of war - so they choose to focus on large transport ships, etc).

Kessie - Yes, this is definitely not hard sci-fi. I can't say if it's anything like Halo, because I know nothing of Halo except for the glimpses I've seen of my husband's video gaming. It's definitely an alien invasion, though. (But I hate calling them "aliens"...the word brings to mind a particular extraterrestrial image, but to me they are more like reptilian Uruk-Hai or something, not at all like typical aliens.)

metalikhan - Thanks for the tip! I will look over there...

[Bainespal]

Jun 7, 2012 9:30:29 GMT -5 Bethany J. said:

I've tossed around the idea of calling it a "space opera", but......none of it takes place in space. Haha. But I imagine that hits the right "tone".

My own loose usage of the definition is to call any science fiction containing space-faring societies and containing some of the mythopoeia/worldbuilding seen in fantasy as space opera. That doesn't help with a story set in a world (er... galaxy... universe, whatever ) containing space-faring societies that takes place solely on the ground. I would think it wouldn't qualify as space opera in a meaningful sense, but I think it would still appeal to most fans of space opera, having both the futuristic sci-fi element and the worldbuilding element.

[Bethany J.]

Bainespal - Yes, there is definitely futuristic technology and lots of worldbuilding. But they aren't even a space-faring society, though. Their explorations are usually done via teleportation. Why fly through space when you can transport yourself directly to your destination in a split second? However, it is not a multi-planet story, unless you count Earth. The entire story takes place on Earth and in the other world (Kraesinia).

[choosybeggar]

Your book is definitely science fiction if there's no magic involved. If everything can be explained in fair detail to a (at least decently well-read) audience, then it's science.

And WHAT? The term "science fantasy" is already coined? Oh well. Looking up its definition made me realize I can't use it to describe my stories. I'm a true science fiction person, considering I don't define "supernatural" as something separate from science. Natural is just a subset of the supernatural way things work.

Of course others don't have such a clear-cut opinion on this, but it helps me choose how to approach the worldview presented in a story. Both sides have their pitfalls, from cynicism to mysticism.

Also, Halo. I like Halo. The multiplayer is great, since it takes out all the questionable stuff except your reasoning behind beating other people's characters to death.

[newburydave]

Bethany;

Don't worry about the genre' just write it.

A lot of IndiePub authors had to go that route because the publishers are snooty about "mixed genre'' works . When your stuff starts to sell they'll come around.

Write on Sis

SGD
dave

[dragonlots]

Here's the definition that an editor gave me.

If there's not technology - it's Fantasy.

If there's tech - it's Science Fiction.

I'm adding a third, if it's a mixture of both, it's Science Fantasy. Think McCaffrey's Pern series as a good example.