Genre Definitions

Action Adventure: Focuses on fast-paced action, physical feats, and thrilling sequences. Examples include Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt series and the "Indiana Jones" franchise.

Exploration Adventure: Involves journeys to unknown or exotic locations, often featuring discoveries and encounters with new cultures or creatures. Examples include Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and H. Rider Haggard's "King Solomon's Mines."

Fantasy Adventure: Combines elements of fantasy with adventurous quests and battles. Examples include J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" and C.S. Lewis's "The Chronicles of Narnia."

Historical Adventure: Set in historical periods, blending adventure with historical details. Examples include Rafael Sabatini's "Captain Blood" and Bernard Cornwell's "Sharpe" series.

Mythic Adventure: Draws on mythology and legends, often involving heroic quests and battles with mythical creatures. Examples include Rick Riordan's "Percy Jackson" series and Edith Hamilton's "Mythology."

Pirate Adventure: Focuses on the high seas, featuring pirates, treasure hunts, and naval battles. Examples include Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island" and Michael Crichton's "Pirate Latitudes."

Science Fiction Adventure: Blends futuristic or science fiction elements with adventure, often set in space or involving advanced technology. Examples include "Dune" by Frank Herbert and "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card.

Spy Adventure: Involves espionage, secret agents, and international intrigue. Examples include Ian Fleming's James Bond series and Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne series.

Survival Adventure: Centers on characters struggling to survive in harsh environments or situations. Examples include "The Martian" by Andy Weir and "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen.

Western Adventure: Set in the American West, often featuring cowboys, outlaws, and frontier life. Examples include Louis L'Amour's novels and "True Grit" by Charles Portis.

Dark Fantasy: Combines elements of fantasy with horror, often featuring grim and dark themes. Examples include Glen Cook's "The Black Company" and Clive Barker's "Weaveworld."

Epic Fantasy: Similar to high fantasy but often involves a larger scale, with complex plots and numerous characters. Examples include Robert Jordan's "The Wheel of Time" and Brandon Sanderson's "The Stormlight Archive."

Fairy Tale Fantasy: Draws on traditional fairy tales and folklore, often reimagining them in new ways. Examples include Angela Carter's "The Bloody Chamber" and Gregory Maguire's "Wicked."

High Fantasy: Set in entirely fictional worlds with their own rules and laws. Often involves epic battles between good and evil. Examples include J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" and George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire."

Historical Fantasy: Blends historical settings with magical elements. Examples include Naomi Novik's "Temeraire" series and Susanna Clarke's "Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell."

Low Fantasy: Set in the real world but with magical elements. Often focuses on the impact of magic on everyday life. Examples include J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series and Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere."

Mythic Fantasy: Incorporates elements of mythology and legend, often exploring ancient myths in new contexts. Examples include Rick Riordan's "Percy Jackson" series and Neil Gaiman's "American Gods."

Paranormal Fantasy: Involves supernatural creatures like vampires, werewolves, and ghosts, often set in contemporary settings. Examples include Charlaine Harris's "Sookie Stackhouse" series and Patricia Briggs's "Mercy Thompson" series.

Sword and Sorcery: Focuses on heroic adventures, often featuring a lone protagonist battling against evil forces. Examples include Robert E. Howard's "Conan the Barbarian" and Michael Moorcock's "Elric of Melnibone."

Urban Fantasy: Takes place in a modern, urban setting where magical creatures and events exist alongside the mundane. Examples include Jim Butcher's "The Dresden Files" and Cassandra Clare's "The Mortal Instruments."

Alternate History: Explores what might have happened if historical events had occurred differently, creating alternate timelines. Examples include Philip K. Dick's "The Man in the High Castle" and Harry Turtledove's "The Guns of the South."

Biographical Historical Fiction: Focuses on the lives of real historical figures, blending fact with fiction to explore their stories. Examples include Hilary Mantel's "Wolf Hall" and Irving Stone's "The Agony and the Ecstasy."

Historical Adventure: Features thrilling adventures set in historical contexts, often involving exploration, battles, and quests. Examples include Rafael Sabatini's "Captain Blood" and Bernard Cornwell's "Sharpe" series.

Historical Drama: Emphasizes dramatic and emotional storytelling set in historical periods, often exploring social and political issues. Examples include Ken Follett's "The Pillars of the Earth" and Colson Whitehead's "The Underground Railroad."

Historical Fantasy: Combines historical settings with fantastical elements, such as magic or mythical creatures. Examples include Naomi Novik's "Temeraire" series and Susanna Clarke's "Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell."

Historical Mystery: Blends historical settings with mystery elements, often involving detectives or amateur sleuths. Examples include Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael series and C.J. Sansom's Shardlake series.

Historical Romance: Focuses on romantic relationships set in historical periods. Examples include Julia Quinn's "Bridgerton" series and Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander" series.

Historical Saga: Spans multiple generations, often focusing on the lives and fortunes of families over time. Examples include James Clavell's "Shogun" and Jeffrey Archer's "The Clifton Chronicles."

Historical Thriller: Combines historical settings with elements of suspense and intrigue, often involving conspiracies and espionage. Examples include Robert Harris's "Fatherland" and Alan Furst's "Night Soldiers" series.

Historical War Fiction: Focuses on wars and military conflicts, exploring the experiences of soldiers and civilians. Examples include Erich Maria Remarque's "All Quiet on the Western Front" and Michael Shaara's "The Killer Angels."

Body Horror: Focuses on the grotesque and disturbing transformation or degeneration of the human body. Examples include David Cronenberg's "The Fly" and Clive Barker's "Hellraiser."

Cosmic Horror: Explores the insignificance of humanity in the face of vast, unknowable forces. H.P. Lovecraft's works, such as "The Call of Cthulhu," are prime examples.

Folk Horror: Draws on rural and isolated settings, often involving ancient rituals and folklore. Examples include "The Wicker Man" and M. R. James's ghost stories.

Gothic Horror: Combines elements of romance and horror, often set in gloomy, decaying settings like castles or old mansions. Examples include Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" and Bram Stoker's "Dracula."

Monster Horror: Features creatures such as vampires, werewolves, zombies, and other monsters. Examples include "Night of the Living Dead" and "The Shape of Water."

Paranormal Horror: Involves hauntings, poltergeists, and other paranormal phenomena. Examples include "Paranormal Activity" and "The Amityville Horror."

Psychological Horror: Focuses on the mental and emotional states of characters, often exploring themes of madness and paranoia. Examples include Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House" and Stephen King's "Misery."

Science Fiction Horror: The science fiction horror genre blends elements of science fiction and horror to create stories that explore the terrifying possibilities of advanced technology, alien life, and scientific experiments gone wrong.

Slasher: Features a killer who stalks and murders a group of people, often in a gruesome manner. Examples include the "Halloween" series and "A Nightmare on Elm Street."

Supernatural Horror: Involves ghosts, demons, and other supernatural entities. Examples include William Peter Blatty's "The Exorcist" and Henry James's "The Turn of the Screw."

Survival Horror: Focuses on characters trying to survive against overwhelming odds, often in post-apocalyptic settings. Examples include "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy and the "Resident Evil" series.

Bildungsroman: Focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood. Examples include J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye" and Charles Dickens's "Great Expectations."

Experimental Fiction: Pushes the boundaries of traditional narrative structures and styles, often incorporating unconventional techniques. Examples include Italo Calvino's "If on a winter's night a traveler" and Mark Z. Danielewski's "House of Leaves."

Historical Literary Fiction: Combines literary style with historical settings, often exploring the human condition within a specific historical context. Examples include Hilary Mantel's "Wolf Hall" and Toni Morrison's "Beloved."

Magical Realism: Blends magical elements with a realistic setting, often to explore deeper truths about reality. Examples include Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez's "One Hundred Years of Solitude" and Isabel Allende's "The House of the Spirits."

Modernist Fiction: Characterized by a break with traditional forms and an exploration of new narrative techniques. Examples include James Joyce's "Ulysses" and Virginia Woolf's "To the Lighthouse."

Philosophical Fiction: Explores philosophical ideas and questions through narrative. Examples include Albert Camus's "The Stranger" and Milan Kundera's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being."

Postmodern Fiction: Often features fragmented narratives, metafiction, and a playful approach to storytelling. Examples include Thomas Pynchon's "Gravity's Rainbow" and Don DeLillo's "White Noise."

Psychological Fiction: Delves deeply into the inner lives and thoughts of characters, often exploring complex psychological themes. Examples include Fyodor Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" and Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar."

Realist Fiction: Focuses on depicting everyday life and society with a high degree of realism. Examples include works by Jane Austen and George Eliot.

Social Commentary: Uses narrative to critique social, political, or cultural issues. Examples include George Orwell's "1984" and Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird."

Cozy Mystery: Features amateur sleuths, often set in small towns or close-knit communities. These stories are light-hearted and avoid graphic violence. Examples include Agatha Christie's Miss Marple series and M.C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin series.

Detective Fiction: Focuses on professional detectives, either private investigators or police officers, solving crimes. Examples include Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes series and Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe series.

Hard-Boiled: Similar to noir but typically featuring a tough, cynical detective who operates outside the law. Examples include Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer series and Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer series.

Historical Mystery: Set in a specific historical period, blending historical details with mystery elements. Examples include Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael series and C.J. Sansom's Shardlake series.

Legal Mystery: Involves lawyers and courtroom drama, often focusing on legal battles and the pursuit of justice. Examples include John Grisham's "A Time to Kill" and Scott Turow's "Innocent."

Locked Room Mystery: Involves a crime, usually a murder, committed under seemingly impossible circumstances, often in a sealed environment. Examples include John Dickson Carr's "The Hollow Man" and Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None."

Noir: Features morally ambiguous characters and a dark, gritty atmosphere. Often involves crime and corruption. Examples include Dashiell Hammett's "The Maltese Falcon" and James M. Cain's "The Postman Always Rings Twice."

Police Procedural: Emphasizes the methods and procedures used by police to solve crimes, often providing a realistic portrayal of law enforcement work. Examples include Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series and Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series.

Psychological Mystery: Focuses on the mental and emotional states of characters, often involving complex psychological themes. Examples include Gillian Flynn's "Sharp Objects" and Tana French's "In the Woods."

Thriller Mystery: Combines elements of thrillers and mysteries, often involving high-stakes scenarios and fast-paced action. Examples include Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" and Stieg Larsson's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo."

Contemporary Romance: Set in the present day, focusing on modern relationships and everyday life. Examples include works by Nora Roberts and Nicholas Sparks.

Erotic Romance: Focuses on the sexual relationship between characters, often with explicit content. Examples include E.L. James's "Fifty Shades" series and Sylvia Day's "Crossfire" series.

Fantasy Romance: Blends elements of fantasy with romance, often set in magical worlds. Examples include Sarah J. Maas's "A Court of Thorns and Roses" series and Grace Draven's "Radiance."

Historical Romance: Set in a specific historical period, often featuring detailed settings and period-appropriate challenges. Examples include Julia Quinn's "Bridgerton" series and Lisa Kleypas's "Wallflowers" series.

Inspirational Romance: Incorporates religious or spiritual themes, often focusing on faith and personal growth alongside romance. Examples include works by Karen Kingsbury and Francine Rivers.

New Adult Romance: Bridges the gap between young adult and adult romance, often focusing on characters in their late teens to mid-twenties. Examples include Colleen Hoover's "Slammed" series and Jamie McGuire's "Beautiful Disaster."

Paranormal Romance: Involves supernatural elements such as vampires, werewolves, and other mythical creatures. Examples include Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series and J.R. Ward's "Black Dagger Brotherhood" series.

Romantic Suspense: Combines romance with elements of suspense and thriller, often involving danger and intrigue. Examples include works by Sandra Brown and Karen Rose.

Science Fiction Romance: Combines romance with futuristic or science fiction elements, often set in space or involving advanced technology. Examples include Linnea Sinclair's "Gabriel's Ghost" and Ann Aguirre's "Grimspace."

Young Adult Romance: Targets a younger audience, focusing on teenage love and coming-of-age themes. Examples include Jenny Han's "To All the Boys I've Loved Before" series and Rainbow Rowell's "Eleanor & Park."

Alternate History: Explores what might have happened if historical events had occurred differently. Philip K. Dick's "The Man in the High Castle" is a notable example.

Cyberpunk: Features advanced technology and cybernetics, often set in dystopian futures. Notable examples include William Gibson's "Neuromancer" and the film "Blade Runner."

     Biopunk: Focuses on biotechnology and genetic engineering.

     Cyberfantasy: Blends cyberpunk elements with fantasy themes.

     Decopunk: Inspired by the Art Deco and Jazz Age aesthetics.

     Nanopunk: Centers around nanotechnology.

     Post-Cyberpunk: Features more optimistic futures and protagonists who work within the system.

Dystopian: Dystopian science fiction is a sub-genre that explores societies characterized by oppressive, controlled, and often dehumanizing conditions. These stories are typically set in the future and serve as a critique of current social, political, or economic trends.

Hard Science Fiction: Focuses on scientific accuracy and technical detail. Examples include works by Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov.

Military Science Fiction: Focuses on futuristic military technology and warfare. Robert A. Heinlein's "Starship Troopers" is a well-known example.

Post-Apocalyptic: Set in worlds after a major catastrophe, exploring survival and rebuilding. "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy is a prominent example.

Soft Science Fiction: Emphasizes social sciences, psychology, and human behavior over hard scientific facts. Ursula K. Le Guin's works often fall into this category.

Space Opera: Grand, epic adventures set in space, often involving large-scale conflicts and heroic characters. "Star Wars" and "Dune" are classic examples.

Steampunk: Setting that blends historical elements with futuristic technology, often set in an alternate version of the 19th century, particularly the Victorian era.

     Atompunk: Centers around atomic age technology and aesthetics from the 1940s to 1960s.

     Clockpunk: Focuses on clockwork mechanisms and Renaissance-era technology.

     Dieselpunk: Inspired by the interwar period and World War II, featuring diesel-powered technology.

     Gaslamp Fantasy: Combines steampunk with elements of gothic and supernatural fiction.

     Solarpunk: Envisions a sustainable future powered by renewable energy.

Time Travel: Involves characters traveling through time, exploring the consequences and paradoxes of such journeys. H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine" is a classic.

Action Thriller: Features fast-paced action, physical confrontations, and high-stakes scenarios. Examples include Lee Child's Jack Reacher series and Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt adventures.

Crime Thriller: Combines elements of crime fiction and thrillers, often involving detectives, criminals, and high-stakes investigations. Examples include "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson and "The Silence of the Lambs" by Thomas Harris.

Domestic Thriller: Focuses on family dynamics, relationships, and secrets within the home. Examples include "Big Little Lies" by Liane Moriarty and "The Couple Next Door" by Shari Lapena.

Eco-Thriller: Involves environmental issues, ecological disasters, and the fight to protect the planet. Examples include "State of Fear" by Michael Crichton and "The Swarm" by Frank Sch?tzing.

Legal Thriller: Centers around legal battles, courtroom drama, and the justice system. Examples include John Grisham's "The Firm" and Scott Turow's "Presumed Innocent."

Medical Thriller: Involves medical professionals, diseases, and medical conspiracies. Examples include Robin Cook's "Coma" and Michael Palmer's "Extreme Measures."

Political Thriller: Centers around political power struggles, conspiracies, and government intrigue. Examples include "The Manchurian Candidate" by Richard Condon and "House of Cards" by Michael Dobbs.

Psychological Thriller: Focuses on the mental and emotional states of characters, often involving mind games and unreliable narrators. Examples include "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn and "Shutter Island" by Dennis Lehane.

Spy Thriller: Involves espionage, secret agents, and international intrigue. Examples include Ian Fleming's James Bond series and John le Carr?'s "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy."

Techno-Thriller: Focuses on advanced technology and its potential dangers, often involving military or scientific elements. Examples include Michael Crichton's "Jurassic Park" and Tom Clancy's "The Hunt for Red October."

Adventure YA: Features thrilling journeys, quests, and explorations. Examples include Rick Riordan's "Percy Jackson" series and Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" series.

Contemporary YA: Focuses on modern-day issues and experiences, often dealing with themes like identity, relationships, and personal growth. Examples include John Green's "The Fault in Our Stars" and Rainbow Rowell's "Eleanor & Park."

Dystopian YA: Set in oppressive or post-apocalyptic societies, often exploring themes of rebellion and survival. Examples include Lois Lowry's "The Giver" and Marie Lu's "Legend" series.

Fantasy YA: Involves magical worlds, mythical creatures, and epic quests. Examples include J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series and Sarah J. Maas's "Throne of Glass" series.

Historical YA: Set in specific historical periods, blending historical details with coming-of-age themes. Examples include Ruta Sepetys's "Between Shades of Gray" and Elizabeth Wein's "Code Name Verity."

Magical Realism YA: Blends magical elements with a realistic setting, often exploring deeper truths about reality. Examples include Anna-Marie McLemore's "The Weight of Feathers" and Laura Ruby's "Bone Gap."

Mystery YA: Involves suspense, crime-solving, and high-stakes scenarios. Examples include Karen M. McManus's "One of Us Is Lying" and Maureen Johnson's "Truly Devious" series.

Paranormal YA: Involves supernatural elements such as vampires, werewolves, and ghosts. Examples include Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series and Cassandra Clare's "The Mortal Instruments" series.

Romance YA: Centers on romantic relationships, often intertwined with other themes like personal growth and self-discovery. Examples include Jenny Han's "To All the Boys I've Loved Before" series and Stephanie Perkins's "Anna and the French Kiss."

Science Fiction YA: Features futuristic settings, advanced technology, and often explores themes of dystopia and utopia. Examples include Suzanne Collins's "The Hunger Games" and Veronica Roth's "Divergent" series.

Thriller YA: Involves suspense, crime-solving, and high-stakes scenarios. Examples include Karen M. McManus's "One of Us Is Lying" and Maureen Johnson's "Truly Devious" series.