Week 6 - Building Base Knowledge (Genres)

Assignment 1

Tor.com is a science fiction fantasy blog. One focus of the blog is books – upcoming releases, news, author interviews, etc. The monthly previews of new releases are extraordinarily helpful. They also break the posts down by sub-genre, including genre benders as a separate listing. Reading the posts of new releases (and seeing the covers) was interesting and I think I would now do much better in week one’s quiz! The bloggers also post regular book reviews and share information from the world of science fiction. The posts are authoritative, but still accessible to a newbie to the sci-fi/fantasy world.

Assignment 2/3

Zombie Horror – The Horror Fiction Review: http://thehorrorfictionreview.blogspot.com/

I found this by googling “horror fiction.” A search of “zombie horror fiction” was too narrow and did not bring up any good choices. This blog is touted as “by the fans for the fans.” This started as a fanzine, but due to increased printing costs, it morphed into this e-zine in 2008. The reviews cover a variety of sub-genres, but one title which they were excited about has also generated a lot of conversation outside of just the horror genre - Joe Hill’s NOS4A2. Three other authors associated with this genre are Joe McKinney, Stephen King, and Dean Koontz. Horror is about inducing fear in the reader and zombie horror is a sub-genre focusing on zombies inhabiting the world and wreaking havoc.

Legal Thrillers – Crime Fiction Lover: http://www.crimefictionlover.com/

I found this one by googling fans of thriller fiction. This is billed as the site for die hard crime and thriller fans. It was hard to find a site focusing on just legal thrillers. This is a pretty informative site offering book reviews, recommended reading, and latest news. The Walter Mosely title Little Green topped the reviews, while Stephen King’s Joyland was the top news story. Three other writers associated with this genre are John Lescroart, Scott Turow, and Marcia Clark. The appeal of these stories is usually the fast-paced, action-filled story compiled with the intrigue and intricacy of the courtroom setting.

High Seas Adventure – Historic Naval Fiction: http://www.historicnavalfiction.com/

This site is a good fan site for fans of naval fiction such as Patrick O’Brian or C.S. Forester. The site has a list of authors A-Z and also a book title index for specific searching. There are reviews posted frequently and many more authors and their heroes have appeared and these pages will summarise them under the Authors A-Z. You can also find them via the Book Title Index. This is a pretty in-depth site and the only caveat is that many of the titles reviewed aren’t owned by BCPL. Dewey Lambdin is a third popular author of naval fiction. These titles appeal to readers seeking adventures and who like to follow one character through a long series.

Mashups became huge with Pride, Prejudice & Zombies a few years ago, but their popularity does not seem to be waning. Anne of Hollywood by Carol Wolper is a mashup of historical fiction, time travel, and realistic fiction. Anne Boleyn time-travels to Hollywood 2012, where she loses everything but her head to Henry Tudor, entertainment magnate and Internet kingpin. Cherie Priest’s Clockwork Century series is fast-paced adventure that combines steampunk with zombie fiction.