Hello community! I'm hoping for some advice and guidance on the kind of genre my book falls into. I hope you guys can help. For the last 4 and 1/2 years, I've been working on a 6-book series. It has strong elements of fantasy, magic, mythological creatures and monsters and so on. One book deals with the ancient world, more specifically, the Spartans. The next book jumps forward to the Holy Crusades and another in our time. I'm not embarrassed to admit, I thought my book was under the general umbrella of the Fantasy genre. However, I've recently heard about Alternative History genre, and that my books fall into that category. I decided to do research on the genre since I know very little on the topic. While my fantasy books share many aspects of Alternative History (Sparta taking over Athens. Changing the ancient world drastically. The Christians and Catholics winning the Crusades. Also changing Europe drastically). But none of my books focus on those changes exactly. My characters life is altered due to these changes I've created, but it's just the world that's different and my characters are focusing on their own issues within the altered world during their respected time periods. So here's my question. What genre are my books? Do they fall under Alternative History Fantasy? Fantasy? Or a completely different genre altogether? Help is of course greatly appreciated
Thank you so much for your responds. Yeah. I had no idea that fantasy genre had SO many sub-genres. I just found out about Historic Fantasy as a possibility. Its truly confusing. Hopefully you guys can help
I don't think it has as many as Metal does. "Different subgenres of metal As time has gone on, there are literally hundreds of subgenres." I think you will figure it out, good luck and have fun.
Sounds like regular fantasy to me. Alternate historical only really applies when a large focus of the story is on the deviation from history, and why it was changed. Just because you have some history changed doesn't mean it's of that specific genre. If the focus is on the fantasy plot line, then it's likely just normal fantasy.
That's what I thought, but I keep hearing it needs a subgenre. So I've been doing more research, just to feel like my novels are complete. I found historic fantasy. Any thoughts?
The genre fits your story’s type. Setting would include elements, of course, but it’s just the environment in which your genre story is told. Also, I don’t think story’s fit into only one genre. Think of Star Wars.
Thank you for asking the question. I'm in a similar situation with a novel I'm writing. Reading the input of others helps put it in perspective. Although, it's like science fiction was absorbed by fantasy. I'm having more difficulty separating the two the more I go down that rabbit hole.
I would say fantasy. I have recently been using tools from Shawn Coyne's book "Story Grid." There is a PDF you can get on his website for the book that is called "The Five Leaf Genre Infographic." If you go by that then your series is defintely fantasy because alternate history falls under the umbrella of fantasy. I recommend checking out the PDF online (for better quality) and some of the writing behind it. The website goes into detail on a lot of the different parts of the infographic. This has shaped a new perspective for me when fleshing out story details. I have always been a pantser but have embraced the plotter in me through this book. I have pasted a copy of the PDF below: