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Literary Fiction Genres


This list of fiction genres is drawn from numerous sources, including author's page, book vendor's, public library, magazine, school, and writers group's sites; plus the main Wikipedia article on Literary Genres. The subgenre lists have been expanded with data from the good folks on Analog magazine's discussion board, and our own W2P guest speaker presentations. (These are just a few popular links, out of a great many.)


The prose subgenres we've listed are in red, and sub-subgenres in (parentheses). Clarifications are in {braces}, and major categories in larger print. Genres that spring from non-English publications, which have become popular in translation, are in italics. Subgenres that haven't seen wide use in decades are marked by an asterisk*.

Some of the 'broader' genres listed here might be thought of as 'descriptive categories' instead, and there is no real agreement on which is which. There is plenty of overlap between subgenres (as with American West Romances and Romantic Westerns), and we've chosen to be a thorough as possible. Astute researchers will encounter several different classification systems.
In practice, a novel's (or short story's) genre is often 'fixed' by its cover and marketing, while the work itself could fairly belong to two or more genres.

This page is focused upon literary and genre fiction only. It's a fun exercise to list several examples from each category, by fame or personal favorites.


Here are some basic definitions.

Fiction Genre Definitions

Here's a list of keywords particular to each genre.

Indicative Words

Here's a list of all written genres, fiction and nonfiction, as seen in a variety of lengths and formats. (In the case of broadcasts, movie scripts, sermons, etc., they are normally written down before being spoken aloud.)

Full Genre List



Major Fiction Genre Categories:

Children's

Fantasy

Horror

Mystery

Romance

Science Fiction

Thriller/Suspense

Westerns

Young Adult





Adventure
African-American
Airport novels
Allegorical
Alternative History
Americana
(road trip)
Asian-American
Autobiographical Fiction
Campus
Canadiana
Chick Lit
(hen or matron lit)

Children's Literature

Children's subgenre definitions and examples

Early Readers
Middle or Junior Readers (chapter books)
Picture Books
Pop-Up Picture Books
Traditional Stories


Coming of Age
(bildungsroman)
Commercial Fiction {a high-concept 'catchall' designation}
Constrained
Coterie or Cult Novel
Crime
(Newgate novels*, mafia, prison literature, renegade cops, etc.)
Decadent
Detective
Dickensian*
Drabble {exactly 100 words}
Economic or Financial
Ecotopian
Erotica
(Chinese, contemporary, early works, faux memoirs, fetish and BDSM)
Epistolary
Existentialist
Experimental
(anti-novel*)
Fable (apologue, parable)
Fairy Tales {traditional}
FanFic

Fantasy

Fantasy subgenre definitions and examples

Alternate worlds
Arthurian
Bangsian
Celtic
Comic
Contemporary (elfpunk)
Court Intrigue
Dark
Dying Earth
Erotic
Fairy Tale
Fantasy of Manners
Feghoot
Heroic
High or Epic Fantasy
Historical
Historical High Fantasy
Juvenile
Low Fantasy
Media tie-in (Buffy novels, etc.)
Medieval
Mythic (mythopoeia, mythpunk)
Quest
Romantic
Science Fantasy
Series
Superhero
Sword & Sorcery
Urban Fantasy (nerd outfoxes supernatural)
Wuxia


Flash {about 150 to 1000 words}
Folklore
(contemporary, international, old European)
Frame story
Frat Lit
Gothic Fiction
Historical
Historiographical Metafiction

Horror

Horror subgenre definitions and examples

Creepy Kids
Cross Genre
Cutting Edge
Dark Fantasy
Dark Fiction
Erotic
Extreme (splatterpunk, viceral)
Fabulist
Gothic (English gothic, southern gothic)
Hauntings
Holocaust
Humorous
Lovecraftian (Cthulhu mythos, etc.)
Media tie-in (Dark Shadows novels, etc.)
Mind Control
Noir
Supernatural (demons, zombies, etc.)
Paranormal
{investigators}
Psychological (surreal)
Quiet or Soft
Rampant Animals
Rampant Technology
Satanic Bargains
Suspense or Dark Suspense (thriller)
Weird



Humor or Comedy (burlesque, comedy of manners, farce, parody, sentimental, travesty) Hysterical Realism
Inspirational
Interactive
(hypertext) Invasion Literature
Lad or Guy Lit
Latino or Hispanic
(transborder)
Literary Fiction {a quality-writing 'catchall' designation}
Magical Realism
Mainstream or Blockbuster {a mass market 'catchall' designation}
Maritime or Nautical
Microfiction {under 100 words}
Military Action
(fictional settings, real settings; near future)


Mystery

Mystery subgenre definitions and examples

Amateur Investigator
Bumbling Detective
Caper (heist)
Child in Peril (woman in peril)
Cozy
Culinary
Doctor Detective
Handicapped
{previously called "defective detectives"*}
Hard-boiled (noir)
Historical (Chinese, Elizabethan)
Inverted or Howdunit
{reader already knows}
Legal (courtroom)
Locked Room or Puzzle
Police Procedural (forensic, serial killer, stalker, etc)
Private Detectives (female PI)
Serials or Series
Supernatural
Whodunit


Mythology
Non-narrative
Nouveau roman
Novela del dictador
Novel of manners*
Philosophical
Picaresque
Pinhead stories {50 words or fewer}
Postcolonial
Prehistoric
Proletarian*
Prompt Stories
(designated first line, precise theme, three-six-nine, etc.)
Psychological
Pulp {in magazines, etc.}
Realistic {a modern-setting 'catchall' designation}
Regional
Roman à clef

Romance

Romance subgenre definitions and examples

Action
Americana
American West (precolumbian)
Baby Love
Bodice Ripper
Civil War
Colonial America
Contemporary
Exotic Locales
Family Saga
Futuristic (other planets)
Glitz or Glamor
Gothic
Historical (Elizabethan, Georgian, Medieval, Tudor, Viking, etc.)
Indigenous or Primitive
Inspirational or Spiritual (Christian, New Age, etc.)
Lesbian
Medical
Men's
Multicultural
Paranormal
Regency
Romantic Suspense
Romentics
Ruritanian*
Sensual or Spicy
Sweet or Gentle
Time Travel


Romantic*
Saga or Epic
(family, mock, roman fleuve)
Satire or Lampoon (Horatian, Juvenalian, etc.)

Science Fiction


SF subgenres A-F definitions and examples

Age Regression
Alien Invasion
Alternate Histories
Apocalyptic (asteroid hit, nuclear war, pandemic, etc.)
Artificial Intelligence
Astrobiology
Astrosociobiology
Biopunk
Biorobotics
Christian
Clerical
{including non-Christian}
Communalness
Cosy Catastrophe
Cybernetic Revolt
Cyberpunk
Cyberspace
Cyborg
Detective (robotic police, telepathic investigation, etc.)
Dying Earth
Dystopian (crowded world, gilded cage, jaded society, theocracy, etc.)
Edisonade*
Environmental
Erotica
Exotic Ecosystems
{unusual life forms}
Extraterrestrial Life
Firm Science
First Encounters
First Landings (Mars, other planets; return to Moon)
Frontier (asteroid miners, rough colony, theme park)

SF subgenres G-P definitions and examples

Gay
Generation Ship
Gothic
Hard
Hollow Earth*
Hyperspace
Immortality
Invisibility
Kaiju or Tokusatsu
Lesbian
Light or Humorous
Lost Worlds (mysterious islands)
Media tie-in (game-based, Star Trek novels, etc.)
Microbiological
Military
Mind Transfer
Multiverse
Mundane
Mythological
{advanced technology reduxes}
New Wave
Nanopunk
Occupational (accountants, drivers, plumbers, sales reps, etc.)
Parallel Universe
Pastoral or Small Town
Planes of Existence (altered consciousness)
Planetary Romance
Post-apocalyptic
Postcyberpunk
Posthumanism
Pulp

SF subgenres R-X definitions and examples


Recursive
{self-referential}
Retro-futurism
Robot
Science Fantasy
Science Tales
Scientific Romance*
Shapeshifting
Shrinking/Enlarging Humans (endless, episodic, giantess)
Social
Soft
Space Opera (noir)
Sports
Spunky Heroine
SpyFi
Steampunk (gaslight, weird west)
Stylistic (Dickian, gedanken, gonzo, quantum, etc.)
Sword and Planet
Synthetic Biology
Terraforming
Time Travel (timepunk)
Transhumanism
Undersea
Utopian (19th century visions*, ideological, New Age, etc.)
Voyages Extraordinaires*
Wetware Computer
World-building
{unusual solar systems}
World Government
Xenofiction



Sensation novel*
Sentimental*
Slave Narrative
Slipstream
Speculative Fiction {encompasses SF, Fantasy, and Horror}
Sports
Spy
(contemporary, historical)
Stream of Consciousness
Tall Tale

Thriller or Suspense
{Formerly Action}

Thriller subgenre definitions and examples

Aviation
Comedic
Conspiracy
Disaster
Ecothriller
Espionage
Exploration
Legal
Medical
Mercenary
Paranormal or Supernatural
Political
Psychological
Religious
Survivalist
Technothriller


Tragedy
(revenge, romance)
Transrealism
True Crime {criminal's viewpoint}
Twitterfic {ultra-short themed story, in under 140 characters}
Urban or Hip-hop Lit
Verse Novels
War Stories {set within actual wars}

Westerns

Western subgenre definitions and examples

Australian
Black Cowboy (buffalo soldier)
Bounty Hunter
Cattle Drive
Civil War
Cowpunk
{outrageous cross-genre}
Doctor and Preacher
Eurowestern
Gunfighter
Humorous or Parody
Indian wars
Land Rush
Lawmen (Texas Rangers)
Mexican wars (Texan independence)
Modern Indians
Mormon
Outlaw
Prairie Settlement
Prospecting (gold rushes)
Quest
Railroad
Range wars (sheepmen)
Revenge
Romance
Town-tamer
Trapper or Mountain Man
Wagon Train
Women



Young Adult

YA subgenre definitions and examples

Amateur Sleuth
Christian (Jewish)
Fantasy (comedic, scary)
Gay Teen (lesbian)
Other
Realistic Life
Science Fiction


Know of any more? Suggestions are welcome. Email us at, ewriters \at\ aol /dot/ com, and please make your subject line distinct.


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