Literary Fiction Genres

This list of fiction genres is drawn from numerous sources, including school, library, writer's, magazine, and book vendor'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*.

There is some overlap, 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.

Words That Match

Major Genre Categories:

Adventure
African-American
Airport novels
Alternative History
Americana {a la Mayberry}
Asian-American
Autobiographical Fiction
Campus
Canadiana
Chick Lit (hen or matron lit)

Children's Literature

Early Readers
Middle or Junior Readers
Picture Books
Pop-Up Picture Books
Traditional Stories

Coming of Age (bildungsroman)
Commercial Fiction {a high-concept 'catchall' designation}
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)
Epic (family, mock)
Epistolary
Existentialist
Experimental
Fables
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

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

Humorous stories (burlesque, parody, 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

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

Mythology
Non-narrative
Nouveau roman
Novela del dictador
Novel of manners*
Philosophical
Picaresque
Pinhead stories {50 words or fewer}
Postcolonial
Prehistoric
Prompt Stories (designated first line, narrow guidelines, precise anthology theme, 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

Saga
Satire or Lampoon (Horatian, Juvenalian)

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
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, 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}

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

Tragedy (revenge tragedy)
Transrealism
True Crime {criminal's viewpoint}
Urban or Hip-hop Lit
Verse Novels
War Stories {set within actual wars}

Westerns

Bounty Hunter
Cattle Drives
Civil War
Cowpunk {outrageous cross-genre}
Gunfighters
Humorous or Parody
Indian wars
Land Rush
Mexican wars
Mormons
Outlaws
Prospecting (gold rush)
Quests
Railroads
Range wars (sheepmen)
Revenge
Romance
Town-tamers
Trappers or Mountain Men
Wagon Trains

Young Adult

Amateur Sleuth
Christian
Fantasy (comedic, scary)
Gay Teen (lesbian)
Other cross-genre
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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