58

C: Genres of Fiction
These different fiction categories are classed as a group as genre fiction. Each type
of genre fiction has its own set of rules and conventions.
a) Mystery
Mystery is a popular genre, boasting a huge established audience. All mysteries
focus on a crime, usually murder. The action tends to center on the attempts of a wily
detective-type to solve the crime. And the climax usually occurs near the end, in a leisurely
setting where all the elements of the mystery are neatly assembled for the reader's
convenience. The solution, complete with surprises, is then delivered to the characters and
the readers. Mystery subgenres include spy, detective, and crime stories.
b) Romance
Romance is a huge category aimed at diverting and entertaining women. In
romance novels, they have elements of fantasy, love, innocence, extravagance, adventure,
and always the heroic lover overcoming impossible odds to be with his true love. Many
romances, have an easy-to-follow formula — a young, inexperienced girl living a
somewhat remote existence is courted or threatened by an evil man and then rescued by a
valiant one.

c) Science fiction/fantasy
Science fiction/fantasy novels depict distant worlds and futuristic technologies
that whirl readers far away from the here and now and yet provoke contemplation of
contemporary issues. Imaginative, thoughtful, and other-worldly, this robust category is
made even more popular by the Star Wars and Star Trek series.

d) Suspense/thriller
Suspense novels and thrillers are tense, exciting, often sensational works with
ingenious plotting, swift action, and continuous suspense. In this genre, a writer's objective
is to deliver a story with sustained tension, surprise, and a constant sense of impending
doom that propels the reader forward. Unlike mysteries, thrillers are dominated by action
in which physical threat is a constant companion, and a hero (James Bond, for example) is
pitted against a nefarious villain.