Science fiction can be divided into two subsections: hard and soft science fiction. Hard scifi is focused on the actual “science” part of science fiction and is much more interested in maintaining scientific accuracy than other subgenres. Hard science fiction
Subgenre Study: Urban Fantasy
Urban fantasy is so pervasive these days that I mentally divide fantasy into urban fantasy and everything else. Like the other subgenres we’ve discussed, its definition is a bit fluid. Wikipedia says it doesn’t matter what time period the story is
Harry Potter Re-read: Chamber of Secrets
I’ve always subconsciously broken the HP series up into two sections – the first three books and the last four books. The first three read like Children’s books with a mystery that is, more or less, wrapped up in the
Subgenre Study: Dark Fantasy
Oh, dark fantasy. Supposedly my husband’s favorite subgenre. But like so many other speculative fiction subgenres, one that is very hard to stick to a definite definition. Dark fantasy, in my own personal opinion, is fantasy that strives to point
Subgenre Study: Cyberpunk
Ah, cyberpunk, the father of all other punks. Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction that became popular in the 1980s. It tends to involve a world where data and computers are ubiquitous, cyborgs are common, and the world has
Harry Potter Re-read: The Sorcerer’s/Philosopher’s Stone
Well, friends, here we are – at the very beginning, where we find ourselves on a quiet street. Where we learn that You Know Who has been destroyed, where we meet a woman who can turn into a cat and a man
Subgenre Study: Science Fantasy
This is a tricky one. For one thing, people can’t even agree whether it’s a subgenre or its own genre. And once you reach some sort of consensus on that, getting people to try and agree on a definition –
Subgenre Study: Space Western
I can hear you now saying, “Kit, now you are just making up subgenres.” Am I? Am I? Possibly, but let’s face it. Science fiction and westerns go together like mint and chocolate. Peanut butter and jelly. Cream soda and
Announcing: Harry Potter Re-read
So I have seen Deathly Hallows Part 2 and lo! it was awesome. But, of course, with any great form of entertainment, everyone wants to talk about it, and it comes to pass that you realize that perhaps you don’t
Subgenre Study: Space Opera
This week on Subgenre Study we examine the science fiction subgenre of the space opera, a subgenre of adventure that tends to have more in common with most fantasy than other science fiction subgenres. (I managed to get the word
