Throw a Dart

In light of Kaze's response to my post on genre, I've been examining various subtypes of sci-fi and fantasy to identify the best fit for Nethereal. This process has proven more difficult than I'd expected. However, I think I can narrow it down.

Kaze's favored answer was sword and planet. I agree that this science fantasy subgenre is a good fit, or at least a major influence. The only catch is that really only one character in the "mundane" world uses blades as his weapon of choice. Otherwise, firearms are very prevalent. Also, straight-out magic is widely accepted as real. However, one could invoke Arthur C. Clarke's rule about any sufficiently advanced technology being de facto magic since Workings are based on well-established natural laws that essentially make them another fundamental physical force like gravity, electromagnetism, etc.

The Guild is another aspect of the setting that argues both for and against a clear sword and planet definition. While they do possess some antedated trappings, the Brotherhood's outlook is basically skeptical, rationalist, and pragmatic.

I decided to take a step back and consider the classification of my novel from the other end of the spectrum. Exploring fantasy subgenres, I found a few that seem to inform my story. Magic realism seems to dominate, but there are traces of lost world and even imaginary voyage fiction.

Hell, my stated intention for writing the book was as an experiment in philosophical fiction. The strong vein of paranormal horror isn't to be dismissed, either.

It seems that what we've got here is a story that's straddling the line between genres, or in this case several lines--like that geographic point where the corners of four states meet. Or, to put it back in terms of fiction, it's reminiscent of Star Wars--not to compare myself with the series' early genius or later dissolution.

I think that the real difficulty here is the inherently subjective nature of genre labels. All of the definitions above presuppose a rationalist, decidedly Western worldview. A New Yorker's paranormal horror could be realism in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, effective marketing relies on such transitory labels. So I'll have to stick with sword and planet/magical realism used to frame a philosophical discourse.