Fiction Titles

Steampunk Heroic Fantasy Gritty Fantasy Cyberpunk Gentle Fantasy Soft SF Dark Fantasy Hard SF SF&F Humor Historical Fantasy Alternate History Space Opera Alternate Universes Time Travel SF&F Romance The Alien POV Classic SF&F Science Fantasy Urban Fantasy

FANTASY

Heroic Fantasy (epic fantasy and swords & sorcery)
Gentle Fantasy (magical worlds)
Gritty Fantasy
Dark Fantasy
Historical Fantasy
Urban Fantasy

Most fantasy depends on magic of one type or another, perhaps several types in one book. There are endless permutations on the fantasy genre, and there is such tremendous crossover in the elements of fantasy that it is sometimes impossible to stick a book into a single classification. Some may quibble with our categorization, but hey--it's our store!

SCIENCE FICTION

Hard SF
Soft SF
Space Opera

 

People argue about the definition of "real" SF. Why? "Science" fiction should have some element of science in it, something so integral to the plot that removing it unravels the whole thing. Now, there are shadings of SF, just as there are in fantasy, and here is where most of the purists seem to stick their toes in. The hardest of hard-science hard core SF fans seem to resent the existence of anything outside their field. 

Write what you want. Most of us are too busy enjoying the variety to quibble about categories.

THINGS BETWEEN

Alternate History
Cyberpunk
Science Fantasy
Steampunk
Time Travel

 "Things Between" in speculative fiction cross the boundaries of fantasy and science fiction -- which are more zones of fading between than hard lines in any case.

Naturally the first genre to pop to mind is Science Fantasy, which has fantasy effects with scientific names. But Time Travel stories are here because whether the set dressing is scientific or magical, the main problem for the writer is working the changes in time and taking the character through historical or alternate historical settings. 

Not all of our fiction shelves are stocked yet. For a preview of what is to come, go to Genres.