Genres
Iconic enjoys publishing cutting-edge speculative fiction. Today, genres are mixing all the time, which is great because stepping out of the box often results in truly original and amazing writing. If a story does not fit neatly into a genre, then it could be something so new that it starts its own.
Traditional
Science Fiction has been around for a century-and-a-half, as we know it today. Jules Verne wrote about traveling to the moon and to the center of the Earth, and imagined Nemo and his wonderful submarine before they were viable. H.G. Wells wrote about genetic engineering and Mars invading the Earth before the 20th century began. As a whole, Science Fiction is a broad genre with many sub-genres.
Fantasy has existed by one definition or the other ever since there have been stories. Myths of gods and the supernatural have been told to entertain and to explain nature and mankind from the time people began to communicate. Gilgamesh and Beowulf, The Iliad and the Odyssey, The Arthurian Legends, Shakespeare, Tennyson, Kipling, Burroughs, Barrie, and Baum are but a few examples. Every day, a new name is added to the list. Normally, fantasy finds itself based in medieval roots.
Mysteries are almost as old as fantasy. Edgar Allen Poe, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie are icons of popular mysteries. Phillip Marlowe and Sam Spade are prime examples of hard-boiled detective that took matters in their own hands while helping the authorities. New detectives are constantly discovering new crimes to solve.
Thrillers are different from mystery in that the protagonist is working to prevent the plans of a villain or agency, instead of trying to solve a crime. Thrillers take on a vast array of forms: crime, medical, legal, psychological, natural disaster, political, supernatural, and so on.
New Genres
Cyberpunk stories are typically set in the near future. The characters are most often anti-heroes and possess some form of cybernetic enhancement, hence the genre name, or are opposed to the mingling of flesh and metal. The genre is normally low-culture and high-tech.
Steampunk generally takes a Victorian setting and envisions technology as alternate tech, developed with Victorian technological levels. The heroes are normally part of the establishment, nobility, or wealthy class. Culture is high and tech is low.
Spy-Fi is a new one that has been around for quite some time. Spies or detectives with that something extra, whether it be an uncanny hunch, or advanced gadgetry, they use this advantage to solve the crime, steal the formula, or assassinate the tyrant. These are the men and women that know the secret organizations, the weapons and tools they build, and the truths they don’t want the rest of the world to know.
Urban is set in the modern era, usually in a city setting, hence the name. It normally takes the aspects of science fiction, fantasy, or both and brings them from their familiar milieus into the world as we know it today. The story might focus on a technological advance or the supernatural. It could dwell in burgeoning psionic abilities or children discovering magic, there may be the threat of elite secret societies or the undead. Urban is certainly not your parent’s speculative fiction.
Old Genres
Adventure is seldom a genre in itself. Typically, it is characterized by the heroes finding themselves in an unknown and usually hostile environment. They are challenged by nature and their environment as much as by the antagonist. Edgar Rice Burroughs used the genre well with Tarzan, John Carter of Mars, and his Pellucidar novels.
Pulp is also combined with other genres. Hard-hitting, no-holds, barred, fast-paced action make pulp fun and easy to read. The genre takes its name from the magazines that were printed on cheap paper, and which featured episodic, action-based stories of all genres, with cliffhangers and larger-than-life heroes and villains that captured the reader and spurred them to spend their money on the next penny dreadful installment. All of the above genres were pulp at one time or another.