Urbane Fantasy: The vampires wear smoking jackets and dazzle you with their wit before sinking in their fangs, while the werewolves are depressed poets and have a terribly bad cough. Pass the laudanum.
Space Fantasy: Powerful mages in dark cloaks wander around the galaxy battling a powerful empire armed with glowing swords and... Oh, hang on, that's been done.
Polynomial Romance: She's a gun-toting, werewolf-slaying, vampire-hunting girl with a vulnerable side, and he's a mathematician who's only expressions are of finite length with variables and constants using multiple operands. Will they EVER get it together?
Regency Fantasy: Well mannered and well-to-do ladies vie for the attention of young gentlemen with a future in turbines powered by super-heated water vapour in a Regency Spa we know so well. Yes, it's SteamBath.
Cyber-dine With Me: A seven foot tall mechanical replica of Delia cooks you the meal of your dreams and then pursues you in a three hour chase ending in a flambée. Just when you think it's all over, there's coffee and petit fours.
Punkpunk: Bands are no longer formed, they're created in vats and grown from the spliced DNA of their predecessors, matured in soup made from the spittle of their fans and thrown on to the global stage. It's Never Mind The Sex Pistols all over again.
Suburban Fantasy: Set in a small town near you, a quirky melange of characters undermine each other by cursing, bonking, marrying, killing and then re-animating one another. This series wouldn't die if you drove a stake through its heart. Not to be confused with The Archers.
These are just a sample of the new sub-genres just around the corner - please feel free to come up with your own suggestions in the comments.
Thanks Mike! Everyone, please show your love to Mike by plentiful comments!
Excellent suggestions - I hope Marco is reading this ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm quite tempted by the Urbane Fantasy, but even more so by the SteamBath. Alas, I have a trilogy to finish before I'm allowed to play with the plot-bunnies...
Give me SteamBath or give me glorious death!
ReplyDeleteOr possibly a nice cucumber sandwich with the crusts cut off. What?
SteamSteam - epic adventure set in the late 18th century in Lancashire, chronicling the trials and tribulations of the workers of the cotton and silk mills as they struggle for better work conditions. Key features include draft horses pulling canal boats and lots of traction engines.
ReplyDeleteWhat?
Epicurean fantasy - in which parties of brave adventurers travel far and wide, braving dragons, trolls and heartburn, in order to retrieve rare and ancient delicacies for the king's table. With the obligatory twelve appendices of recipes in the back and a map of the kingdom's best restaurants in the front.
ReplyDeleteAnne: "Epicurean fantasy" - that one's presumably also known as "Sword & Saucery"?
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun idea!
ReplyDeleteFantascience - fantasy in which the inner workings of the fantastic are of paramount importance.
Infinitsy - fantasy series that never end