Reply To: Fantasy Sub-Genres – What do you write?

[Benjamin SmithParticipant]

You had me at epic fantasy, Stephanie! Probably my favorite subgenre, from Raymond Feist to Robert Jordan to Brandon Sanderson to David Eddings to Kate Elliott.

I’ve been trying to nail down the genre of my secondary world Necrolopolis universe. There are dark elements to it since the main character is a necromancer and he deals with the undead and all the various woes that come from that, but the tone isn’t bleak like a lot of dark fantasy is. So far, the only stories published in that universe are short form, so I’ve shied away from epic storytelling, although the worldbuilding is there for it and the novels will feature epic plot-lines and situations from time to time. There’s a mystery detective feel to some of the stories, so we’ve got a bit of noir going on.

…Yeah. That’s been a problem of mine. I don’t mind blending the genres since I’ve done probably close to a dozen short stories in this world, but trying to categorize it has been a trial, and one I need to overcome if I’m to market this first book properly.

My cookie will be an origin story that shows how the main character, necromancer Adelvell Brightmere, wound up as the assistant to the director of Necrolopolis, home to some four million undead souls waiting for their chance to cross over to the other side. That’ll be to attract new readers to the mailing list.

If I end up doing a second cookie, it might be the one I want to add as back-matter to the first book. “Want to know what happens to the B-Team while Adelvell and his A-Team are over here? Well, sign up here and…”