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What genre would you describe this as?

994 views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  Nope 
#1 ·
I'm usually pretty good with genres. I've previously written a paranormal romance/urban fantasy trilogy and a YA fantasy - all fairly straightforward. But my latest, as yet unpublished, manuscript is a bit of an odd one. Obviously it's tricky for anyone to say definitely without reading the whole thing, but from this description, what would you say?

In 2030, a military dictatorship governs Britain, led by the First Lord of the Treasury, Julien St John Helmsley. Julien is charming, charismatic, and utterly ruthless, particularly towards the resistance group known as the Treaty.

Melanie Bonham, a member of the Treaty and enemy of the state, volunteers for a deadly mission. She must become the First Lord’s mistress, learn his secrets, and then assassinate him. Failure would mean torture, death, and vicious retaliation against the rebels, but success would restore democracy.

But “Melanie” has a secret that no one in the Treaty suspects: once, she was Julien’s beloved but equally merciless wife, Marianne Helmsley. Five years previously, after a furious disagreement with her husband, she faked her death and fled to the Treaty in disguise. Instead of sneaking into the Regime’s stronghold, she makes a triumphant return as the long-lost First Lady, claiming the rebels have held her prisoner for years. Still in love with the man she’s meant to kill and tempted by absolute power, Marianne must choose between freeing the country and breaking her heart or ruling at Julien’s side and losing her soul —before both sides seek to execute her as a traitor.
 
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#2 ·
Military dictatorship that's not good for the people in the future - sounds sci-fi dystopian to me. Definitely speculative fiction. Here's some possible ideas from The Handmaid's Tale:

    #1 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Dystopian
    #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary Fiction > Fantasy
    #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Dystopian
 
#4 ·
C. Gold said:
Military dictatorship that's not good for the people in the future - sounds sci-fi dystopian to me. Definitely speculative fiction.
Sapphire said:
I'm no genre expert, but where's the science fiction in this book description? Am I missing something?
See that's the thing. Between the two of you (thanks for your replies) you've pretty much summed up my internal debate. I agree that because it's set in the future and doesn't 100% reflect the real world, speculative fiction makes sense. But it's only a few years into the future and things aren't very different. There's no aliens, space travel or crazy science. It's just the UK, more or less like it is today, but with a dictator ruling the country. And it's a fairly realistic dictatorship, which doesn't do anything super weird - more like the set up in North Korea or Syria than something out of the Hunger Games. I suppose most of that's true for the Handmaid's Tale too though, that's not a bad comparator.

My other main alternative would be to call it a thriller, but I'm not sure it's quite action-packed enough. With a few exceptions, the pace is more House of Cards than 24. I also think that by default, you'd expect a thriller to more or less reflect the real world.

The romantic angle is also pretty central to the plot, but I definitely wouldn't call it a romance.
 
#6 ·
I'm intrigued by your blurb!  FWIW, since you mentioned HOUSE OF CARDS, I nosed around, and it turns out the show was based on a book by the same name by Michael Dobbs.  It's listed as:


    #705 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Political
    #1142 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > TV, Movie, Video Game Adaptations
    #1442 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers & Suspense > Spies & Politics > Political


Not sure if it's an exact match, but may be helpful as you narrow down your genre.  Good luck!
 
#8 ·
I have something vaguely similar - set in Scotland in the not all that distant future (not under the name in my signature here) - and although I did wonder about putting it in as a thriller, I came up against the impossibility of categorising it as anything but sci-fi when it was really mostly dystopian.
Having said that, it has never sold well and I should probably think about re-categorising it!
 
#9 ·
Thanks everyone.

If I'm 100% honest, dystopian fiction probably is the closest fit. It's just that to me - and to many others, I suspect - as a genre it conjures up a very specific type of book: YA. A love triangle. A world that's feels quite futuristic or otherwise strange. A government that indulges in high concept evil rather than the real-life, everyday kind. Hunger Games, Divergent, Maze Runner, and all their imitators.

There's nothing wrong with those books, but The Dictator's Wife doesn't tick any of those boxes. And that's not me being a genre snob or trying to pretend my book is all special and unique. I happily describe my first series as paranormal romance, which has just as many stereotypical connotations.

I wonder if it would make it easier if I set it in the present day, at which point just calling it a thriller might make more sense. Or that might just confuse the issue further.

I'm currently going with "adult near-future dark romantic thriller," or "adult near-future political thriller [with romantic elements]". But they are a bit of a mouthful, and while that's all very well on my blog, if I publish it, I'll have to work within the bounds of existing genres.
 
#11 ·
georgiana89 said:
I'm usually pretty good with genres. I've previously written a paranormal romance/urban fantasy trilogy and a YA fantasy - all fairly straightforward. But my latest, as yet unpublished, manuscript is a bit of an odd one. Obviously it's tricky for anyone to say definitely without reading the whole thing, but from this description, what would you say?

In 2030, a military dictatorship governs Britain, led by the First Lord of the Treasury, Julien St John Helmsley. Julien is charming, charismatic, and utterly ruthless, particularly towards the resistance group known as the Treaty.

Melanie Bonham, a member of the Treaty and enemy of the state, volunteers for a deadly mission. She must become the First Lord's mistress, learn his secrets, and then assassinate him. Failure would mean torture, death, and vicious retaliation against the rebels, but success would restore democracy.

But "Melanie" has a secret that no one in the Treaty suspects: once, she was Julien's beloved but equally merciless wife, Marianne Helmsley. Five years previously, after a furious disagreement with her husband, she faked her death and fled to the Treaty in disguise. Instead of sneaking into the Regime's stronghold, she makes a triumphant return as the long-lost First Lady, claiming the rebels have held her prisoner for years. Still in love with the man she's meant to kill and tempted by absolute power, Marianne must choose between freeing the country and breaking her heart or ruling at Julien's side and losing her soul -before both sides seek to execute her as a traitor.
You could also try 'Alternate History'. I believe the history part is negotiable :) at least, the way its been explained to me, this category refers to our reality but altered, earth but different. Whether in the past or future. I mean surely there has to be a category that just deals with the near future WITHOUT having to be fantasy or science fiction? I'm also grappling with this because I'll have the same problem soon...

Like the story idea by the way:)
 
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