Those of you who have been following this blog for a while know that I have a rather uncomfortable relationship with the concept of genre.  On the one hand, I really, really don’t like it, on the other hand, I absolutely hate it.

Genre has always struck me as the lowest sort of pseudo-intellectual caste system, a hierarchy based on superficial characteristics.  It shoehorns stories into stereotypical circles.  If you write a Science Fiction story, then you must write about Science Fiction characters doing Science Fiction things in a Science Fiction world.  It’s a one-dimensional systematization  driven by a marketing paradigm that internet shopping has made obsolete.

Lately the tendency has been to increase the numbers of genres without altering the basic linear structure of the concept.  Speculative Fiction gets broken down into Science Fiction and Fantasy, then Fantasy splits into Epic and Modern, and Modern Fantasy gives rise to Urban Fantasy and Paranormal…