How Do I Choose a Genre for My Book?

Ever since I first created the setting for my series “The Third Genesis” back in my senior year of high school, I have been asking, "How do I choose a genre for my book?" The question has persisted through the twenty years of working on this project, and I’m still not sure I’ve come up with the answer. So, if you’re like me, and you’re trying to figure out into which genre your story fits, maybe we can figure out the answers together.

I first thought of my Third Genesis series as a science fiction story, perhaps even what’s called “Space Opera” (the same genre as “Dune” by Frank Herbert, “Star Wars” by George Lucas, and “Ringworld” by Larry Niven. Like a science fiction or space opera story, it takes place in the distant future and features people from earth traveling to other planets and encountering alien creatures. It also features robotics, genetic engineering, advanced AI, psychics, and holograms.

But as the setting developed, I found that it was far more interesting to tell the stories of the people living on the planet Ymir. The various creatures of the world of Ymir were all genetically engineered by people from Earth, but they live in a primitive society that generally feels somewhere between Medieval and the Victorian Era. The world of Ymir is intentionally anachronistic, full of what the people of the planet call “magic,” and is often a place where swords clash against shields on grand battlefields. For this reason, I decided my book felt more like epic fantasy, battle fantasy, or military fantasy.

Then I had to go and add another wrinkle by adding in another race of beings that live on Ymir: automatons. In short, automatons are robots that are powered by the magical metal “adonium” that exists on that planet. Coupling this with several other magically powered pieces of technology that come up in the setting, I decided that my setting might well be closer to magipunk. I have another blog post helping to define that genre.

Then there are all the Biblical and mythological elements in the story. The archons resemble angels and fulfill a similar, though far more sinister, role in the story. The fiends were genetically engineered to look like various cultures’ ideas of monsters or even demons. Even the seers are, in some ways, similar to the prophets of the Old Testament, whom the people so often sought to put to death. This led me to think The Third Genesis might be Biblical fantasy or faith-based fantasy (as it is in the very name). Certainly, I have worked in lessons about virtue and seeking after goodness, while trying not to sacrifice story for sermon.

“Apostate Prophecy,” the first book in the series, heavily features a romance as part of the main plot, and so I came to think that the series might well count as fantasy romance or romantic fantasy as well.

Finally, I noticed that the overarching story of the setting ultimately reflects hope and a belief in goodness, rather than the despair of an indifferent universe that we so often see in the “Grimdark” genre. Thus, I came to think that The Third Genesis series is a “Noblebright” fantasy. There is a blog on this genre as well.

As of now, I haven’t completely decided what genre The Third Genesis most reflects. Some have suggested to me that it is an entirely new genre altogether. The funny thing is, I can actually think of a series of stories that have all of the elements I’ve listed above: the JRPG genre. Granted, that’s a video game genre, not a book genre, but bear with me. A JRPG, for those who don’t know, is a Japanese Role-Playing Game. Basically, these are video games that are heavy in story elements, usually send the main characters on an epic quest, and aren’t shy about borrowing themes from various religions and mythologies (including the Bible). JRPGs often have some manner of false god as the final, ultimate villain of the game, include a romance for the main character, and love to explore the relationships between different characters in the story. JRPGs also often feature a lot of anachronisms, such as having a main character who wields a gigantic sword, which he uses to cut down robot soldiers armed with machine guns. JRPGs also often feature airships, which similarly exist in the setting of The Third Genesis. JRPGs often have villains who look angelic, but are actually quite sinister (usually because they are not actually angels), and The Third Genesis has the same.

The genre of JRPGs is commonly called “Crystalpunk,” because crystals are often a major focus of the Final Fantasy series, which basically defined the JRPG genre. I think this is the best way that I can sum up The Third Genesis. It is a novel series that’s a continuation of that storytelling genre.