LIBRARY BLOG

Obscure Genres Spotlight

Science and Pixels

If these genres are your jam, you might be interested in our Comic Con on September 21-22. See you there!

Biopunk Fiction

Have you heard of biotechnology? It’s a subset of science that mixes engineering and natural sciences to make advancements in medicine, environment, food, and more— think vaccines, GMO foods, test tube babies, etc. Biopunk (from the root cyberpunk) is a subset of science fiction that details a near-future world that focuses on the advancements in biotechnology that society might make and the implications or unintentional ramifications that comes as a result of the biotech. Common themes in biopunk books include inhumane experimentation, totalitarian or dystopian governments, megacorporations, and the misuse of scientifically advanced technologies. The main thing to look out for when identifying biopunk literature is synthetic biology and its repercussions.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Parasite by Mira Grant

Space Operas

You’re probably familiar with science fiction, space opera’s parent genre. Space opera is science fiction that focuses on interstellar warfare as its main premise with hallmark aspects of epic literature (think iconic epic poems like The Odyssey or Beowulf) but space-ified. Massive adventure! Chivalry! Melodrama! In space!

The genre isn’t named for the musical performances, but for the formulaic dramatism and vast scope of storylines included in one series (like soap operas). The most famous space operas are Star Wars (1977) and Star Trek (1979), but several new high-grossing space operas have come out in the last decade or so like Dune and Saga.

Dune by Frank Herbert

Saga by Brian K. Vaughan

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

LitRPG and GameLit

LitRPG is a rather new genre, the name of it being introduced in 2013. It stands for Literary Role Play Game—a novel spin (ba-dum-tss) on the usual role playing video game. Video games, gaming elements, and game-like challenges make up the story where the main character is actively and knowingly engaging with an in-book video game, sometimes being physically in the game and not just having a standard gaming experience.

A few years after the genre was coined LitRPG, readers pushed that LitRPG should only consist of books where the focus is the character’s in-game progression and stats. The name GameLit was introduced to encompass books where game universes are a focal point, but do not have an emphasis on game elements that mark progression like leveling up or gaining skills.