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Adventure or fantasy? I find the two cross over.

edited July 2016 in Writing
When submitting to agents, I'm confused whether or not I can submit to ones representing fantasy, adventure, or both?

I find the two genres cross over quite a bit. My novel involves a made up world, pirates, one made up mythological race of monsters, and seers. BUT the novel revolves around one character going on a huge adventure across that particular world, not only that, it's about the adventure within the main character and how he changes to become the infamous legend that he appears to be in the prologue.

So what do you all think? Could it fall into both categories, or just one?

Comments

  • It's fantasy. A fantastical adventure. Adventure is NOT A GENRE. It's a plot.
  • It's fantasy because it's set in a fantastical land. Every novel is an adventure of some sort, after all. It's the setting that makes the difference.
  • I agree.
  • edited July 2016
    It's fantasy. A fantastical adventure. Adventure is NOT A GENRE. It's a plot.
    Yeah, I get that. But on Querytracker when you go to the drop down where it says 'select a GENRE' a literary agent represents, one option is action/adventure and another is fantasy.


  • I would go for Fantasy then as that's more apt. I would say that the adventure bit is implied in a fantasy story.
  • Yeah, I'd sat that too, Nell. Which is why it seems strange that they have a different selection of agents for 'adventure'.
  • Adventure can be action hero fiction, or quest, or many other things. Yours is fantasy because, as I said, it's set in a fantastical world. It involves imaginary creatures and myth - that's the world in which it takes place, and upon which it depends. Ergo, fantasy.
  • edited July 2016
    I face a similar dilemma, Waylander.
    I have written a series of books set in a world I've invented inhabited by a race of people that don't exist in real life.
    Each book is an adventure-cum-quest for one or two main characters, all of whom are young, so they could also be called YA books.
    Why do we write these books when they're so hard to categorise?

    So yours sounds like a fantasy-adventure, with the emohasis on fantasy.
    Where would you put mine?
  • Have a look at these categories (click on fiction for the drop-down list):

    https://www.waterstones.com/

    If your book doesn't suit the shelf, an agent will be reluctant to take it on. That's why so many self-published books do not land within a defined and accepted slot.

    Lord of the Rings: Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror > Fantasy
  • Well, looking at the categorisation of Waterstones' genres, they class the whole Asssassin's Creed series as 'adventure', when I know that they contain certain elements of magic within the stories. Also in that category they have Independence Day on sale, which is based around an alien invasion, presumably falling into the sci-fi area as well.

    And, Lizy, I feel as though we are in the same boat with our novels - mainly fantasy, but also could potentially fall under adventure.

    I imagine it depends on certain 'adventure' agent's tastes on whether they are looking for a Huckleberry Finn type of adventure, or like Baggy says, a Lord of the Rings style adventure, which mainly falls under being fantasy.
  • Lord of the Rings is fantasy, fantasy, fantasy. It could not be categorised as anything else. It is a fantastical adventure. Parts of the fantasy are horror, but it is still fantasy.

    Huckleberry Finn is an adventure novel set firmly in this world. Even when it was written, it would have been classed as an historical adventure.

    Your book is a fantasy, which incorporates a certain style of adventure in it. That does not mean it is something else.

    Lizy, publishers tend to put books written for children in the next category up - as children like to read about slightly older children. YA covers from about 14 upwards, and could be slightly younger. However adults don't mind reading about younger protagonists, it depends on the themes. So if your theme is an adult one, and the things they have to deal with more adult in nature, it would i think be classed as Science fiction. If the themes are YA (young love, problems with skin, food, parents, first experiences, drugs or the things in it are vampires, werewolves etc etc) then YA, but still science fiction. They aren't humans so the whole thing whatever it has in it is science and fiction, everything.
  • Yes, Lord of the Rings is fantasy, my point being it is an adventure within the fantasy. Like my novel is fantasy, but there is clearly an adventure going on in there. Just like how I made an example of the Assassin's Creed series being in the adventure section of Waterstones, when in fact, it has magic within the books, which by all means would make it a fantasy, because magic is not real.

    I think you're misunderstanding the point of the thread, Liz. The point was, where does the line start and finish between fantasy and adventure, but since you don't believe that adventure is a genre, then you won't categorise anything into that genre at all.

    Also, Huckleberry Finn was wrote by Twain in 1885, when he was 45, and it was set in 1840, so I'd hardly think he would class something as being historical adventure when it was within his lifetime. I suppose it depends on the point of view.
  • Since you can have an adventure in ANY genre, how can it BE a genre?

    If Waterstone's is putting on a shelf with other adventures, the books would all be general fiction which incorporates a strong adventure, rather than being an emotional journey for instance.

    Waterstone's categorises books in many ways to suit the buying public, that does not mean that 'adventure' is a genre, how could it be since it tells you NOTHING about the book apart from 'it contains an adventure' which most books do, it's called the plot.
  • You just said that Huckleberry Finn would been classed as a historical adventure at the time it was wrote, I assume you were talking about what genre category it would fit in?

    Also, like I said earlier, on Querytracker it has a 'select a genre' area, where it then determines which agents you would like to query in accordance to the option you choose. One option being, action/adventure.

    "Adventure fiction is a genre of fiction in which an adventure, an exciting undertaking involving risk and physical danger, forms the main story line." - Wikipedia

    "Definition of Fiction Categories and Genres - Adventure Story
    A genre of fiction in which action is the key element, overshadowing characters, theme and setting. … The conflict in an adventure story is often man against nature. A secondary plot that reinforces this kind of conflict is sometimes included. In Allistair MacLean’s Night Without End, for example, the hero, while investigating a mysterious Arctic air crash, also finds himself dealing with espionage, sabotage and murder. " - Writer's Digest
  • Just chuck in a couple of clowns and custard pies and bung it under Comedy. Sorted.
  • Or more seriously wang it under Fantasy, with the popularity of the genre it's more likely to be read, bought, marketed in a big way :)
  • And can't you have romance in any genre? And horror? And mystery?
  • You can. But romance would be mainly that - the crux and the final scene would be the getting together of the two protagonists. In horror, the end would be variable, good over evil, evil over good, the romance would be part of the plot. A mystery is that - a mystery, yes romance along the way but the crest of the novel would be - the solving of the crime, any love scene would be like James Bond floating in the distance after beating the spies, an adjunct, a throwaway, his character expressed as that scene - NOT what the novel would be classed by anyone as. Just as the adventure in a James Bond would be spy-themed, and thus the genre...
  • Smashwords has Adventure as a genre, but it seems a pretty loose category. Every genre has crossovers and mash-ups (anyone remember the film Cowboys and Aliens?), but they're usually categorised by the one that predominates.

    I used to belong to a science fiction writers' workshop, and if the conversation ever looked like flagging all anyone had to do was ask whether something was fantasy or science fiction and we'd be there all night.
  • After talking to a few agents at various Q&As I would suggest sending them to fantasy based agents as a 'fantasy adventure' and if you feel inclined pitch it as an 'adventure story with fantasy leanings/fantastical elements' to adventure listed agents.
    This is simply from these agents suggesting we tailor our pitches depending who we're submitting to and the fact our book can be cross-genre.

    The agents I've met have said that genre is more important to publishers and an agent will still change the genre for marketing if need be but grab their attention first by mentioning words in your cover letter that th have listed in their about info/what their looking for and they may well get intrigued.

    If it also helps Andy McDermott's books are marketed as Adventure but have fantastical and mythological aspects to them as they are influenced by Indiana Jones (films that are argued whether straight action-adventure or fantasy/scifi-adventure)
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