Nautical fiction is a type of story that takes place on or near the sea. These stories often explore how people live and work at sea, and they highlight the culture of those who sail or live near the ocean. Settings for nautical fiction can include merchant ships, naval vessels, fishing boats, lifeboats, and places like ports and fishing villages.
Regency romances are a type of romance novel set during the British Regency period (1811–1820) or the early 1800s. These stories are not just modern romance plots moved to the past; they are a unique genre with their own writing styles and story patterns. They are more influenced by the works of author Georgette Heyer, who wrote over 20 novels set in the Regency era from 1935 until her death in 1974, and by the fiction genre called the Novel of Manners.
Historical romance is a type of popular book that focuses on love stories set in the past. This genre became more popular in the early 1800s, and the writer Byron helped make it popular. These stories are often written as novels.
The historical mystery, also called a historical whodunit, is a type of story that combines two genres: historical fiction and mystery fiction. These stories take place in times that are considered historical from the author’s point of view, and the main plot focuses on solving a mystery or crime, often a murder. Although stories that mix these genres have been around since the early 1900s, many people believe that Ellis Peters’ Cadfael Chronicles (1977–1994) helped make the historical mystery widely known.
Historical fantasy is a type of fantasy and historical fiction that mixes magical or imaginary elements with stories that are more realistic. This genre often overlaps with other fantasy types, such as those based on Arthurian legends, Celtic stories, or the Dark Ages. Most stories in this category take place before the 20th century.
Alternate history, also called alternative history, allohistory, althist, or A.H., is a type of speculative fiction where one or more events from real history happen in a different way. These stories imagine “what if?” questions about important moments in history and show how the world might change if those events had turned out differently. They usually include a point where history changes from what actually happened, called a point of divergence (POD), and then describe the effects of that change.
Historical fiction is a type of writing where a made-up story happens during real events from the past. The term is often used to describe books, but it can also refer to other forms of storytelling, such as plays, movies, video games, and comic books. A key part of historical fiction is that it takes place in the past and shows details like the customs, daily life, and social situations of that time.
In literary studies, a bildungsroman (German pronunciation: [ˈbɪldʊŋs.ʁoˌmaːn]) is a type of story that follows the growth and development of the main character from childhood to adulthood. This genre focuses on how the character changes in their thoughts, behavior, and values over time. The word “bildungsroman” comes from two German words: “Bildung,” meaning “formation” or “education,” and “Roman,” meaning “novel.”
In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is usually a person who is no longer a teenager but has not yet reached full adulthood. Different people and groups may define this stage differently, but the idea of young adulthood has been greatly influenced by the work of psychologist Erik Erikson. Generally, the term refers to people aged about 18 to 45 years.
New Adult (NA) fiction is a type of book that focuses on stories with main characters aged 18 to 29. The term “New Adult” was first used in 2009 by St. Martin’s Press, who asked for books similar to young adult fiction (YA) that could be published and sold as adult books.