Obsessed with genre fiction

I don't know why, or even how it happened, but I am obsessed with genre fiction right now.

For those not in the know, I refer to Wikipedia for a snappy definition: Genre fiction is a term for stories written with the intent of fitting into a specific literary genre in order to appeal to readers and fans already familiar with that genre.

So, we are talking Star Wars, Star Trek, Halo, Warhammer etc, etc. It probably won't surprise you to learn that genre fiction gets the rough end of the stick when it comes to the pointy-nosed literary types that pervade this crazy world called fiction - an erroneously held belief that they, because they are based on already realised and established worlds, are inferior to say, mainstream sf or fantasy. Frankly, that is complete rubbish in my opinion - there are stinkers of books and even hidden gems in all facets of the market, be that genre fiction or otherwise. I think where you do need to tread very lightly is movie tie-ins, for these are just rehashes of said blockbuster and shameless ways to cash-in.

Anyway, enough of my soapbox, I think I've flown the flag for genre fiction quite enough (in actual fact, I'm not that keen on the term itself. I mean, isn't all fiction of one genre or another - ergo isn't it genre fiction. Semantically it certainly is).

So, basically genre fiction is preaching (and I use that term without any religious connotations please) to the converted, to the ready-made audience that wants to read stories about their favourite characters from their favourite universes. I know about genre fiction. For one, I am an editor at a genre fiction publishing house with a stable of diverse and creative authors, all writing genre fiction. For two, I write genre fiction, be it tales of Warhammer Dwarfs or the sagas of Space Marines battling for the glory of the Emperor in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. It's ready-made; no need for too much world building or over-blown procrastination like in some mainstream sf, in genre fiction you get straight down to the nitty gritty - to the story and the characters.

I'll confess. Much as I work and write with/about genre fiction, I don't read that much of it for pleasure (i.e. in my non-work time, as I do enjoy a lot of the novels that come through the Black Library's doors - some more than others, of course). I suppose it's an occupational hazard, but then an editor has (or at least, should have) an insatiable capacity for reading.

Where's all this going, you might ask? Well, as readers of this blog will know, I have something of a penchant for crime novels (that's a genre, crime, isn't it...). And while I have been blazing through a host of Connolly, Crais and Child novels (why do all my favourite crime writers begin with a 'C'?), I have also been sneaking in the odd genre fiction novel, too. Not Black Library, though. Alas, that stopped being genre fiction for me the moment I put on my editor's hat, I stopped being a 'fan' in the normal sense and became critic, mentor and assessor.

No, it's novels about comic book heroes that I'm hooked on at the moment. Look, these aren't literary classics. They are derivative. But that doesn't stop them from being damn good. DC comics characters are far and away my favourite. There's just something about the old school grittiness, the weight of history and lack of polish (compared to say, Marvel) that really appeals to me.

(As an aside, I remember watching a documentary once about the evolution of Marvel Comics. I think it was when the first Spider-Man movie was released - with Toby McGuire as the eponymous hero. It was hosted by Stan Lee, but had some interviews with other folks in the comics business, chaps like Avri Arad and just the average, Jog Bloggs comic shop owner.

One such interviewee was explaining the difference between Marvel and it's closest rival DC. His analogy went along the lines of likening Marvel to the cool kids, the rebellious teenager, the more youthful, hip audience; whereas DC was your conservative uncle with fairly stayed heroes and hackneyed story lines straight out of the ark. At least that's how it was forty or fifty years ago. How things have changed. Don't get me wrong: Wolverine, Captain America, Iron Man, Spidey - those guys are awesome, but they just don't have the same grit and gravitas as the DC boys for me.

Let's face it, there is no one better than Batman and Superman, right? These guys are, and always will be, the Dons are far as comic book heroes are concerned. As if to prove the point, I took part in a poll of the Empire movie magazine website. It was charting the best ever comic book heroes as voted for by fans. Their initial assumptions raised an eyebrow or two I'm sure - borne out by the fluctuations in the final vote - but who was slap bang at the top: Supes and Bats, of course. DC certainly doesn't have the quantity of well-known, well-loved heroes that Marvel does - just gather up all the X-men and that would probably eclipse DC's pantheon in that regard - but they've got the quality, the big-hitters, the Daddy's of the Gold and Silver Ages. So it is, for these reasons, and others besides, that DC will always be my favourite of the two duelling comic book giants.)

The last genre fiction book I read was The Forensic Files of Batman (not a true narrative as such, check out my earlier post for more on this). Top, top stuff. I've also read a host of other novels featuring and starring the Dark Knight. One of which, No Man's Land (based on the graphic novel of the same name, albeit an abridged version), I hunted down through Amazon's Marketplace Sellers. I've literally just received Knightfall through the post (another well known graphic novel adaptation) and am looking forward to The Last Days of Krypton.

What has happened to me? Where did this insatiable appetite for genre fiction come from? It's not hard to answer. I am a HUGE Batman fan. I watch Smallville every week (despite its tailing quality), and love Superman too (I'm not so much of a purist that I didn't like Superman: Doomsday, like a lot of fans seem to have - I thought it was awesome). It came to me the other night, as I was finishing off Forensic Files. I dig these books so much because I really like reading about my favourite characters, my heroes. 'This,' I thought to myself, 'must be what other genre fiction fans feel like when they read about their favourite characters'.

It gave me a window into the psyche of the Black Library fan base; it made me able to appreciate their pleasure and pain on an empathic level, that my editorially compromised mind and outlook would have otherwise prevented me from experiencing.

You know, I've read some good and some not so good books about Batman. It's a genuine thrill when they are really good, when they do something you're not expecting or unlock some piece of lore that you didn't know about. But even when they are not so good, when they take a bit of a left turn, there's still something to be gained, some nugget or morsel that enhances your understanding of the character.

It's taught me, as if I needed to be taught, that genre fiction is not just derivative, it isn't throw away or fit for derision by the so-called, self-appointed 'literary' types that carouse other genres with their indestructible skein or 'writerdom' to protect and defend them. It is damn hard. Here you are, the genre fiction writer, stepping into someone else's clubhouse, into the world already constructed. You are preaching then to the converted, but it's a well-versed, frighteningly knowledgeable congregation. They want you to succeed, to thrill entertain and wow them with the characters that they feel they own a piece of, characters whom they have devoted large chunks of their childhood/adolescence/adult life to; but woe betide you if you should fail, for they are the harshest critics and their knives are sharp indeed.

Three cheers for genre fiction, I say, and for the brave souls that enter into that world with trepidatious steps, clutching their style bibles like their very lives depended on it. I salute you, each and every one.