In the world of postmodernism and postirony, where we live today, many frames are becoming more fragile and conditional. So in literature, authors more and more boldly deal with the concepts of genre, combining them or working on a fine line between two, three or more directions. If a few years ago the joke about "cyber-utopian-porn-thriller" seemed just a joke, now nothing is impossible! The main thing is to have courage and a sense of taste in stock. And, preferably, an idea of what purpose this or that experiment serves.
And here are some examples of such books that do not fit into the Procrustean bed of the usual genres.
"Hyperion" by Dan Simmons
Science fiction or cosmoopera? Before we can give an answer to this question, elements of cyberpunk (at least classic questions and plots for him) will appear in Hyperion, as well as philosophy, biblical topics and other signs of a parable. Ultimately, it is best to assume that Dan Simmons' Hyperion is six different stories. Each of them is ready to give the book as a whole and the readers something of their own.
Hyperion is one of the many planets of the Hegemony, a community of people in space. The earth was lost as a result of the catastrophe, but humanity managed to settle in the galaxy, and, as always, is ready to defend its place in the universe. But the plot is not about war. More precisely, there will be only one of the stories about the war that are told by pilgrims on their way to Hyperion. There they will have to go to the anomalous Tombs of Time and meet with a semi-mythical force. They themselves do not know the exact purpose of this journey.
To get to know each other, pass the time and, perhaps, find answers, the heroes talk about themselves. These iconic passages of their lives make up the bulk of the novel. Consul, priest, military man, private detective, scientist and poet. They are just people, but everyone has their own breaking point in life. People with a difficult and amazing fate, having learned which, involuntarily ask yourself a huge number of questions that have never occurred to your head before. In Hyperion, Simmons has created a depth that's both respectable and a little scary. Will there be battles and detective intrigues here? Definitely, but not in every part. Why think about human nature? No doubt about it. And the world of Hegemony opens up to us in different facets with each new hero, creating an integral picture, which the arriving ending will smash to smithereens ...
"Gideon of the Ninth House" Tamsin Muir
"So is it still a comedy or a thriller?", "Why fantasy about necromancers, but in space?" - such questions you are unlikely to hear from readers of "Gideon of the Ninth House". Because the young writer Tamsin Muir so harmoniously combines aesthetics and functional fullness of different genres that unusual combinations look completely logical. Different details complement each other, creating a unique and rich world.
The main character is Gideon, a young and lively swordsman. When she was a child, a spaceship with Gideon on board crashed on a planet that belongs to the Ninth House of Necromancers. The only surviving and orphaned, the main character does not want to come to terms with the fact that her life and death no longer belong to her. She is now the property of the heiress, Harrow's Reverend Daughter Nonagesimus. Not a slave, rather a debtor, powerless to pay the bills. So Gideon can only improve his sword skills, read vulgar magazines and think over failed escape plans.
This is the backstory, and the plot begins with an invitation from the immortal Emperor to a deadly contest. Harrow should be there as a representative of the Ninth House, and Gideon as her knight. The reward is great, and the threat is far more significant than any of them would suggest. Thus begins a hermetic detective in a cosmic palace inhabited by ghosts and other kinds of not-quite-dead creatures. And the level of suspense often matches the horror classics of "haunted houses." But at the same time, do not forget that the heroine is not a timid dozen, and common sense is not her main trump card. She will do outright stupid things, bribing with sincerity and almost adolescent maximalism in the world of ruthless high politics.
Gideon's sarcasm sets off horror and detective drama, subtly playing in contrast. At the same time, the magic of death in space scenery, the atmosphere of withering and decay in futuristic interiors, as well as a well-thought-out system of various schools of necromancy make the novel unexpectedly "spectacular." His scenes are easily drawn in the imagination, and Muir's exquisite writing language enhances this feeling.
"Land of Eternal Summer" by Hannu Raaniemi
An alternate reality, spy detective and science fiction that looks like mystic at times. This is "Land of Eternal Summer" by the Finnish author Hannu Raaniemi, a novel about the confrontation between the living and the dead, routine and ideals, and Great Britain and the Soviet Union in 1938. The originality of the approach is already felt in the main idea of the book: this is the world of people who discovered the existence of the afterlife. Its existence has been proven, you can contact the dead and even influence in various ways what awaits on the other side.
The British Empire named its afterlife the City of Eternal Summer. This is a literal reflection of what happened in life. A new level. Even intelligence has a Winter and Summer Secret Service Directorate, and while the former is in charge of living agents, the latter is responsible for the dead. And this is especially important, because the main character of the novel, Rachel White, is still alive and works in the Winter Administration, but her opponent, whom she reasonably suspects of having links with the Soviet Union, is already dead.
Okay, where did the spy detective come from? What about alternative reality and science fiction? The author takes these components of the genre very seriously. With the discovery of the afterlife, much in the world of the "Land of Eternal Summer" has taken a different path than in our world. All progress has tangibly shifted the focus to the spiritualistic component. No significant discoveries were made in the field of physics, and the development of medicine almost stopped - dying is now not so scary. Many details of such a fateful change are thought out and described by the author with great attention. In addition, the very existence of That Party, operating by its own laws, is served as a scientifically based phenomenon as much as possible.
"Rails" China Mieville
Chyna Mieville, in general, is always difficult with genres. More precisely, in order to stay within the boundaries of only one genre. Then why exactly "Rails"? Perhaps this is one of the simplest and at the same time profound books of the author. It is undoubtedly strange, but it is easy to read, as if it even “lends itself” to the reader, in contrast to some of the “castles in the air” that this author likes to build. And less provocative and cruel. Sometimes "Rails" is even called a teenage romance. Perhaps, it is true, here as with "Treasure Island", the likelihood of falling in love without memory is higher if you read the book when you are young.
So what's going on with genres here? Adventures aboard a melee train, pirates and monsters, riddles and chases - this obviously allows the book to be classified as an adventure fantasy (and brings it closer to classic sea adventures, although there is no sea here). The world of the book is clearly in decline and the heroes live on the ruins of a former civilization, so "Rails" can be safely attributed to the post-apocalypse. And the aesthetics of steampunk are available, ranging from a stern female captain with a prosthetic arm to all kinds of (really all kinds) trains.
But one major assumption that makes the novel so unusual is that instead of an ocean, an endless web of rails on a toxic land teeming with dangerous giga fauna. And it creates a huge space for thought that will delight the attentive reader, accustomed to the quirks of Mieville.
"Space" by James Corey
“What's so interesting about Corey going on with the genre? Is this kind of solid science fiction? " - you may ask, and you will be partly right. But not completely. Perhaps one of the reasons for the popularity of the cycle "Space" is precisely how skillfully the space of fantasy is filled with the interweaving of other genres. Here you will find high politics, and mundane issues of survival, and large-scale hostilities, and space horror, and, of course, a detective story.
Avasarala's line at times resembles a spy drama with attempts to first calculate and then expose a traitor at the UN top. And at this time, what is happening on Eros is a real horror. Both look especially impressive against the background of the ruthlessness of space. Science fiction exacerbates the political line by turning planets and satellites into incredibly vulnerable targets. One skirmish in the sky over the equipped station, and now it was almost destroyed by shrapnel. Earth, Mars and the terrorists of the asteroid belt feel at times so defenseless that they are ready to literally grind their opponents to powder at the slightest threat. And only readers can see the full picture and understand that if the war starts in earnest, hardly anyone will survive it.
People are winning from space the right to live every free minute, and when other terrible things happen, the heroes have to fight on two fronts. And the protomolecule, relentlessly moving the plot, has many mysterious and frightening properties. Ultimately, the very feeling that there was someone else in space, powerful enough to travel between the stars, but "was" in the past tense, can cause tremors. At least when the writer uses it correctly, and the duo working under the pseudonym "James Corey" does just that. In addition, the cycle is pleasing because of the attention it takes to personal drama and the motivation of key characters.
Fall, or Dodge in Hell by Neil Stevenson
Cyberpunk with fantasy elements? A satirical parable about human nature? "Why not all together?" Says Stevenson, author of complex intellectual fiction, and writes Fall. The virtual reality of Bitmir, a new life after death, is a bit like a dream, and a bit like an epic fantasy, where there are fiery swords and ancient prophecies, and the "players" achieve almost divine power.
What awaits readers on the pages of the book? Quantum computers of incredible power that are needed to maintain this illusion. Scanning the brain for the subsequent translation of consciousness into digital. Pure science. Moreover, as the author loves, the scientific part has every foundation. These are areas of science that the average inhabitant of the modern world knows little about, despite the fact that there are people who actually work on such things. However, unlike the same "Anathema", this time Stevenson is not trying to make the book partly scientific. It is rather a gloomy discourse about what the near future might be and what opportunities humanity is missing out on.
Stevenson ironically laughs at the real, alternating it with vivid adventures of the virtual afterlife. In one of his interviews, he said that the very mixture of science fiction and fantasy is also part of the concept, because the connection between these genres is undeniable, but at the same time they seem to be opposite to each other. Like life and death. As real and computer. And yet, the author mixes these things, resulting in a work that does not fit into the framework that sets this or that genre or even the previous works of Stevenson himself.
The Dark Tower by Stephen King
Fantasy by Stephen King. I mean, an epic world-travel saga that will make you feel dizzy, inspired by Robert Browning's poems Childe Roland Reached the Dark Tower and Thomas Eliot's The Waste Land. The obvious atmosphere of a western, various shades of post-pocalypse and a distinct touch of the horror genre ... "The Dark Tower" and the name "Stephen King" become genres in themselves here. It is not without reason that this work is considered a landmark in the writer's work. The cycle "Dark Towers" and a dozen other works of King are intertwined with each other to varying degrees. Somewhere the mention slips, and at times the connection is important in the plot.
The Dark Tower is the center of all worlds. And the Tower must not fall, even though there is great Evil waiting there. Only the Shooter Roland Descene, having reached it, can save all living things from a terrible fate. He is the last knight of his order, laconic and stern, as required by certain canons. Harsh enough to sacrifice people he cares about for a higher purpose. The problem is that he doesn't really know where to look for the Tower and what exactly he has to do. He has more questions than answers.
The journey of Roland, and later of his companions, is, in many ways, an amazing and exciting literary road movie. This is the case where the author revels primarily in the opportunity to tell a story full of amazing events and images, to intrigue, lure and in every possible way tie mentally to the Shooter's quest. And in the end, most of all, of course, he becomes attached himself. Perhaps King was really obsessed with his "Dark Tower". And given that the purpose of Roland's search was clearly no better known to the writer than the character, as well as the reader's expectations, it is good that the epic was not one of those works that drive the author crazy.
It's a big, dark, incomprehensible adventure. King simultaneously rethought a huge layer of the cultural layer of the late 20th century, but at the same time made something absolutely original. And, of course, he had to go beyond genres, as well as rise above his own creativity in order to look at everything from a metaphorical peak and discover a new scale of the plot.