Spacemouse 9 doesn't fit neatly into any of the standard literary genres. It is easy to fit the story under the broad category of "speculative fiction" which is defined by The Speculative Literature Foundation as:
"a catch-all term meant to inclusively span the breadth of fantastic literature, encompassing literature ranging from hard science fiction to epic fantasy to ghost stories to horror to folk and fairy tales to slipstream to magical realism to modern myth-making -- and more."However, you will notice that this definition mentions several different genres. Which genre is Spacemouse 9? I finally decided that "science fantasy" was the best choice due to the odd mix of science fiction and fantasy elements in the story. I like writer Randy Henderson's discussion of the genre:
"So why isn’t science fantasy just called fantasy? Well, for one, even the most entertaining sci-fantasy story may not appeal to someone who strictly enjoys high fantasy, and vice versa. A pure fantasy reader may not want spaceships, lasers, or AIs, even if elves are the ones using them. The hard science fiction fan will hate the inclusion of elves. The science fiction elements make it not pure fantasy, but the fantasy elements make it not purely hard or soft science fiction either."Age category is a separate matter from genre. Next week I will discuss why I feel the "middle-grade" age category is the best category for Spacemouse 9.
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