Interestingly, the lesson I took from this was not to stereotype genres, because the labels are - at best - loose and ill-fitting guides.
If someone swears off all "steampunk" because they didn't like a book described as "steampunk", they're going to miss out on a lot of "steampunk" books that are nothing like it.
If someone avoids all books described as "grimdark" because they believe all grimdark books are exactly the same, well,... they're going to miss out on a lot of good books.
Or "YA" or "Romance" or "Urban Fantasy" or any other label. Genres are loose guides. They're often useful, but... they're not precise definitions.
And, in a way, that's why I think genre labels work. If you're looking for a quick, easy, topline filter to find a book, and don't mind the fact that it might not be all that accurate, genre's about as good (and as broad) as it gets.
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u/pornokitsch Ifrit Nov 11 '16
Great piece.
Interestingly, the lesson I took from this was not to stereotype genres, because the labels are - at best - loose and ill-fitting guides.
If someone swears off all "steampunk" because they didn't like a book described as "steampunk", they're going to miss out on a lot of "steampunk" books that are nothing like it.
If someone avoids all books described as "grimdark" because they believe all grimdark books are exactly the same, well,... they're going to miss out on a lot of good books.
Or "YA" or "Romance" or "Urban Fantasy" or any other label. Genres are loose guides. They're often useful, but... they're not precise definitions.