(no subject)

rachelmanija posted lately on strange sub-genres.

I think mine are:

1. Super intrigue-y courts with layers and layers of subterfuge and hidden meanings. And it doesn't count if court outsiders go in and have to learn the way of the court and make everyone adore them for their forthrightness -- that's an entirely different subgenre. Learning-court-intrigue scenes are perfectly acceptable, but only if it means court intrigue continues.
   Ex. Dune, Daughter of the Empire



2. Smart spies/assassins/thieves books with lots of nifty codes and tricks and gadgets and getaways, but not so much that there's more gadgetry than intellect. I actually haven't read that many of these (most are bits and pieces of the court intrigue books), but I should probably read John le Carre sometime, huh. I actually get more of these with movies, which is why I like caper movies and the like. Also, female spies/assassins/thieves are a bonus.
   
   I note that this is definitely a romance sub-genre, except the romance novel hero/heroine spies/assassins/thieves usually act so stupid that they definitely don't scratch this itch. Actually, they tend to make me want to throw something.



3. Retold fairy tales, which isn't so much a strange sub-genre now and is rapidly growing larger. I seem to have to pick up absolutely anything that even references a fairy tale, no matter how bad it looks. Retold myths or legends rate a little lower, unless it's a retold non-Greek/Roman/Egyptian/Celtic one.
   
   Actually, they don't even have to be retold. If something is original but written with fairy tale imagery or with certain themes or a certain style, I will totally get it as well. Books on Faerie/Fae/Sidhe are an entirely different entity.
   
   Favs are the Windling/Datlow anthologies, McKillip, McKinley, Emma Donoghue's Kissing the Witch.
   
   I do know I need to read Angela Carter and Anne Sexton.



4. Epistolary fantasy novels. Eh, at least, I think this is a favorite sub-genre, given that I've only read two books in it (Sorcery and Cecelia and Freedom and Necessity, both of which I adore to bits and pieces). I am of yet unaware if the fantasy element can be taken away and still keep me interested in the book, but I really want to pick up Les Liaisons Dangereuses and find out.



5. Really nice heroes falling for emotionally distant and/or morally ambiguous heroines. Or actually anyone except an alpha bastard falling for an emotionally distant and/or morally ambiguous heroine. The key is to have the hero fall first.



6. Quiet, unobstrusive girls growing up to be heroines. Eh, yes, this may be some wish fulfillment here ;). I was never as sucked in by the in-your-face outcast girl, since I wasn't even loud enough to be an outcast. I was just sort of wallflower-ish.


Recs? Anyone else post theirs? I want this to be a meme ^_^.