Geek Girl Navigating the World – The Genre Blender

One of my favorite poems in the world actually appeared in the Berke Breathed comic strip Bloom County:

 I would not mind if I should find a blue whale in my soup

Nor would I mind a porcupine inside a chicken coop

Yes life is fine when things combine like ham in beef chow mein

But Lord this time, I think  mind. They’ve put acid in my rain.

It’s a short poem, to be sure, and while it’s meant to be a poignant commentary on the state of our environment, it has also served to get me thinking about other things besides its core message.

Right now, it leads me to think about the blending of different genres.  Part of the reason that it sprang to mind was because I was reading a copy of the anthology Love & Rockets, which was edited by Martin H. Greenberg (my review can be found here).  The book’s theme was the attempt to blend romance and science fiction.  I’m also in the midst of reading Holmes on the Range, a book that melds murder mysteries with westerns.

These two things might seem to be at almost opposite ends of the spectrum, since they’re both wildly different books in genres one doesn’t often see mashed together. I can promise you that they aren’t.

One of the things that I love the most about reading science fiction and fantasy is that authors working in the genre are almost completely fearless.  They aren’t afraid to ask “what if” and then go right ahead and answer themselves, sometimes in conversations that last for more than one book.  What’s even more interesting is when they can inspire someone else to ask “what if,” and it becomes something else that’s entirely new.  The possibilities for both interpretation and off-shoots of an idea are nearly infinite, and while sometimes it’s clear where the inspiration came from, sometimes it’s far less obvious.

It seems like writers working in science fiction and fantasy are the most comfortable with the idea of putting genres into a blender and seeing what they can make. If you need any kind of confirmation of that idea, then you need look no further than a sci-fi fantasy section in a big chain bookstore (or for that matter, in the new releases page of Barnes & Noble or Amazon’s websites). There are a whole host of subgenres out there that started from someone getting the great idea to ask “what if.”

Someone wanted to know what would happen if you mixed some mythological creatures and some magic into the modern day world and forced their characters to deal with the results.  Readers now have the subgenre of Contemporary Fantasy.  If you take that a step further and make the magicians and mythological creatures exist in a modern city, then you’ve got Urban Fantasy.  Putting magical elements and creatures into a romance story is going to net you Paranormal Romance (and I will still consider that a separate category with every fiber of my being, because it is not the same thing as Urban or Contemporary Fantasy–but I already wrote that article).  Combining detailed historical research with science-fiction style speculation yields Historical Fantasy, and on and on and on.

One of the most unusual combinations that I’ve ever read is The Flight of Michael McBride by Midori Snyder.  It’s one of those books that I’d heard about and then absolutely devoted myself to tracking down so that I could read it.  To this day, it’s one of those books that I am very proud to own. It’s unusual and fun to read, and it’s also populated by a whole host of mythological creatures you don’t often see making appearances in fantasy novels.  The book combines fantasy and westerns in the story of Michael McBride, who takes on a job as a ranch hand after leaving New York City.  He’s stalked by all sorts of lesser known creatures from the fairy realm and encounters some creatures from Native American mythology, as well. It’s one of those books that is kind of hard to summarize but is great fun to read.

Weird Tales from Shakespeare is another anthology that was co-edited by Martin H. Greenberg.  The other editor is Katherine Kerr.  The whole book is full of authors blending together the very best sensibilities from Outer Limits and The Twilight Zone with classic stories from Shakespeare. There are also some reimaginings of Shakespeare’s life if he had been born on other planets, and a few stories in which alien cultures embrace his works.  The anthology itself never felt disjointed because the stories all fit together in a patchwork that somehow all works.  It’s just a lot of fun to see how different authors interpret a single “what if” question into so many unique visions. I might have enjoyed a couple of reworkings of sonnets, but maybe they’ll revisit the idea some day and add a few of those.

Holmes on the Range really doesn’t have a thing to do with science fiction or fantasy, unless you use the absolutely broadest sense of the terms, and, even then, it still doesn’t quite work.  Still, it’s a fantastic example of what can happen with the genre blender gets cranked up to full speed and everything melds together beautifully.  I’m actually not quite finished reading it, yet, though not for a lack of trying.  I’ve just been busy recently, so I haven’t had the opportunity to keep my nose as buried in the books as I would like.  The book is about a pair of brothers, Old Red and Big Red, who, through disaster and circumstances have come to work primarily as cowpunchers.  They find themselves in Montana working for a huge ranch that becomes shadier by the minute.  It’s fun and unexpected, and I’m really looking forward to reading later books in the series.

Mystery seems to be one of the most popular genres to throw into the blender, as evidenced by the anthologies Shadows over Baker Street, The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Gaslight Grotesque, and Whatdunits (and its sequel). Authors seem to be especially fond of throwing the world’s greatest detective into the mix when they can.  Sherlock Holmes is possibly one of the most colorful and quirkiest characters in literature.  He’s the quintessential unhinged genius who manages to use his powers for good, rather than evil (depending on which books you’ve read; some authors have very happily toyed with all sorts of speculation about Holmes’ true state of mind).

The Holmes-Dracula File by Fred Saberhagen is the story of what happens when a legendary detective finds himself on the trail of a legendary monster. It’s a short book and quick to read, but, boy, it sure is fun. Saberhagen doesn’t really depart much from either Doyle’s or Stoker’s visions for their characters, but this goes far beyond just simple homage to either author.  It makes for a really enjoyable story and a shining example of what can happen when authors are allowed to play in someone else’s world a little bit.  It becomes something completely new that answers questions a reader didn’t necessarily know that they had.

I’m not sure how many of my fellow readers would mind finding ham in their beef chow mein, but I’m sure that quite a few of them are as delighted as I am when things combine to make something new to read.  I’d have to agree with little Milo Bloom about finding acid in the rain; it’s surely not a fun prospect, but I’d also have to say I most definitely agree with the idea that “life is fine when things combine,” as well.