Goodreads Librarians Group discussion

I see that "Paranormal" has been broken out of "Fantasy" and made its own section. I personally feel that this is unnecessary. The fiction listed as "Paranormal" would easily fit under existing genres like "Dark Fantasy," "Horror," "Paranormal Romance," and "Urban Fantasy." Having a separate "Paranormal" section complicates things. If the "Paranormal" section remains separate from fantasy, I would suggest merging "Dark Fantasy" and "Urban Fantasy" under it since all three genres are often related.

I would also suggest a term other than "Paranormal." "Paranormal" brings to mind things like "The X-Files" as opposed to an emphasis on vampires, werewolves, et al. "Supernatural" fiction, maybe?

I'd prefer to see all those genres kept distinct. I don't personally use a paranormal bookshelf, but I do distinguish between urban fantasy, dark fantasy, paranormal romance, and horror.

Additionally, I think paranormal makes the best parent genre for things like vampires, shapeshifters, and ghosts, since we can't have multiple parent genres, and a vampire horror book can be wildly different than a vampire paranormal romance book.

Agreed. Especially since bookstores are now starting to differentiate the same way. X-files type stuff is still listed, generally, in sci-fi, at my local store...paranormal is reserved for things that go bump in the night...True Blood, for example...then what my daughter calls "vampire porn" goes in paranmormal romance, Dracula goes in horror, etc. Some definitely overlap...the tricky bit is putting them into the categories *most* folks would expect.

My problem with a Paranormal genre is that it doesn't have any unique defining traits. At best, it's a subset of Urban Fantasy or Dark Fantasy; at worse, it's a term used to take away from those genres.

I get the need for a term both accurate and user-friendly. I know that "Urban Fantasy" is not always accurate ("Southern Vampire Mysteries" are a good example), but it has more-or-less stuck as a publishing term. Regardless of what you call it, Paranormal or Urban Fantasy, the genres are intrinsically linked. One is a subset of the other, but either way, I think both need to be classed together. I also feel that both should remain under fiction. If Paranormal is to stay, my feelings are that it should be Fantasy > Urban Fantasy > Paranormal.

FWIW, I've followed supernatural lit for a few decades, and I have never seen the word "Paranormal" used in relation to non-Romance vampire/werewolf fiction until a couple of years ago. "Paranormal" has traditionally been used to describe pseudo-science like UFO's, Loch Ness Monster, Atlantis, et al. Until recently, vampire/werewolf fiction has fallen under fantasy (whether dark or urban), horror, or romance. Classing established sub-genres under a newer genre tag seems a little off to me.

Genres have become less a matter of hierarchies and more a matter of Venn diagrams. Genres overlap. Part of that is cross-genre publishing, and part is less of a reliance on how libraries or brick and mortar bookstores are arranged. Virtual bookstores and sites like Goodreads don't limit you to the way someone else decides books should be grouped.

So, until we can choose to put paranormal or individual paranormal sub-genres under each and every appropriate parent category, it makes sense to leave the under the most broad category, being fantasy.

*sigh* I see we have an editing war already. The tags are crowd sourced, so putting an old label on a genre doesn't overcome the fact that the majority of people are following the new definition, and those are the books that are showing up on that page.

Urban Fantasy & Paranormal are 2 distinct genres. Neither is a subset of the other. Granted, sometimes they cross over, as in Nalini Singh's Guild Hunter series.

Urban Fantasy is generally a series with one protagonist throughtout and maybe a happy ever after at the end of the series.

Paranormal can also be a series but it generally has a new protagonist in each book.

I hope that Goodreads enables librarians to cross-apply sub-genres at some point, because I feel that would be the best solution.

As far as a war, I don't intend any ill will towards anyone. I was appointed a librarian to help with the Dark Fantasy page, and I just want to make sure that my "beat" is accurate.

Derek wrote: "As far as a war, I don't intend any ill will towards anyone. I was appointed a librarian to help with the Dark Fantasy page, and I just want to make sure that my "beat" is accurate."

An editing war is when librarians work at cross purposes changing something and then having someone else change it back. The parent for paranormal has changed back and forth quite a bit. Just look at the librarian edits.

I certainly don't want a war. Just thought I'd add my 2c worth. :)

I thought Twilight was "Paranormal" (romance) and was a series of 3 books following the same protagonist?

I'd call Twilight Urban Fantasy.