Week 6 - Assignments 1-3

As far as exploring the science fiction and fantasy genre, I concentrate on new and buzzed about titles. I especially like to track Monitor, Reviews, and Perspectives on Locus. I discovered that for June - besides the ever popular George R. R. Martin and his acclaimed series, A Song of Ice and Fire - Locus bestsellers include A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson and the new teen title, Homeland by Cory Doctorow, the followup to his popular Little Brother novel about techno-savvy teenagers rebelling against a tryannical security state.
For something new, a colleague also introduced me to Worlds without End, a great site for science fiction, fantasy, and horror books. https://www.worldswithoutend.com

Regarding Prezi, kudos to Alex for creating this useful tool. It made me realize just how much exploring of sub-genres I still need to do. I would love a printed version.

Regarding my three sub-genres, I chose:
~ literary urban fiction
~ traditional Westerns
~ horror gothic

Literary Urban Fiction: Defined as tension, tragedy and betrayal being used to illustrate a broader statement on urban lifestyle with astute cultural commentary.
 I spent too much time clicking and searching for an adequate fan website that I could cite. I finally settled on a blog maintained by Vanessa Irving Morris, who wrote, The Readers' Advisory Guide to Street Literature, part of the ALA readers' advisory series. Her blog, http://www.streetliterature.com/, is well maintained, fairly current, and full of useful resources on urban fiction, including links to other urban fiction blogs.
Current buzz titles include:
A Deeper Love Inside by Sister Souljah: the Porsche Santiaga Story, the long awaited followup to The Coldest Winter Ever.
Fly Betty: a Harlem Girl Lost Novel by Treasure Blue, a redemptive mother-daughter story with the hallmarks of street lit - a girl from "the hood" trying to move up and out by any means necessary.
Honor Thy Thug by Wahida Clark, the latest Thug Love novel.

Traditional Western: Action oriented, less demanding reads that follow a tried and true formula of familiar settings, romance, gun play and historical detail.
Current buzz title includes Wilde's Law by Ben Bridges, part of the Wilde Boys Western series - a traditional, fast moving tale of the wild frontier. I couldn't locate a fan website that I liked, so I joined the group Western Authors & Readers on Goodreads that allows me to read up on what's new from some new voices; also tried the Western Writers of America website, http://westernwriters.org/our-books/

Other books: The Son, Philipp Meyer's new novel, is not a traditional Western, but it has been drawing attention for its epic portrayal of the American West. While its multi-generational saga of power, blood and landholdings doesn't lend itself to being fast paced, it does follow the rise of a Texas family, from the Comanche raids of the 1800s to the oil booms of the 20th century and contains the historical detail readers of traditional Westerns crave. Another perennial favorite is Larry McMurtry, whose novel Lonesome Dove won the Pulitzer Pize in 1985 and whose latest nonfiction book, Custer, explores the life and legacy of General Custer and his cavalry's attack on a large Lakota Cheyenne village with devastating results.

Horror Gothic: Described as encroaching evil that threatens the lives and sanity of realistic characters, often more literary in style and set in historic locales and/or the contemporary American south.
 I found a couple of groups to follow on Goodreads: The Gothic Novel Book Club and Classic Horror Lovers. Current buzz titles include The Asylum by John Harwood, The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd, and Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling by Michael Boccacino. 

My Mashups:

Death Comes to Pemberley, the latest by P.D. James, puts a twist on Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice, by introducing classic suspense, murder and mayhem into the beloved historic fiction setting.
London Falling by Paul Cornell - Urban fantasy meets police procedurals when a team of London police officers comes into contact with an artifact that gives them the Sight, revealing the hidden monsters that stalk the city.