Paranormal romance

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Twilight, an example of a paranormal romance series Twilight Saga.jpg
Twilight , an example of a paranormal romance series

Paranormal romance is a subgenre of both romantic fiction and speculative fiction. Paranormal romance focuses on romantic love and includes elements beyond the range of scientific explanation, from the speculative fiction genres of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Paranormal romance range from traditional romances with a paranormal setting to stories with a science fiction or fantasy-based plot with a romantic subplot included. Romantic relationships between humans and vampires, shapeshifters, ghosts, and other entities of a fantastic or otherworldly nature are common.

Contents

Beyond the more prevalent themes involving vampires, shapeshifters, ghosts, or time travel, paranormal romances can also include books featuring characters with psychic abilities, such as telekinesis or telepathy. Paranormal romance's most recent revival has been spurred by turn of the 21st century technology; for example, the internet and electronic publishing.[ citation needed ] Paranormal romances are one of the fastest-growing trends in the romance genre.

Examples of authors specializing in this genre include Dani Harper, Nalini Singh, Jessica Bird, Kresley Cole, Christine Feehan, Kelley Armstrong, [1] and Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight series. According to 2013 statistics by the fantasy publisher Tor Books, among writers of urban fantasy or paranormal romance, 57% are women and 43% are men, whereas men outnumber women by about two to one in writing historical, epic, or high fantasy. [2]

Definition and subgenres

Paranormal romance blends the real with the fantastic or science fictional. The fantastic elements may be woven into an alternate version of our own world in an urban fantasy involving vampires, demons, and/or werewolves, or they may be more "normal" manifestations of the paranormal—humans with psychic abilities, witches, or ghosts. Time travel, futuristic, and extraterrestrial romances also fall beneath the paranormal umbrella. [3]

These novels often blend elements of other subgenres, including suspense and mystery, with their fantastic themes. A few paranormals are set solely in the past and are structured much like any historical romance novel. Others are set in the future, sometimes on different worlds. Still others have a time-travel element with either the hero or the heroine traveling into the past or the future. [4] Between 2002 and 2004, the number of paranormal romances published in the United States doubled to 170 per year. A popular title in the genre can sell over 500,000 copies. [5]

As in the fantasy subgenre known as urban fantasy, many paranormal romances rely on the blend of contemporary life with the existence of supernatural or magically empowered beings, human or otherwise; sometimes the larger culture is aware of the magical in its midst, sometimes it is not. Some paranormal romances focus less on the specifics of their alternative worlds than do traditional science fiction or fantasy novels, keeping the attention strongly on the underlying romance. [6] Others develop the alternate reality meticulously, combining well-planned magical systems and inhuman cultures with contemporary reality.

The first futuristic romance to be marketed by a mainstream romance publisher, Jayne Ann Krentz's Sweet Starfire , was published in 1986 and was a "classic road trip romance" that just happened to be set in a separate galaxy. [7] This genre has become much more popular since 2000. Krentz attributes the popularity of this subgenre to the fact that the novels "are, at heart, classic historical romances that just happen to be set on other worlds". [7]

Time-travel romances are a version of the classic "fish out of water" story. In most, the heroine is from the present day and travels into the past to meet the hero (for example, the manga and anime series Inuyasha ). In a smaller subset of these novels, the hero, who lives in the past, travels forward into his future to meet the heroine. A successful time-travel romance must have the characters react logically to their experience, and should investigate some of the differences, both physical and mental, between the world the character normally inhabits and the one in which they have landed. Some writers choose to end their novels with the protagonists trapped in different time periods and unable to be together—to the displeasure of many readers of the genre. [8]

P.E.A.R.L.

The P.E.A.R.L. (Paranormal Excellence Award for Romantic Literature) was a reader's choice award. Until 2008 it was presented annually to the top-voted paranormal romances by the ParaNormal Romance Groups. They named the Best of Year in ten categories related to paranormal romance and romantic science fiction.

Authors who won P.E.A.R.L. awards include Kresley Cole, Christine Feehan, Jayne Ann Krentz, Nora Roberts, and Linnea Sinclair.

See also

Related Research Articles

Contemporary fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy set in the present day. It is perhaps most popular for its subgenre, urban fantasy. Several authors note that in contemporary fantasy, magical or fantastic elements are separate or secret from the mundane world.

Genre fiction, also known as formula fiction or popular fiction, is a term used in the book-trade for fictional works written with the intent of fitting into a specific literary genre in order to appeal to readers and fans already familiar with that genre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romance novel</span> Genre novel on the theme of romantic love

A romance novel or romantic novel generally refers to a type of genre fiction novel which places its primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and usually has an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Precursors include authors of literary fiction, such as Samuel Richardson, Jane Austen, and Charlotte Brontë.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jayne Ann Krentz</span> American romance novelist

Jayne Ann Krentz, née Jayne Castle, is an American writer of romance novels. Krentz is the author of a string of New York Times bestsellers under seven different pseudonyms. Now, she only uses three names. Under her married name she writes contemporary romantic-suspense. She uses Amanda Quick for her novels of historical romantic-suspense. She uses her maiden name for futuristic/paranormal romantic-suspense writing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romance film</span> Film genre

Romance films involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey through dating, courtship or marriage is featured. These films make the search for romantic love the main plot focus. Occasionally, romance lovers face obstacles such as finances, physical illness, various forms of discrimination, psychological restraints or family resistance. As in all quite strong, deep and close romantic relationships, the tensions of day-to-day life, temptations, and differences in compatibility enter into the plots of romantic films.

Urban fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy, placing supernatural elements in an approximation of a contemporary urban setting. The combination provides the writer with quixotic plot-drivers, unusual character traits, and a platform for classic fantasy tropes, without demanding the creation of an entirely-imagined world.

Low fantasy, or intrusion fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy fiction in which magical events intrude on an otherwise-normal world. The term thus contrasts with high fantasy stories, which take place in fictional worlds that have their own sets of rules and physical laws.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of fantasy</span>

Elements of the supernatural and the fantastic were an element of literature from its beginning. The modern genre is distinguished from tales and folklore which contain fantastic elements, first by the acknowledged fictitious nature of the work, and second by the naming of an author. Works in which the marvels were not necessarily believed, or only half-believed, such as the European romances of chivalry and the tales of the Arabian Nights, slowly evolved into works with such traits. Authors like George MacDonald (1824–1905) created the first explicitly fantastic works.

Fantasy television is a genre of television programming featuring elements of the fantastic, often including magic, supernatural forces, or exotic fantasy worlds. Fantasy television programs are often based on tales from mythology and folklore, or are adapted from fantasy stories in other media. The boundaries of fantasy television often overlap with science fiction and horror but also realistic fiction.

Christine Feehan is an American author of paranormal romance, paranormal military thrillers, and fantasy. She is a #1 New York Times, #1 Publishers Weekly, and International bestselling author of seven series; Carpathian, GhostWalker Series, Drake Sisters, Sister of the HeartSeries, Shadow Riders Series, Leopard Series and Torpedo Ink Series. Six of the seven series have made #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. As of January 2020 she has 80 published novels. The first in her Torpedo Ink Series, Judgment Road, debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestsellers list.

Susan Sizemore was an American author of both romance and science fiction novels.

Jackie Kessler, also known as Jackie Morse Kessler, is an American author of young adult, superhero, paranormal romance, and urban fantasy fiction, including novels, novellas, short stories, and comic books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fantasy</span> Artistic genre

Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and usually inspired by mythology or folklore. The term "fantasy" can also be used to describe a "work of this genre", usually literary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urban Gothic</span> Subgenre of Gothic fiction, film horror and television

Urban Gothic is a subgenre of Gothic fiction, film horror and television dealing with industrial and post-industrial urban society. It was pioneered in the mid-19th century in Britain, Ireland and the United States and developed in British novels such as Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), and Irish novels such as Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890), and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897). In the twentieth century, urban Gothic influenced the creation of the subgenres of Southern Gothic and suburban Gothic. From the 1980s, interest in the urban Gothic revived with books like Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles and a number of graphic novels that drew on dark city landscapes, leading to adaptations in film including Batman (1989), The Crow (1994) and From Hell (2001), as well as influencing films like Seven (1995).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of fantasy</span> Overview of and topical guide to fantasy

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to fantasy:

Time-travel romance is a subgenre of romantic fiction associated with paranormal romance. Time-travel romance focuses on romantic love and includes an element of time travel. Time-travel romance stories may or may not have a happy ending. Jude Deveraux's A Knight in Shining Armor is one of the best known time-travel romance novels, famous for the lack of a happy ending. Time-travel romances feature at least one character transported to a time period which is unfamiliar to them. A recurring theme is the conflict of falling in love and subsequently the character must decide to stay in the alternate time or return to the time he or she came from.

Sweet Starfire is a futuristic romance written by Jayne Ann Krentz and released in 1986. Krentz likened the novel to a historical romance set in another world, and its success inspired her to begin writing historical romances under the pseudonym Amanda Quick.

Jennifer Stevenson is a Chicago-based American fantasy and romance author who mixes romantic comedy with magical realist, regional, working-class, and sex-positive storytelling. She is an active member of the American feminist speculative fiction community.

References

  1. ↑ "Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy - Paranormal Romance: The top 10 Paranormal Romance Authors (showing 1-50 of 67)". Goodreads.
  2. ↑ Crisp, Julie (10 July 2013). "Sexism in Genre Publishing: A Publisher's Perspective". Tor Books. Archived from the original on 30 April 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  3. ↑ "Romance Novels--Subgenres". Romance Writers of America. Archived from the original on 2017-12-31. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
  4. ↑ "Submission Guidelines". Dorchester Publishing. Archived from the original on 2007-04-30. Retrieved 2007-04-30.
  5. ↑ Luscombe, Belinda (February 19, 2006). "Well, Hello, Suckers". Time. Time. Archived from the original on June 15, 2006. Retrieved 2007-04-23.
  6. ↑ Marble, Anne M. (2001). "The Subgenres of Romance". Writing-World.Com. Retrieved 2007-04-30.
  7. 1 2 Gelsomino, Tara (2002). "Review of Smoke in Mirrors". Romantic Times. Archived from the original on 2007-10-04. Retrieved 2007-07-26.
  8. ↑ Marble, Anne M. (September 2002). "Writing Time Travel Romances". Writing-world.Com. Archived from the original on 2007-06-26. Retrieved 2007-07-30.
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