Speculation, Fact and Fiction

Thinking about how I might address a group of librarians who don't necessary read SF&F with ideas on making it more interesting to the reading public, green_knight is on to something good.

"One of the things you ought to bring up is the sheer scope of the genre. There's fantasy for Regency Romance readers (Sorcery and Cecilia), fantasy for readers of long Victorian novels (Jonathan Strange and Dr. Norrel), fantasy for fans of silent movies (Bride of the Rat God), fantasy for the literarily educated (The Eyre affair) and fantasy for fans of everything inbetween. And not enough with that, Science fiction has an equally wide scope, it's not just Star Wars.

What I'd like librarians to do is a 'if you like this, you might try that' display that places mainstream novels next to genre ones - IF you like thrillers centering around a military campaign, try Valor's Choice, IF you like chick-lit, here's one with a vampire hunter etc."

I was sort of thinking vaguely on these lines but wouldn't have immediately come up with these examples. Ain't the interweb great *g*

So, please, draw on your own tastes and reading across genre experiences and feel free to contribute any and all suggestions that occur, from the rayguns and rocketships right through to the swords and sorcery or the werewolves and vampires.

I promise not to pass the conclusions off as my own work of genius, but to explain how genial and well-read SF&F fans helped me out on this, and how you're not all living in your parents' basements wearing Star Trek uniforms.*

(not that there's necessarily anything wrong with anyone who chooses to do so!)