“What’s the genre?”

This is one of the first questions people ask me when they find out I’ve written a novel.  Everyday, new genres are being created and the lines between established categories are being blurred.  So I thought I’d do a little research to see if I could come up with a concise, up-to-date answer to this question.

Unfortunately, a quick internet search turned up a dizzying array of categories, sub-categories, hybrid categories, and categories that have birthed other categories.  Nevertheless, I will attempt—using other peoples definitions—to describe The Awakened.

The Awakened is set both “in the real world” and “a rational and familiar fictional world, with the inclusion of magical elements” “that are scientifically explainable.”  It “chronicles the lives and doings of a family,” but is particularly “told from the point of view of a main character who is a soldier in the military,” “who journeys to epic or distant places” because “humanity is threatened by forces beyond human understanding.”  It is “inspired by myth, folklore, and fairy tales,” and involves “exciting action sequences,” “political affairs,” “magic and supernatural forces.”  It deals with “Christian religious themes” and “presupposes the existence of the side of Good and the existence of a deity to be opposed to the forces of Evil.”  As such, it might be categorized as Action, Adventure, Action-Adventure, Fantasy, Dark-Fantasy, Contemporary-Fantasy, High/Epic-Fantasy, Low-Fantasy, Mythic-Fantasy, Science-Fiction, Horror, Political-Fiction, Christian-Fiction, Military-Fiction, or a Saga.

Whew!  So much for concise!