Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Name That Genre! #30

TITLE: YA
GENRE: Surprise

I unlock my bedroom door with a hairpin and sneak out as soon as the hallway empties. Harp notes and laughter drift in the air from the night festivities downstairs. But that’s not where I’m heading. Mingling with the drunken nobility without my grandmother’s protection will only get me married to my cousin by morning.

Candlelight frames the door of Aryeea’s chamber, and I squeeze through the narrow opening to avoid announcing my presence with creaking hinges. Eyes closed and ocher hands folded over her chest, my grandmother seems at peace. She is only half the Baroness I knew in my childhood. But her dark hair is still as black as mine. Tribal blood pumps strong in our veins, no matter what we do to hide our descent.

As she lies, resting on a bed brought by my grandfather from across the sea, I try to believe Aryeea is dead.

28 comments:

  1. Historical fiction?

    I can see this turning into a romance, but at the moment I only have enough info to assume it's historical fiction.

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  2. Fantasy

    The name, the references to nobility downstairs.

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  3. Fantasy

    The mix of nobility, marrying a cousin and tribal blood hint fantasy.

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  4. Historical

    The nobility mentions.

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  5. FANTASY ADVENTURE

    The names and nobility, the harp, the candlelight suggest fantasy.

    The MC's wanting (planning?) to flee an unwanted marriage and having lost the guidance of her favorite adult/parental figure suggest adventure.

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  6. Historical Fantasy

    candlelight, harp music, Tribes

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  7. fantasy, but possibly historical as well.

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  8. Fantasy

    At first I guessed Fairytale Retelling because of the nobility and grandmother's protection (like a fairy godmother) but the other commenters have a point, it could be historical or period piece fantasy.

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  9. I'm going with historical -- though the names scream fantasy. Is historical fantasy a genre?

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  10. Historical fantasy

    The names, nobility, tribal blood, chamber. These all feel historical and fantasy like.

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  11. Fantasy.

    With royalty! There's a historical vibe, but I think there's magic, too--the grandmother's protection.

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  12. Fantasy.

    Grandmother's protection and her ocher hands and black hair, candlelight, unusual name, Aryeea, descendant tribal blood, all the lovely little details read fantasy.

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  13. Historical. Although my second guess would be Fantasy.

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  14. I thought historical at first, but then the grandmother's name and reference to tribes made me think FANTASY!

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  15. HISTORICAL FICTION

    Worried about being married off to a cousin, nobility, Baroness. I don't know if there will be any fantasy elements later on, but for now it reads as straight up historical.

    (Side note: I'm not sure if Aryeea, the Baroness, and the grandmother are all the same person or not.)

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  16. Historical Fantasy

    That line about the cousin is the absolute best! ^_^

    Historical because of nobility and baroness. Fantasy because of the tribal stuff.

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  17. Paranormal

    The death-like appearance of grandma and her hair that hasn't greyed with age makes me think both characters are vampires or a witches or some such.

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  18. Confused as to who Aryeea is. If it's the main character's late grandmother, then using present tense verbs to describe the woman doesn't fit. If Aryeea is NOT the character's grandmother, I'm not sure where the grandmother is.

    Either way, I'm guessing period fantasy, because of the tribes and the married to her cousin bit. Could even be high fantasy.

    Unless that harp in the other room is a Camac Big Blue or something. ;)

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  19. Historical - hairpin, harp, chamber, nobility, candlelight "married to my cousin by morning",

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  20. FANTASY

    "Nobility" was my first real clue.

    This is intriguing. I'm curious where this will go.

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  21. Fantasy

    It also seems like it could be historical fiction because of the harp, drunken nobility, etc. I decided on fantasy because I couldn't place the name Aryeea in a real historical setting, and "across the sea" sounds like something a fantasy character would say, rather than "from France" or something I'd expect from an historical character.

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  22. Fantasy

    Harps, nobility, Baronesses, candlelight, strange names and tribal blood. I'm thinking, if it was historical, they would have normal names.

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  23. Urban fantasy.
    Try linking these two sentences together: "She is only half the Baroness I knew in my childhood, but her dark hair is still as black as mine.:

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  24. Fantasy.

    Names, reference to tribal blood, harps.

    I love this. I would keep reading.

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  25. Historical fiction, though there is a hint of possibly a turn to fantasy. Good luck, Sarah

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  26. Fantasy. The Baroness's name -- which doesn't sound like something historical, as far as I can tell -- combined with the setting strongly suggest fantasy.

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  27. Answer: Fantasy

    The world mirrors South America during the Portuguese colonization of the 16th century, which is why some people thought it was historical. I'm not naming any historical names, so I guess I can't say it's Historical Fantasy. But I'm glad the historical vibe is coming through in the opening.

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