Anyone running a doctor's office or any other kind of establishment with a waiting room should consider providing reading material their clients will enjoy. So many of these waiting rooms are either empty or filled with women's reading material. Military fiction books and magazines are especially popular among men and boys. Perhaps the fellows are stealing war books from lobbies nationwide. If not, office managers would do well to order some war stories.
There are a few generic conventions which are conformed to, bent, or broken as the author dares and the editor permits. Narration is more likely than not to be told in first person, since the fictional memoir form is especially popular. There will be a potentially huge cast of supporting characters. The great majority of these will be soldiers at war. The genre's fans are known to favor detailed knowledge of all the tools of soldiering, as well as all a soldier's tactics.
Rules are meant to be broken, and the war genre is rapacious at poaching other genres' treasure. This is particularly so with science fiction. Space opera is perennially the most popular sub-category in SF, both on bookstands and on the screen. It is the form of SF likeliest to be cast in a completely military setting, however imaginary. Characters will exist in a strict hierarchy of rank. There might be spacecraft massed into squadrons, firing at other massed squadrons. If on a planet, there are likely as not gun battles with beam guns blazing.
Space opera, which is science fiction at war or at least among soldiers, is so predominant that many likely think of space opera scenes when they think about SF. It is easy to sympathize with the technically literate, scientifically curious Hard SF reader. So too attest all the warrior aspects of the fantasy genre, whether one is enjoying one of the field's classics or a video game.
The entire field of spy and espionage stories can be seen as a subgenre of the war story. Their relationship is akin to the way intelligence is a facet of a nation's armed forces. Almost every fictional spy holds rank in an armed force, and typically was recruited from one into the intelligence service. In this sense the espionage story is a subgenre of war story identified by its branch of arms, akin to the subgenres focused on air combat or submarine warfare.
Understandably, there will be discerning parents who balk before letting their children enjoy reading about Okinawa or Shiloh. It might comfort them to know that violent print material lacks the neurological impact of seeing the same violence in real-time on the screen. Today, though, any conscious parent might balk before striking what their child loves. There might not be too many opportunities to inspire a love of books.
Bright kids sometimes dedicate themselves to one type of literature for as long as several years. Some will be drawn toward fantasy, which offers magical beings and a vaguely medieval atmosphere. Those who prefer their settings more futuristic will incline toward SF. But many children aren't intrigued by wildly imaginative material.
Tales of war have excited men and boys since the Trojan War and no doubt longer than that. It isn't difficult to grasp the objections of thoughtful parents. But distributing this material in lobbies and bookshelves might inspire boys to learn to read and inspire older men not to skip their medical appointments.
There are a few generic conventions which are conformed to, bent, or broken as the author dares and the editor permits. Narration is more likely than not to be told in first person, since the fictional memoir form is especially popular. There will be a potentially huge cast of supporting characters. The great majority of these will be soldiers at war. The genre's fans are known to favor detailed knowledge of all the tools of soldiering, as well as all a soldier's tactics.
Rules are meant to be broken, and the war genre is rapacious at poaching other genres' treasure. This is particularly so with science fiction. Space opera is perennially the most popular sub-category in SF, both on bookstands and on the screen. It is the form of SF likeliest to be cast in a completely military setting, however imaginary. Characters will exist in a strict hierarchy of rank. There might be spacecraft massed into squadrons, firing at other massed squadrons. If on a planet, there are likely as not gun battles with beam guns blazing.
Space opera, which is science fiction at war or at least among soldiers, is so predominant that many likely think of space opera scenes when they think about SF. It is easy to sympathize with the technically literate, scientifically curious Hard SF reader. So too attest all the warrior aspects of the fantasy genre, whether one is enjoying one of the field's classics or a video game.
The entire field of spy and espionage stories can be seen as a subgenre of the war story. Their relationship is akin to the way intelligence is a facet of a nation's armed forces. Almost every fictional spy holds rank in an armed force, and typically was recruited from one into the intelligence service. In this sense the espionage story is a subgenre of war story identified by its branch of arms, akin to the subgenres focused on air combat or submarine warfare.
Understandably, there will be discerning parents who balk before letting their children enjoy reading about Okinawa or Shiloh. It might comfort them to know that violent print material lacks the neurological impact of seeing the same violence in real-time on the screen. Today, though, any conscious parent might balk before striking what their child loves. There might not be too many opportunities to inspire a love of books.
Bright kids sometimes dedicate themselves to one type of literature for as long as several years. Some will be drawn toward fantasy, which offers magical beings and a vaguely medieval atmosphere. Those who prefer their settings more futuristic will incline toward SF. But many children aren't intrigued by wildly imaginative material.
Tales of war have excited men and boys since the Trojan War and no doubt longer than that. It isn't difficult to grasp the objections of thoughtful parents. But distributing this material in lobbies and bookshelves might inspire boys to learn to read and inspire older men not to skip their medical appointments.
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