As part of the MFA at Seton Hill, students are required to take three semesters of “Reading In Genre” – RIG for short. Part of the purpose here is for the student to acquaint themselves with the conventions of their preferred genre over the three course cycle. Cycle? Yes… The idea behind the cycle is that each track is broken into three approaches to the readings (SF/Fantasy – Current works, Classic SF, and Classic Fantasy; Mysteries – Subgenres, Classic, and Contemporary, etc.). Students are encouraged over the course of their time to take courses across multiple genres, or take additional RIG sections, should they be so inclined.
I tell you that to tell you this. If you would like to know what some of the selected readings might be like for the program, here is the list of readings for four of the five genres. (Sadly, either no one in my group took the YA RIG this semester, or they just didn’t provide the reading list when we discussed the classes over the summer.)
As the title suggests, this will be the first of three posts. The other two will come at future dates, as I undertake my other two RIG courses.
| Contemporary SF/Fantasy A Game of Thrones – George R. R. Martin Leviathan Wakes – James S. A. Corey The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms – N. K. Jemisen Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti – Genevieve Valentine Railsea – China Mieville Daughter of Smoke and Bone – Laini Taylor Ready Player One – Ernest Cline |
Romance (Subgenres) Never Romance a Rake – Liz Carlyle Risky Engagement – Merline Lovelace Jinx – Meg Cabot I’ve Got Your Number – Sophie Kinsella Critical Impact – Isable Cooper With Just One Kiss – Francis Ray |
| Horror (Psychos) NOVELS Psycho: A Novel – Robert Bloch The Church of Dead Girls – Stephen Dobyns Red Dragon – Thomas Harris Misery – Stephen King The Sculptor – Gregory Funaro Joyride – Jack Ketchum Batman: The Killing Joke – Alan Moore (Graphic Novel) MOVIES Seven – Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey The Silence of the Lambs – Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins HOW-TO Howdunit: How Crimes are Committed and Solved – John Boertlein, Ed |
Mysteries: Subgenres The Last Dance – Ed McBain (police procedural) Final Jeopardy – Linda Fairstein (legal) High-Wire Act – Franklin W. Dixon (young adult) One for the Money – Janet Evanovich (crime humor) Little Scarlet – Walter Mosley (P.I.) Thief of Hearts – Tess Gerritsen (romance) North of Montana – April Smith (FBI agent) Writing Mysteries (selections): a Handbook by the Mystery Writers of America, edited by Sue Grafton |
For this round, I had the Mystery course… at the moment, I am in line for the Classic Fantasy track (with Horror as my second option). I’ll let you know how that works out.
#1 by T. S. Bazelli on October 31, 2012 - 10:41
Thank you for sharing this! I need to read outside of SF/F and I have trouble finding a place to start with recommendations. I will be stealing some books from this list 😉