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 genre of espionage literature can be classified a sub-genre of war literature. This classification has espionage literature playing the same role with war literature that espionage agencies play among a nation's armed forces. Nearly any fictional intelligence agent of note has a background story of service in the combat arms, and were at some point identified from within that pool of fighting men. Most still hold rank.
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.
It is common among children to focus obsessively upon a particular genre. Sometimes it is girls and fantasy, with its dragons and wizards. Add technological elements and it becomes science fiction. Boys who need more realism sometimes seem to tune in to war stories and little else when it comes to reading material.
Stories of combat have energized young men for thousands of years. Many may object, and their objections should receive a fair hearing. But the distribution of war literature could also lead to more boys learning to read and more men going in for their check-ups.
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 genre of espionage literature can be classified a sub-genre of war literature. This classification has espionage literature playing the same role with war literature that espionage agencies play among a nation's armed forces. Nearly any fictional intelligence agent of note has a background story of service in the combat arms, and were at some point identified from within that pool of fighting men. Most still hold rank.
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.
It is common among children to focus obsessively upon a particular genre. Sometimes it is girls and fantasy, with its dragons and wizards. Add technological elements and it becomes science fiction. Boys who need more realism sometimes seem to tune in to war stories and little else when it comes to reading material.
Stories of combat have energized young men for thousands of years. Many may object, and their objections should receive a fair hearing. But the distribution of war literature could also lead to more boys learning to read and more men going in for their check-ups.
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