Fantasy; Mystery; Young Adult Literature
Midwinterblood covers seven different stories in seven different time periods, so it's fitting that there are a whole bunch of different genres in squeezed in there, too. Trust us: We could add in a whole bunch of others. There are light touches of dystopian literature (in 2073), war drama (in 1944), and gothic literature (in the 10th century). But in the interest of not making a book told in reverse chronological order any more complicated than it needs to be, we're sticking with three genre heavy-hitters.
The genres that kind of arch over the whole book and pop up in almost every story are fantasy, mystery, and young adult lit. Mystery is an easy one: Pretty much the whole book is filled with the unknown. As we move backward through time, we're tracking clues and hints as we gradually unravel the secrets behind Blessed Island, the dragon orchid, and the reincarnations of Eric and Merle.
As for fantasy, we have all kinds of weird, unusual, and supernatural things going down. We're talking immortality, love that never dies, vampires, ghosts, and more. And even though it doesn't feature many teenaged characters, the book is also written for young adults, so it fits nicely under that genre, too. The story twists and turns, but the language is geared toward YA readers through and through.
Why throw in so many different genres? Well, it helps to give each part of the novel its own flavor. After all, we should feel differently reading about characters and places from 2011 versus characters and places in the 10th century, right? For more on this, be sure to check out the "Narrator Point of View" section.