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@seekjustice

Historical fantasy: Of course I would read this, since QOD is a historical fantasy (or at least a misappropriation of Korean history. I justify this by saying that modern Korea’s obsession with celebrities, appearance and plastic surgery makes their society a perfect vehicle for my story themes) 😛

Steampunk: My view is that this is more of an aesthetic than a real genre. It is a cool aesthetic but I cannot off the top of my head think of any steampunk story that truly garnered my interest. I am half-considering putting my lawyer/detective story idea in a steampunk setting though.

Alternate history: Again a cool idea but I have seen very few alternate history concepts that caught my interest for long.

My favourite work in these genres is not a book but a Japanese manga called Ooku. It is set in an alternate Edo Japan where an ongoing epidemic has caused a thinning of the male population so there is a gender imbalance of 4 women to 1 man. As a result women have had to take up positions of power and since there are so few healthy and virile men, they are kept as valuable seed stock, used essentially as prostitutes. The manga is a generational saga that follows the lives of each of the Tokugawa shoguns (who are reimagined as women) and their concubines (who are reimagined as men). I like this story for its character study that explores what it is like to live in such a crazy society and also its political intrigue that references and gives alternate explanations for real life historical events and struggles (e.g. Japan’s isolation policy is explained as, since they have such a grave gender imbalance and few fighting men, exposing the country to foreigners would make Japan vulnerable to attack by the other countries which have healthy male populations).

(Sorry, I’m not subscribed but I do come by from time to time when I see that there are new posts) 😛