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.
Conventions include a realistic, usually historical setting and protagonists identifiable by uniform rather than spies, who are soldiers moving secretly among a civilian population and in civilian dress. They are usually stories with a large cast of characters even if told through a single character's point of view. Enthusiasts of the genre generally appreciate attention to tactics and strategy, as well as attention to the particulars of weapons and tools.
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.
Militarized space opera is so dominant that many in the broad public seem to assume all science fiction is space opera. Understandably, this is to the frustration of many science fiction enthusiasts. It does, however, attest to the universality of the war story. So do all the martial elements in fantasy, whether in the form of the classics of the field or yesterday's new video game.
The whole genre of secret agent stories might also be understood as a sub-category of military stories. In this account, spy stories have the same relationship to war stories that espionage holds to the regular armed forces. The spy story can be thought of as a kind of military story dedicated to a particular theater of combat, fought by a particular kind of soldier. It would be analogous to fiction that focuses on naval battles, or special forces combat.
Many parents might be reluctant to expose their children to realistic war stories for fear of glamorizing violence or even inspiring them to enlist. They might be relieved to know there is less risk exposing young people to violence in written media rather than there is in the immediate shock provided by TV and film. These days, a parent might hesitate before restricting almost any decent material that might influence their child toward a life of reading.
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.
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.
Conventions include a realistic, usually historical setting and protagonists identifiable by uniform rather than spies, who are soldiers moving secretly among a civilian population and in civilian dress. They are usually stories with a large cast of characters even if told through a single character's point of view. Enthusiasts of the genre generally appreciate attention to tactics and strategy, as well as attention to the particulars of weapons and tools.
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.
Militarized space opera is so dominant that many in the broad public seem to assume all science fiction is space opera. Understandably, this is to the frustration of many science fiction enthusiasts. It does, however, attest to the universality of the war story. So do all the martial elements in fantasy, whether in the form of the classics of the field or yesterday's new video game.
The whole genre of secret agent stories might also be understood as a sub-category of military stories. In this account, spy stories have the same relationship to war stories that espionage holds to the regular armed forces. The spy story can be thought of as a kind of military story dedicated to a particular theater of combat, fought by a particular kind of soldier. It would be analogous to fiction that focuses on naval battles, or special forces combat.
Many parents might be reluctant to expose their children to realistic war stories for fear of glamorizing violence or even inspiring them to enlist. They might be relieved to know there is less risk exposing young people to violence in written media rather than there is in the immediate shock provided by TV and film. These days, a parent might hesitate before restricting almost any decent material that might influence their child toward a life of reading.
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.
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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