Novel
One of the longest forms of Prose Fiction and the source of many a Doorstopper. The novel is one of the most popular forms of literary fiction, and has made the fortune of several writers.
A novel can be any work of fiction longer than about 40 or 50 thousand words (the exact figure is debatable). Novels tend to have very complex plots with several conflicts that drive them.
Subtypes and derivations of the novel form include (list not mutually exclusive):
- Epistolary Novel: When a novel consists of a series of fictitious letters or documents.
- Serial Novel: Novel published serialized as a newspaper or magazine series.
- Novelization: Adaptation of a movie into a novel.
- Tie-in Novel: Novels written to tie in with a TV show or Media Franchise.
- Verse Novel: A novel that is written in verse.
- Graphic Novel: When novel meets Comic Book.
- Dime Novel: The pulp novels of the 19th century ('penny dreadfuls' in Britain).
- Romance Novel: Trivial novel that focuses on love and romance.
- Airport Novel: Cheap entertainment novel, the modern Spiritual Successor of the Dime Novel.
- Light Novel: Japanese type of Young Adult oriented entertainment novels.
- Visual Novel: Novel meets Interactive Fiction.
- In-Game Novel: Novel included as background in a Video Game.
- Novella
- Novelette
For more information see "the other wiki."
Examples of Novel include:
- Ulysses by James Joyce
- Beloved by Toni Morrison
- Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
- Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu, often considered the first novel.
- Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, considered the first modern novel in Western literature.