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Action fiction

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Action novels and short stories were popular subjects for American pulp magazines.

Action fiction is a genre in literature that focuses on stories involving high-stakes, high-energy, and fast-paced events. This genre includes a wide range of subgenres, such as spy novels, adventure stories, tales of terror, intrigue ("cloak and dagger"), and mysteries. These kinds of stories utilize suspense, the tension that is built up when the reader wishes to know how the conflict between the protagonist and antagonist is going to be resolved or the solution to a mystery of a thriller.[1] The intricacies of human relationships or the nuances of philosophy and psychology are rarely explored in action fiction, typically being fast-paced mysteries that merely seek to provide the reader with an exhilarating experience.[2] Action fiction can also be a plot element of non-literary works.

Genre fiction

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Action genre is a form of fiction whose subject matter is characterized by emphasis on exciting action sequences. This does not always mean they exclude character development or story-telling. The action genre is also related to comic books and graphic novel formats such as manga, and non-literary media including anime, action film, action television series, and action games. It includes martial arts action, extreme sports action, car chases and vehicles, hand-to-hand combat, suspense action, and action comedy, with each focusing in more detail on its own type and flavor of action. It is usually possible to identify the creative style of an action sequence, the emphasis of an entire work, so that, for example, the style of a combat sequence will indicate whether the entire work can be classified as action-adventure. Action is mainly defined by a central focus on any kind of exciting movement.[3][4][5][6]

Notable examples

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Novels

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Films

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Television series

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Comics

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Animation

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Turco (1999, pp. 58, 116)
  2. ^ "Leisure Reads: Fiction and Popular Non-Fiction". Robert W. Van Houten Library. New Jersey Institute of Technology. September 13, 2024. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  3. ^ "Action". Literary Terms. October 21, 2016.
  4. ^ "A guide to comic book styles". BBC Maestro. BBC. 21 February 2023. Archived from the original on June 6, 2024.
  5. ^ Dow, Isabella (April 26, 2017). "The Appeal of the Action Genre". The Heights.
  6. ^ Hellerman, Jason (December 6, 2023). "The Action Genre in Film and TV". No Film School. Retrieved 1 May 2024.

Parenthetical sources

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Further reading

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