It depends on what you call a classic SF&F novel – if you’re talking sword’n’scorcery or sci-fi, then no, no it isn’t.

But if you take Alan Garner, Susan Cooper, Diana Wynne Jones, Penelope Lively, Philip Pullman then yes it is…

Which I guess that’s why I always placed it in the YA catagory…?!!

It’s hard to say! I think it would probably be marketed in the SF&F section, although it’s certainly not your classic SF&F novel.

It’s definitely a crossover. I’d have to read more of it before deciding which direction the crossover takes!

It’s not in the general run of fiction, having such a strong element of fantasy – plus having the eco storyline concurrent with that. It’s a very interesting premise and, of course, very topical.

I think that this could be a good moment for your book, if you can just get it to an interested agent who has a bit of imagination.

I think you have to put at least your first two subs into the ‘Newbie’ queue, but after that I would probably put yours in the general Sci-fi/Fantasy/Horror queue if I were you – you can always add an author’s note to the effect that it’s a YA/crossover 🙂

What do you actually mean by genre novel and which genre would you say it is (from what you know of it, that is…)?

I think you are proably right, thanks! 🙂

With this in mind, and thinking about my next submission to CritiqueCircle, which cue do you think I should plop it into?

Your main characters are almost-adult/adult, and you deal with some fairly sophisticated themes (e.g. climate change) so I’d probably say yours was adult crossover rather than children’s crossover. The tone of your book seems to me much more adult than, say, the Harry Potter books.