Expanded and updated to provide information on the newest popular fiction, this guide to genre fiction covers westerns, thrillers, science fiction, fantasy, supernatural/horror fiction, and romance. It defines the various genres; analyses their characteristics, grouping authors according to type or subject content; and provides a selective, annotated bibliography of the history and criticism of each genre. New authors are profiled in this edition, and a number of new subgenres, including the ice-age epic and techno-thriller, are outlined.