Not all science fiction stories are about space or time travel as many believe. In fact, many “types” or “subgenres” of science fiction exist. Often writers specialize in one or two of the differing types.
Just as there are many subgenres, so there also are a number of different ways to categorize the basic types of science fiction stories. Some editors and critics divide the field by “speculations that may be”, labeling stories as “cautionary”, “inspirational” or “satirical”. Some talk about “otherness”, as does Christopher Evans in “Writing Science Fiction” when he divides science fiction into the four categories of “other times” (past, future), “other worlds” (alien world, alternate histories), “other beings” (altered humans such as mutants, cyborgs, supermen and immortals; artificial humans such as robots, androids, computers; aliens such as humanoids, nonhumanoids and monsters) and “other states of mind” (telepathy, precognition, telekinesis and teleportation; reaching/creating other realities through the mind; and drugs/agents that create new states of mind). Both systems, and those similar to them, are fairly academic in approach.
The problem with these approaches is that individual stories tend to fall into each of these categories. For example, the movie “Star Trek: First Contact” is about other times (it’s set in the 2060s and in the 24th century), it involves other worlds (the Romulan Neutral Zone and an alternate future Earth in which the Borg have conquered humanity), other beings (the Borg, the android Data and the Vulcans). What use is a system of categorization if a work falls into three of the four groupings?
I prefer a more traditional (albeit a bit messier) way of thinking about the “types” – as subgenres, or groups of stories that share similar conventions and approaches that represent a narrow, but recognizable and popular or trendy, piece of the entire genre. Among the most recognized of those categories with an example are:
n Space opera/space western – Melodramatic adventures, often involving space battles (Buck Rogers)
n Utopia – Description of a perfect society, at least in the author’s mind (Ian M. Banks’ “Culture”)
n Dystopia – Description of a society gone wrong (George Orwell’s “1984”)
n Hard SF – Scientific rigor marks the story’s focus (Hal Clement’s “Mission of Gravity”)
n Soft SF – Characterization and ideas about society mark the story’s focus (“Star Trek”)
n Feminist SF – Deals with women’s role in society (Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Left Hand of Darkness”)
n Cyberpunk – High tech in a society that has broken down (William Gibson’s “Neuromancer”)
n Alternate histories – History has diverged from the one we know (Harry Turtledove’s “The Guns of the South”)
n Alternate futures - A possible future never comes to pass, often because a character travels back in time and alters the past (“Back to the Future II”)
n Slipstream - Fantastic or non-realistic fiction that crosses conventional genre boundaries between science fiction and contemporary literature (Thomas Pynchon’s “Gravity's Rainbow”)
n Science fantasy – Elements of fantasy and of science fiction are melded (Anne McCaffrey's Pern novels)
n Dark SF – Elements of horror and science fiction are mixed (the movie “Alien”)
n Erotic SF – Sex and sexuality are explored in a science fiction setting (Lois McMaster Bujold’s “Ethan of Athos”
n New wave – A movement of 1960s, it boasted a high degree of experimentation, both in form and in content (Harlan Ellison’s “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream”)
n New space opera – A movement of 1990s, the stories tend to be more military-themed and literary than original space opera/space western (David Weber’s “On Basilisk Station”)
n New...
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getting started, subgenres
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