Line #60 Main/ScienceFiction


1	->''"It's been said that science fiction and fantasy are two different things: science fiction the improbable made possible; fantasy, the impossible made probable..."''
2	-->-- '''Creator/RodSerling''', ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959''
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4	%% One quote at the top of the page, and no more. Please place additional entries on the quotes tab.
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6	As a literary genre, Science Fiction (a subset of SpeculativeFiction) is broad and incorporates subgenres ranging from SteamPunk to CyberPunk, running headalong through SpaceOpera on the way.
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8	Science Fiction depends on asking "what if?" (Not quite the same thing as WhatIf). Or as [[Film/JustImagine this one 1930 Science Fiction musical]] proposed: "Just imagine"...
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10	* ...[[FasterThanLightTravel travel between stars]] were possible.
11	* ...[[FirstContact aliens came]] to Earth.
12	* ...a {{utopia}} or a {{dystopia}}.
13	* ...{{the future}}.
14	* ...we had superhuman abilities.
15	* [[AdvancedAncientAcropolis ...ancient humans were more advanced than we are.]]
16	* [[PrehistoricMonster ...dinosaurs or other prehistoric beasts were revived.]]
17	* [[LostWorld ...there was an undiscovered place on earth or beyond our dimension with bizarre or prehistoric life]]
18	* ...If you could rebuild modern technology or civilization from scratch.
19	* ...we could create our own sentient creatures.
20	* ...an advanced ArtificialIntelligence declared war on humanity.
21	* [[AlternateHistory ...a war had favored the other side.]]
22	* [[ItsAWonderfulPlot ...you could visit a world where you were never born.]]
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24	The one defining(-ish, definitions differ) trait of Science Fiction is that there is technology that doesn't exist ''in the time period the story is written in''. Consider ''[[Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea]]''. The story was written in a time when submarines were still at the prototype stage, so ''20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'' falls within the boundaries of Science Fiction.
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26	However, Science Fiction is as much a genre as a [[StandardSciFiSetting setting.]] Often, the technology is a means to explore a concept, and the story could be a detective story focusing on how advanced technology affects crime and policing. This story would be both Science Fiction and DetectiveStory.
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28	In general, without getting too much into the advanced and diverse subgenres of science fiction, there are two schools -- [[MediaNotes/MohsScaleofScienceFictionHardness "hard" and "soft"]]. While the distinction isn't always clear cut, there are a few key differences. Hard science fiction relies on using already established science or justifying its fictionalized science using carefully calculated predictions. Hard SF tries to use the advanced technology as something that is important in itself, with its consequences, limitations and new uses being the main plot points. Due to the heavy focus on the scientific aspect, this is a rather niche market. Soft science fiction includes everything else, and generally falls under two major schools -- adventure/pulp science fiction (which includes the SpaceOpera) and social science fiction. The former uses technology as a means to an end, merely a backdrop that allows TheCaptain to fight ForGreatJustice with a [[TheParalyzer Stun Ray]] against the evil aliens and have [[BoldlyComing space sex]] with the GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe, instead of having to have him use a boring, ordinary gun and have boring, ordinary sex, with the boring, ordinary-skinned Earth babe. In the latter, the technology is used as a means of exploring characters and its social/psychological effects. Of course, it is entirely possible to have an action packed adventure story with deep social commentary.
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30	In both schools of soft science fiction, it usually doesn't matter whether the technology used is actually plausible or not, and there is often little to no explanation as to how the technology would actually work. Otherwise, it may rely on such devices as TechnoBabble to maintain a "sci-fi" atmosphere without the author actually having to use detailed scientific principles. Because hard science fiction tends to focus more on scientific detail and soft science fiction focuses on well developed characters and/or adventure, there is a divide between certain sections of the fandom. This divide has been around since, essentially, [[http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=231 the very beginning of the genre.]] However, "hard" and "soft" say nothing about quality or literary value, just the level of scientific detail and accuracy used.
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32	As with everything, there is often a [[MediaNotes/MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness blend of Hard and Soft]] science fiction. It is perfectly possible to write a hard Science Fiction story about TheCaptain running around shooting people with miniaturized microwave emitters designed to incapacitate people without killing them, shooting aliens and having sex with {{Green Skinned Space Babe}}s (with no chance of conception because green aliens are biologically incompatible with humans), just as one can go into considerable detail justifying otherwise implausible technology that is [[ClarkesThirdLaw much like magic]] (usually accomplished by deliberately altering basic scientific laws) and its effects on scientific research. This can often lead to HiddenDepths.
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34	Science Fiction authors and fans are [[BerserkButton notoriously cranky]] about [[SciFiGhetto how their work is not taken seriously by the literary community]], and especially resent being lumped in with [[{{Fantasy}} the fantasy genre.]] (SpeculativeFiction, an umbrella term for all varieties of imaginative literature, has an analysis page that explains the [[Analysis/SpeculativeFiction differences between Fantasy and Science Fiction]].) Note also that many Science Fiction fans dislike the term [="SciFi"=]: to them it suggests the [[{{Flanderization}} flanderized]] conception of the genre in popular culture, with green-skinned aliens, giant space battles and hammy production values. Therefore, [[InsistentTerminology they will insist on calling it]] [[SpellMyNameWithAnS SF]] for short.
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36	See also: SpeculativeFictionTropes, SpeculativeFictionSeries, SpeculativeFictionCreatorIndex, TechnologyMarchesOn. Not to be confused with FictionScience, which is when we use RealLife science to examine fictional works.
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38	----
39
40	!!Subgenres:
41	[[index]]
42	[floatboxright:'''Mediums:'''
43	+ ScienceFictionAnimatedFilms
44	+ ScienceFictionAnimeAndManga
45	+ ScienceFictionComicBooks
46	+ ScienceFictionFanFic
47	+ ScienceFictionFilms
48	+ ScienceFictionLiterature
49	+ ScienceFictionPodcasts
50	+ ScienceFictionRadio
51	+ ScienceFictionSeries
52	+ ScienceFictionTabletopGames
53	%%+ ScienceFictionTheatre
54	+ ScienceFictionVideoGames
55	+ ScienceFictionVisualNovels
56	+ ScienceFictionWebAnimation
57	+ ScienceFictionWebOriginals
58	+ SciFiWebcomics
59	+ ScienceFictionWesternAnimation
60	]
61
62	(Exact definitions of these genres, including whether they're really Sci-Fi, and how much they overlap with Fantasy, will vary from person to person.)
63
64	* [[MediaNotes/MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness Hard and Soft Science Fiction]]
65	** [[MundaneDogmatic Mundane Science Fiction]] (a hard SF subgenre)
66	* AlienWorks
67	** AlienInvasion
68	* [[AfterTheEnd Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic Fiction]]
69	* AlternateTechline
70	* JungleOpera
71	* KaijuWorks
72	* MechaShow
73	** RealRobotGenre
74	** SuperRobotGenre
75	* MilitaryScienceFiction
76	* MutantMedia
77	* NewWaveScienceFiction
78	* NewWeird
79	* PastoralScienceFiction
80	* PlanetaryRomance
81	* PunkPunk
82	** {{Cyberpunk}}
83	*** CyberpunkForFlavor
84	*** PostCyberpunk
85	** {{Steampunk}}
86	* RobotAndAIWorks
87	* SciFiHorror
88	* ScienceFantasy
89	* SpaceOpera
90	* SpaceWestern
91	* SpeculativeBiology
92	* SpeculativeDocumentary
93	* TeslaTechTimeline
94	* TimeTravel
95	* VideoGameStories
96	* ZombieStories
97
98	[[/index]]

Context Main / ScienceFiction