What would happen if humans had access to unlimited energy? Would they become lazy or productive? What kind of society would we live in? In the 20th century, science fiction became a genre of its own, stepping into the limelight as a moderately popular genre but overall a creative underdog in the face of more…
The best zombie books are those that take place in a post-apocalyptic world, where humanity has been wiped out by zombies. The survivors must band together to survive and find ways to fight back against the undead hordes. Zombie fiction is one of the most popular genres in fiction today. It’s also one of the…
Science fiction is works of literature, now made mass-media, that speculates the world (or worlds) where real elements are reimagined. Science fiction explores the possibilities of what might be possible in our world or other worlds, and how it would affect us if these things were to become reality. This could be time travel, space…
Gothic science fiction (or gothfic) is a subgenre of science fiction that draws on the conventions and imagery of the Gothic novel, particularly its use of dark fantasy elements such as ghosts, vampires, werewolves, witches, and other supernatural creatures. The genre has been around for decades, but it was not until the early 1990s that…
Military science fiction (MSF) is a genre of science fiction that deals with military themes and the interaction between humans, aliens, robots or other forms of artificial intelligence, and the military forces. Military science fiction can be categorized as one of two types: Future War SF and Space Opera. The former usually focuses on wars…
Dieselpunk is a subgenre of science fiction and fantasy that features diesel-powered vehicles, such as trucks, cars, motorcycles and trains. It’s often associated with the 1930s and 1940s, but it can be set in any time period. Dieselpunk Origins The origins of this genre are rooted in the pulp era of science fiction. In the…
The term “hard science fiction” has been used in various ways over the years, and it’s not always clear what exactly is meant by this phrase. In general, hard SF refers to stories that are set in a future where scientific knowledge is more advanced than today (or at least, as advanced as we know…
Soft Science Fiction (SSF) is a term used to describe a genre of speculative fiction that combines elements of the hard and soft sciences, as well as the social sciences in order to create an imagined future world or society. The term was coined by author David Brin in his book Existence, which he describes…
Apocalyptic and post apocalyptic fiction is a genre of science fiction which deals with the end of the world, or at least its near future. It can be contrasted to other genres such as space opera, military sci fi, cyberpunk, hard SF, etc., in that it features a more realistic view of what may happen…
Space Opera, also known as space fantasy, is a subgenre of science fiction that focuses on the exploration and settlement of other worlds. It draws heavily from elements of adventure stories, westerns, sword & sorcery tales, and high-tech military science fiction, with a focus on large scale conflict between human factions in an interstellar setting.…