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Internet Speculative Fiction Database
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with the impact of imagined innova
tions in science or technology, often in a futuristic setting.[1][2][3]
It differs from fantasy in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary
elements are largely possible within scientifically established or scientificall
y postulated laws of nature (though some elements in a story might still be pure
imaginative speculation). Exploring the consequences of such differences is the
traditional purpose of science fiction, making it a "literature of ideas".[4] S
cience fiction is largely based on writing rationally about alternative possibil
ities.[5]
The settings for science fiction are often contrary to known reality, but the ma
jority of science fiction relies on a considerable degree of suspension of disbe
lief, which is facilitated in the reader's mind by potential scientific explanat
ions or solutions to various fictional elements.
These may include:
A setting in the future, in alternative timelines, or in an historical past that
contradicts known facts of history or the archaeological record
A setting in outer space, on other worlds, or involving aliens[6]
Stories that involve technology or scientific principles that contradict known l
aws of nature[7]
Stories that involve discovery or application of new scientific principles, such
as time travel or psionics, or new technology, such as nanotechnology, faster-t
han-light travel or robots, or of new and different political or social systems
(e.g., a dystopia, or a situation where organized society has collapsed)[8]
Contents [hide]
1 Definitions
2 History
2.1 Innovation
3 Subgenres
3.1 Hard SF
3.2 Soft and social SF
3.3 Cyberpunk
3.4 Time travel
3.5 Alternate history
3.6 Military SF
3.7 Superhuman
3.8 Apocalyptic
3.9 Space opera
3.10 Space Western
3.11 Other sub-genres
4 Related genres
4.1 Speculative fiction, fantasy, and horror
4.2 Fantasy
4.3 Horror fiction
4.4 Mystery fiction
4.5 Superhero fiction
5 Fandom and community
5.1 Awards
5.2 Conventions, clubs, and organizations
5.3 Fanzines and online fandom
5.4 Fan fiction
6 Science fiction studies
6.1 Science fiction as serious literature
7 Science fiction world-wide
7.1 Africa and African diaspora
7.2 Asia
7.3 Europe
7.4 Oceania
7.5 North America
8 See also
9 Notes and references
9.1 Notes
9.2 References
10 External links
[edit] DefinitionsFor more details on this topic, see Definitions of science fic
tion.
Science fiction is difficult to define, as it includes a wide range of subgenres
and themes. Author and editor Damon Knight summed up the difficulty by stating
that "science fiction is what we point to when we say it",[9] a definition echoe
d by author Mark C. Glassy, who argues that the definition of science fiction is
like the definition of pornography: you don't know what it is, but you know it
when you see it.[10] Vladimir Nabokov argued that if we were rigorous with our d
efinitions, Shakespeare's play The Tempest would have to be termed science ficti
on.[11]
According to science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein, "a handy short definitio
n of almost all science fiction might read: realistic speculation about possible
future events, based solidly on adequate knowledge of the real world, past and
present, and on a thorough understanding of the nature and significance of the s
cientific method."[12] Rod Serling's definition is "fantasy is the impossible ma
de probable. Science Fiction is the improbable made possible."[13] Lester del Re
y wrote, "Even the devoted aficionado or fan has a hard time trying to explain what
science fiction is", and that the reason for there not being a "full satisfactor
y definition" is that "there are no easily delineated limits to science fiction.
"[14]
Forrest J Ackerman used the term sci-fi at UCLA in 1954.[15] As science fiction
entered popular culture, writers and fans active in the field came to associate
the term with low-budget, low-tech "B-movies" and with low-quality pulp science
fiction.[16][17][18] By the 1970s, critics within the field such as Terry Carr a
nd Damon Knight were using sci-fi to distinguish hack-work from serious science
fiction,[19] and around 1978, Susan Wood and others introduced the pronunciation
"skiffy". Peter Nicholls writes that "SF" (or "sf") is "the preferred abbreviat
ion within the community of sf writers and readers".[20] David Langford's monthl
y fanzine Ansible includes a regular section "As Others See Us" which offers num
erous examples of "sci-fi" being used in a pejorative sense by people outside th
e genre.[21]
[edit] HistoryFor more details on this topic, see History of science fiction.
As a means of understanding the world through speculation and storytelling, scie
nce fiction has antecedents back to mythology, though precursors to science fict
ion as literature can be seen in Lucian's True History in the 2nd century,[22][2
3][24][25][26] some of the Arabian Nights tales,[27][28] The Tale of the Bamboo
Cutter in the 10th century,[28] Ibn al-Nafis' Theologus Autodidactus in the 13th
century,[29] and Jules Verne's A Journey to the Centre of the Earth and Twenty
Thousand Leagues Under the Sea in the 19th century.
A product of the budding Age of Reason and the development of modern science its
elf, Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels[30] was one of the first true science f
antasy works, together with Voltaire's Micromégas and Johannes Kepler's Somnium.[c
itation needed] The latter work is considered the first science fiction story by
Carl Sagan[31] and Isaac Asimov.[32] It depicts a journey to the Moon and how t
he Earth's motion is seen from there. Another example is Ludvig Holberg's novel
Nicolai Klimii iter subterraneum, 1741. (Translated to Danish by Hans Hagerup in
1742 as Niels Klims underjordiske Rejse.) (Eng. Niels Klim's Underground Travel
s.) Brian Aldiss has argued that Mary Shelley's Frankenstein(1818) was the first
work of science fiction [33]
Following the 18th century development of the novel as a literary form, in the e
arly 19th century, Mary Shelley's books Frankenstein and The Last Man helped def
ine the form of the science fiction novel;[34] later Edgar Allan Poe wrote a sto
ry about a flight to the moon.[35] More examples appeared throughout the 19th ce
ntury.

H. G. WellsThen with the dawn of new technologies such as electricity, the teleg
raph, and new forms of powered transportation, writers like Jules Verne and H. G
. Wells created a body of work that became popular across broad cross-sections o
f society.[36] Wells' The War of the Worlds describes an invasion of late Victor
ian England by Martians using tripod fighting machines equipped with advanced we
aponry. It is a seminal depiction of an alien invasion of Earth.
In the late 19th century, the term "scientific romance" was used in Britain to d
escribe much of this fiction. This produced additional offshoots, such as the 18
84 novella Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin Abbott Abbott. The te
rm would continue to be used into the early 20th century for writers such as Ola
f Stapledon.

Jules VerneIn the early 20th century, pulp magazines helped develop a new genera
tion of mainly American SF writers, influenced by Hugo Gernsback, the founder of
Amazing Stories magazine.[37] In the late 1930s, John W. Campbell became editor
of Astounding Science Fiction, and a critical mass of new writers emerged in Ne
w York City in a group called the Futurians, including Isaac Asimov, Damon Knigh
t, Donald A. Wollheim, Frederik Pohl, James Blish, Judith Merril, and others.[38
] Other important writers during this period included E.E. (Doc) Smith, Robert A
. Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, Olaf Stapledon, A. E. van Vogt and Stanislaw Lem.
Campbell's tenure at Astounding is considered to be the beginning of the Golden
Age of science fiction, characterized by hard SF stories celebrating scientific
achievement and progress.[37] This lasted until postwar technological advances,
new magazines like Galaxy under Pohl as editor, and a new generation of writers
began writing stories outside the Campbell mode.
In the 1950s, the Beat generation included speculative writers like William S. B
urroughs. In the 1960s and early 1970s, writers like Frank Herbert, Samuel R. De
lany, Roger Zelazny, and Harlan Ellison explored new trends, ideas, and writing
styles, while a group of writers, mainly in Britain, became known as the New Wav
e.[30] In the 1970s, writers like Larry Niven and Poul Anderson began to redefin
e hard SF.[39] Ursula K. Le Guin and others pioneered soft science fiction.[40]
In the 1980s, cyberpunk authors like William Gibson turned away from the traditi
onal optimism and support for progress of traditional science fiction.[41] Star
Wars helped spark a new interest in space opera,[42] focusing more on story and
character than on scientific accuracy. C. J. Cherryh's detailed explorations of
alien life and complex scientific challenges influenced a generation of writers.
[43] Emerging themes in the 1990s included environmental issues, the implication
s of the global Internet and the expanding information universe, questions about
biotechnology and nanotechnology, as well as a post-Cold War interest in post-s
carcity societies; Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age comprehensively explores th
ese themes. Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan novels brought the character-drive
n story back into prominence.[44] The television series Star Trek: The Next Gene
ration (1987) began a torrent of new SF shows, including three further Star Trek
spin-off shows and Babylon 5.[45][46] Concern about the rapid pace of technolog
ical change crystallized around the concept of the technological singularity, po
pularized by Vernor Vinge's novel Marooned in Realtime and then taken up by othe
r authors.[citation needed]
[edit] InnovationWhile SF has provided criticism of developing and future techno
logies, it also produces innovation and new technology. The discussion of this t
opic has occurred more in literary and sociological than in scientific forums. C
inema and media theorist Vivian Sobchack examines the dialogue between science f
iction film and the technological imagination. Technology does impact how artist
s portray their fictionalized subjects, but the fictional world gives back to sc
ience by broadening imagination. While more prevalent in the beginning years of
science fiction with writers like Arthur C. Clarke, new authors still find ways
to make the currently impossible technologies seem so close to being realized.[4
7]
[edit] SubgenresFor more details on this topic, see Science fiction genre.
Authors and filmmakers draw on a wide spectrum of ideas, but marketing departmen
ts and literary critics tend to separate such literary and cinematic works into
different categories, or "genres", and subgenres.[48] These are not simple pigeo
nholes; works can be overlapped into two or more commonly-defined genres, while
others are beyond the generic boundaries, either outside or between categories,
and the categories and genres used by mass markets and literary criticism differ
considerably.
[edit] Hard SFMain article: Hard science fiction
Hard science fiction, or "hard SF", is characterized by rigorous attention to ac
curate detail in quantitative sciences, especially physics, astrophysics, and ch
emistry, or on accurately depicting worlds that more advanced technology may mak
e possible. Many accurate predictions of the future come from the hard science f
iction subgenre, but numerous inaccurate predictions have emerged as well. Some
hard SF authors have distinguished themselves as working scientists, including G
regory Benford, Geoffrey A. Landis and David Brin,[49][50] while mathematician a
uthors include Rudy Rucker and Vernor Vinge. Other noteworthy hard SF authors in
clude Arthur C. Clarke, Hal Clement, Isaac Asimov, Greg Bear, Larry Niven, Rober
t J. Sawyer, Stephen Baxter, Alastair Reynolds, Charles Sheffield, Ben Bova, and
Greg Egan.
[edit] Soft and social SF
The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le GuinSee also: Soft science fiction, S
ocial science fiction, Cyberpunk, Time travel in fiction, Alternate history, Mil
itary science fiction, Superhuman, Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, Wor
ld War III (science fiction), Space opera, Space Western, Category:science ficti
on organizations, Category:Science fiction websites, and Fan fiction terminology
The description "soft" science fiction may describe works based on social scienc
es such as psychology, economics, political science, sociology, and anthropology
. Noteworthy writers in this category include Ursula K. Le Guin and Philip K. Di
ck.[37][51] The term can describe stories focused primarily on character and emo
tion; SFWA Grand Master Ray Bradbury is an acknowledged master of this art.[52]
The Soviet Union produced a quantity of social science fiction, including works
by the Strugatsky brothers, Kir Bulychov and Ivan Yefremov.[53][54] Some writers
blur the boundary between hard and soft science fiction.[citation needed]
Related to Social SF and Soft SF are the speculative fiction branches of utopian
or dystopian stories; George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, Aldous Huxley's Bra
ve New World and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, are examples. Satirical
novels with fantastic settings such as Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift may
be considered speculative fiction.
[edit] Cyberpunk
Neuromancer, by William Gibson (Ace, 1984)The Cyberpunk genre emerged in the ear
ly 1980s; combining "cybernetics" and "punk",[55] the term was coined by author
Bruce Bethke for his 1980 short story "Cyberpunk".[56] The time frame is usually
near-future and the settings are often dystopian (characterized by misery). Com
mon themes in cyberpunk include advances in information technology and especiall
y the Internet (visually abstracted as cyberspace), artificial intelligence and
prosthetics and post-democratic societal control where corporations have more in
fluence than governments. Nihilism, post-modernism, and film noir techniques are
common elements, and the protagonists may be disaffected or reluctant anti-hero
es. Noteworthy authors in this genre are William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, Neal St
ephenson, and Pat Cadigan. James O'Ehley has called the 1982 film Blade Runner a
definitive example of the cyberpunk visual style.[57]
[edit] Time travelTime travel stories have antecedents in the 18th and 19th cent
uries. The first major time travel novel was Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee i
n King Arthur's Court. The most famous is H. G. Wells's 1895 novel The Time Mach
ine, which uses a vehicle that allows an operator to travel purposefully and sel
ectively, while Twain's time traveler is struck in the head. The term "time mach
ine", coined by Wells, is now universally used to refer to such a vehicle. Stori
es of this type are complicated by logical problems such as the grandfather para
dox.[58] Time travel is a popular subject in modern science fiction, in print, m
ovies, and television.
[edit] Alternate historyAlternate (or alternative) history stories are based on
the premise that historical events might have turned out differently. These stor
ies may use time travel to change the past, or may simply set a story in a unive
rse with a different history from our own. Classics in the genre include Bring t
he Jubilee by Ward Moore, in which the South wins the American Civil War, and Th
e Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick, in which Germany and Japan win World
War II. The Sidewise Award acknowledges the best works in this subgenre; the na
me is taken from Murray Leinster's 1934 story "Sidewise in Time." Harry Turtledo
ve is one of the most prominent authors in the subgenre and is sometimes called
the "master of alternate history".[59][60]
[edit] Military SFMilitary science fiction is set in the context of conflict bet
ween national, interplanetary, or interstellar armed forces; the primary viewpoi
nt characters are usually soldiers. Stories include detail about military techno
logy, procedure, ritual, and history; military stories may use parallels with hi
storical conflicts. Heinlein's Starship Troopers is an early example, along with
the Dorsai novels of Gordon Dickson. Joe Haldeman's The Forever War is a critiq
ue of the genre, a Vietnam-era response to the World War II style stories of earli
er authors.[61] Prominent military SF authors include John Ringo, David Drake, D
avid Weber, and S. M. Stirling. Baen Books is known for cultivating military sci
ence fiction authors.[62]
[edit] SuperhumanSuperhuman stories deal with the emergence of humans who have a
bilities beyond the norm. This can stem either from natural causes such as in Ol
af Stapledon's novel Odd John, and Theodore Sturgeon's More Than Human, or be th
e result of intentional augmentation such as in A. E. van Vogt's novel Slan. The
se stories usually focus on the alienation that these beings feel as well as soc
iety's reaction to them. These stories have played a role in the real life discu
ssion of human enhancement. Frederik Pohl's Man Plus also belongs to this catego
ry.
[edit] ApocalypticApocalyptic fiction is concerned with the end of civilization
through war (On the Beach), pandemic (The Last Man), astronomic impact (When Wor
lds Collide), ecological disaster (The Wind from Nowhere), or mankind's self-des
truction (Oryx and Crake), or some other general disaster or with a world or civ
ilization after such a disaster. Typical of the genre are George R. Stewart's no
vel Earth Abides and Pat Frank's novel Alas, Babylon. Apocalyptic fiction genera
lly concerns the disaster itself and the direct aftermath, while post-apocalypti
c can deal with anything from the near aftermath (as in Cormac McCarthy's The Ro
ad) to 375 years in the future (as in By The Waters of Babylon) to hundreds or t
housands of years in the future, as in Russell Hoban's novel Riddley Walker.
[edit] Space operaSpace opera is adventure science fiction set in outer space or
on distant planets, where the emphasis is on action rather than either science
or characterization. The conflict is heroic, and typically on a large scale. The
best-selling science fiction book of all time[63] (with 12 million copies) is a
space opera: Frank Herbert's Dune (1966), which sprawls over thousands of years
, a multitude of planets in and beyond an Imperium, and themes as diverse as env
ironmentalism and ecology, empires, religion and jihad, gender issues, and heroi
sm.
Space opera is sometimes used pejoratively, to describe improbable plots, absurd
science, and cardboard characters. But it is also used nostalgically, and moder
n space opera may be an attempt to recapture the sense of wonder of the golden a
ge of science fiction. The pioneer of this subgenre is generally recognized to b
e Edward E. (Doc) Smith, with his Skylark and Lensman series. Alastair Reynolds'
s Revelation Space series, Peter F. Hamilton's The Dreaming Void, The Night's Da
wn and Pandora's Star series, Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness
in the Sky, and the immensely popular Star Wars trilogies are newer examples of
this genre.
[edit] Space WesternSpace Western could be considered a sub-genre of space opera
that transposes themes of the American Western books and film to a backdrop of
futuristic space frontiers. These stories typically involve "frontier" colony wo
rlds (colonies that have only recently been terraformed and/or settled) serving
as stand-ins for the backdrop of lawlessness and economic expansion that were pr
edominant in the American west. Examples include Firefly and the accompanying mo
vie Serenity by Joss Whedon, as well as the Japanese comic and animation series
Trigun, Outlaw Star and Cowboy Bebop. The Star Wars character Han Solo is also c
onsidered elemental to this genre.
[edit] Other sub-genres This section requires expansion.
Feminist science fiction poses questions about social issues such as how society
constructs gender roles, the role reproduction plays in defining gender and the
unequal political and personal power of men and women. Some of the most notable
feminist science fiction works have illustrated these themes using utopias to e
xplore a society in which gender differences or gender power imbalances do not e
xist, or dystopias to explore worlds in which gender inequalities are intensifie
d, thus asserting a need for feminist work to continue.[64]
New Wave is a term applied to science fiction writing characterized by a high de
gree of experimentation, both in form and in content, and a highbrow and self-co
nsciously "literary" or artistic sensibility.
Steampunk is based on the idea of futuristic technology existing in the past, us
ually the 19th century, and often set in Victorian era England but with prominent
elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological i
nventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real
technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date. Popul
ar examples include The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling,
as well as the Girl Genius series by Phil and Kaja Foglio, although seeds of the
genre may be seen in certain works of Michael Moorcock, Philip Jose Farmer and
Steve Stiles, and in such games as Space 1889 and Marcus Rowland's Forgotten Fut
ures. Machines are most often powered by steam in this genre (hence the name).
Comic science fiction is a sub-genre that exploits the genre's conventions for c
omic effect.
Anthropological science fiction is a sub-genre that absorbs and discusses anthro
pology and the study of human kind. Examples include Hominids by Robert Sawyer,
and Neanderthal by John Darnton.
Biopunk focuses on biotechnology and subversives.
[edit] Related genres[edit] Speculative fiction, fantasy, and horrorFor more det
ails on this topic, see Speculative fiction.
The broader category of speculative fiction[65] includes science fiction, fantas
y, alternate histories (which may have no particular scientific or futuristic co
mponent), and even literary stories that contain fantastic elements, such as the
 work of Jorge Luis Borges or John Barth. For some editors, magic realism is con
sidered to be within the broad definition of speculative fiction.[66]
[edit] FantasyMain article: Fantasy
Fantasy is closely associated with science fiction, and many writers have worked
in both genres, while writers such as Anne McCaffrey and Marion Zimmer Bradley
have written works that appear to blur the boundary between the two related genr
es.[67] The authors' professional organization is called the Science Fiction and
Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).[68] SF conventions routinely have programmin
g on fantasy topics,[69][70][71] and fantasy authors such as J. K. Rowling have
won the highest honor within the science fiction field, the Hugo Award.[72] In g
eneral, science fiction is the literature of things that might someday be possib
le, and fantasy is the literature of things that are inherently impossible.[13]
Magic and mythology are popular themes in fantasy.[73] Some narratives are descr
ibed as being essentially science fiction but "with fantasy elements". The term
"science fantasy" is sometimes used to describe such material.[74]

Frankenstein (1931) film poster[edit] Horror fictionMain article: Horror fiction

Horror fiction is the literature of the unnatural and supernatural, with the aim
of unsettling or frightening the reader, sometimes with graphic violence. Histo
rically it has also been known as weird fiction. Although horror is not per se a
branch of science fiction, many works of horror literature incorporates science
fictional elements. One of the defining classical works of horror, Mary Shelley
's novel Frankenstein, is the first fully-realized work of science fiction, wher
e the manufacture of the monster is given a rigorous science-fictional grounding
. The works of Edgar Allan Poe also helped define both the science fiction and t
he horror genres.[75] Today horror is one of the most popular categories of film
s.[76] Horror is often mistakenly categorized as science fiction at the point of
distribution by libraries, video rental outlets, etc. For example, Syfy (distri
buted via cable and satellite television in the United States) currently devotes
a majority of its air time to horror films with very few science fiction titles
.
[edit] Mystery fictionMain article: Mystery fiction
Works in which science and technology are a dominant theme, but based on current
reality, may be considered mainstream fiction. Much of the thriller genre would
be included, such as the novels of Tom Clancy or Michael Crichton, or the James
Bond films.[77] Modernist works from writers like Kurt Vonnegut, Philip K. Dick
, and Stanislaw Lem have focused on speculative or existential perspectives on c
ontemporary reality and are on the borderline between SF and the mainstream.[78]
According to Robert J. Sawyer, "Science fiction and mystery have a great deal i
n common. Both prize the intellectual process of puzzle solving, and both requir
e stories to be plausible and hinge on the way things really do work."[79] Isaac
Asimov, Walter Mosley, and other writers incorporate mystery elements in their
science fiction, and vice versa.[citation needed]
[edit] Superhero fictionMain article: Superhero fiction
Superhero fiction is a genre characterized by beings with much higher than usual
capability and prowess, generally with a desire or need to help the citizens of
their chosen country or world by using his or her powers to defeat natural or s
uperpowered threats. Many superhero fiction characters involve themselves (eithe
r intentionally or accidentally) with science fiction and fact, including advanc
ed technologies, alien worlds, time travel, and interdimensional travel; but the
standards of scientific plausibility are lower than with actual science fiction
. Authors of this genre include Stan Lee (co-creator of Spider-Man, the Fantasti
c Four, the X-Men, and the Hulk); Marv Wolfman, the creator of Blade for Marvel
Comics, and The New Teen Titans for DC Comics; Dean Wesley Smith (Smallville, Sp
ider-Man, and X-Men novels) and Superman writers Roger Stern and Elliot S! Maggi
n.
[edit] Fandom and communityFor more details on this topic, see Science fiction f
andom.
Science fiction fandom is the "community of the literature of ideas... the cultu
re in which new ideas emerge and grow before being released into society at larg
e".[80] Members of this community, "fans", are in contact with each other at con
ventions or clubs, through print or online fanzines, or on the Internet using we
b sites, mailing lists, and other resources.
SF fandom emerged from the letters column in Amazing Stories magazine. Soon fans
began writing letters to each other, and then grouping their comments together
in informal publications that became known as fanzines.[81] Once they were in re
gular contact, fans wanted to meet each other, and they organized local clubs. I
n the 1930s, the first science fiction conventions gathered fans from a wider ar
ea.[82] Conventions, clubs, and fanzines were the dominant form of fan activity,
or "fanac", for decades, until the Internet facilitated communication among a m
uch larger population of interested people.
[edit] AwardsFor more details on this topic, see List of science fiction awards.
Among the most respected awards for science fiction are the Hugo Award, presente
d by the World Science Fiction Society at Worldcon, and the Nebula Award, presen
ted by SFWA and voted on by the community of authors. One notable award for scie
nce fiction films is the Saturn Award. It is presented annually by The Academy o
f Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films.
There are national awards, like Canada's Aurora Award, regional awards, like the
Endeavour Award presented at Orycon for works from the Pacific Northwest, speci
al interest or subgenre awards like the Chesley Award for art or the World Fanta
sy Award for fantasy. Magazines may organize reader polls, notably the Locus Awa
rd.
[edit] Conventions, clubs, and organizationsFor more details on this topic, see
Science fiction conventions.
Pamela Dean reading at MiniconConventions (in fandom, shortened as "cons"), are
held in cities around the world, catering to a local, regional, national, or int
ernational membership. General-interest conventions cover all aspects of science
fiction, while others focus on a particular interest like media fandom, filking
, etc. Most are organized by volunteers in non-profit groups, though most media-
oriented events are organized by commercial promoters. The convention's activiti
es are called the "program", which may include panel discussions, readings, auto
graph sessions, costume masquerades, and other events. Activities that occur thr
oughout the convention are not part of the program; these commonly include a dea
ler's room, art show, and hospitality lounge (or "con suites").[83]
Conventions may host award ceremonies; Worldcons present the Hugo Awards each ye
ar. SF societies, referred to as "clubs" except in formal contexts, form a year-
round base of activities for science fiction fans. They may be associated with a
n ongoing science fiction convention, or have regular club meetings, or both. Mo
st groups meet in libraries, schools and universities, community centers, pubs o
r restaurants, or the homes of individual members. Long-established groups like
the New England Science Fiction Association and the Los Angeles Science Fantasy
Society have clubhouses for meetings and storage of convention supplies and rese
arch materials.[84] The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) wa
s founded by Damon Knight in 1965 as a non-profit organization to serve the comm
unity of professional science fiction authors,[68] 24 years after his essay "Uni
te or Fie!" had led to the organization of the National Fantasy Fan Federation.
Fandom has helped incubate related groups, including media fandom,[85] the Socie
ty for Creative Anachronism,[86] gaming,[87] filking, and furry fandom.[88]
[edit] Fanzines and online fandomFor more details on this topic, see Science fic
tion fanzine.
The first science fiction fanzine, The Comet, was published in 1930.[89] Fanzine
printing methods have changed over the decades, from the hectograph, the mimeog
raph, and the ditto machine, to modern photocopying. Distribution volumes rarely
justify the cost of commercial printing. Modern fanzines are printed on compute
r printers or at local copy shops, or they may only be sent as email. The best k
nown fanzine (or "'zine") today is Ansible, edited by David Langford, winner of
numerous Hugo awards. Other fanzines to win awards in recent years include File
770, Mimosa, and Plokta.[90] Artists working for fanzines have risen to prominen
ce in the field, including Brad W. Foster, Teddy Harvia, and Joe Mayhew; the Hug
os include a category for Best Fan Artists.[90] The earliest organized fandom on
line was the SF Lovers community, originally a mailing list in the late 1970s wi
th a text archive file that was updated regularly.[91] In the 1980s, Usenet grou
ps greatly expanded the circle of fans online. In the 1990s, the development of
the World-Wide Web exploded the community of online fandom by orders of magnitud
e, with thousands and then literally millions of web sites devoted to science fi
ction and related genres for all media.[84] Most such sites are small, ephemeral
, and/or very narrowly focused, though sites like SF Site and Read and Find Out
offer a broad range of references and reviews about science fiction.
[edit] Fan fictionFor more details on this topic, see Fan fiction.
Fan fiction, ...known to aficionados as "fanfic", is non-commercial fiction crea
ted by fans in the setting of an established book, film, or television series.[9
2] This modern meaning of the term should not be confused with the traditional (
pre-1970s) meaning of "fan fiction" within the community of fandom, where the te
rm meant original or parody fiction written by fans and published in fanzines, o
ften with members of fandom as characters therein ("faan fiction"). Examples of
this would include the Goon stories by Walt Willis. In the last few years, sites
have appeared such as Orion's Arm and Galaxiki, which encourage collaborative d
evelopment of science fiction universes. In some cases, the copyright owners of
the books, films, or television series have instructed their lawyers to issue "c
ease and desist" letters to fans.
[edit] Science fiction studiesFor more details on this topic, see Science fictio
n studies.
The study of science fiction, or science fiction studies, is the critical assess
ment, interpretation, and discussion of science fiction literature, film, new me
dia, fandom, and fan fiction. Science fiction scholars take science fiction as a
n object of study in order to better understand it and its relationship to scien
ce, technology, politics, and culture-at-large. Science fiction studies has a lo
ng history dating back to the turn of the 20th century, but it was not until lat
er that science fiction studies solidified as a discipline with the publication
of the academic journals Extrapolation (1959), Foundation - The International Re
view of Science Fiction (1972), and Science Fiction Studies (1973), and the esta
blishment of the oldest organizations devoted to the study of science fiction, t
he Science Fiction Research Association and the Science Fiction Foundation, in 1
970. The field has grown considerably since the 1970s with the establishment of
more journals, organizations, and conferences with ties to the science fiction s
cholarship community, and science fiction degree-granting programs such as those
offered by the University of Liverpool and Kansas University.
The National Science Foundation has conducted surveys of "Public Attitudes and P
ublic Understanding" of "Science Fiction and Pseudoscience".[93] They write that
"Interest in science fiction may affect the way people think about or relate to
science....one study found a strong relationship between preference for science
fiction novels and support for the space program...The same study also found th
at students who read science fiction are much more likely than other students to
believe that contacting extraterrestrial civilizations is both possible and des
irable (Bainbridge 1982).[94]
[edit] Science fiction as serious literatureMary Shelley who wrote a number of s
cience fiction novels including Frankenstein. She is treated as a major Romantic
writer. [95] Literary and philosophers (see Phillip Dick) view Phillip Dicks wo
rk as important predecessor to postmodern philosophy. Many science fiction works
have received widespread critical acclaim including 1984, Brave New World, Do A
ndroids Dream of Electric Sheep (Movie title Blade Runner) and A Clockwork Orang
e.
The scholar Tom Shippey asks a perennial question of science fiction: What is its
relationship to fantasy fiction, is its readership still dominated by male adol
escents, is it a taste which will appeal to the mature but non-eccentric literar
y mind? [96] In her much reprinted essay "Science Fiction and Mrs Brown,"[97] the
science fiction writer Ursula K. Le Guin has approached an answer by first citin
g the essay written by the English author Virginia Woolf entitled "Mr Bennett an
d Mrs Brown" in which she states:
I believe that all novels, deal with character, and that it is to express charac
ter not to preach doctrines, sing songs, or celebrate the glories of the British
Empire, that the form of the novel, so clumsy, verbose, and undramatic, so rich
, elastic, and alive, has been evolved The great novelists have brought us to se
e whatever they wish us to see through some character. Otherwise they would not
be novelists, but poets, historians, or pamphleteers.
Le Guin argues that these criteria may be successfully applied to works of scien
ce fiction and so answers in the affirmative her rhetorical question posed at th
e beginning of her essay: Can a science fiction writer write a novel?
Tom Shippey[96] in his essay does not dispute this answer but identifies and dis
cusses the essential differences that exists between a science fiction novel and
one written outside the field. To this end, he compares George Orwell s "Coming U
p for Air" with Frederik Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth s "The Space Merchants" and conc
ludes that the basic building block and distinguishing feature of a science fict
ion novel is the presence of the novum, a term first defined by Darko Suvin[98]
as a discrete piece of information recognizable as not-true, but also as not-unli
ke-true, not-flatly- (and in the current state of knowledge) impossible .
In science fiction the style of writing is often relatively clear and straightfo
rward compared to classical literature. Orson Scott Card, an author of both scie
nce fiction and non-SF fiction, has postulated that in science fiction the messa
ge and intellectual significance of the work is contained within the story itsel
f and, therefore, there need not be stylistic gimmicks or literary games; but th
at many writers and critics confuse clarity of language with lack of artistic me
rit. In Card's words:
...a great many writers and critics have based their entire careers on the premi
se that anything that the general public can understand without mediation is wor
thless drivel. [...] If everybody came to agree that stories should be told this
clearly, the professors of literature would be out of job, and the writers of o
bscure, encoded fiction would be, not honored, but pitied for their impenetrabil
ity.".[99]
Science fiction author and physicist Gregory Benford has declared that: "SF is p
erhaps the defining genre of the twentieth century, although its conquering armi
es are still camped outside the Rome of the literary citadels."[100] This sense
of exclusion was articulated by Jonathan Lethem in an essay published in the Vil
lage Voice entitled Close Encounters: The Squandered Promise of Science Fiction.
[101] Lethem suggests that the point in 1973 when Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rai
nbow was nominated for the Nebula Award, and was passed over in favor of Arthur
C. Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama, stands as "a hidden tombstone marking the deat
h of the hope that SF was about to merge with the mainstream." Among the respons
es to Lethem was one from the editor of the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fict
ion who asked: "When is it [the SF genre] ever going to realize it can't win the
game of trying to impress the mainstream?"[102] On this point the journalist an
d author David Barnett has remarked[103]:
The ongoing, endless war between "literary" fiction and "genre" fiction has well
-defined lines in the sand. Genre's foot soldiers think that literary fiction is
a collection of meaningless but prettily drawn pictures of the human condition.
The literary guard consider genre fiction to be crass, commercial, whizz-bang p
otboilers. Or so it goes.
Barnett, in an earlier essay had pointed to a new development in this "endless w
ar"[104]:
What do novels about a journey across post-apocalyptic America, a clone waitress
rebelling against a future society, a world-girdling pipe of special gas keepin
g mutant creatures at bay, a plan to rid a colonizable new world of dinosaurs, a
nd genetic engineering in a collapsed civilization have in common?
They are all most definitely not science fiction.
Literary readers will probably recognise The Road by Cormac McCarthy, one of the
sections of Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway
, Stone Gods by Jeanette Winterson and Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood from th
eir descriptions above. All of these novels use the tropes of what most people r
ecognize as science fiction, but their authors or publishers have taken great pa
ins to ensure that they are not categorized as such.
[edit] Science fiction world-wideAlthough perhaps most developed as a genre and
community in the US and UK, science fiction is a worldwide phenomenon. Organisat
ions devoted to promoting SF in particular countries and in non-English language
s are common, as are country- or language-specific genre awards.
[edit] Africa and African diaspora[edit] AsiaMain articles: Science fiction of B
angladesh, Science fiction in China, and Science fiction in Japan
[edit] Europe
Soviet stamp, part of a 1967 series depicting science fiction images. The captio
n runs On the moon. Cosmic fantastic , Russian pronunciation: [n? 'lun?e ?k?smi't??
h?esk?j? f?n'tast?ik?].Main articles: Science fiction in Croatia, Czech science
fiction and fantasy, French science fiction, Norwegian science fiction, Science
fiction in Poland, Romanian science fiction, Science fiction in Russia, and Scie
nce fiction in Serbia
Germany and Austria: Current well-known SF authors from Germany are five-time Ku
rd-Laßwitz-Award winner Andreas Eschbach, whose books The Carpet Makers and Eine B
illion Dollar are big successes, and Frank Schätzing, who in his book The Swarm mi
xes elements of the science thriller with SF elements to an apocalyptic scenario
. The most prominent German-speaking author, according to Die Zeit, is Austrian
Herbert W. Franke.
A well known science fiction book series in German is Perry Rhodan, which starte
d in 1961. Having sold over one billion copies (in pulp format), it claims to be
the most successful science fiction book series ever written worldwide.[105]
[edit] OceaniaMain article: Science fiction in Australia
Australia: David G. Hartwell noted that while there is perhaps "nothing essentia
lly Australian about Australian science-fiction", many Australian science-fictio
n (and fantasy and horror) writers are in fact international English language wr
iters, and their work is commonly published worldwide. This is further explainab
le by the fact that the Australian inner market is small (with Australian popula
tion being around 21 million), and sales abroad are crucial to most Australian w
riters.[106][107]
[edit] North AmericaMain article: Canadian science fiction
[edit] See alsoList of science fiction themes
List of science fiction authors
List of science fiction novels
List of science fiction films
List of science fiction television programs
Non-Aristotelian logic use in science fiction
Science fiction libraries and museums
Sense of Wonder
Skiffy
Transhumanism (a school of thought profoundly inspired by SF)
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