GREG BEAR001 Science fiction

Definitions

For more details on this topic, see Definitions of science fiction.

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".[6] Vladimir Nabokov argued that were we rigorous with our definitions, Shakespeare's play The Tempest would have to be termed science fiction.[7]

According to science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein, "a handy short definition 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 scientific method."[8] Rod Serling's stated definition is "fantasy is the impossible made probable. Science Fiction is the improbable made possible."[9]

Lester Del Rey 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 satisfactory definition" is that "there are no easily delineated limits to science fiction." [10]

Forrest J. Ackerman publicly used the term "sci-fi" at UCLA in 1954,[11] though Robert A. Heinlein had used it in private correspondence six years earlier.[12] 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.[13][14][15] By the 1970s, critics within the field such as Terry Carr and Damon Knight were using "sci-fi" to distinguish hack-work from serious science fiction,[16] and around 1978, Susan Wood and others introduced the pronunciation "skiffy." Peter Nicholls writes that "SF" (or "sf") is "the preferred abbreviation within the community of sf writers and readers."[17] David Langford's monthly fanzine Ansible includes a regular section "As Others See Us" which offers numerous examples of "sci-fi" being used in a pejorative sense by people outside the genre.[18]

[edit] Subgenres

For more details on this topic, see Science fiction genre.

Authors and filmmakers draw on a wide spectrum of ideas, but marketing departments and literary critics tend to separate such literary and cinematic works into different categories, or "genres", and subgenres.[19] These are not simple pigeonholes; 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 SF

Main article: Hard science fiction

Hard science fiction, or "hard SF", is characterized by rigorous attention to accurate detail in quantitative sciences, especially physics, astrophysics, and chemistry. Many accurate predictions of the future come from the hard science fiction subgenre, but numerous inaccurate predictions have emerged as well. For example, Arthur C. Clarke accurately predicted (and invented the concept of) geostationary communications satellites,[20] but erred in his prediction of deep layers of moondust in lunar craters.[21] Some hard SF authors have distinguished themselves as working scientists, including Robert Forward, Gregory Benford, Charles Sheffield, and Geoffrey A. Landis[22], while mathematician authors include Rudy Rucker and Vernor Vinge. Noteworthy hard SF authors, in addition to those mentioned, include Hal Clement, Joe Haldeman, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle and Stephen Baxter.
The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin

[edit] Soft and Social SF

See also: Soft science fiction and Social science fiction

"Soft" science fiction is the antithesis of hard science fiction. It may describe works based on social sciences such as psychology, economics, political science, sociology, and anthropology. Noteworthy writers in this category include Ursula K. Le Guin and Philip K. Dick.[23][24] The term can describe stories focused primarily on character and emotion; SFWA Grand Master Ray Bradbury is an acknowledged master of this art.[25] Some writers blur the boundary between hard and soft science fiction - for example Mack Reynolds's work focuses on politics but anticipated many developments in computers, including cyber-terrorism.

Related to Social SF and Soft SF are the speculative fiction branches of utopian or dystopian stories. Satirical novels with fantastic settings may be considered speculative fiction; Gulliver's Travels, The Handmaid's Tale, Nineteen Eighty-Four, and Brave New World are examples.
Neuromancer, by William Gibson (Ace, 1984)
Neuromancer, by William Gibson (Ace, 1984)

[edit] Cyberpunk

See also: Cyberpunk and Steampunk

The Cyberpunk genre emerged in the early 1980s; the name is a portmanteau of "cybernetics" and "punk", and was first coined by author Bruce Bethke in his 1980 short story "Cyberpunk".[26] The time frame is usually near-future and the settings are often dystopian. Common themes in cyberpunk include advances in information technology and especially the Internet (visually abstracted as cyberspace), (possibly malevolent) artificial intelligence, enhancements of mind and body using bionic prosthetics and direct brain-computer interfaces called cyberware, and post-democratic societal control where corporations have more influence than governments. Nihilism, post-modernism, and film noir techniques are common elements, and the protagonists may be disaffected or reluctant anti-heroes. Noteworthy authors in this genre are William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, Pat Cadigan, and Rudy Rucker. The 1982 film Blade Runner is commonly accepted as a definitive example of the cyberpunk visual style.[27]

[edit] Time Travel

See also: Time travel in fiction

Time travel stories have antecedents in the 18th and 19th centuries, and this subgenre was popularized by H. G. Wells's novel The Time Machine. Stories of this type are complicated by logical problems such as the grandfather paradox.[28] Time travel is a popular subject in novels, television series (most famously Doctor Who), as individual episodes within more general science fiction series (for example, "The City on the Edge of Forever" in Star Trek, "Babylon Squared" in Babylon 5, and "The Banks of the Lethe" in Andromeda) and as one-off productions such as The Flipside of Dominick Hide.

[edit] Alternate history

See also: Alternate history

Alternate history stories are based on the premise that historical events might have turned out differently. These stories may use time travel to change the past, or may simply set a story in a universe with a different history from our own. Classics in the genre include Bring the Jubilee by Ward Moore, in which the South wins the American Civil War and The 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 name is taken from Murray Leinster's early story "Sidewise in Time".

[edit] Military SF

See also: Military science fiction

Military science fiction is set in the context of conflict between national, interplanetary, or interstellar armed forces; the primary viewpoint characters are usually soldiers. Stories include detail about military technology, procedure, ritual, and history; military stories may use parallels with historical conflicts. Heinlein's Starship Troopers is an early example, along with the Dorsai novels of Gordon Dickson. Prominent military SF authors include David Drake, David Weber, Jerry Pournelle, S. M. Stirling, and Lois McMaster Bujold. Joe Haldeman's The Forever War is a critique of the genre, a Vietnam-era response to the World War II-style stories of earlier authors.[29] Baen Books is known for cultivating military science fiction authors.[30] Television series within this subgenre include Battlestar Galactica, Stargate SG-1 and Space: Above and Beyond. The popular Halo videogame and novel series is another prominent modern example.

[edit] Other SF Genres

See also: New Wave (science fiction), Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, Christian science fiction, Space opera, and Science fiction Western

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