Science Fiction: Subgenres, Elements and Categories of Sci-fi Writing

From books to movies, the sci-fi genre is counted among the most popular and successful genres in terms of providing sheer entertainment value to its audience of every age group.

Readers shower their huge love of the sci-fi stories as all the imaginary elements which don’t exist in the real world, but yet appeal to everyone to accept it as a future possibility.

Contents

What is Science Fiction?

Science fiction is generally addressed as a genre of speculative fiction, where the story plot follows futuristic ideas, scientific concepts, space explorations & adventures, extraterritorial existence, time travel, cosmic possibilities, etc.

Sci-fi stories are not just limited to books, movies or tv series, but it helps humankind to explore all the possibilities of human aspiration and urges and inspire the professionals in science and technology to look for potential possibilities of new innovations and discoveries.

science fiction book genre and subgenres — Image by Comfreak from Pixabay

Elements of Science Fiction Novels-

Aliens

Parallel universe

Time travel

Space travel

Extraterrestrial beings

Telepathy

Advance technology

Robots

Space warfare

Fictional planets

Fictional worlds

Spaceships

Teleportation

2 Science Fiction Categories-

Hard science fiction– Hard science fiction novels are based on scientific facts, realistic and plausible themes or concepts following the laws of science.

Soft science fiction- Novels of soft science fiction are based on social science like psychology, sociology containing no scientifically accurate or plausible science.

4 Popular Sub-Genres of Science Fiction-

#1 Cyberpunk

Cyberpunk is the subgenre of science fiction, which showcases a dystopian futuristic world along with advanced technology.

#2 Space opera-

Space opera follows the stories set mainly on outer space showcasing space warfare, space conflicts, space adventures, romance and interplanetary battles.