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'''Science fiction''' is a [[genre]] of [[fiction]]. It differs from [[fantasy]] in that, within the context of the [[story]], its imaginary elements are largely possible within [[science|scientifically]]-established or scientifically-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".<ref>{{cite web | author = Marg Gilks, Paula Fleming, and Moira Allen | title = Science Fiction: The Literature of Ideas | work = | publisher =WritingWorld.com | year =2003 | url = http://www.writing-world.com/sf/sf.shtml | accessdate = }}</ref> Science fiction is largely based on writing rationally about alternative possibilities.<ref>{{cite book | last = Del Rey | first = Lester | title = The World of Science Fiction: 1926–1976 | publisher = Ballantine Books | year =1979 | page = 5 | isbn = 0-345-25452-x }}</ref> The [[Setting (literature)|settings]] for science fiction are often contrary to known reality.

These may include:
*A setting in the [[future]], in [[alternate history|alternative timelines]], or in a historical past that contradicts known facts of history or the archaeological record
*A setting in [[outer space]], on other worlds, or involving [[Extraterrestrial life|aliens]]<ref>Sterling, Bruce. "Science fiction" in ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' 2008 [http://www.britannica.com/oscar/print?articleId=66289&fullArticle=true&tocId=235716]</ref>
*Stories that involve technology or scientific principles that contradict known laws of nature<ref>{{cite book | last = Card | first = Scott | title = How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy | publisher = Writer's Digest Books | year =1990 | page = 17 | isbn = 0-89879-416-1}}</ref>
*Stories that involve discovery or application of new scientific principles, such as [[time travel]] or [[psionics]], or new technology, such as [[nanotechnology]], [[faster-than-light]] travel or [[robot]]s, or of new and different political or social systems (e.g., a [[dystopia]], or a situation where organized society has collapsed)<ref> {{cite book | last = Hartwell | first = David G. | title = Age of Wonders: Exploring the World of Science Fiction| publisher = Tor Books | year =1996 | pages = 109–131 | isbn = 0-312-86235-0 }}</ref>

==Definitions==
{{details|Definitions of science fiction}}

Science fiction is difficult to define, as it includes a wide range of [[subgenre]]s 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",<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Knight
| first =Damon Francis
| title = In Search of Wonder: Essays on Modern Science Fiction
| publisher = Advent Publishing, Inc.
| year =1967
| pages = pg xiii
| isbn = 0911682317 }}
</ref> a definition echoed 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.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Biology of Science Fiction Cinema |last=Glassy |first=Mark C. |authorlink= |coauthors= |year= 2001|publisher= McFarland|location= Jefferson, N.C.|isbn=0-7864-0998-3 |pages= }}</ref> [[Vladimir Nabokov]] argued that if we were rigorous with our definitions, [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare's]] play ''[[The Tempest]]'' would have to be termed science fiction.<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Nabokov
| first =Vladimir Vladimirovich
| title = Strong opinions
| publisher = McGraw-Hill
| year =1973
| pages =pg. 3 ''et seq''
| isbn = 0070457379 }}
</ref>

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 [[Scientific method|the scientific method]]."<ref name="heinlein def">{{cite conference
|title=Science Fiction: Its Nature, Faults and Virtues
|booktitle=The Science Fiction Novel: Imagination and Social Criticism
|publisher=Advent Publishers
|last=Heinlein
|first=Robert A.
|coauthors=Cyril Kornbluth, Alfred Bester, and Robert Bloch
|year=1959
|location=University of Chicago
}}</ref> [[Rod Serling]]'s definition is "fantasy is the impossible made probable. Science Fiction is the improbable made possible."<ref name="Serling def">{{cite video
|people=Rod Serling
|title=The Twilight Zone, "The Fugitive"
|date=1962-03-09
}}</ref> [[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."<ref> {{cite book
|title=The World of Science Fiction 1926–1976
|year=1980
|last=del Rey
|first=Lester
|publisher=Garland Publishing
}}</ref>

[[Forrest J Ackerman]] used the term "sci-fi" at UCLA in 1954.<ref name="4Esci-fi">{{cite book
|title=The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
|year=2000
|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company
}}</ref> As science fiction entered [[popular culture]], writers and fans active in the field came to associate the term with low-budget, low-tech "[[B movie|B-movies]]" and with low-quality [[Pulp magazine|pulp science fiction]].<ref name="fanspeak sci-fi">{{cite book
|title=Neo-Fan's Guidebook
|year=1987
|last=Whittier
|first=Terry
}}</ref><ref name="sci-fi v sf">{{cite book|url=http://www.scalzi.com/whatever/003672.html|last=Scalzi|first=John|title=The Rough Guide to Sci-Fi Movies|year=2005}}</ref><ref name="sci-fi v sf 2">{{cite web | last = Ellison | first = Harlan | year = 1998 | url = http://harlanellison.com/text/parcon.txt | title = "Harlan Ellison's responses to online fan questions at ParCon" | accessdate = 2006-04-25 | accessyear = 2006 }}</ref> 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,<ref name="wood skiffy">{{cite encyclopedia |title="Sci fi" (article by Peter Nicholls) |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Science Fiction |author=John Clute and Peter Nicholls, ed. |publisher=Orbit/Time Warner Book Group UK |year=1993}}</ref> and around 1978, [[Susan Wood (science fiction)|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".<ref name="nicholls sf">{{cite encyclopedia |title="SF" (article by Peter Nicholls) |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Science Fiction |author=John Clute and Peter Nicholls, ed. |publisher=Orbit/Time Warner Book Group UK |year=1993}}</ref> [[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.<ref name="As Others...">{{cite web|url=http://news.ansible.co.uk/|title=Ansible|publisher=David Langford}}</ref>

==History==
{{details|History of science fiction}}
As a means of understanding the world through speculation and storytelling, science fiction has antecedents back to mythology, though precursors to science fiction as literature can be seen in [[Lucian]]'s ''[[True History]]'' in the 2nd century,<ref>Grewell, Greg: "Colonizing the Universe: Science Fictions Then, Now, and in the (Imagined) Future", ''Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature'', Vol. 55, No. 2 (2001), pp. 25–47 (30f.)</ref><ref>Fredericks, S.C.: [http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/8/fredericks8art.htm "Lucian's True History as SF"], ''Science Fiction Studies'', Vol. 3, No. 1 (March 1976), pp. 49–60</ref><ref>Swanson, Roy Arthur: [http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/10/swanson10art.htm "The True, the False, and the Truly False: Lucian's Philosophical Science Fiction"], ''Science Fiction Studies'', Vol. 3, No. 3 (Nov. 1976), pp. 227–239</ref><ref>Georgiadou, Aristoula & Larmour, David H.J.: [http://www.brill.nl/default.aspx?partid=75&pid=2774 "Lucian's Science Fiction Novel True Histories. Interpretation and Commentary"], ''Mnemosyne Supplement'' 179, Leiden 1998, ISBN 9004106677, Introduction</ref><ref>Gunn, James E.: "The New Encyclopedia of Science Fiction", Publisher: Viking 1988, ISBN 9780670810413, p.249 calls it "Proto-Science Fiction"</ref> some of the ''[[One Thousand and One Nights|Arabian Nights]]'' tales,<ref>{{citation|title=The Arabian Nights: A Companion|first=Robert|last=Irwin|publisher=[[I.B. Tauris|Tauris Parke Paperbacks]]|year=2003|isbn=1860649831|pages=209–13}}</ref><ref name=Richardson/> ''[[The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter]]'' in the 10th century,<ref name=Richardson>{{citation|title=The Halstead Treasury of Ancient Science Fiction|first=Matthew|last=Richardson|publisher=Halstead Press|publication-place=Rushcutters Bay, New South Wales|year=2001|isbn=1875684646}} ([[cf.]] {{citation|title=Once Upon a Time|journal=Emerald City|issue=85|date=September 2002|url=http://www.emcit.com/emcit085.shtml#Once|accessdate=2008-09-17}})</ref> [[Ibn al-Nafis]]' ''Theologus Autodidactus'' in the 13th century,<ref name=Roubi>Dr. Abu Shadi Al-Roubi (1982), "Ibn al-Nafis as a philosopher", ''Symposium on Ibn al-Nafis'', Second International Conference on Islamic Medicine: Islamic Medical Organization, Kuwait ([[cf.]] [http://www.islamset.com/isc/nafis/drroubi.html Ibnul-Nafees As a Philosopher], ''Encyclopedia of Islamic World'' [http://web.archive.org/web/20080206072116/http://www.islamset.com/isc/nafis/drroubi.html])</ref> and [[Cyrano de Bergerac]]' ''Voyage de la Terre à la Lune'' and ''Des états de la Lune et du Soleil'' in the 17th century. Following the [[Age of Reason]] and the development of modern [[science]] itself, [[Jonathan Swift]]'s ''[[Gulliver's Travels]]''<ref name="britannica cites">{{cite encyclopedia
|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-235714/science-fiction
|title=Science Fiction
|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica
|accessdate=2007-01-17
}}</ref> was one of the first true science fiction works, together with Voltaire's ''[[Micromégas]]'' and Kepler's [[Somnium (Kepler)|Somnium]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2009}} This latter work is considered by [[Carl Sagan]]<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAVeTFin0mU&feature=related</ref> and [[Isaac Asimov]]{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}} to be the first science fiction story. It depicts a journey to the Moon and how the Earth's motion is seen from there.

Following the 18th century development of the [[novel]] as a literary form, in the early 19th century, [[Mary Shelley]]'s books ''[[Frankenstein]]'' and ''[[The Last Man]]'' helped define the form of the science fiction novel;<ref name="shelley">{{cite encyclopedia
|url=http://www.sfhomeworld.org/exhibits/homeworld/scifi_hof.asp?articleID=62
|title=Mary W. Shelley
|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
|author=John Clute and Peter Nicholls
|publisher=Orbit/Time Warner Book Group UK
|year=1993
|accessdate=2007-01-17
}}</ref> later [[Edgar Allan Poe]] wrote a story about a flight to the moon.<ref name="poe moon">{{cite book
|url=http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/lit/horror/TheWorksofEdgarAllenPoeVolume1/chap3.html
|last=Poe
|first=Edgar Allan
|title=The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, Volume 1, "The Unparalleled Adventures of One Hans Pfaal"
|accessdate=2007-01-17
}}</ref> More examples appeared throughout the 19th century. [[Image:H G Wells pre 1922.jpg|thumb|left|150px|[[HG Wells]]]] Then with the dawn of new technologies such as [[electricity]], the [[telegraph]], 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 of society<ref name="verne wells">{{cite encyclopedia
|url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761563123_2/Science_Fiction.html
|encyclopedia=Encarta Online Encyclopedia
|publisher=Microsoft
|title=Science Fiction
|year=2006
|accessdate=2007-01-17
}}</ref> Wells ''[[The War of the Worlds]]'' describing an invasion of late Victorian England by Martians using tripod fighting machines, equipped with advanced weaponry. 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 describe much of this fiction. This produced additional offshoots, such as the 1884 novella ''[[Flatland]]: A Romance of Many Dimensions'' by [[Edwin Abbott Abbott]]. The term would continue to be used into the early 20th century for writers such as [[Olaf Stapledon]].
[[Image:Jules Verne.jpg|thumb|150px|[[Jules Verne]]]]

In the early 20th century, [[pulp magazines]] helped develop a new generation of mainly American SF writers, influenced by [[Hugo Gernsback]], the founder of ''[[Amazing Stories]]'' magazine.<ref name="sf history nvcc"/> In the late 1930s, [[John W. Campbell]] became editor of ''[[Astounding Science Fiction]]'', and a critical mass of new writers emerged in New York City in a group called the [[Futurians]], including [[Isaac Asimov]], [[Damon Knight]], [[Donald A. Wollheim]], [[Frederik Pohl]], [[James Blish]], [[Judith Merril]], and others.<ref name="futurians">{{cite journal
|url=http://jophan.org/mimosa/m21/resnick.htm
|title=The Literature of Fandom
|last=Resnick
|first=Mike
|journal=Mimosa
|issue=#21
|year=1997
|accessdate=2007-01-17
}}</ref> Other important writers during this period included [[E.E. Smith|E.E. (Doc) Smith]], [[Robert A. Heinlein]], [[Arthur C. Clarke]], [[A. E. van Vogt]] and [[Stanisław 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.<ref name="sf history nvcc" /> This lasted until postwar technological advances, new magazines like ''[[Galaxy (magazine)|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. Burroughs]]. In the 1960s and early 1970s, writers like [[Frank Herbert]], [[Samuel R. Delany]], [[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 Wave (science fiction)|New Wave]].<ref name="britannica cites" /> In the 1970s, writers like [[Larry Niven]] and [[Poul Anderson]] began to redefine hard SF.<ref name="hard sf def">{{cite web
|url=http://www.magicdragon.com/UltimateSF/timeline1970.html
|title=SF TIMELINE 1960–1970
|publisher=Magic Dragon Multimedia
|date=2003-12-24
|accessdate=2007-01-17
}}</ref> [[Ursula K. Le Guin]] and others pioneered soft science fiction.<ref name="soft sf period">{{cite paper
|url=http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~tonya/Tonya/sf/history.html
|title=A brief historical survey of women writers of science fiction
|last=Browning
|first=Tonya
|location=University of Texas in Austin
|year=1993
|accessdate=2007-01-19
}}</ref>

In the 1980s, [[cyberpunk]] authors like [[William Gibson]] turned away from the traditional [[optimism]] and support for progress of traditional science fiction.<ref name="gibson cyber">{{cite book
|url=http://www.stanford.edu/class/history34q/readings/Cyberspace/HaywardSituatingCyberspace.html
|title=Future Visions: New Technologies of the Screen
|author=Philip Hayward
|pages=180–204
|publisher=British Film Institute
|year=1993
|accessdate=2007-01-17
}}</ref> ''[[Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope|Star Wars]]'' helped spark a new interest in [[space opera]],<ref name="space opera">{{cite web
|url=http://www.allenvarney.com/av_space2.html
|title=Exploding Worlds!
|author=Allen Varney
|date=2004-01-04
|accessdate=2007-01-17
}}</ref> focusing more on story and character than on scientific accuracy. [[C. J. Cherryh]]'s detailed explorations of [[Extraterrestrial life|alien]] life and complex scientific challenges influenced a generation of writers.<ref name="cherryh nazarian">{{cite web
|url=http://www.sff.net/people/vera.nazarian/links.htp
|title=Intriguing Links to Fabulous People and Places...
|author=Vera Nazarian
|date=2005-05-21
|accessdate=2007-01-30
}}</ref> Emerging themes in the 1990s included [[List of environmental issues|environmental issues]], the implications of the global Internet and the expanding information universe, questions about [[biotechnology]] and [[nanotechnology]], as well as a post-[[Cold War]] interest in [[post-scarcity]] societies; [[Neal Stephenson]]'s ''[[The Diamond Age]]'' comprehensively explores these themes. [[Lois McMaster Bujold]]'s ''[[Vorkosigan Saga|Vorkosigan]]'' novels brought the character-driven story back into prominence.<ref name="bujold char">{{cite web
|url=http://www.nesfa.org/press/Books/Bujold-2.htm
|title=Shards of Honor
|publisher=NESFA Press
|date=2004-05-10
|accessdate=2007-01-17
}}</ref> The television series ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' (1987) began a torrent of new SF shows, including three further ''[[Star Trek]]'' spin-off shows and ''[[Babylon 5]]''.<ref name="b5 acclaim 1">{{cite journal
|url=http://www.maestravida.com/weinwalk/CultT797.html
|author=David Richardson
|journal=Cult Times
|title=Dead Man Walking
|date=1997-07
|accessdate=2007-01-17
}}</ref><ref name="b5 acclaim 2">{{cite journal
|last=Nazarro
|first=Joe
|journal=TV Zone Special
|issue=#30
|title=The Dream Given Form
}}</ref> Concern about the rapid pace of technological change crystallized around the concept of the [[technological singularity]], popularized by [[Vernor Vinge]]'s novel ''[[Marooned in Realtime]]'' and then taken up by other authors.{{Citation needed|date=October 2008}}

===Innovation===
While SF has provided criticism of developing and future technologies, it also produces [[innovation]] and new technology. The discussion of this topic has occurred more in literary and sociological than in scientific forums. Cinema and media theorist [[Vivian Sobchack]] examines the dialogue between science fiction film and the technological imagination. Technology does impact how artists portray their fictionalized subjects, but the fictional world gives back to science 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.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-8274%28197111%2960%3A8%3C1043%3ASFBBTT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-2.
|title=Science Fiction: Bridge between the Two Cultures
|author=Sheila Schwartz
|publisher=The English Journal
|year=1971
|accessdate= 2007-03-26
}}</ref>

==Subgenres==
{{details|Science fiction genre}}
Authors and filmmakers draw on a wide spectrum of ideas, but marketing departments and [[Literary criticism|literary critics]] tend to separate such literary and cinematic works into different categories, or "[[genre]]s", and subgenres.<ref name="marketing cats">{{cite web
|url=http://www.randomhouse.com/delrey/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780345487315&view=qa
|title=An Interview with Hal Duncan
|publisher=Del Rey Online
|year=2006
|accessdate=2007-01-16
}}</ref> These are not simple [[wikt: pigeonhole|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.

===Hard SF===
{{Main|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]], or on accurately depicting worlds that more advanced technology may make possible. Many accurate predictions of the future come from the [[hard science fiction]] subgenre, but numerous inaccurate predictions have emerged as well. Some hard SF authors have distinguished themselves as working scientists, including [[Gregory Benford]] and [[Geoffrey A. Landis]],<ref name="author scientists">{{cite journal
|url=http://aer.noao.edu/cgi-bin/article.pl?id=33
|title=Teaching Astronomy with Science Fiction: A Resource Guide
|last=Fraknoi
|first=Andrew
|journal=Astronomy Education Review
|publisher=National Optical Astronomy Observatory
|date=2003-02-11
|accessdate=2007-01-16
}}</ref><ref>[http://www.sigmaforum.org/members.php Scientist science fiction authors]</ref> while mathematician authors include [[Rudy Rucker]] and [[Vernor Vinge]]. Other noteworthy hard SF authors include [[Hal Clement]], [[Larry Niven]], [[Robert J. Sawyer]], [[Stephen Baxter]], and [[Greg Egan]].

===Soft and social SF===
[[Image:TheLeftHandOfDarkness1stEd.jpg|thumb|left|150px|''[[The Left Hand of Darkness]]'', by [[Ursula K. Le Guin]] ]]
{{See also|Soft science fiction|Social science fiction}}
The description "soft" science fiction 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]].<ref name="sf history nvcc">{{cite web
|url=http://www.nvcc.edu/home/ataormina/scifi/history/
|title=A History of Science Fiction
|author=Agatha Taormina
|publisher=Northern Virginia Community College
|date=2005-01-19
|accessdate=2007-01-16
}}</ref><ref name="hartwell soft def">{{cite book
|url=http://www.tor.com/sampleAgeofWonders.html
|title=Age of Wonders
|last=Hartwell
|first=David G.
|publisher=Tor Books
|date=1996-08
|accessdate=2007-01-17
}}</ref> The term can describe stories focused primarily on character and emotion; SFWA Grand Master [[Ray Bradbury]] is an acknowledged master of this art.<ref name="bradbury master">{{cite book
|title=Ray Bradbury: Master of Science Fiction and Fantasy
|last=Maas
|first=Wendy
|date=2004-07
|publisher=Enslow Publishers
}}</ref> The [[Soviet Union]] produced a quantity of social science fiction, including works by the [[Strugatsky brothers]], [[Kir Bulychov]] and [[Ivan Yefremov]].<ref>[[Encyclopedia Britannica]]. [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/528857/science-fiction/235713/The-evolution-of-science-fiction Science fiction]</ref><ref> Yvonne Howell. Apocalyptic Realism: The Science Fiction of Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. Peter Lang Publishing (March 1995) ISBN 0820419621</ref> Some writers blur the boundary between hard and soft science fiction. {{Citation needed|date=July 2009}}

Related to Social SF and Soft SF are the speculative fiction branches of [[utopian]] or [[dystopian]] stories; ''[[The Handmaid's Tale]]'', ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'', and ''[[Brave New World]]'' are examples. Satirical novels with fantastic settings such as ''[[Gulliver's Travels]]'' may be considered speculative fiction.

===Cyberpunk ===
[[Image:Neuromancer (Book).jpg|thumb|150px|''[[Neuromancer]]'', by [[William Gibson]] (Ace, 1984)]]
{{See also|Cyberpunk}}
The ''Cyberpunk'' genre emerged in the early 1980s; the name is a [[portmanteau]] of "cybernetics" and "punk",<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Stableford
| first = Brian
| title = Science Fact and Science Fiction: An Encyclopedia
| publisher = Taylor & Francis Group LLC
| year = 2006
| page = 113
| id = }}</ref>
and was first coined by author [[Bruce Bethke]] in his 1980 [[short story]] "Cyberpunk".<ref name="cyber def"> It was later refined by William Gibson's book, ''Neuromancer'' which is credited for envisioning cyberspace.
Published in the November 1983 issue of ''[[Amazing Stories|Amazing Science Fiction Stories]]'';
{{cite web
|last= Bethke
|first=Bruce
|url=http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/cpunk.htm
|title= Cyberpunk
|publisher=Infinity Plus
|date=
|accessdate=2007-01-17
}}</ref>
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]]), [[artificial intelligence]] and [[prosthetics]] 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-hero]]es. Noteworthy authors in this genre are [[William Gibson]], [[Bruce Sterling]], [[Neal Stephenson]], and [[Pat Cadigan]]. James O'Ehley has called the 1982 film ''[[Blade Runner]]'' a definitive example of the ''cyberpunk'' visual style.<ref name="blade runner">{{cite web
|url=http://www.scifimoviepage.com/julypick.html
|title=SCI-FI MOVIE PAGE PICK: BLADE RUNNER - THE DIRECTOR'S CUT
|publisher=Sci-Fi Movie Page
|author=James O'Ehley
|date=1997-07
|accessdate=2007-01-16
}}</ref>

===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]]'', using a vehicle that allows an operator to travel purposefully and selectively. The term "''[[Time travel|time machine]]''" coined by Wells, is now universally used to refer to such a vehicle. Stories of this type are complicated by logical problems such as the [[grandfather paradox]].<ref name="grandfather">{{cite web
|url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/time-travel-phys/
|title=Time Travel and Modern Physics
|authors=Frank Artzenius and Tim Maudlin
|publisher=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
|date=2000-02-17
|accessdate=2007-01-16
}}</ref> Time travel is a popular subject in novels, and in television series, either as individual episodes within more general science fiction series, for example, "[[The City on the Edge of Forever]]" in ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'', or as one-off productions such as ''[[The Flipside of Dominick Hide]]''.

===Alternative history===
{{See also|Alternate history}}

Alternative (or 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 for Alternate History|Sidewise Award]] acknowledges the best works in this subgenre; the name is taken from [[Murray Leinster]]'s early story ''[[Sidewise in Time]]''. [[Harry Turtledove]] is one of the most prominent authors in the subgenre and is often called the "master of alternate history".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue351/books.html |title=Off the Shelf: In the Presence of Mine Enemies |accessdate=26 November 2008 |author=[[Adam-Troy Castro]] |date=2006 |work=Book review |publisher=[[Sci Fi Weekly]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6548135.html |title=Master of Alternate History |accessdate=26 November 2008 |last=Hall |first=Melissa Mia |coauthors= |date=April 7, 2008 |work= |publisher=[[Publishers Weekly]]}}</ref>

===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]]. [[Joe Haldeman]]'s ''[[The Forever War]]'' is a critique of the genre, a [[Vietnam War|Vietnam]]-era response to the World War II-style stories of earlier authors.<ref name="forever war">{{cite web
|url=http://web.mit.edu/m-I-t/science_fiction/profiles/haldeman.html
|title=Joe Haldeman, 1943-
|author=Henry Jenkins
|date=1999=07-23
|accessdate=2007-01-16
}}</ref> Prominent military SF authors include [[David Drake]], [[David Weber]], and [[S. M. Stirling]]. [[Baen Books]] is known for cultivating military science fiction authors.<ref name="baen mil">{{cite web
|url=http://www.baen.com/intweis.htm
|title=Website Interview with Toni Weisskopf on SF Canada
|publisher=Baen Books
|date=2005-09-12
|accessdate=2007-01-16
}}</ref>

===Superhuman===
{{See also|Superhuman}}

Superhuman stories deal with the emergence of humans who have abilities beyond the norm. This can stem either from natural causes such as in [[Olaf Stapledon]]'s novel ''[[Odd John]]'', or be the result of intentional augmentation such as in [[A.E. Van Vogt]]'s novel ''[[Slan]]''. These stories usually focus on the alienation that these beings feel as well as society's reaction to them. These stories have played a role in the real life discussion of [[human enhancement]].

===Apocalyptic===
{{See also|Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction}}

Apocalyptic fiction is concerned with the [[end of civilization]] through war (''[[On the Beach (novel)|On The Beach]]''), pandemic (''[[The Last Man]]''), astronomic impact (''[[When Worlds Collide]]''), ecological disaster (''[[The Wind From Nowhere]]''), or mankind's self-destruction (''[[Oryx and Crake]]''), or some other [[disaster|general disaster]] or with a world or civilization after such a disaster. Typical of the genre are [[George R. Stewart]]'s novel ''[[Earth Abides]]'' and [[Pat Frank]]'s novel ''[[Alas, Babylon]]''. Apocalyptic fiction generally concerns the disaster itself and the direct aftermath, while post-apocalyptic can deal with anything from the near aftermath (as in [[Cormac McCarthy]]'s ''[[The Road]]'') to 375 years in the future (like ''By The Waters of Babylon'') to hundreds or thousands of years in the future, such as in [[Russell Hoban]]'s novel ''[[Riddley Walker]].''

===Space opera===
{{See also|Space opera}}

[[Space opera]] emphasizes [[romance (genre)|romantic]], often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing powerful (and sometimes quite fanciful) technologies and abilities. Perhaps the most significant trait of space opera is that settings, characters, battles, powers, and themes tend to be very large-scale. These stories typically follow the Homeric tradition, in which a small band of adventurers are cast against larger-than-life backdrops of powerful warring factions. The pioneer is generally recognized to be [[E.E. Smith|Edward E. (Doc) Smith]], with his ''[[Skylark (series)|Skylark]]'' and ''[[Lensman]]'' series. [[Alastair Reynolds]]' ''[[Revelation Space]]'' series and the immensely popular ''[[Star Wars]]'' trilogies are newer examples of this genre.

===Space Western===
{{See also|Space Western}}

Space Western could be considered a sub-genre of [[Space Opera]] that transposes themes of the [[American Old West|American Western]] books and film to a backdrop of futuristic space frontiers. These stories typically involve "frontier" colony worlds (colonies that have only recently been [[terraformed]] and/or settled) serving as stand-ins for the backdrop of lawlessness and economic expansion that were predominant in the American west. Examples include ''[[Firefly (TV series)|Firefly]]'' and the accompanying movie ''[[Serenity (film)|Serenity]]'' by [[Joss Whedon]], as well as the [[anime]]s ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'' and ''[[Outlaw Star]]''.

===Other sub-genres===
{{Expand section|date=June 2008}}

* [[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 explore a society in which gender differences or gender power imbalances do not exist, or [[dystopias]] to explore worlds in which gender inequalities are intensified, thus asserting a need for feminist work to continue.<ref>Elyce Rae Helford, in Westfahl, Gary. ''The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy'': Greenwood Press, 2005: 289-290 </ref>
* [[New Wave (science fiction)|New Wave]] is a term applied to science fiction writing characterized by a high degree of experimentation, both in form and in content, and a highbrow and self-consciously "literary" or artistic sensibility.
* [[Steampunk]] is set in an era or world where [[steam power]] is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often set in [[Victorian era]] England—but with prominent elements of either science fiction or [[fantasy]], such as fictional technological inventions 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.
* [[Comic science fiction]] is a sub-genre that exploits the genre's conventions for comic effect.
* ''Religious or Spiritual science fiction'' is an established{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} sub-genre. There are magazines like ''Solaris Science Fiction'' that cater specifically to this sub-genre. Of the sub-sub-genres in this category, Christian SF has been quite prominent. On the other hand, Islamic SF has been coming to prominence only of late, particularly through websites, and publications such as the anthology, ''A Mosque Among the Stars'' (ed. Aurangzeb Ahmad and Ahmed A. Khan).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1252187938197&pagename=Zone-English-HealthScience%2FHSELayout|title=Islamic Science Fiction by A. Khan}}</ref>

==Related genres==
===Speculative fiction, fantasy, and horror===
{{details|Speculative fiction}}
The broader category of [[speculative fiction]]<ref name="spec fic">{{cite web
|url=http://www.jessesword.com/sf/view/438
|title=Science Fiction Citations
|accessdate=2007-01-08
}}</ref> includes science fiction, fantasy, [[Alternate history|alternate histories]] (which may have no particular scientific or futuristic component), 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 considered to be within the broad definition of speculative fiction.<ref name="magic realism">{{cite web
|url=http://www.aeonmagazine.com/writersguidelines.html
|title=Aeon Magazine Writer's Guidelines
|publisher+Aeon Magazine
|date=2006-04-26
|accessdate=2007-01-16
}}</ref>

===Fantasy===
{{Main|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 genres.<ref name="mccaffrey sf fantasy">{{cite web
|url=http://www.tor.com/sites/legends/mccaffrey_bio.html
|title=Anne McCaffrey
|publisher=tor.com
|date=1999-08-16
|accessdate=2007-01-24
}}</ref> The authors' professional organization is called the [[Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America]] (SFWA).<ref name="SFWA info">{{cite web
|url=http://www.sfwa.org/org/sfwa_info.htm
|title=Information About SFWA
|publisher=Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc.
|accessdate=2006-01-16
}}</ref> SF conventions routinely have programming on fantasy topics,<ref name="fantasy at cons 1">{{cite web
|url=http://www.laconiv.org/2006/prog/contest.htm
|title=Student Science Fiction and Fantasy Contest
|author=Peggy Rae Sapienza and Judy Kindell
|publisher=L.A.con IV
|date=2006-03-23
|accessdate=2007-01-16
}}</ref><ref name="fantasy at cons 2">{{cite web
|url=http://www.chicon.org/prog/prog.htm
|title=Program notes
|author=[[Steven H Silver]]
|publisher=Chicon 2000
|date=2000-09-39
|accessdate=2001-01-16
}}</ref><ref name="fantasy at cons 3">{{cite web
|url=http://www.sff.net/people/carolberg/links.html#conventions
|title=Links, "Conventions and Writers' Workshops"
|author=[[Carol Berg]]
|accessdate=2001-01-16
}}</ref> and [[fantasy author]]s such as [[J. K. Rowling]] have won the highest honor within the science fiction field, the [[Hugo Award]].<ref name="fantasy hugos">{{cite web
|url=http://www.worldcon.org/hc.html
|title=The Hugo Awards By Category
|publisher=World Science Fiction Society
|date=2006-07-26
|accessdate=2006-01-16
}}</ref> Some works show how difficult it is to draw clear boundaries between subgenres; however authors and readers often make a distinction between fantasy and SF.{{Citation needed|date=May 2008}} In general, science fiction is the literature of things that might someday be possible, and fantasy is the literature of things that are inherently impossible.<ref name="Serling def" /> [[Magic (fantasy)|Magic]] and [[mythology]] are popular [[Fantasy tropes and conventions|themes in fantasy]].<ref name="mythology">{{cite journal
|url=http://home.istar.ca/~delric/Myth.htm
|title=On Incorporating Mythology into Fantasy, or How to Write Mythical Fantasy in 752 Easy Steps
|author=Robert B. Marks
|date=1997-05
|journal=Story and Myth
|accessdate=2007-01-16
}}</ref> Some narratives are described as being essentially science fiction but "with fantasy elements". The term "[[science fantasy]]" is sometimes used to describe such material.<ref name="sci fant def">{{cite journal
|url=http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/review_essays/elkins22.htm
|journal=Science Fiction Studies
|date=1980-11
|title=Recent Bibliographies of Science Fiction and Fantasy
|author=Elkins, Charles
|accessdate=2007-01-16
}}</ref>
[[Image:Frankenstein13.jpg|thumb|180px|''[[Frankenstein (1931 film)|Frankenstein]]'' (1931) film poster.]]

===Horror fiction===
{{Main|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]]. Historically 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, where 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 the horror genres.<ref name="horror orig">{{cite journal
|url=http://www.tabula-rasa.info/DarkAges/Timeline1.html
|title=The Horror Timeline, "Part I: Pre-20th Century"
|author=David Carroll and Kyla Ward
|journal=Burnt Toast
|issue=#13
|date=1993-05
|accessdate=2001-01-16
}}</ref> Today horror is one of the most popular categories of [[horror films|films]].<ref name="horror pop">{{cite web
|url=http://news.ncsu.edu/features/103106_HorrorFilms.htm
|title=Horror Films Still Scaring – and Delighting – Audiences
|author=Chad Austin
|publisher=North Carolina State University News
|accessdate=2006-01-16
}}</ref> Horror is often mistakenly categorized as science fiction at the point of distribution by libraries, video rental outlets, etc. For example, the [[Sci Fi Channel (United States)|Sci fi Channel]] (distributed via [[cable television|cable]] and [[satellite|satellite television]] in the [[United States]]) currently devotes a majority of its [[broadcasting|air time]] to horror films with very few science fiction titles.

===Mystery fiction===
{{Main|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)|thriller genre]] would be included, such as the novels of [[Tom Clancy]] or [[Michael Crichton]], or the [[James Bond]] films.<ref name="mainstream">{{cite web
|url=http://www.falsepositives.com/index.php/2005/11/22/utopian-ideas-hidden-inside-dystopian-sf/
|title=Utopian ideas hidden inside Dystopian sf
|publisher=False Positives
|date=2006-11
|accessdate=2007-01-16
}}</ref> [[modernism|Modernist]] works from writers like [[Kurt Vonnegut]], [[Philip K. Dick]], and [[Stanisław Lem]] have focused on speculative or [[Existentialism|existential]] perspectives on contemporary reality and are on the borderline between SF and the mainstream.<ref name="modernism">{{cite journal
|url=http://www.hermenaut.com/a4.shtml
|title=Philip K. Dick (1928–1982)
|last=Glenn
|first=Joshua
|journal=Hermenaut
|issue=#13
|date=2000-12-22
|accessdate=2007-01-16
}}</ref> According to [[Robert J. Sawyer]], "Science fiction and mystery have a great deal in common. Both prize the intellectual process of puzzle solving, and both require stories to be plausible and hinge on the way things really do work."<ref name="mystery">{{cite journal
|url=http://www.sfwriter.com/arcwc.htm
|title=Spotlight On... Robert J. Sawyer
|last=McBride
|first=Jim
|journal=Fingerprints
|issue=November 1997
|date=1997-11
|publisher=Crime Writes of Canada
|accessdate=2007-01-08
}}</ref> [[Isaac Asimov]], [[Walter Mosley]], and other writers incorporate mystery elements in their science fiction, and vice versa.{{Citation needed|date=October 2008}}

===Superhero fiction===
{{Main|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 superpowered threats. Many superhero fiction characters involve themselves (either intentionally or accidentally) with science fiction and fact, including advanced 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 [[Fantastic Four]], the [[X-Men]], and the [[Hulk]]); [[Marv Wolfman]], the creator of ''[[Blade]]'' for Marvel Comics, and ''[[Teen Titans|The New Teen Titans]]'' for DC Comics; [[Dean Wesley Smith]] (''[[Star Trek]]'', ''[[Smallville (TV series)|Smallville]]'', ''[[Spider-Man]]'', and ''[[X-Men]]'' novels) and ''[[Superman]]'' writers [[Roger Stern]] and [[Elliot S! Maggin]].

==Fandom and community==
{{details|Science fiction fandom}}
[[Science fiction fandom]] is the "community of the literature of ideas... the culture in which new ideas emerge and grow before being released into society at large".<ref name="fandom def">{{cite paper
|author = von Thorn, Alexander
|title = Aurora Award acceptance speech
|location = Calgary, Alberta
|date=2002-08
}}</ref> Members of this community, "[[fan (person)|fans]]", are in contact with each other at [[science fiction conventions|conventions]] or clubs, through print or online [[science fiction fanzines|fanzines]], or on the Internet using web sites, [[mailing list]]s, 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.<ref name="fanzine history">{{cite book
|last=Wertham
|first=Fredric
|title=The World of Fanzines
|publisher=Carbondale & Evanston: Southern Illinois University Press
|year=1973
}}</ref> Once they were in regular contact, fans wanted to meet each other, and they organized local clubs. In the 1930s, the first [[science fiction conventions]] gathered fans from a wider area.<ref name="fancyclopedia con">{{cite web
|url=http://fanac.org/Fannish_Reference_Works/Fancyclopedia/Fancyclopedia_I/c.html
|title=Fancyclopedia I: C - Cosmic Circle
|publisher=fanac.org
|date=1999-08-12
|accessdate=2007-01-17
}}</ref> Conventions, clubs, and fanzines were the dominant form of fan activity, or "fanac", for decades, until the Internet facilitated communication among a much larger population of interested people.

===Awards===
{{details|List of science fiction awards}}
Among the most respected awards for science fiction are the [[Hugo Award]], presented by the [[World Science Fiction Society]] at Worldcon, and the [[Nebula Award]], presented by SFWA and voted on by the community of authors. One notable award for science fiction films is the [[Saturn Award]]. It is presented annually by The Academy of 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]], special interest or subgenre awards like the [[Chesley Award]] for art or the [[World Fantasy Award]] for fantasy. Magazines may organize reader polls, notably the [[Locus Award]].

===Conventions, clubs, and organizations===
{{details|Science fiction conventions}}
{{See also|Category:science fiction organizations}}
[[Image:Sfcon-reading-ddb.jpg|thumb|280px|Pamela Dean reading at [[Minicon]]]]
Conventions (in fandom, shortened as "cons"), are held in cities around the world, catering to a local, regional, national, or international 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 organization|non-profit groups]], though most media-oriented events are organized by commercial promoters. The convention's activities are called the "program", which may include panel discussions, readings, autograph sessions, costume masquerades, and other events. Activities that occur throughout the convention are not part of the program; these commonly include a dealer's room, art show, and hospitality lounge (or "con suites").<ref name="con activities">{{cite web
|url=http://www.watt-evans.com/whataresfconventionslike.html
|title=What Are Science Fiction Conventions Like?
|author=Lawrence Watt-Evans
|date=1000-03-15
|accessdate=2007-01-17
}}</ref>

Conventions may host award ceremonies; [[Worldcon]]s present the [[Hugo Award]]s each year. 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 an ongoing science fiction convention, or have regular club meetings, or both. Most groups meet in libraries, schools and universities, community centers, pubs or 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 research materials.<ref name="fan clubhouse">{{cite journal
|url=http://ourworld.cs.com/mikeglyer/F770/club/index.html
|title=Is Your Club Dead Yet?
|author=Mike Glyer
|journal=File 770
|date=1998-11
|accessdate=2007-01-17
|format={{Dead link|date=April 2009}} &ndash; <sup>[http://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=intitle%3AIs+Your+Club+Dead+Yet%3F&as_publication=File+770&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&btnG=Search Scholar search]</sup>
|unused_data=|issue-127
}}</ref> The [[Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America]] (SFWA) was founded by [[Damon Knight]] in 1965 as a non-profit organization to serve the community of professional science fiction authors<ref name="SFWA info" />, 24 years after his essay "Unite or Fie!" had led to the organization of the [[National Fantasy Fan Federation]]. Fandom has helped incubate related groups, including [[media fandom]],<ref name="media fan history">{{cite web
|url=http://www.uleth.ca/edu/runte/ncfguide/fandom.htm#invasion
|title=History of sf Fandom
|author=Robert Runte
|year=2003
|accessdate=2007-01-17
}}</ref> the [[Society for Creative Anachronism]],<ref name="sca fandom">{{cite web
|url=http://www.midrealm.org/midrealm_origins.html
|title=Origins of the Middle Kingdom
|publisher=Folump Enterprises
|year=1994
|accessdate=2007-01-17
}}</ref> [[gamer|gaming]],<ref name="gamer fen">{{cite web
|url=http://www.casfs.org/history.html
|title=History
|author=Ken St. Andre
|publisher=Central Arizona Science Fiction Society
|date=2006-02-03
|accessdate=2007-01-17
}}</ref> [[filkers|filking]], and [[furry fandom]].<ref name="furry">{{cite book|last=Patten|first=Fred|year=2006|title=Furry! The World's Best Anthropomorphic Fiction|publisher=ibooks}}</ref>

===Fanzines and online fandom===
{{details|Science fiction fanzine}}
{{See also|Category:Science fiction websites}}
The first science fiction fanzine, ''The Comet'', was published in 1930.<ref name="first fanzine">{{cite web
|url=http://www.fiawol.demon.co.uk/biblio/
|title=British Fanzine Bibliography
|author=Rob Hansen
|date=2003-08-13
|accessdate=2007-01-17
}}</ref> Fanzine printing methods have changed over the decades, from the [[hectograph]], the [[mimeograph]], and the [[ditto machine]], to modern [[photocopying]]. Distribution volumes rarely justify the cost of commercial printing. Modern fanzines are printed on [[computer printer]]s or at local copy shops, or they may only be sent as [[email]]. The best known 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]]''.<ref name="fan awards">{{cite web
|url=http://www.wsfs.org/hc.html
|title=Hugo Awards by Category
|publisher=World Science Fiction Society
|date=2006-07-26
|accessdate=2007-01-17
}}</ref> Artists working for fanzines have risen to prominence in the field, including Brad W. Foster, Teddy Harvia, and Joe Mayhew; the Hugos include a category for [[Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist|Best Fan Artists]].<ref name="fan awards" /> The earliest organized fandom online was the [http://www.noreascon.org/users/sflovers/u1/web/ SF Lovers] community, originally a mailing list in the late 1970s with a text [[File archiver|archive file]] that was updated regularly.<ref name="sf-lovers hist">{{cite web
|url=http://keithlynch.net/history.net.html
|title=History of the Net is Important
|author=Keith Lynch
|date=1994-07-14
|accessdate=2007-01-17
}}</ref> In the 1980s, [[Usenet]] groups 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 magnitude, with thousands and then literally millions of web sites devoted to science fiction and related genres for all media.<ref name="fan clubhouse" /> Most such sites are small, [[wikt:ephemeral|ephemeral]], and/or very narrowly focused, though sites like [[SF Site]] offer a broad range of references and reviews about science fiction.

===Fan fiction===
{{details|Fan fiction}}
{{See also|Fan fiction terminology}}
Fan fiction, known to aficionados as "fanfic", is [[non-commercial]] fiction created by fans in the setting of an established book, film, or television series.<ref name="fanfic def">{{cite book
|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/fanfic
|title=The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company
|year=2003
|accessdate=2007-01-17
}}</ref> This modern meaning of the term should not be confused with the traditional (pre-1970s) meaning of "fan fiction" within the community of [[science fiction fandom|fandom]], where the term meant original or parody fiction written by fans and published in [[science fiction fanzines|fanzines]], often 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 development of science fiction universes. In some cases, the copyright owners of the books, films, or television series have instructed their lawyers to issue "cease and desist" letters to fans.

==Science fiction studies==
{{details|Science fiction studies}}
The study of science fiction, or [[science fiction studies]], is the critical assessment, interpretation, and discussion of science fiction literature, film, new media, fandom, and fan fiction. Science fiction scholars take science fiction as an object of study in order to better understand it and its relationship to science, technology, politics, and culture-at-large. Science fiction studies has a long history dating back to the turn of the twentieth century, but it was not until later that science fiction studies solidified as a discipline with the publication of the academic journals [[Extrapolation (journal)|Extrapolation]] (1959), [[Foundation - The International Review of Science Fiction]] (1972), and [[Science-Fiction Studies|Science Fiction Studies]] (1973), and the establishment of the oldest organizations devoted to the study of science fiction, the [[Science Fiction Research Association]] and the [[Science Fiction Foundation]], in 1970. The field has grown considerably since the 1970s with the establishment of more journals, organizations, and conferences with ties to the science fiction scholarship 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 Public Understanding" of "Science Fiction and Pseudoscience".<ref name=NSF>[[National Science Foundation]] survey: [http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind02/c7/c7s5.htm Science and Technology: Public Attitudes and Public Understanding. Science Fiction and Pseudoscience.]</ref> 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 that students who read science fiction are much more likely than other students to believe that contacting extraterrestrial civilizations is both possible and desirable (Bainbridge 1982).<ref name=Bainbridge>Bainbridge, W.S. 1982. "The Impact of Science Fiction on Attitudes Toward Technology." In E.M. Emme, ed. Science Fiction and Space Futures: Past and Present. San Diego, CA: Univelt.</ref>

==Science fiction world-wide==
Although perhaps most developed as a genre and community in the US and UK, science fiction is a worldwide phenomenon. Organisations devoted to promoting SF in particular countries and in non-English languages are common, as are country- or language-specific genre awards.

===Africa and African diaspora===
{{See also|Science Fiction South Africa}}
{{See also|Black science fiction}}

===Asia===
{{Main|Science fiction of Bangladesh}}
{{Main|Science fiction in China}}
{{Main|Science fiction in Japan}}
{{See also|Science fiction film of India}}

===Europe===
[[Image:1967. На Луне.jpg|thumb|[[Soviet]] stamp, part of a 1967 series depicting science fiction images.]]<!-- Free image -->
{{Main|Science fiction in Croatia}}
{{Main|Czech science fiction and fantasy}}
{{Main|French science fiction}}
{{Main|Norwegian science fiction}}
{{Main|Science fiction in Poland}}
{{Main|Science fiction in Russia}}
{{Main|Science fiction in Serbia}}
{{See also|Irish Science Fiction Association}}
{{See also|Turku Science Fiction Society}}

'''Germany and Austria''':
Current well-known SF authors from Germany are five-time ''Kurd-Laßwitz-Award'' winner [[Andreas Eschbach]], whose books ''[[The Carpet Makers]]'' and ''[[Eine Billion Dollar]]'' are big successes, and [[Frank Schätzing]], who in his book ''[[The Swarm (novel)|The Swarm]]'' mixes 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 language|German]] is [[Perry Rhodan]], which started in 1961. Having sold over one billion copies (in [[pulp magazine|pulp]] format), it claims to be the most successful science fiction book series ever written worldwide.<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.perry-rhodan-usa.com/web1998/rdnpres.htm |title=Perry Rhodan 35th anniversary |publisher=Perry-Rhodan-USA.com |date=September 8 1996 |accessdate=2009-01-26}}</ref>

===Oceania===
{{Main|Science fiction in Australia}}
{{See also|Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of New Zealand}}

'''Australia''': David G. Hartwell noted that while there is perhaps "nothing essentially Australian about Australian science-fiction", many Australian science-fiction (and fantasy and horror) writers are in fact international English language writers, and their work is commonly published worldwide. This is further explainable by the fact that Australian inner market is small (with Australian population being around 21 million), and sales abroad are crucial to most Australian writers.<ref>David G. Hartwell, Damien Broderick (ed.), ''Centaurus: The best of Australian science fiction'', Damien Broderick, ''Introduction'', .10.21 Tor Books, 1999m ISBN 0312865562</ref><ref>David G. Hartwell, Damien Broderick (ed.), ''Centaurus: The best of Australian science fiction'', David. G. Hartwell, ''The other editor's introduction'', ibid., p.22-25 Tor Books, 1999m ISBN 0312865562</ref>

===North America===
{{Main|Canadian science fiction}}

==See also==
{{sisterlinks}}
* [[List of science fiction themes]]
* [[List of science fiction authors]]
* [[List of science fiction novels]]
* [[Skiffy]]
* [[Transhumanism]] (a [[school of thought]] profoundly inspired by SF)
{{-}}

==Notes and references==
===Notes===
{{Reflist|2}}

===References===
{{refbegin}}
* Barron, Neil, ed. ''Anatomy of Wonder: A Critical Guide to Science Fiction'' (5th ed.). (Libraries Unlimited, 2004) ISBN 1-59158-171-0.
* [[John Clute|Clute, John]] ''Science Fiction: The Illustrated Encyclopedia''. London: Dorling Kindersley, 1995. ISBN 0-7513-0202-3.
* [[John Clute|Clute, John]] and [[Peter Nicholls (writer)|Peter Nicholls]], eds., ''[[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]]''. St Albans, Herts, UK: Granada Publishing, 1979. ISBN 0-586-05380-8.
* [[John Clute|Clute, John]] and [[Peter Nicholls (writer)|Peter Nicholls]], eds., ''[[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]]''. New York: St Martin's Press, 1995. ISBN 0-312-13486-X.
* [[Thomas M. Disch|Disch, Thomas M.]] ''The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of''. Touchstone, 1998. ISBN 9780684824055
* Reginald, Robert. ''Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, 1975–1991''. Detroit, MI/Washington, DC/London: Gale Research, 1992. ISBN 0-8103-1825-3.
* Weldes, Jutta, ed. ''To Seek Out New Worlds: Exploring Links between Science Fiction and World Politics''. Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. ISBN 0-312-29557-X.
* Westfahl, Gary, ed. ''The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders'' (three volumes). Greenwood Press, 2005.
* Wolfe, Gary K. ''Critical Terms for Science Fiction and Fantasy: A Glossary and Guide to Scholarship''. Greenwood Press, 1986. ISBN 0-313-22981-3.
{{refend}}
</div>

==External links==
<!--- NOTE: Wikipedia is NOT a collection of links. DO NOT ADD your personal favorite website here. Place a request on the Science Fiction Talk page describing why you think the external source meets the External Link guidelines (To find the guidelines type the following into Wikipedia search without the quotes "WP:EL" ). If community consensus is that the site meets or exceeds one or more of the current links, it will be added. Thank you! -->
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Science_Fiction_(Bookshelf) Science Fiction (Bookshelf)] at [[Project Gutenberg]]
* [http://www.sfhub.ac.uk/ SF Hub] - resources for science-fiction research, created by the University of Liverpool Library
* [http://www.efanzines.com Science fiction fanzines (current and historical) online]
* [http://www.sfwa.org/member-links/nebula-suggested-reading/ Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America] - their "Suggested Reading" page
* [http://www.empsfm.org/ Science Fiction Museum & Hall of Fame]
* [http://www.sfra.org/sfra.html Science Fiction Research Association]

{{Science fiction}}

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