|
One of the hallmarks of science fiction is the considerable creative freedom it allows the author. However, there are certain themes that sci-fi authors tend to examine more than others:
Alternative worlds: These settings are hypothetical planes of existence that subsist parallel with a known one. Also called parallel universes and/or alternate realities, these worlds can include alternative versions of actual historical events or different scientific laws.
Extraterrestrials: An extraterrestrial is any life form that doesn’t come from Earth. Popular extraterrestrial themes in science fiction include aliens and Martians, alien invasions and abductions, and interplanetary warfare between humanoids and other life forms.
Outer space: Space has fascinated science fiction authors since the genre’s earliest days, serving as the setting for countless novels. Space exploration, travel, and warfare are common science fiction subjects.
Scientific possibilities: Obviously, science—whether real or speculative—plays a significant role. The science, in most cases, serves as a crucial lynchpin in the story, propelling the action and often creating challenges along the way. Teleportation, time travel, mind control, and warp drives are popular scientific possibilities incorporated in many sci-fi works.
Technology: Technology in science fiction encompasses a wide range of equipment often designed with super-intelligent capabilities. This technology might currently exist, be a predicted invention with a basis in current technology, or be entirely speculative. Robots, supercomputers, holograms, and speed-of-light space travel are just a few types of technology seen in sci-fi novels.
Types of Science Fiction
Science fiction is a part of the larger umbrella of speculative fiction. Speculative fiction contains several subgenres that feature futuristic, fantastical, or supernatural plot elements; basically, any imagined components that don’t exist in the context of the everyday world. Other types of speculative fiction include fantasy, horror, paranormal, and apocalyptic literature.
Science fiction itself comes in two main types: hard sci-fi and soft sci-fi. Hard science fiction is based on scientific accuracy and known facts and logic. Put another way, it tells stories rooted in the concepts of natural science. This approach can enhance the authenticity of the story and the idea that the plot’s event could, conceivably, happen. Examples of hard science fiction include The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton, The Martian by Andy Weir, and Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars trilogy.
Soft science fiction places greater emphasis on the human aspects of the story, integrating sciences of human behavior, like psychology, sociology, and politics. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Robert A. Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land, and Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness are all soft science fiction novels.
Some readers prefer another definition of soft science fiction, one that serves as a counterpoint to hard science fiction. This definition views soft sci-fi as any story not rooted in known scientific logic, accuracy, or plausibility.
Subgenres of Science Fiction
There are multiple subgenres in the world of science fiction, such as the following:
Dystopias and utopias: Dystopias takes place in future or near-future societies where life and social structures are in catastrophic decline, and humans fight for survival in often violent and oppressive conditions. Utopias are the opposite: idealized worlds in which life and social structures are idyllic, and any conflict stems from human fallibilities.
Fantasy: Science fantasies occur in settings that defy known, natural scientific laws; they draw inspiration from myths and folktales and usually utilize magic to some extent.
Space operas: These are epic adventures and/or romances set in outer space.
Supernatural: Science fiction in this vein incorporates mystical phenomena like psychic abilities, occultism, witchcraft, or wizardry.
Science fiction is often said to inspire a "sense of wonder." Science fiction editor and critic David Hartwell wrote: "Science fiction’s appeal lies in combination of the rational, the believable, with the miraculous. It is an appeal to the sense of wonder.Carl Sagan said: "One of the great benefits of science fiction is that it can convey bits and pieces, hints, and phrases, of knowledge unknown or inaccessible to the reader . . . works you ponder over as the water is running out of the bathtub or as you walk through the woods in an early winter snowfall.
In 1967, Isaac Asimov commented on the changes then occurring in the science fiction community: "And because today’s real life so resembles day-before-yesterday’s fantasy, the old-time fans are restless. Deep within, whether they admit it or not, is a feeling of disappointment and even outrage that the outer world has invaded their private domain. They feel the loss of a 'sense of wonder' because what was once truly confined to 'wonder' has now become prosaic and mundane
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
