Literature Atlas

How Stories Are Told
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Group

Science Fiction Subgenres

Subgenres of speculative fiction whose defining premise is a scientific, technological or rationally extrapolated change to the world, from a real or plausible science or a hypothetical future science. This includes movement- and era-defined subgenres such as the New Wave, cyberpunk, biopunk, dieselpunk, atompunk, nanopunk, solarpunk and hopepunk, thematic subgenres such as military, feminist, social, climate, Christian, libertarian and pastoral science fiction, and structural subgenres built on a science-fiction premise such as first contact, alien invasion, time travel, space opera, planetary romance, mecha and kaiju fiction. Alternate history is included here because the atlas's own existing genre data already classifies it as a form of science fiction. Excludes fantasy subgenres that merely borrow a science-fiction surface without a scientific premise, grouped instead under Fantasy Subgenres, and dystopian or post-apocalyptic works, grouped separately under Post-Apocalyptic and Dystopian Fiction.

Facts
Comparison
Era of Emergence
1818 1
Browse By
Science Fiction Subgenres
Filter Results46 entries

Africanfuturism

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
1 link

Afrofuturism

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
1 link

Alien Invasion Fiction

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction

Alternate History

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
1 link

Anthropological Science Fiction

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction

Atompunk

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction

Biopunk

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
1 link

Christian Science Fiction

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
1 link

Climate Fiction

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
1 link

Cyberpunk

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
1 link

Dieselpunk

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
1 link

Dying Earth

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction

Edisonade

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction

Feminist Science Fiction

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
1 link

First Contact Fiction

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction

Hard Science Fiction

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
1 link

Hopepunk

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
1 link

Invasion Literature

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction

Kaiju

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction

Libertarian Science Fiction

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction

Lost World

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction

Mecha

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
1 link

Merveilleux Scientifique

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
1 link

Military Science Fiction

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
1 link

Mundane Science Fiction

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
1 link

Nanopunk

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction

New Wave (Science Fiction)

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
1 link

Pastoral Science Fiction

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
1 link

Planetary Romance

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
2 links

Quantum Fiction

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction

Science Fiction

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
37 links

Science Fiction Comedy

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
1 link

Scientific Romance

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
1 link

Slipstream Fiction

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
1 link

Social Science Fiction

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
1 link

Soft Science Fiction

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
1 link

Solarpunk

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
1 link

Space Opera

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
1 link

Space Western

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
1 link

Speculative Evolution

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction

Steampunk

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
1 link

Subterranean Fiction

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
1 link

Time Travel Fiction

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
1 link

Tokusatsu

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction

Transrealism

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction

Widescreen Baroque

Speculative and Fantastic Fiction
Sources
1. Science Fiction (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationScience fiction, History section, Frankenstein sentence
Quote, Science fiction, History section, Frankenstein sentence
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818) and The Last Man (1826) helped to define the form of the science fiction novel.
View the Source
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.