A Discussion of Sci-Fi Subgenres

One of the things I loved about SciFiMonth last month was discovering new blogs and bloggers to follow!! One of the new bloggers that I found is Louise at Monstrumology! A while ago she posted about her favorite subgenres of science fiction (find it here), which I really enjoyed reading. It made me think about mine, so I decided to make a post discussing the different subgenres of sci-fi. Thanks for the inspiration Louise!

Of course, there are infinite subgenres, and I know I’ll miss some of them. So please don’t come for me if I leave out your favorite subgenre lol. It absolutely wasn’t my intention, I just sadly am not omniscient. I’ll tell you which ones of these are my favorites, and I’ll give you some examples of where you can find each subgenre. Obviously I’ll talk about books, but I’ll include some tv shows, movies, and video games as well! I know we all like different types of media.

Also before I start, another disclaimer. Media is fluid, and can’t be pigeonholed into one neat little box. So a lot of the examples of media that I’ll mention probably fall into a few different subgenres of sci-fi! I tried to choose what I felt was the dominating one. Just as an example, take Star Wars. I’ve categorized it mainly as a space fantasy, due to the Force and the Jedi, but it’s obviously a space opera as well!

Okay, now let’s get into the different subgenres!!

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Space Opera

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Speaking of space operas, let’s start there, since it may or may not be my favorite subgenre. There’s something about space that I just can’t resist! Space opera is generally defined as a story that takes place in space, featuring spaceships, advanced technology, extraterrestrials, space warfare, etc. Essentially, a science fiction adventure story, set in space. It’s pretty broad to be honest. I think the broadness is why this is my favorite subgenre. You can have so many different types of stories that fit within the category, so there is a lot to love!

Fun fact, the term “space opera” came from the term “soap opera” – nothing to do with traditional operas haha.

Examples:

• Books: A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe; Red Rising; A Memory Called Empire; The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
• Movies/TV: Space Sweepers
• Video games: Mass Effect; Ratchet & Clank; Halo

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Science Fantasy

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I feel like the name of this one is pretty straightforward. It’s a blend of science fiction and fantasy. The ones I’ve read tend to blend a space opera story with magic powers. I think this is a super underrated subgenre. It’s definitely hard to combine the elements of a magic system with all the details of technology, but man when it all comes together it is just *chefs kiss*. A major example of science fantasy would be Star Wars – even if you haven’t seen it, it’s so entrenched in pop culture that I’m sure you know the idea. People with powers (the Force) in space. There are certainly other ways to do this without also being a space opera, I just haven’t read many of them! And I’m not clever enough to come up with my own haha.

This is definitely another favorite subgenre of mine, which should be no surprise. I love both the fantasy and sci-fi genres, so naturally I’d like a mix of the two!

Examples:

• Books: Gideon the Ninth; Killing Gravity
• Movies/TV: Star Wars; Arcane
• Video games: League of Legends; Teamfight Tactics

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Cyberpunk

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I admit I haven’t read all that much cyberpunk, but it really intrigues me and I’d like to read more. Generally cyberpunk stories are united by an overarching theme of a (futuristic) world that is dominated by technology – more so than our current world is. And something much more of a dystopia – though I’ll get to that specific subgenre later since it doesn’t necessarily align with cyberpunk all the time. The setting is often urban, and very gritty. Think something like The Matrix, if you’ve seen it. There are also a lot of themes from detective stories. Of course, cyberpunk can vary from these common themes, but will generally follow one or a few of them.

Examples:

• Books: Repo Virtual; The Body Scout; City of Shattered Light; Firebreak; Company Town
• Movies/TV: The Matrix; Blade Runner; Ghost in the Shell
• Video games: Nier: Automata; Cyberpunk 2077

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Climate Fiction

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I think this subgenre is becoming more popular with the looming threat of global warming. Okay it’s not looming, it’s already here. But I don’t wanna get going on THAT particular rant about how we need to FIX THINGS NOW. So anyway!! I haven’t read a lot of older sci-fi, so there may be a lot of climate fiction there that I’m just missing. But I think the current scientific developments and discoveries give a lot of fuel to our imaginations. The basis of climate fiction is that it deals with how climate change/global warming or extreme climate occurrences affect our society. I think a lot of authors are finding this a good way to explore the potential devastating consequences of current environmental issues.

Examples:

• Books: The Ones We’re Meant to Fine; Rise of the Red Hand
• Movies/TV: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind; The Day After Tomorrow
• Video games: Endling; Beyond Blue; A New Beginning

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Dystopian

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Ahhh dystopian fiction. I was a reader during the great dystopian popularity era of the early 2010s. I think The Hunger Games is what really kicked off the genre at that time. However, dystopian fiction has naturally been around a lot longer than that. I mean, Nineteen Eighty-Four is a classic example of dystopian fiction, and it is considered a “classic” since it was published a while ago. So what defines a dystopia? Generally it is a society that involves great suffering, injustice, major inequality, etc. The opposite of a utopia, which is a perfect society. For example, the dystopia in The Hunger Games features a titular Hunger Game where two people from each “city” must fight in a battle to the death, with the last remaining person crowned the winner. Obviously, not a place where most would want to live. Though the genre seemed to die off a bit after the big popularity boom (at least in books), I’ve read quite a few ones recently that are great.

This subgenre can be a great place to explore the extremes that could happen if current injustices are not addressed, or if certain dangerous political agendas are allowed to go too far.

Examples:

• Books: Nineteen Eighty-Four; The Offset; Twenty-Five to Life; The Hunger Games; Never Let Me Go
• Movies/TV: Blade Runner; Minority Report; Gattaca
• Video games: BioShock

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Sci-Fi Horror

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I’ve mentioned before that I’m a BIG BABY so I truly haven’t consumed much horror media. But there is so much out there!!! Frankenstein! The original sci-fi story, and it’s sci-fi horror! I don’t really know how best to describe horror other than scary stuff…haha. But that can be in the form of a lot of different things. Body horror, psychological horror, paranormal, slasher, zombie…etc. I think a classic type of sci-fi horror would be with aliens, or psychological horror in space. Think the very aptly named movie, Alien.

I think these two genres are very well suited to each other, since space is well, terrifying as hell, and science can be seriously twisted by the wrong people. Sci-fi is the perfect place to explore all sorts of scary stuff related to science and technology!

Examples:

• Books: The Outside; The Luminous Dead; Alien: Echo; Frankenstein; Dead Space (Kali Wallace); Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
• Movies/TV: The Thing; Alien
• Video games: Prey (2017)

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…Even MORE Subgenres…

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Solarpunk, post apocalyptic, military sci-fi, steampunk, sci-fi romance, parallel worlds, the list goes on! As I said I can’t possibly talk about everything since there are SO many subgenres. The diversity of science fiction is amazing, and I can’t wait to discover even more subgenres that I haven’t heard of yet. I do want to highlight solarpunk and steampunk in particular as ones that I’ve been really enjoying, and I definitely want to read more of them!

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I hope you enjoyed this little overview of science fiction! Which subgenres are your favorite? Please let me know your thoughts on what I’ve said, and if you have anything to add (or correct!). And I’m always looking for more shows/movies to watch, and video games to play. So def hit me up with those recs if you have them. And I mean, I’m not saying no to book recs of course lol.