SCIENCE FICTION - There are 2 main methods to determine
Science Fiction sub genres. Ask yourself, does the action take place on our
Earth or on another world? Science permits humans to advance to the point that
life on an extraterrestrial world/ need to travel there, or disruptive societal
change -- dramatically transforming our day to day existence. Before the term Science Fiction had ever been
used, Jules Verne wrote a series under the moniker Voyages Extraordinaires
including From the Earth to the Moon (De la terre à la lune). While that was happening, Robert Louis
Stephenson dreamt up the concept for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. A short time later, HG Wells wrote and
published The Time Machine, Invisible Man and War of the Worlds. The
Speculative Fiction movement began, whereby Earthly limits fall away and
imagination takes flight. Even if that imagination means staying at home.
Superhero and Apocalyptic fiction emerged into a space created by their
predecessors. Once we learned history is not fixed and things might/ might not
turn out the way we hope, Social fiction appeared. With a fully developed
genre, authors could go anywhere and everywhere, unrestricted by reality, ready
to inhabit new nearby/ faraway worlds.
Related links:
https://www.chadschimke.com/2019/02/thriller-fiction.html
https://www.chadschimke.com/2017/10/hard-boiled-fiction.html
https://www.chadschimke.com/2017/11/horror-fiction.html
https://www.chadschimke.com/2021/11/science-fiction.html
https://www.chadschimke.com/2021/11/fantasy-fiction.html
From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne (1865)
Gun enthusiasts dream up an idea to shoot themselves to the
moon with a space gun, in an attempt to survive a moon landing.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Robert by Louis Stevenson (1886)
A London lawyer investigates strange occurrences involving
his old friend and the evil Edward Hyde.
War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells (1897)
Martians invade the home of an unnamed narrator, and his
younger brother, in southern England.
Superman by Action Comics (1938)
As a baby, an alien is sent to Earth from an old faraway
planet before it was destroyed, where he learns to assume a new identity.
Evidence by Isaac Asimov (1946)
A political opponent levels an accusation that his rival is
a robot, remotely guided by the true candidate -- who was in reality
permanently disfigured by an accident.
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (1954)
The only survivor of a pandemic lives in LA, as he struggles
to beat the disease but constantly fears pandemic sufferers arisen from the
dead like vampires.
The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney (1955)
When seeds invade Santa Mira, unsuspecting sleeping
residents disappear and are quietly replaced with nonhuman duplicates.
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (1957)
While investigating a ruined factory, a railroad magnate finds
a strange electric motor.
Soldier from Tomorrow by Harlan Ellison (1957)
A soldier from a distant future, state conditioned from
birth to fight and kill, travels through time to the present.
Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein (1959)
A young soldier serves in the Mobile Infantry, fighting in
an interstellar war with Arachnids, sent through space from the planet
Klendathu.
Coma by Robin Cook (1977)
As students complete their rotation, it becomes clear
patients are going into comas more often than usual, at Boston Memorial.
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985)
A totalitarian state has overthrown the United States
government in a world where fertile women are forbidden to use their birth
names in service to their master.
Diaspora by Greg Egan (1997)
In a post human future, a transhuman orphan takes the form
of a purple robed herdsman, set off to explore the unknown.
Legion Brandon by Sanderson (2012)
A special condition allows a man to generate multiple
personalities but he shies away from researchers wanting to study his
abilities.
