Back Wetenskapsfiksie Afrikaans Science-Fiction ALS Ciencia ficción AN خيال علمي Arabic تعاويد عيلمي ARY خيال علمى ARZ কল্পবিজ্ঞান Assamese Ciencia ficción AST Elmi fantastika Azerbaijani Навуковая фантастыка Byelorussian
 |
| Speculative fiction |
|---|
 Portal |
| Literature | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||||
| Oral literature | ||||||
| Major written forms | ||||||
|
||||||
| Prose genres | ||||||
|
||||||
| Poetry genres | ||||||
|
||||||
| Dramatic genres | ||||||
| History | ||||||
| Lists and outlines | ||||||
| Theory and criticism | ||||||
 Literature portal | ||||||
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which stereotypically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universes, and extraterrestrial life. It can explore science and technology in different ways, such as human responses to theoretical new advancements, or the consequences thereof.
Science fiction is related to fantasy (SF&F or SFF), horror, and superhero fiction, and contains many subgenres. Its exact definition has long been disputed among authors, critics, scholars, and readers. Subgenres include hard science fiction, which emphasizes scientific accuracy, and soft science fiction, focusing on social sciences. Other notable subgenres are cyberpunk, which explores the interface between technology and society, and climate fiction, addressing environmental issues.
Precedents for science fiction are argued to exist as far back as antiquity, but the modern genre primarily arose in the 19th and early 20th centuries when popular writers began looking to technological progress for inspiration and speculation. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, written in 1818, is often credited as the first true science fiction novel. Jules Verne and H.G. Wells are pivotal figures in the genre's development. In the 20th century, the genre grew during the Golden Age of Science Fiction and expanded with the introduction of space operas, dystopian literature, and pulp magazines.
Science fiction has come to influence not just literature but film, television, and culture at large. Besides providing entertainment, and hoping to inspire a "sense of wonder", science fiction can also criticize present-day society and explore alternatives.