Speculative Fiction

My favorite form of fiction can be classified as Speculative Fiction. Wikipedia defines this term as: “an umbrella term encompassing the more highly imaginative fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history in literature as well as related static, motion, and virtual arts.” The first use of the term is often credited to Robert A. Heinlein, but that is much in dispute. It doesn’t matter much, because it seems to describe what most people think of when they hear the term “Science Fiction”, which is basically what we are talking about here.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption]

Back in the middle of the last century, the best place to find Speculative Fiction was in the pulp magazines such as Galaxy and Astounding. Today, you can find such works in podcasts, an example of which is StarShipSofa. These, are of course, sources for the short story form, novels can also be found under this broad category as well.

The use of the term never really caught on, but it is seeing a resurgence in recent years and might actually gain some ground. What is cool about the term is that you are not saddled into the trap of writing a piece and not know exactly where you should file it away under. Speculative Fiction has a bright future, no matter what anyone says.

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