Speculative Fiction: A Definition and an Outline
What's the difference between science fiction and speculative fiction? Speculative fiction is the large, overarching category of fiction that entertains the possibility of other worlds: from utopias to dystopian nightmares. It includes:
- science fiction: tales that extend existing scientific and technological possibilities into the future and that are plausible
- dystopian literature: The Hunger Games; George Orwell's 1984; Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451; Aldous Huxley's Brave New World
- utopian literature: William Morris's News from Nowhere; Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward
- apocalyptic fiction: Stephen King's The Stand; zombie fiction: Colson Whitehead, Zone One
- fantasy and time travel: Ursula LeGuin's The Left Hand of Darkness; C. S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; Octavia Butler's Kindred
- magical realism: Gabriel Garcia Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude; Isabel Allende's The House of the Spirits.
Outline
Some Characteristics of Sixties Sci Fi Fiction
Timeline: Social, Political, and Literary Events
Sixties Sci Fi on Television
Sixties Sci Fi Fiction