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All things written speculative fiction - books, short stories, poems, etc. As always, please tag spoilers and follow the instance rules.

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Arthur

What’s the difference between speculative fiction and science fiction? (self.printsf)

submitted 1 year ago by Eq0 to c/printsf

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I’ve rarely seen the term “speculative fiction” being used, so I don’t really have an idea of what it encompasses. Would someone care to explain? I remember “Anathem” being described as such - and by the way: what an amazing book! I recommend it to all nerds, in particular those into history/philosophy/scifi.

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[–] Arthur 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Speculative fiction encompasses more than just what we consider "science fiction". It is basically just a blanket term to mean stories that happen outside of our known universe. It can be futuristic, supernatural, etc. It doesn't refer to a specific genre, but can encompass multiple subgenres.

Hope that helps!

[–] Eq0 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Thanks! This seems like a very broad but workable definition. Would you say all sci-fi is speculative fiction?

[–] Arthur 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Great question! I wish I could give you a satisfying binary yes or no answer, but unfortunately like most of our world, it just depends. I would say most sci-fi could be considered speculative fiction, but there might be exceptions. I found this cool chart that I think might help out.

Safe to say most sci-fi is considered speculative though!

Source: https://annieneugebauer.com/2014/03/24/what-is-speculative-fiction/

[–] Eq0 3 points 1 year ago

I live Venn diagrams! Thanks for sharing this!