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Speculative Fiction Speculative fiction can take many forms, alternate history, horror, fantasy, and the science fiction. Though this column deals exclusively with science fiction and fantasy, it by no means encompasses the whole of speculative fiction. How do the subgenres differ, you ask? Let's examine them. Alternate history is the what-might-have-been of speculative fiction. It takes a historical event and speculates on what would have happened if, say, the revolutionary war had never been fought. How would the world be different? There are many scenarios that might take place by changing that one historical fact. This, for me, poses an interesting question. Would there be any event, any person whose history we could change without changing the entire history of the world? I do not think there is anyone so insignificant that he or she could not alter history. This is what makes alternate history so intriguing. Is all alternate history science fiction? No, because some stories do not change the science of that particular historical event, just the outcome. Alternate history can be science fiction, but it can also take the form of a romance, a mystery, horror, or fantasy. That is what makes it so intriguing. Horror, on the other hand, tells the tales of which nightmares are made. It can include elements of science fiction, such as the aliens in Stephen King's DREAMCATCHER. But it isn't a required element. All that is required is a nightmare situation that you hope never happen to anyone, but could. Vampires, monsters, ghosts people with supernatural gifts and mad animals usually populate horror stories. There can be mutants and diseases run amuck. The story seldom has a happy ending, and almost always leaves you with a frightened, helpless feeling. Fantasy is the realm of fairy tales. Magic plays a heavy role in each story, as well as magical creatures, such as unicorns, witches, warlocks, trolls and the like. This is the realm that allows the author the greatest amount of freedom. Fantasy can be combined with science fiction or horror, but it always has magic. Science fiction, however, has no magic. Some element of science must play a prominent role in the story. Aliens, alien culture or technology, space travel or inventions that we do not now have must be a part of the story. Many of our modern technology is a result of a science fiction author saying, "What if..." and a scientist later saying, "Why not?" An author doesn't need to know a great deal of science to write good science fiction. But he or she is expected to follow the basic rules, even if they seem far fetched. However, faster-than-light space ships, though theoretically impossible, are too much of a convenience to throw away. In fact, much of science fiction could not exist without them. Currently, this
column deals exclusively with science fiction and fantasy. Should
we expand to delve into horror or other realms of speculative fiction?
That, readers, is up to you. If you would like to see more horror
or other speculative fiction, let us know. My email address is listed
under the staff section of the site. This concludes our journey into a strange and fascinating world. All good things must come to an end, however. Next time, we'll take another trip into another fascinating world we haven't traveled before. Until then, happy reading! |