Speculative Fiction Portal logo
Speculative fiction is an umbrella phrase encompassing the more fantastical 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.
It has been around since humans began to speak. The earliest forms of speculative fiction were likely mythological tales told around the campfire. Speculative fiction deals with the "What if?" scenarios imagined by dreamers and thinkers worldwide. Journeys to other worlds through the vast reaches of distant space; magical quests to free worlds enslaved by terrible beings; malevolent supernatural powers seeking to increase their spheres of influence across multiple dimensions and times; all of these fall into the realm of speculative fiction.
Speculative fiction as a category ranges from ancient works to cutting edge , paradigm -changing, and neotraditional works of the 21st century. It can be recognized in works whose authors' intentions or the social contexts of the versions of stories they portrayed is now known. For example, Ancient Greek dramatists such as Euripides , whose play Medea (play) seemed to have offended Athenian audiences when he fictionally speculated that shamaness Medea killed her own children instead of their being killed by other Corinthians after her departure. The play Hippolytus , narratively introduced by Aphrodite , is suspected to have displeased contemporary audiences of the day because it portrayed Phaedra as too lusty.
In historiography , what is now called speculative fiction has previously been termed "historical invention", "historical fiction ," and other similar names. It is extensively noted in the literary criticism of the works of William Shakespeare when he co-locates Athenian Duke Theseus and Amazonian Queen Hippolyta , English fairy Puck , and Roman god Cupid all together in the fairyland of its Merovingian Germanic sovereign Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream . In mythography it has been termed "mythopoesis" or mythopoeia , "fictional speculation", the creative design and generation of lore, regarding such works as J. R. R. Tolkien 's The Lord of the Rings . Such supernatural , alternate history , and sexuality themes continue in works produced within the modern speculative fiction genre.
Jump to a specific section below
Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson ; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as Treasure Island , Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde , Kidnapped and A Child's Garden of Verses .
Born and educated in Edinburgh, Stevenson suffered from serious bronchial trouble for much of his life but continued to write prolifically and travel widely in defiance of his poor health. As a young man, he mixed in London literary circles, receiving encouragement from
Sidney Colvin ,
Andrew Lang ,
Edmund Gosse ,
Leslie Stephen and
W. E. Henley , the last of whom may have provided the model for
Long John Silver in
Treasure Island . In 1890, he settled in
Samoa where, alarmed at increasing European and American influence in the
South Sea islands , his writing turned from
romance and adventure fiction toward a darker realism. He died of a stroke in his island home in 1894 at age 44. (
Full article... )
“
Science fiction rarely is about scientists doing real science, in its slowness, its vagueness, the sort of tedious quality of getting out there and digging amongst rocks and then trying to convince people that what you're seeing justifies the conclusions you're making. The whole process of science is wildly under-represented in science fiction because it's not easy to write about. There are many facets of science that are almost exactly opposite of dramatic narrative. It's slow, tedious, inconclusive, it's hard to tell good guys from bad guys—it's everything that a normal hour of Star Trek is not.
”
—Kim Stanley Robinson (b. 1952), Interview, Locus (September 1997).[1]
Prop for the Doctor's TARDIS used between 2010 and 2017
The TARDIS (; acronym for "Time And Relative Dimension In Space") is a fictional hybrid of a time machine and spacecraft that appears in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its various spin-offs. While a TARDIS is capable of disguising itself, the exterior appearance of the Doctor's TARDIS typically mimics a police box , an obsolete type of telephone kiosk that was once commonly seen on streets in Britain in the 1950s. Paradoxically, its interior is shown as being much larger than its exterior, commonly described as being "bigger on the inside".
Due to the significance of
Doctor Who in popular
British culture , the shape of the police box is now more strongly associated with the TARDIS than its real-world inspiration. The name and design of the TARDIS is a registered
trademark of the
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), although the design was originally created by the
Metropolitan Police Service . (
Full article... )
April 30 :
Book releases
Film releases
Television series
Births
1926 - Edmund Cooper (d. 1982), an English poet and prolific writer of speculative fiction, children books, essays, and one detective novel
1930 - Bill Buchanan (d. ), an American songwriter best known for his science fiction songs
1938 - Larry Niven , an American science fiction author
1973 - Naomi Novik , an American historical fantasy and alternate history author
Deaths
1981 - François Bordes (b. 1919), a French scientist, geologist, archaeologist, and science fiction author
Possible events in the future as suggested by science fiction:
Dr. Robotnik seizes control in 3224 of the planet Mobius, the name of the former planet Earth .
In 5000, the Filipino Army defeats the Alliance at the Battle of Reykjavik during the closing stages of World War V.
In the year 5,000,000,023, Humans have moved to a new planet in the galaxy M87.
Here are ideas for how you can help improve the coverage of speculative fiction topics on Wikipedia:
Join a WikiProject or task force:
Science fiction (task force ): The 4400 , Babylon 5 , Battlestar Galactica , Doctor Who , Firefly , Futurama , G.I. Joe , Heroes , Hitchhiker's Guide , Life on Mars , Lost , Pokémon , Red Dwarf , Star Trek , Star Wars , Stargate , Superman , Transformers , Twilight Zone .
Fantasy : Artemis Fowl , Discworld , Fabelhaven , Harry Potter , Highlander , His Dark Materials , Inheritance Cycle , Lemony Snicket , Middle-Earth , Narnia , Oz , Percy Jackson , Redwall , Roald Dahl , Shannara , A Song of Ice and Fire , Warriors .
Horror : Buffy , Twilight .
Other and related: Animation , Anime and manga , Balzac , Children's literature , Comics , Disney , Machinima , Games (Board and tabletop games , Warhammer 40K , RPGs (D&D ), Video games (Square Enix )).
Start a requested article:
Create an article which someone has requested .
Expand a stub:
Expand a new article:
Expand and update a new speculative fiction article from the following list:
Note: If no articles are shown below, please work on those found in the Archive .
This list was generated from these rules . Questions and feedback are always welcome ! The search is being run daily with the most recent ~14 days of results. Note: Some articles may not be relevant to this project.
Rules | Match log | Results page (for watching) | Last updated: 2024-04-29 21:58 (UTC)
Note : The list display can now be customized by each user. See List display personalization for details.
Iravin Kangal (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Monhiroe (talk · contribs · new pages (15) ) started on 2024-04-27, score: 40
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Fico Puricelli (talk · contribs · new pages (1) ) started on 2024-04-27, score: 35
Deaths in September 1987 (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Mill 1 (talk · contribs · new pages (13) ) started on 2024-04-27, score: 20
Deaths in October 1987 (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Mill 1 (talk · contribs · new pages (13) ) started on 2024-04-27, score: 20
They Turned Us Into Killers (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Vikiemoney (talk · contribs · new pages (1) ) started on 2024-04-27, score: 80
Singleton (short story) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Samuel Adrian Antz (talk · contribs · new pages (3) ) started on 2024-04-27, score: 40
Axiomatic (short story) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Samuel Adrian Antz (talk · contribs · new pages (3) ) started on 2024-04-27, score: 40
36th Lambda Literary Awards (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Merely another passerby (talk · contribs · new pages (1) ) started on 2024-04-27, score: 40
Hospital (Han Song novel) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Samuel Adrian Antz (talk · contribs · new pages (3) ) started on 2024-04-27, score: 40
Red Room 2 (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by LadybugStardust (talk · contribs · new pages (73) ) started on 2024-04-27, score: 140
Strago Magus (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Kung Fu Man (talk · contribs · new pages (6) ) started on 2024-04-26, score: 40
Deaths in December 1987 (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Mill 1 (talk · contribs · new pages (13) ) started on 2024-04-26, score: 20
The Soul of Anna Klane (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Tal Cohen (talk · contribs · new pages (1) ) started on 2024-04-21, score: 40
Head-Space (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by 213.133.70.242 (talk · contribs · new pages (1) ) started on 2024-04-26, score: 25
List of Closer to Truth episodes (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by 62.31.67.177 (talk · contribs · new pages (1) ) started on 2024-04-26, score: 40
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths (film) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by (a)nnihilation97 (talk · contribs · new pages (1) ) started on 2024-04-26, score: 35
Who Invited Them (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Lamro (talk · contribs · new pages (8) ) started on 2024-04-26, score: 100
Housefull 4 (soundtrack) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by 103.154.37.77 (talk · contribs · new pages (2) ) started on 2024-04-26, score: 20
The Chosen and the Beautiful (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by LEvalyn (talk · contribs · new pages (4) ) started on 2024-04-26, score: 40
Brainwyrms (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by LEvalyn (talk · contribs · new pages (4) ) started on 2024-04-26, score: 65
Triton (film) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Hildreth gazzard (talk · contribs · new pages (165) ) started on 2024-04-26, score: 120
The Astronaut (upcoming film) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Hildreth gazzard (talk · contribs · new pages (165) ) started on 2024-04-26, score: 85
The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by BeatBro (talk · contribs · new pages (2) ) started on 2024-04-26, score: 45
Ember Sword (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Botto (talk · contribs · new pages (1) ) started on 2024-04-25, score: 40
Violet Methley (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by SapientSquid (talk · contribs · new pages (22) ) started on 2024-04-23, score: 90
Relm Arrowny (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Cukie Gherkin (talk · contribs · new pages (11) ) started on 2024-04-23, score: 40
Matinee (2024 film) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Bangwiki (talk · contribs · new pages (1) ) started on 2024-04-23, score: 80
Justin Cheung (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Prince of Erebor (talk · contribs · new pages (7) ) started on 2024-04-23, score: 20
Baakghost (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by SenthilGugan (talk · contribs · new pages (1) ) started on 2024-04-23, score: 80
Gau (Final Fantasy) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Kung Fu Man (talk · contribs · new pages (6) ) started on 2024-04-23, score: 40
Back in Action (1994 film) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Redacwiki (talk · contribs · new pages (5) ) started on 2024-04-23, score: 20
Secrets of the Octopus (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Jackedano (talk · contribs · new pages (3) ) started on 2024-04-22, score: 25
Sideral Cruises (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Lord Cornwallis (talk · contribs · new pages (144) ) started on 2024-04-22, score: 80
Red Wizard (Thay) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by BOZ (talk · contribs · new pages (11) ) started on 2024-04-22, score: 20
Red Sun Rising (film) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Redacwiki (talk · contribs · new pages (5) ) started on 2024-04-18, score: 40
Big Daddy (BioShock) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Christian75 (talk · contribs · new pages (2) ) started on 2024-04-18, score: 25
Factions of Halo (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Christian75 (talk · contribs · new pages (2) ) started on 2024-04-18, score: 50
List of Regis High School alumni (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Melchior2006 (talk · contribs · new pages (15) ) started on 2024-04-18, score: 40
Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Significa liberdade (talk · contribs · new pages (25) ) started on 2024-04-18, score: 40
Kiss the Scars of the Girls (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Radiotsixty (talk · contribs · new pages (2) ) started on 2024-04-17, score: 20
Deaths in February 1988 (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Mill 1 (talk · contribs · new pages (13) ) started on 2024-04-17, score: 20
Disappear Completely (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by MatthewHoobin (talk · contribs · new pages (3) ) started on 2024-04-17, score: 80
The Beast Within (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Erik (talk · contribs · new pages (16) ) started on 2024-04-16, score: 40
The Splinter in the Sky (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by User montu (talk · contribs · new pages (1) ) started on 2024-04-16, score: 60
Deaths in April 1988 (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Mill 1 (talk · contribs · new pages (13) ) started on 2024-04-16, score: 20
Deaths in May 1988 (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Mill 1 (talk · contribs · new pages (13) ) started on 2024-04-16, score: 20
Elea (given name) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Alenglin (talk · contribs · new pages (4) ) started on 2024-04-16, score: 20
Cyan Garamonde (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Kung Fu Man (talk · contribs · new pages (6) ) started on 2024-04-16, score: 40
Sennen Kitsune (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by SimonLagann (talk · contribs · new pages (17) ) started on 2024-04-16, score: 20
Sahab Qazalbash (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by BeauSuzanne (talk · contribs · new pages (1) ) started on 2024-04-16, score: 20
Dancing Village: The Curse Begins (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Visnu92 (talk · contribs · new pages (1) ) started on 2024-04-16, score: 80
Demon Hunters (film) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Hildreth gazzard (talk · contribs · new pages (165) ) started on 2024-04-16, score: 100
Shaitani Rasmein (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by ToadetteEdit (talk · contribs · new pages (72) ) started on 2024-04-15, score: 60
Gauss gun (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by 50.47.139.46 (talk · contribs · new pages (1) ) started on 2024-04-15, score: 40
Rick and Morty Go to Hell (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by 87.198.188.18 (talk · contribs · new pages (0) ) started on 2024-04-15, score: 20
Scared to Death (upcoming film) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by ZX2006XZ (talk · contribs · new pages (3) ) started on 2024-04-15, score: 100
Scott Cole (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by ReaderofthePack (talk · contribs · new pages (1) ) started on 2024-04-15, score: 20
Ernest Rupin (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Shyamal (talk · contribs · new pages (29) ) started on 2024-04-15, score: 35
Mugamoodi (soundtrack) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by 103.42.197.248 (talk · contribs · new pages (2) ) started on 2024-04-15, score: 20
Hildibrand Manderville (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Cukie Gherkin (talk · contribs · new pages (11) ) started on 2024-04-15, score: 60
Digory Kirke (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by VeryRarelyStable (talk · contribs · new pages (1) ) started on 2024-04-15, score: 20
Cecil Harvey (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Cukie Gherkin (talk · contribs · new pages (11) ) started on 2024-04-14, score: 40
Chocolate Vampire (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by SimonLagann (talk · contribs · new pages (17) ) started on 2024-04-14, score: 20
Ashi-Girl (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by SimonLagann (talk · contribs · new pages (17) ) started on 2024-04-12, score: 55
Janani - AI Ki Kahani (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by 2409:4071:209F:B301:0:0:1CC0:98A1 (talk · contribs · new pages (0) ) started on 2024-04-07, score: 40
Featured articles are considered to be the best on Wikipedia, as determined by Wikipedia's editors , and Good articles are those which are considered to be of good quality but which are not yet featured article quality. If you see one that should be listed here, please add it or post on the talk page and let us know so we can add it for you.
Science fiction
Featured articles
Featured lists
Fantasy
Featured articles
Horror
Featured articles
Speculative fiction topics
Category puzzle
Select [►] to view subcategories