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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.

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Jordan in 2005
James Oliver Rigney Jr. (October 17, 1948 – September 16, 2007), better known by his pen name Robert Jordan, was an American author of epic fantasy. He is known best for his series The Wheel of Time (finished by Brandon Sanderson after Jordan's death) which comprises 14 books and a prequel novel. He is one of several writers to have written original Conan the Barbarian novels; his are considered by fans to be some of the best of the non-Robert E. Howard efforts. Jordan also published historical fiction using the pseudonym Reagan O'Neal, a western as Jackson O'Reilly, and dance criticism as Chang Lung. Jordan claimed to have ghostwritten an "international thriller" that is still believed to have been written by someone else. (Full article...)
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"The Body" is the sixteenth episode of the fifth season of the supernatural drama television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The episode was written and directed by series creator Joss Whedon and originally aired on The WB in the United States on February 27, 2001. In the series, Buffy Summers is a teenager chosen by mystical forces and endowed with superhuman powers to defeat vampires, demons, and other evils in the fictional town of Sunnydale. She is supported in her struggles by a close circle of friends and family, nicknamed the "Scooby Gang". In "The Body", Buffy is powerless as she comes upon her lifeless mother, who has died of a brain aneurysm.

Although Buffy and her friends deal with death every week, often in very gruesome and fantastic ways, in this episode they are bewildered by the natural death of Joyce Summers, the divorced mother of Buffy and her sister Dawn and occasionally a mother figure to their friends. They struggle to comprehend what the loss means to each of them and the group. Buffy must begin to face her life and her duties as the Slayer without parental support and comfort. The episode was stripped of all music, and disorienting effects were included to convey the sense of displacement and loss associated with the death of a close family member. (Full article...)

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—Lionel Trilling (1905-1975), The Liberal Imagination (1950).

More quotes from Wikiquote: science fiction, fantasy, alternate history
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Depiction of Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote character by Gustave Doré.
Depiction of Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote character by Gustave Doré.
Credit: Illustrator: Gustave Doré; Restoration: Adam Cuerden

Don Quixote and his fanciful reality, a "world of disorderly notions, picked out of his books, crowded into his imagination". (POTD)

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Did you know...

Engraving showing a silhouetted being thrown from battlements

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Upcoming conventions

July:

August:

Dates can usually be found on the article page.

See also these convention lists: anime, comic book, furry, gaming, multigenre, and science fiction.

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A black cat in a nautical jacket stands on two legs at the wheel of a boat
Cover of The Black Cat August 1896 with illustration by Nelly Littlehale Umbstaetter Murphy

The Black Cat was an American fiction magazine launched in 1895 by Herman Umbstaetter, initially published in Boston, Massachusetts. It published only short stories, and had a reputation for originality and for encouraging new writers. Umbstaetter's editorial approach was unusual in several ways: the cover price was low, at five cents; he paid based on merit instead of story length; and he was willing to buy stories by new authors rather than insisting on well-known names. He frequently ran story contests to attract amateur writers. The magazine was immediately successful, and its circulation was boosted by the appearance in an early issue of "The Mysterious Card", by Cleveland Moffett, which was so popular that two print runs of the issue it appeared in sold out.

Many well-known writers appeared in its pages. Two of the best-known were Jack London, whose 1899 story "A Thousand Deaths" sold just as he was about to give up attempting to become a writer, and Henry Miller, whose first published work was several short fiction critiques published in The Black Cat in 1919. The magazine's icon, a black cat that appeared on almost every cover for many years, was drawn by Umbstaetter's wife, Nelly Littlehale Umbstaetter. Others who sold stories to The Black Cat included O. Henry, Rex Stout, and Clark Ashton Smith. (Full article...)
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On this day...

July 4:

Television series

Births

Deaths

  • 1971 - August Derleth (b. 1909), an American writer and anthologist best remembered as the first publisher of the writings of H. P. Lovecraft
  • 2005 - Chris Bunch (b. 1943), an American science fiction, fantasy, and television writer
  • 2008 - Possible death date of Thomas Disch (b. 1940), an American science fiction author and poet

Anniversaries and events

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Possible futures

Possible events in the future as suggested by science fiction:

  • 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.
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Things you can do...

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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: 2024-07-04 21:55 (UTC)

Note: The list display can now be customized by each user. See List display personalization for details.

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Recognized content

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.

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Speculative fiction topics

Science fiction (definitions)

Creators: Artists (list) · Authors (by nationality) · Editors
Media: Animation · Anime and manga · Comics · Films (list) · Games (board · role-playing · video) · Literature (magazines (pulp) · novels · poetry · stories) · Opera · Radio · Television (films · list · sitcoms) · Theatre
Subgenres: Alternate history · Apocalyptic · Biopunk · Comedy · Cyberpunk (derivatives) · Dying Earth · Gothic · Hard · Human society · Military · Mundane · Planetary romance · Recursive · Social · Soft · Space opera · Spy-fi · Steampunk · Sword and planet · Tech-noir · Western (Space)
History: Films · Golden Age · New Wave · Scientific romance
Related genres: Fantasy (Science fantasy) · Mystery · Horror · Slipstream · Speculative (Weird) · Superhero
Themes: Artificial intelligence · Extraterrestrials (First contact) · Floating city · Hyperspace · Lost World · Planets · Politics (Libertarian · Utopia/Dystopia · World government) · Religion (Christian · ideas) · Resizing · Sex (Feminist · gender · homosexuality · reproduction) · Simulated realities/Virtual worlds · Slipstream · Space warfare (weapons) · Stock characters · Superpowers · Timeline (Alternate future · Future history · Parallel universes · Time travel)
Subculture: Fandom: By nationality · Conventions (list) · Organizations — Studies: Awards · Definitions · Journals · New Wave
By country: Australia · Bangladesh · Canada · China · Croatia · Czech Republic · France · Japan · Norway · Poland · Romania · Russia/Soviet Union · Serbia · Spain

Fantasy

Creators: Artists · Authors
Media: Anime · Art (Fantastic) · Comics (Webcomics) · Film · Literature · Magazines · Television (List)
Studies: History · Sources · Tolkienology
Subgenres: Bangsian · Comic · Contemporary (Urban) · Dark · Epic/High fantasy · Heroic · Mythic fiction · Steampunk · Sword and sorcery · Weird fiction
Tropes (List): Fantasy races · Fantasy worlds · Legendary creatures · Magic · Magic items · Magicians · Quests

Horror

Creators: Artists · Authors
Media: Anime and manga · Comics (US) · Films (list) · Games · Giallo · Grand Guignol · Magazines · Novels · Television
Subgenres: Body · Comedy (list · zombie comedy) · Dark fantasy · Dark romanticism · Ero guro · Erotic · Ghost · Gothic · J-Horror · K-Horror · Lovecraftian · Monsters (Frankenstein · vampire · werewolf) · Occult detective · Psychological · Religious (film) · Sci-fi (film) · Slasher (film) · Splatter/Gore (film) · Supernatural · Survival · Weird menace · Weird West · Zombie apocalypse
Related genres: Crime · Mystery · Speculative · Thriller
Others: Awards · Conventions · LGBT · Writers

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Subcategories

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Crime and thriller fiction set in alternate histories
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Related portals

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Science fiction

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