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.
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!
Thanks! This seems like a very broad but workable definition. Would you say all sci-fi is speculative fiction?
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/
I live Venn diagrams! Thanks for sharing this!