Science fiction lovers gather round! January 2nd is nationally recognized as Science Fiction Day, a time for fans all over the world to express their love for the genre and the wonderful stories that fall under it.
Many literary fans of the science fiction genre consider Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, published in 1818, to be the first work of its kind, as well as her work published eight years later titled The Last Man, which brought the post-apocalyptic sub-genre to life. Since then, authors in the 1900s such as Edgar Allen Poe and Jules Verne expanded the genre into it’s current state.
“Science fiction is one of the most creative literary genres. At its base level, the world is the same as ours. But authors add an addition of paranormal or futuristic elements that we can only dream of,” Kaden Harmon (12) comments.
Science fiction speculates on the alternative ways of life made possible by technological change. It creates popular alternative worlds with realistic elements that are somehow set apart from the ordinary world that we are familiar with. Because of the many directions the genre allows authors and filmmakers to go, there are hundreds of sub-genres that make science fiction what it is beyond technological advancement. A reoccurring sub-genre that is used in other forms of fiction is dystopia, in which a story depicts a fictional society where there is great suffering or injustice, often caused by a corrupt government or aided by another sub-genre like post-apocalyptic.
Dahlia Berzingi (12) adds to Kaden’s comment, “I feel like the realer aspects of it make you more immersed; because, depending on the sci-fi book, it makes you feel like that world could be a possible future or reality.”
One of the greatest examples of the science fiction genre is the Star Wars saga. Its interconnected stories have a finger in every platform-pie, but the original trilogy follows the journey of Luke Skywalker, a young man who finds himself entangled in an interplanetary war between a dictatorial empire and the rebel forces against it. The saga uses popular sub-genres such as dystopia, space travel, and technological war to suck readers and the audience into its intricate galaxy.
The start of the year means the start of imagining the future, so next year, celebrate the futuristic nature of science fiction, a two-century genre that is responsible for some of the greatest works and classics of all time.