SF as Speculative Fiction

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Science Fiction as Speculative Fiction

Speculative fiction: stories whose objective is to explore, to discover, to learn, by means of projection, extrapolation, analogue, hypothesis-and-paper-experimentation, something about the nature of the universe, of man, of ‘reality’, Judith Merril 1

If we accept Merril's definition, then science fiction is indeed speculative fiction. I would add that any SF which doesn't rigorously live up to the above definition shouldn’t be regarded as serious SF, even if it's entertaining.

Of course, I'm not saying that all SF must meet this criterion. I've enjoyed many SF stories which were nothing more than a good time. For me, it's just that much better if the SF includes some serious thought.

Homecalling and Other Stories: The Complete Solo Short SF of Judith Merril

1 Edwards, Malcolm; Jakubowski, Maxim, eds. (1982). The SF Book of Lists. New York: Berkeley. p. 256.

 

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