Subgenres of Science Fiction
The subgenres below are based on the BISAC subject codes. These are used by bookstores and distributors to help readers find what they’re looking for. However, there’s no policing done by the online distributors.
It’s also interesting to look at schema that isn’t wedded to the industry like this one that's keeping up with the latest trends.
Looking at these subgenres, it’s obvious that SF has become a commercialized genre. On one hand, this can be a good thing. There’s more good SF available than ever. But, as the genre gets the attention of the big commercial players, we get a lot of dubious product hitting the shelves. This makes it harder to find what you’re looking for.
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Action & Adventure
BISAC lists this as a subgenre of SF but it also lists it as a genre of fiction in its own right. This is the more appropriate categorisation I believe. The genre, or subgenre, is very 'entertainment' driven and often doesn't have much to say. It's just an excuse to shoot weapons and fight.
There are exceptions of course like the Divergent novels by Veronica Roth.
For pure Action & Adventure fun, I really liked Looper with Bruce Willis.
Alien Contact
Another, more recent, take on this storyline is the Denis Villeneuve movie Arrival, based on the novella Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang. The list of titles is quite extensive, probably a reflection of our preoccupation with the existence of intelligent life elsewhere in the Universe.
Alternative History (also under Fiction / Alternative History)
This genre has a placeholder of its own under Fiction in the BISAC codes. There are some nice AH stories which are very well suited to SF. An excellent example is Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle. The subgenre is also often blended with time travel as in the movie Tenet and the Elizabeth Hand novel Twelve Monkeys.
Apocalyptic & Post-Apocalyptic
Apocalyptic SF is a fairly rigid subgenre, like spy novels and detective stories, it follows a fairly predictable path; the hero usually saves the world. The Hunger Games, both the Suzanne Collins novels and the movies are great examples of this subgenre. See the Wikipedia article here.
Christian (also under Christian / Futuristic)
Like romance, I feel there’s no Christian subgenre in SF, there’s christian fiction, some of which is set in a futuristic or SF setting.
Collections & Anthologies
BISAC puts Collections & Anthologies into a SF subgenre. This exemplifies the use of the codes as a classification scheme, like the Dewey decimal system.
Crime & Mystery
This subgenre harkens back to the 50s film noir style and the tried and true detective story. Classics in this genre include:
Dark City and its movie Dark City
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and its movie Blade Runner
Minority Report and its movie Minority Report
Watchmen and the HBO series.
Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk SF is a subgenre set in a futuristic high tech grunge setting, see the Wikipedia article here.
I consider Blade Runner, based on Philip K. dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, to be a classic example.
General Science Fiction
Stories that fall into this subgenre are simply works which don't fall into any of the more specific subgenres or books which the distributor's staff don't bother to classify any deeper than this catchall subgenre. Not very exciting, but it's a classification system.
That's not to say that there aren't any good books and movies to be found which fall into the General subgenre. You shouldn't automatically pass over it in your search for your next read.
Genetic Engineering
This subgenre has some common themes: cloning, DNA manipulation, privacy, etc. It often gets mixed into a larger stew and almost always has undercurrents if not overt issues of dystopia.
A couple of examples include: The Atlantis Gene by A.G. Riddle and The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin.
Hard Science Fiction
Hard science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction characterized by concern for scientific accuracy and logic, see the Wikipedia article here.
In contrast to hard SF, soft SF deals with social and psychological issues. DUNE is certainly a great example of soft SF as it is essentially a psycho-social thesis of human religious history.
Humorous Science Fiction
This subgenre doesn’t need much explanation. A nice example is the Gardians of the Galaxy series of comics.
Military Science Fiction
In this genre, the characters are, for the most part, soldiers or paramilitary. Science Fiction provides us with the science for weapons and all the gadgets and accoutrements needed, see the Wikipedia article here.
H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds is a classic military story. The Expanse is another excellent example of the subgenre. I really liked Source Code although it isn't an action military SF movie.
Romantic Science Fiction (also under Fiction / Romance / Science Fiction)
The romance genre is a heavyweight in the book industry; it’s as big as all of mystery, science fiction and fantasy combined with annual sales over $1billion.
Even though BISAC has included it, from my perspective, there's no romance subgenre within science fiction. SF is certainly a subgenre of romance and both Romance and SF sit in the category of fiction. What that means is that some romance novels are set within a SF scenario. There's a Romance genre in Fiction and the stories are set within a scenario: SF, western, etc..., the list is extensive.
Space Exploration
There are a number of variations on space exploration: escape a dying Earth, for its own sake, for scientific goals, for commercial purposes, etc. 2001: A Space Odyssey is a classic space exploration story, along with Solaris. An excellent Space Exploration movie is Moon.
Space Travel is a variant on Space Exploration. A SF story which is set on a spaceship moving through space is Space Travel but not automatically Space Exploration.
String theory has given us the added twist of parallel universes which, like time travel, can be exploited to create some fairly complex plots.
Space Opera
Like classical opera, space opera is melodramatic and flamboyant. Star Wars is probably the most well known space opera along with the Star Trek television series by Gene Roddenberry and books by various authors. You could also put The Three Musketeers in a space setting and it would fit right in.
Steampunk
According to both the BISAC subject codes and the Wikipedia article on Science Fiction, steampunk is a subgenre of SF. But, I just don’t see it that way. To my mind, a subgenre has to capture the essence of the genre. Steampunk is, as the name suggest, based in the industrial steam powered era. It combines the science of the time with fantasy and mystery and it’s fun and whimsical. But, it isn’t science fiction to me. SF presents us with visions of the future, of how we, as a species, will progress.
Steampunk is an entirely unique animal and worthy of it’s own genre.
Time Travel
Time Travel is an important subgenre in SF however, even though it’s a fun subject, the science is weak. You don’t see many hard SF stories with a heavy emphasis on time travel.
Some classic time travel stories are:
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