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A story about one thing, such as aliens, that turns out to be about something else, such as a minority.
What is allegory?
A human-looking robot.
What is an android?
Sci-fi-inspired genre about climate change and climate science, often set in the near future.
What is cli-fi?
The experience of meeting something in a fictional world that does not fit your own experience, making you think critically about your reality.
What is cognitive estrangement?
A new idea or technology that dramatically changes the narrative landscape and how we think about science, society or human existence.
What is a conceptual breakthrough? (Or "Novum")
A part-human, part-machine being with abilities that often exceed those of humans.
What is a cyborg?
Sci-fi branch about dystopian, decayed urban futures dominated by computer technology.
What is cyberpunk?
Space beyond the orbit of the Moon.
What is deep space?
Greek for "bad place": a future society where people are oppressed and suffer.
What is dystopia?
Imagining possible futures by asking what happens if current developments continue.
What is extrapolation?
A synonym of "info-dump" in which the explanations come in clumps.
What are expository lumps?
A fictional being from outer space; another word for an alien.
What is an extraterrestrial?
Setting that lets writers explore advanced technology, alien civilisations or post-human worlds most freely.
What is far-future?
The most science-oriented category of sci-fi, which adheres to scientific facts.
What is hard sci-fi?
Looks and behaves like a human: either a being from another planet or a robot.
What is a humanoid?
Too much of this slows the action; too little leaves readers lost. It is how writers deliver world-building information.
What is an info-dump?
Subgenre of Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four: realistic and good for social commentary, but quickly outdated.
What is near-future?
The awe readers feel when their imagination is stretched beyond everyday reality.
What is a sense of wonder?
Sci-fi that focuses on human elements rather than technical details; the opposite of hard sci-fi.
What is soft sci-fi?
Colourful, dramatic space adventure with heroes and intergalactic warfare, like Star Wars.
What is space opera?
Literally "earth forming": making a planet or moon habitable for humans.
What is terraforming?
Greek for "good place": an ideal and harmonious society.
What is utopia?