n Space opera/space western – Melodramatic adventures, often involving space battles (Buck Rogers)
n Utopia – Description of a perfect society, at least in the author’s mind (Ian M. Banks’ “Culture”)
n Dystopia – Description of a society gone wrong (George Orwell’s “1984”)
n Hard SF – Scientific rigor marks the story’s focus (Hal Clement’s “Mission of Gravity”)
n Soft SF – Characterization and ideas about society mark the story’s focus (“Star Trek”)
n Feminist SF – Deals with women’s role in society (Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Left Hand of Darkness”)
n Cyberpunk – High tech in a society that has broken down (William Gibson’s “Neuromancer”)
n Alternate histories – History has diverged from the one we know (Harry Turtledove’s “The Guns of the South”)
n Alternate futures - A possible future never comes to pass, often because a character travels back in time and alters the past (“Back to the Future II”)
n Slipstream - Fantastic or non-realistic fiction that crosses conventional genre boundaries between science fiction and contemporary literature (Thomas Pynchon’s “Gravity's Rainbow”)
n Science fantasy – Elements of fantasy and of science fiction are melded (Anne McCaffrey's Pern novels)
n Dark SF – Elements of horror and science fiction are mixed (the movie “Alien”)
n Erotic SF – Sex and sexuality are explored in a science fiction setting (Lois McMaster Bujold’s “Ethan of Athos”
n New wave – A movement of 1960s, it boasted a high degree of experimentation, both in form and in content (Harlan Ellison’s “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream”)
n New space opera – A movement of 1990s, the stories tend to be more military-themed and literary than original space opera/space western (David Weber’s “On Basilisk Station”)
n New Weird – A movement of the early 21st century, surrealism or transgressive horror is used in a science fiction or a fantasy setting (China Mieville’s “Perdido Street Station”)
