|
Speculative fiction is an umbrella term encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history in literature as well as related static, motion, and virtual arts.
It has been around since humans began to speak. The earliest forms of speculative fiction were likely mythological tales told around the campfire. Speculative fiction deals with the "What if?" scenarios imagined by dreamers and thinkers worldwide. Journeys to other worlds through the vast reaches of distant space; magical quests to free worlds enslaved by terrible beings; malevolent supernatural powers seeking to increase their spheres of influence across multiple dimensions and times; all of these fall into the realm of speculative fiction.
Speculative fiction as a category ranges from ancient works to both cutting edge, paradigm-changing and neotraditional works of the 21st century. Speculative fiction can be recognized in works whose authors' intentions or the social contexts of the versions of stories they portrayed is now known, since ancient Greek dramatists such as Euripides whose play Medea seems to have offended Athenian audiences when he fictionally speculated that shamaness Medea killed her own children instead of their being killed by other Corinthians after her departure, and whose Hippolytus (play), narratively introduced by Aphrodite, Goddess of Love in person, is suspected to have displeased his contemporary audiences because he portrayed Phaedra as too lusty.
In historiography, what is now called speculative fiction has previously been termed "historical invention", "historical fiction," and similar names and is extensively noted in literary criticism of the works of William Shakespeare as when he co-locates Athenian Duke Theseus and Amazonian Queen Hippolyta, English fairy Puck, and Roman god Cupid across time and space in the Fairyland of its Merovingian Germanic sovereign Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream. In mythography it has been termed "mythopoesis" or mythopoeia, "fictional speculation," the creative design and generation of lore, regarding such works as J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Such supernatural, alternate history and sexuality themes continue in works produced within the modern speculative fiction genre.
Jump to a specific section below
Honoré de Balzac ( French pronunciation: [ɔnɔʁe də balzak]) (20 May 1799 – 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of almost 100 novels, short stories and plays collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the fall of Napoléon Bonaparte in 1815.
Due to his keen observation of detail and unfiltered representation of society, Balzac is regarded as one of the founders of realism in European literature. He is renowned for his multi-faceted characters; even his lesser characters are complex, morally ambiguous and fully human. Inanimate objects are imbued with character as well; the city of Paris, a backdrop for much of his writing, takes on many human qualities. His writing influenced many famous authors, including the novelists Marcel Proust, Émile Zola, Charles Dickens, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Gustave Flaubert, Marie Corelli, Henry James, William Faulkner, Jack Kerouac, and Italo Calvino as well as important philosophers such as Friedrich Engels. Many of Balzac's works have been made into films, and they continue to inspire other writers.
|
Credit: Illustrator: Louis Huard (1813-1874); Retouched by Adam Cuerden.
|
"The Punishment of Loki", by Louis Huard. (CPOTD)
The Green Child is the only completed novel by the English anarchist poet and critic Herbert Read. Written in 1934 and first published by Heinemann in 1935, the story is based on the 12th-century legend of two green children who mysteriously appeared in the English village of Woolpit, speaking an apparently unknown language. Read described the story in his English Prose Style, published in 1931, as "the norm to which all types of fantasy should conform".
The novel's three parts all end with the apparent death of the story's protagonist, President Olivero, dictator of the fictional South American Republic of Roncador. In each case, Olivero's death is an allegory for his translation to a "more profound level of existence", reflecting the book's overall theme of a search for the meaning of life. Read's interest in psychoanalytic theory is evident throughout the novel, which is constructed as a "philosophic myth ... in the tradition of Plato".
The story contains many autobiographical elements, and the character of Olivero owes much to Read's experiences as an officer in the British Army during the First World War. The novel was positively received, although some commentators have considered it to be "inscrutable", and one has suggested that it has been so differently and vaguely interpreted by those who have given it serious study that it may lack the form and content to justify the praise it has received.
| “ |
All fantasy should have a solid base in reality. |
” |
— Max Beerbohm (1872–1956), Zuleika Dobson (1911).
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence (generally in the form of blood) of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person. Although vampiric entities have been recorded in many cultures and in spite of speculation by literary historian Brian Frost that the "belief in vampires and bloodsucking demons is as old as man himself", and may go back to "prehistoric times", the term vampire was not popularized until the early 18th century, after an influx of vampire superstition into Western Europe.
The success of John Polidori's 1819 The Vampyre established the charismatic and sophisticated vampire of fiction as it is arguably the most influential vampire work of the early 19th century inspiring such works as Varney the Vampire and eventually Dracula. However, it is Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula that is remembered as the quintessential vampire novel and which provided the basis of modern vampire fiction. The success of this book spawned a distinctive vampire genre, still popular in the 21st century, with books, films, video games, and television shows. The vampire is such a dominant figure in the horror genre that literary historian Susan Sellers places the current vampire myth in the "comparative safety of nightmare fantasy".
Possible events in the future as suggested by science fiction:
Here are ideas for how you can help improve the coverage of speculative fiction topics on Wikipedia:
Join a WikiProject or task force:
- Science fiction (task force): The 4400, Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica, Doctor Who, Firefly, Futurama, G.I. Joe, Heroes, Hitchhiker's Guide, Life on Mars, Lost, Pokémon, Red Dwarf, Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate, Superman, Transformers, Twilight Zone.
- Fantasy: Artemis Fowl, Discworld, Fabelhaven, Harry Potter, Highlander, His Dark Materials, Inheritance Cycle, Lemony Snicket, Middle-Earth, Narnia, Oz, Percy Jackson, Redwall, Roald Dahl, Shannara, A Song of Ice and Fire, Warriors.
- Horror: Buffy, Twilight.
- Other and related: Animation, Anime and manga, Balzac, Children's literature, Comics, Disney, Machinima, Games (Warhammer 40K, RPGs (D&D), Video games (Square Enix)).
Start a requested article:
- Create an article which someone has requested.
Expand a stub:
Expand a new article:
- Expand and update a new speculative fiction article from the following list:
Note: If no articles are shown below, please work on those found in the Archive. This list was generated from these rules (ruleset version). Questions and feedback are always welcome! The search is being run manually, but eventually will run ~daily with the most recent ~7 days of results.
AlexNewArtBot archives | TedderBot archives | Rules | Match log and errors
- Kalpana (2012) film | talk | history by VENKATESHafx talk contribs started at 01:03, 11 February 2012, score: 40
- List of Men in Black weapons | talk | history by Godzilladude123 talk contribs started at 18:52, 10 February 2012, score: 30
- Alexander Vargo | talk | history by Jeremy Logan talk contribs started at 12:35, 10 February 2012, score: 20
- Darker (magazine) | talk | history by Jeremy Logan talk contribs started at 11:31, 10 February 2012, score: 60
- Mass Effect: Infiltrator | talk | history by Forsyth.joel talk contribs started at 09:57, 10 February 2012, score: 20
- Exotic gothic | talk | history by Seekbeauty talk contribs started at 15:15, 09 February 2012, score: 40
- Defiance (TV series) | talk | history by Rickywal talk contribs started at 06:43, 09 February 2012, score: 50
- My dear Lisa | talk | history by Manakkadanpanayamparambil talk contribs started at 05:44, 09 February 2012, score: 20
- I.C. Kill | talk | history by Soangry talk contribs started at 20:44, 08 February 2012, score: 80
- Bolo (1982 video game) | talk | history by 28bytes talk contribs started at 14:00, 08 February 2012, score: 40
- Devil's Carnival (2012 film) | talk | history by TheQuebin123 talk contribs started at 08:24, 08 February 2012, score: 20
- Rodney Barnes | talk | history by Missanthropic08 talk contribs started at 06:30, 08 February 2012, score: 20
- Morgan Jones (actor) | talk | history by Scanlan talk contribs started at 16:13, 07 February 2012, score: 80
- Planzet | talk | history by Cattus talk contribs started at 11:53, 07 February 2012, score: 40
- The Thirteen Hallows (novel) | talk | history by Tokyogirl79 talk contribs started at 23:22, 06 February 2012, score: 60
- Fox Movies (Portugal) | talk | history by TBrandley talk contribs started at 17:11, 06 February 2012, score: 20
- Saint Seiya Omega | talk | history by Onikiri talk contribs started at 14:51, 06 February 2012, score: 20
- Deadlocked (novel) | talk | history by Severenika talk contribs started at 11:48, 06 February 2012, score: 20
- J.F. Oya | talk | history by Toei555 talk contribs started at 11:08, 06 February 2012, score: 20
- James Watkins (director) | talk | history by P.T. Aufrette talk contribs started at 11:00, 06 February 2012, score: 40
- Light Blast | talk | history by Cavarrone talk contribs started at 07:28, 06 February 2012, score: 80
- The House by the Edge of the Lake | talk | history by Cavarrone talk contribs started at 03:54, 06 February 2012, score: 40
- Robert Conroy Goldston | talk | history by Paul venter talk contribs started at 02:27, 06 February 2012, score: 20
- The Twilight of Briareus | talk | history by JerryFriedman talk contribs started at 22:12, 05 February 2012, score: 40
- James Treadwell | talk | history by Silent Key talk contribs started at 20:39, 05 February 2012, score: 20
- Bride of Deimos | talk | history by Cattus talk contribs started at 14:58, 05 February 2012, score: 20
- General Cemetery | talk | history by Percy Meza talk contribs started at 14:51, 05 February 2012, score: 80
- Eight Hours | talk | history by Tate Langdon talk contribs started at 12:30, 05 February 2012, score: 50
- Internecine (film) | talk | history by FireBird Studios talk contribs started at 11:08, 05 February 2012, score: 80
- Armenian State Agrarian University | talk | history by Surenatc talk contribs started at 03:11, 05 February 2012, score: 20
- Still Got Legs | talk | history by Rhain1999 talk contribs started at 02:14, 05 February 2012, score: 40
- Andrew Wight | talk | history by Kiwipat talk contribs started at 01:46, 05 February 2012, score: 20
- Wisdom's Daughter | talk | history by Laboris Dulcedo talk contribs started at 21:51, 04 February 2012, score: 20
- Shatter Me | talk | history by RS485 talk contribs started at 16:11, 04 February 2012, score: 20
- Alien and Border Police | talk | history by Bonus bon talk contribs started at 16:01, 04 February 2012, score: 20
- Arsen Borysovych Avakov | talk | history by Chevordov talk contribs started at 05:45, 04 February 2012, score: 20
- Martin Sherwood | talk | history by David Gerard talk contribs started at 04:30, 04 February 2012, score: 40
- Conan the Hero | talk | history by BPK2 talk contribs started at 13:02, 03 February 2012, score: 80
- Intelligent design and science | talk | history by MisterDub talk contribs started at 08:34, 03 February 2012, score: 30
- Azucena Hernández | talk | history by PedroMix talk contribs started at 06:27, 03 February 2012, score: 20
- Larry Todd | talk | history by Diamondritz talk contribs started at 04:43, 03 February 2012, score: 20
- January 25: A Star Trek Voyager fan has to dismantle his transformed living room due to divorce.[1]
- January 24: American actor Dick Tufeld, best known as the voice of the robot in the original Lost in Space TV series, dies at 85.[2]
- January 24: Nominees for the 84th Academy Awards are announced.[3][4]
- January 24: American actor James Farentino, who costarred with Kirk Douglas in The Final Countdown, dies at 73.[5]
- January 23: The shortlist is released for the 2011 BSFA Awards.[6]
- January 23: Bad Moon Books and Hippocampus Press are announced as the winners of the Horror Writers Association 2011 Specialty Press Award.[7]
- January 21: Oscar-winning costume designer Eiko Ishioka dies at 72.[8]
- January 20: The winners of the Hydra Contest, a speculative fiction contest in Brazil, will be published in InterGalactic Medicine Show.[9]
- January 19: The nominees for the 2012 British Academy Film Awards are announced.[10]
- January 19: Hammer announces the restoration of its horror film library.[11]
- January 18: The Horror Writers Association releases the nominees for the Vampire Novel of the Century Award.[12]
- January 18: American author Connie Willis is named the winner of the 2011 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award.[13][14]
- January 17: Four genre works win at the 69th Golden Globe Awards.[15]
- January 13: DC Comics ends six of its comics series.[16]
- January 12: American author Howard Hopkins dies at 50.[17]
- January 11: The winners of the 38th People's Choice Awards are announced.[18]
- January 10: Star Wars: Underworld is announced as the working title of the upcoming live-action TV series in the franchise.[19]
- January 10: The 500th episode of the long-running series The Simpsons is set to air in February.[20]
- January 10: The nominees for the 2011 Philip K. Dick Award are announced.[21]
- January 9: Wizards of the Coast seeks to crowdsource the upcoming 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game.[22]
- January 9: Four speculative fiction TV series pilots are given the green light by NBC.[23]
- January 9: Joe R. Lansdale and Rick Hautala are named recipients of the Horror Writers Association Lifetime Achievement Award.[24]
- January 9: American author Gene Wolfe wins the first Fuller Award for "outstanding lifetime contribution to literature."[25]
- January 9: Photos from the first science fiction convention, held in Leeds in 1937, are now available online.[26]
- January 6: A Las Vegas-area brothel will feature "alien" women.[27]
- January 6: The Horror Writers Association announces a sponsor for the Bram Stoker Vampire Novel of the Century Award.[28]
- January 5: Boxoffice announces that speculative fiction films dominated the top spots for 2011 domestic box office grosses.[29]
- January 5: The final nominees for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects are announced.[30]
- January 4: Richard Alf, founder of San Diego Comic-Con International, dies at 59.[31]
- January 1: Bob Anderson, film fight choreographer and stunt double during Darth Vader's lightsaber battles in the original three Star Wars films, dies at 89.[32][33]
Past news archive
Main sources include: Box Office Mojo, Internet Speculative Fiction Database, SF Scope, and Slice of SciFi, with other sources used on occasion.
Upcoming book releases:
 Academic and non-fiction books
 Anthologies
 Art books
 Collection/Omnibus
- January 28: Reading Stephen King by Stefan R. Dziemianowicz
- January 30: A Crown Imperiled by Raymond E. Feist
- January 30: Fantasy Media in the Classroom: Essays on Teaching With Film, Television, Literature, Graphic Novels and Video Games edited by Emily Dial-Driver, Sally Emmons-Featherston, and James M. Ford
- January 30: Judith Merril: A Critical Study by Dianne Newell and Victoria Lamont
- January 31: All Things Wicked by Karina Cooper
- January 31: Ambush by Obert Skye
- January 31: Blood Angels: The Second Omnibus by James Swallow
- January 31: Destiny and Deception by Shannon Delany
- January 31: The Great Game by Lavie Tidhar
- January 31: Lenobia's Vow by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast
- January 31: Mass Effect: Deception by William C. Dietz
- January 31: Shadows West by Joe R. Lansdale and John L. Lansdale
- January 31: Star Trek: The Rings of Time by Greg Cox
- January 31: Star Wars: The Millennium Falcon Owner's Workshop Manual by Ryder Windham, Chris Reiff, and Chris Trevas
- January 31: The Survivors by Will Weaver
- February 1: Bone: Quest for the Spark Book Two by Tom Sniegoski
- February 1: The Dread by Gail Z. Martin
- February 1: Frank Reade: Adventures in the Age of Invention by Paul Guinan and Anina Bennett
- February 1: The Lord of Illusion by Kathryne Kennedy
- February 1: Return to King Solomon's Mines by Steve Barlow and Steve Skidmore
- February 1: The Zharmac Anthology: Ends of Man edited by Anna McDermott
- February 2: Doctor Who: Magic of the Angels by Jacqueline Rayner
- February 2: The Little One by Lynda La Plante
- February 2: The Lost Goddess by Tom Knox
- February 2: Shadow Runners by Daniel Blythe
- February 6: Labyrinth of Sorrows by George Mann (audio only)
- February 7: Almost Everything by Tate Hallaway
- February 7: Apocalypse to Go by Katharine Kerr
- February 7: City of Dragons by Robin Hobb
- February 7: Garrett Takes the Case by Glen Cook
- February 7: Guardian of the Night by Tony Daniel
- February 7: The Haunted Lands Omnibus by Richard Lee Byers
- February 7: Island of Shadows by Erin Hunter
- February 7: The Last Ditch by Sandy Mitchell
- February 7: The Masked Witches by Richard Lee Byers
- February 7: Shaded Vision by Yasmine Galenorn
- February 7: Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed
- February 7: Unbroken by Rachel Caine
- February 7: Underwater Love by MaryJanice Davidson
- February 7: Westward Weird by Martin H. Greenberg and Kerrie Hughes
- February 7: Witch House by Edward Lee
- February 7: World Divided by Mercedes Lackey, Cody Martin, Dennis Lee, and Veronica Giguere
- February 8: Pure by Julianna Baggott
- February 9: Dangerous Visions by Harlan Ellison
- February 10: JAG in Space: Burden of Proof by John G. Hemry
- February 10: JAG in Space: A Just Determination by John G. Hemry
- February 10: Star Wars: Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side by Daniel Wallace
- February 13: The Fourth Wall by Walter Jon Williams
- February 14: Ashes of Candesce by Karl Schroeder
- February 14: Blood Ocean by Weston Ochse
- February 14: Hitchers by Will McIntosh
- February 14: The Wolf Gift by Anne Rice
Upcoming film releases:
Upcoming home video releases:
Past releases archive
Sources for this information include: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Box Office Mojo, Internet Speculative Fiction Database, and Yahoo! Movies—visit them for more complete information.
Entries marked with  debuted at #1. Entries marked with  debuted lower, but reached #1.
New York Times Hardcover Fiction Best Sellers:
- January 15: 77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz debuts at #1
2011:
New York Times Paperback Mass-Market Fiction Best Sellers:
- January 15: Ghoul Interrupted by Victoria Laurie debuts at #30
2011:
- December 25: Lawe's Justice by Lora Leigh debuts at #2 (at #29 as of January 15)
New York Times E-Book Fiction Best Sellers:
- January 15: 77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz debuts at #11
2011:
New York Times Children's Chapter Books Best Sellers:
- December 25: Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare debuts at #1 (at #2 as of January 15)
- November 20: Crossed by Ally Condie debuts at #2 (at #6 as of January 15)
- November 20: The LEGO Ideas Book by Daniel Lipkowitz debuts at #9 (at #4 as of January 15)
- October 23: The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan debuts at at #1 (at #1 as of January 15)
- October 9: Every Thing On It by Shel Silverstein debuts at #1 (at #7 as of January 15)
- October 9: Lego Star Wars Character Encyclopedia by DK Publishing debuts at #4 (at #9 as of January 15)
- June 26: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs debuts at #7 (at #3 as of January 15)
- May 22: The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan debuts at #1 (at #10 as of January 15)
2010:
New York Times Hardcover Graphic Book Best Sellers:
2011:
Past releases archive
Sources for this information include: New York Times Best Seller Lists
Featured articles are considered to be the best on Wikipedia, as determined by Wikipedia's editors, and Good articles are those which are considered to be of good quality but which are not yet featured article quality. If you see one that should be listed here, please add it or post on the talk page and let us know so we can add it for you.
Speculative fiction topics
|
