hidden pixel

Speculative Fiction Information

Speculative fiction 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.

Science fiction, fantasy, horror, and alternate history all fall within the realm of speculative fiction. Since its beginnings with stories such as Frankenstein, speculative fiction novels, television series, films, and games of all sorts have continued to grow into a large section of the publishing and entertainment world.

More about speculative fiction...

Jump to a specific section below

Selected article Selected picture Selected profile Selected quote Selected work Upcoming releases Upcoming conventions Bestsellers Categories Did you know… Possible futures News On this day... Things you can do

Selected profile

John Wyndham was the pen name used by the often post-apocalyptic English science fiction writer John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris (10 July 1903 – 11 March 1969). Early in his career, Wyndham used various other combinations of his names, such as "John Beynon" or "Lucas Parkes".

Wyndham tried several careers including farming, law, commercial art and advertising, but mostly relied on an allowance from his family. He eventually turned to writing for money in 1925, and by 1931 was selling short stories and serial fiction to American science fiction pulp magazines, most under the pen names of 'John Beynon' or 'John Beynon Harris', though he also wrote some detective stories.

After World War II, Wyndham returned to writing, inspired by the success of his brother who had had four novels published. He altered his writing style and by 1951, using the John Wyndham pen name for the first time, wrote the novel The Day of the Triffids. His prewar writing career was not mentioned in the book's publicity, and people were allowed to assume that it was a first novel from a previously unknown writer.

Archive/Nominations

Read more...

Selected media

Credit: Illustrator: Gustave Doré; Restoration: Adam Cuerden

Don Quixote and his fanciful reality, a "world of disorderly notions, picked out of his books, crowded into his imagination". ()

Archive/Nominations

Read more...

Selected work

Anarky (Lonnie Machin) is a fictional character in the DC Comics Universe. Co-created by Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle, he first appeared in Detective Comics #608 (November 1989) as an adversary of Batman. Stories revolving around Anarky often focus on political and philosophical themes. The character, who was named after the philosophy of anarchism, primarily espouses anti-statism. When Grant himself transitioned to the philosophy of Neo-Tech, he transformed Anarky from a vehicle for socialist and populist philosophy, to rationalist, atheist, and free market-based thought.

Grant avoided using the character often, but addressed multiple issues whenever the character appeared, including environmentalism, antimilitarism, economic exploitation, and political corruption. Inspired by multiple sources, early stories featuring the character often included homages to political and philosophical books. The creation of the character was also partially influenced by Alan Moore's character "V" from V for Vendetta.

Originally intended to only be used in the debut story in which he appeared, Anarky was created to be a violent but highly intelligent youth who rationalized murder in the name of a higher cause. At the request of Dennis O'Neil, this early interpretation was altered before publication, and Anarky was instead portrayed as violent but non-lethal. Following positive reception by readers and Dennis O'Neil, Grant decided to continue using Anarky as a recurring character throughout the early 90s.

Archive/Nominations

Read more...

Selected quote

It is easy to argue persuasively the truism that the lessons of history are best derived from what actually happened, rather than from what nearly happened. It should be added, however, that what happened becomes more fully comprehensible in the light of the contending forces that existed at moments of decision. Understanding of the total historical setting is bound to contribute to a clearer view of the actual course of affairs.
—Harold C. Deutsch (1904-1995), Introduction, What If? Strategic Alternatives of WWII (December 1997). More quotes from Wikiquote: science fiction, fantasy, alternate history Archives/Nominations

Selected article

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".

Archive/Nominations

Read more...

Possible futures

Possible events in the future as suggested by science fiction:

Did you know...

Things you can do...

Here are ideas for how you can help improve the coverage of speculative fiction topics on Wikipedia:

Expand a stub:

Expand a new article:

Note: If no articles are shown below, please work on those found in the Archive. There were 1 errors encountered while parsing the rules for this search. This list was generated from these rules. 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

How to write a new article

Join a WikiProject or task force:

Start a requested article:

Categories

Alternate history · Atlantis in fiction · Dystopian fiction · Fairy tales · Fantasy · Ghost stories · Gothic fiction · Horror · Invasion literature · Lists of speculative fiction-related award winners and nominees · Mythopoeia · Science fiction · Secret histories · Speculative fiction · Speculative fiction novels · Speculative fiction portals · Speculative fiction short stories · Speculative fiction writing circles · Utopian fiction · World building

Recognized content

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.

Science fiction
Featured articles Ace Books · Arbiter · Backmasking · Batman · Battlefield Earth · Bernard Quatermass · "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe" · Chrono Trigger · Cortana · Dalek · Doctor Who missing episodes · E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial · F-Zero GX · Fermi paradox · Firefly · Frank Klepacki · Half-Life 2 · Half-Life 2: Episode One · Halo: Combat Evolved · Halo: Contact Harvest · Halo 2 · Halo 3 · Halo 3 Original Soundtrack · Halo Wars · Jabba the Hutt · Johannes Kepler · Jurassic Park · Kingdom Hearts II · Lost · Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games · Master Chief · Metroid Prime · Metroid Prime 2: Echoes · Metroid Prime 3: Corruption · Nigel Kneale · Palpatine · Portal · Quatermass II · Quatermass and the Pit · Red vs. Blue · Rudolph Cartier · Shadow the Hedgehog · StarCraft · StarCraft: Ghost · Star Trek: First Contact · Star Trek: The Motion Picture · Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan · Star Trek III: The Search for Spock · Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country · Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope · Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back · Starship Troopers · Superman · Superman (film series) · Sydney Newman · The Halo Graphic Novel · The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy · The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series) · The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask · The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time · The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages · The Quatermass Experiment · The Stolen Earth · The Time Traveler's Wife · ToeJam & Earl · Tom Swift · Transformers · Transhumanism · Watchmen · William Gibson
Featured lists Smallville (season 1)
Fantasy
Featured articles Beyond Fantasy Fiction · Captain Jack Sparrow · Carnivàle (characters) · Final Fantasy · Final Fantasy VI · Final Fantasy VIII (characters) · Final Fantasy IX · Final Fantasy X · Final Fantasy X-2 · Final Fantasy XI · Final Fantasy XII · Final Fantasy Tactics · Flood · Grim Fandango · Honoré de Balzac · Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell · King Arthur · Kingdom Hearts (series) · Kingdom Hearts (video game) · Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories · Kingdom Hearts II · La Peau de chagrin · The Lord of the Rings (1978 film) · Madlax · Mana (series) · Mário de Andrade · Planescape: Torment · Ravenloft (module) · Tokyo Mew Mew · Vagrant Story
Horror
Featured articles Alien vs. Predator · BioShock · Bride of Frankenstein · Cannibal Holocaust · Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow · Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow · The Cat and the Canary · Devil May Cry · Devil May Cry 2 · Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening · Gremlins 2: The New Batch · Halloween · Halloween II · Halloween III: Season of the Witch · The Historian · The Illuminatus! Trilogy · Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver · The Mummy · Night of the Living Dead · The Pit and the Pendulum · Edgar Allan Poe · Mary Shelley · Silent Hill 4: The Room · System Shock · Jason Voorhees · Tenebrae · Treehouse of Horror · Vampire · Witchfinder General

On this day...

June 1:

Book releases

Anniversaries and events

More June anniversaries / All anniversaries

In the news...


Past news archive Sources include: Box Office Mojo, Internet Speculative Fiction Database, SF Scope, Slice of SciFi

Bestsellers

Entries marked with debuted at #1. Entries marked with debuted lower, but reached #1.

New York Times Hardcover Fiction Best Sellers:

New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction Best Sellers:

New York Times E-Book Fiction Best Sellers:

New York Times Paperback Mass-Market Fiction Best Sellers:

New York Times Children's Chapter Books Best Sellers:

New York Times Hardcover Graphic Book Best Sellers:


Past releases archive Sources for this information include: New York Times Best Seller Lists

Upcoming releases

Upcoming book releases: Academic and non-fiction books: — Anthologies: — Art books: — Collection/Omnibus:


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, Yahoo! Movies—visit them for more complete information.

Upcoming conventions

Dates shown are the first date of the convention. Most cons run for multiple days.

May:


See also these convention lists: anime, comic book, furry, gaming, multigenre, and science fiction.

Speculative fiction topics

Science fiction
Creators Artists (list) · Authors · Editors
Media Animation · Anime and manga · Comics · Films (list) · Games (board · role-playing · video) · Literature (magazines · novels · poetry · stories) · Opera · Radio · Television (films · list · sitcoms) · Theatre
Subgenres Alternate history · Apocalyptic · Christian · Comedy · Cyberpunk (derivatives) · Dying Earth · Feminist · Hard · Human society · Libertarian · Military · Planetary romance · Recursive · Social · Soft · Space opera · Sword and planet · Tech-noir · Western (Space)
Related genres Fantasy (Science fantasy) · Mystery · Horror · Slipstream · Speculative (Weird) · Superhero
Themes Artificial intelligence · Extraterrestrials (First contact) · Floating city · Lost World · Planets · Politics (Utopia/Dystopia · World government) · Religion (ideas) · Resizing · Sex (gender · homosexuality · reproduction) · Simulated realities/Virtual worlds · Space warfare (weapons) · Superpowers · Timeline (Alternate future · Future history · Hyperspace · Parallel universes · Slipstream · Time travel)
Subculture Fandom: By nationality · Conventions (list) · OrganizationsStudies: Awards · Definitions · History · Journals · New Wave
By Country Australia · Bangladesh · Canada · China · Croatia · Czech Republic · France · Japan · Norway · Poland · Romania · Russia/Soviet Union · Serbia
Fantasy
Creators Artists · Authors
Media Anime · Art (Fantastic) · Comics (Webcomics) · Film · Literature · Magazines · Television (List)
Studies History · Sources · Tolkienology
Subgenres Bangsian · Comic · Contemporary (Urban) · Dark · Epic/High fantasy · Heroic · Mythic fiction · Sword and sorcery · Weird fiction
Tropes (List) Fantasy races · Fantasy worlds · Legendary creatures · Magic · Magic items · Magicians · Quests
Horror
Creators Artists · Authors
Media Anime and manga · Comics (US) · Films (list) · Games · Giallo · Grand Guignol · Magazines · Novels · Television
Subgenres Body · Comedy (list · zombie comedy) · Dark fantasy · Dark romanticism · Ero guro · Erotic · Ghost · Gothic · J-Horror · K-Horror · Lovecraftian · Monsters (Frankenstein · vampire · werewolf) · Occult detective · Psychological · Religious (film) · Sci-fi (film) · Slasher (film) · Splatter/Gore (film) · Supernatural · Survival · Weird menace · Weird West · Zombie apocalypse
Related genres Crime · Mystery · Speculative · Thriller
Others Awards · Conventions · LGBT · Portal · Writers

Related Portals

Animation Anime and Manga Comics Folklore Horror Mythology Role-playing games Superhero fiction Video Games

Associated content

Science fiction
Science fiction on Wikibooks Science fiction on Wikimedia Commons Science fiction on Wikiquote Science fiction on Wikisource Science fiction on Wikiversity Science fiction on Wiktionary
Manuals & Books Images & Media Quotations Texts Learning resources Definitions
Fantasy
Fantasy on Wikibooks Fantasy on Wikimedia Commons Fantasy on Wikiquote Fantasy on Wikisource Fantasy on Wikiversity Fantasy on Wiktionary
Manuals & Books Images & Media Quotations Texts Learning resources Definitions
Horror
Horror on Wikibooks Horror on Wikimedia Commons Horror on Wikiquote Horror on Wikisource Horror on Wikiversity Horror on Wiktionary
Manuals & Books Images & Media Quotations Texts Learning resources Definitions

Wikipedia portals: Culture · Geography · Health · History · Mathematics · Natural sciences · People · Philosophy · Religion · Society · Technology

What are portals? · List of portals · Featured portals

Categories: Entertainment portals | Film portals | Literature portals | Speculative fiction portal

 

The above information uses material from Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Some facts may not have been fully verified for accuracy. [Disclaimers]
This page was last archived by our server on Mon Jun 6 13:29:25 2011.
Displaying this page or its contents does not use any Wikimedia Foundation's resources.
The owners of this site proudly support the Wikimedia Foundation.