Science fiction

Science fiction is an oft-argued term. For the purposes of this site, SF is broader than many definitions of "science fiction". Here we include various definitions of science fiction.

[S]cience fiction is simply fiction in which some element of

speculation plays such an essential and integral role that it

can't be removed without making the story collapse, and in

which the author has made a reasonable effort to make the

speculative element as plausible as possible.

-- Stanley Schmidt, 1999

[W]ritten science fiction has become two things—a genre

and a style ... For my purposes, genre signifies a specific

type of writing, one that may have some grey areas, but has

enough boundaries for readers most of the time to be able

to say whether something is or is not a part of the genre.

(referencing Schmidt definition above) ... A style is different;

a style is simply a way of saying something.

-- Matthew Cheney, 2005 (http://www.strangehorizons.com/2005/20050307/cheney-c.shtml)

Science fiction, for example, most often is set in the future

and involves some sort of technology that's beyond our

current understanding but doesn't contradict currently

known/believed physical laws.

-- Jed Hartman, 2001 (http://www.strangehorizons.com/2001/20011203/editorial.shtml)