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Explore 60 New Sci-Fi and Fantasy Stories by Subgenres
Who doesn't love a good science fiction or fantasy subgenre? If you're familiar with these categories, they can act as direct portals to stories you know you'll love. And if phrases like "space opera," "climate fiction," or "urban fantasy" baffle you, worry not! We've got your guide to ten crowd-pleasing speculative fiction subgenres below, each with recommendations for recent popular books.
Don’t forget to add any titles that catch your eye to your Want to Read shelf, and be sure to share your favorite subgenres in the comments below!
Alternate History
Characteristics of this subgenre: Witch trials but with actual witches, wars that occurred in the real world but with magic, historical timelines that look recognizably like our own but with a speculative twist.
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Alternate Universes
Characteristics of this subgenre: Parallel universes, multiple universes, different versions of the same person across universes—that sort of thing.
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Space Opera
Characteristics of this subgenre: Clashes between civilizations, planetary political intrigue, and governments at an interstellar scale. No singing involved (usually).
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Retellings
Characteristics of this subgenre: New takes on old myths or folktales, gender-bent stories, redemption arcs for misunderstood villains, everything old is new again.
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Climate Fiction
Characteristics of this subgenre: Collapsing ecologies, nature red in tooth and claw, stories of human innovation and resilience in the face of climate disaster.
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Urban Fantasy
Characteristics of this subgenre: Wizards on the subway, eldritch horrors attacking apartment dwellers, magic plus a contemporary city setting equals some very cool books!
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Timey Wimey Tales
Characteristics of this subgenre: Time travel, time slippage, getting stranded in time, trying to change the past or the future and often causing more issues in the present.
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Astronaut Adventures
Characteristics of this subgenre: People hurtling in tin cans through empty space (and somehow these aren't horror novels?), moon colonies, murders in space (again, not horror!), the human side of space exploration.
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Postapocalyptic Futures
Characteristics of this subgenre: World-changing events, dystopian landscapes, revolutions against totalitarian states, pandemic pandemonium.
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Technological Advances
Characteristics of this subgenre: Robots, clones, AI, oh my! Explorations of the good, the bad, and the scary sides of humanity's relationships with machines.
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Which are your favorite sci-fi and fantasy subgenres? Let’s talk books in the comments below!
Comments Showing 101-110 of 110 (110 new)
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message 101:
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☘Misericordia☘
(last edited Jul 18, 2021 02:08PM)
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Jul 18, 2021 02:03PM
Contrarius wrote: "Piranesi was one of my two favorite books from last year. And I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Recursion." Yup. From this list I think I'll try, apart from the ones I've long since read and listed in msg 44 (https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/2...)
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Aria wrote: "Contrarius wrote: " ...let's see the names!"Nnedi Okorafor, the Naijamerican author of the science fiction novella Remote Control, published by Tordotcom Publishing on January 19..."
Thanks for getting some names out there!
Okorafor is a very good writer. OTOH, personally I didn't like Remote Control very much, especially the ending. But of course that's going to be a very subjective thing.
I haven't read the other two. I don't think there are any collections on the list, though, which would eliminate Kim Bo-Young -- and there isn't a YA section either, which rules out Joan He.
But thanks for the names -- I'll check them out!
☘Misericordia☘ wrote: "Contrarius wrote: "Piranesi was one of my two favorite books from last year. And I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Recursion." Yup. From this list I think I'll try, apart from the ones I've lon..."Of those I've only read A Memory Called Empire and Peace Talks. The first is very very good; the second, IMHO, is excellent as a part of the series, but certainly should not be read as a standalone!
Dmack wrote: "Don’t see space for spiritual sci fi, not a huge market but still some good writers. Decker and Peretti to name 2"OOH.. Ted Dekker. I had no idea what I was getting into when I borrowed one of his books from the library, but wow. really cool ride
Well thanks, Goodreads. I was working all year on whittling down my want-to-read pile and now I am back up at almost 700.
Those of us reading this would love to hear other readers book suggestions instead of contestant bashing of the list. Agree about lack of Fantasy but the rest of the negativity??? Not needed.
I can say Migrations was well written, and thoroughly engrossing. Not a book to fill you with hope though.
If it's classic epic fantasy you crave, check out The Drinnglennin Chronicles. Portents of Chaos is the first book and you can find the complete series here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08...
Loved the subgenre categorization. Made it easier to browse :)
