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r/printSF · u/BoringEntropistJul 31, 2026, 11:00 PM

Science fiction as a genre vs. as a setting

So, recently I have been reading more science fiction and I've started to notice a annoyance in the back of my mind about my reading choices. It isn't so much a criticism of the authors, as I enjoyed their writing (prose, characters, plot, exploration of interesting ideas, etc.). But somehow I repeatedly come back to the same question: Does this particular story need to be told in a scifi setting? And more often then not the answer is a big fat NO.

It isn't necessarily about the distinction between soft vs. hard scifi. Soft science can be fairly authentic to the genre if, for example, it explores the societal implications of a speculative technology (regardless how realistic it might be). If I could classify my concerns it would rather be about narrow vs. wide, or even shallow vs. deep scifi.

Does a thriller about palace intrigues really need be told in the setting of an interstellar empire if it could equally be told in the setting of historical Ming China or even a modern multi-national cooperation? Does a study about identity really need a bunch of aliens when a contemporary, multi-cultural, urban setting would perfectly suffice? Wouldn't a neo-noir detective story told in a dystopian future setting work as well as in 1920s Shanghai?

Sure, the scifi setting gives more opportunities for exploration. But to me it often boils down to minor plot contrivances and entertaining effects rather than substance. It feels as if the scifi setting isn't used as a canvas, but more like a stylistic choice.

Sorry for the rant. Maybe someone of you want to contribute to this discussion.

120

Comments

u/diffyqgirl21Jul 31, 2026, 11:07 PM
Sometimes, it's done because speculative fiction is a great tool for talking about reality by removing oneself enough away from it that one can look at it with fewer preconceptions. Sometimes it's just because fictional settings are cool.
- u/BoringEntropist2Jul 31, 2026, 11:19 PM
  Fair points. The allure of scifi, at least to me, that it can explore new and interesting ideas, without certain constrains other genres have to conform. But then I read a promising story only to find out it's just like another story I've read somewhere else, just in a high-tech costum.
  - u/scifiantihero1Jul 31, 2026, 11:34 PM
- u/chimney_corner1Aug 1, 2026, 2:43 AM
  A setting doesnt have to justify itself, but a setting doesn't make it sci-fi.
u/clodneymuffin8Jul 31, 2026, 11:11 PM
I agree there are a huge number of stories that don’t need to be science fiction. But writing about interstellar intrigue lets the author define the ground rules, and immediately takes care of criticisms that the Ming Dynasty or 1920s Shanghai wasn’t really like that. It can also make for a leaner story. You only need to explain as much of the world as you want to be relevant to the story, which can help with plotting.
- u/NekoCatSidhe1Aug 1, 2026, 12:15 PM
  There’s a lot of Japanese anime/manga/novels that are set in fantasy world versions of the Chinese Courts or equivalent, like The Apothecary Diaries, Raven of the Inner Palace, or Yatagarasu: The Raven Doesn’t Choose its Master. It doesn’t have to be historical fiction when it can be alternate history or fantasy. That kind of story can make more sense in a fantasy setting where people don’t have to wonder why in the far-future the galaxy is ruled by an hereditary God-Emperor with an extensive harem of backstabbing Consorts and eunuch bureaucrats rather than just being a federation or a democracy. That said, having a Chinese-style Empire in space still sounds like a rather cool premise, and I don’t think I have come across it before. Usually stories about Galactic Empire just have the Roman Empire in space, something I blame Asimov for. Merging different genres is always a good way to create something original, even if it doesn’t always work.
u/kobayashi_maru_fail24Jul 31, 2026, 11:16 PM
I like Cory Doctorow’s take: https://doctorow.medium.com/https-pluralistic-net-2024-11-04-bomb-light-nukular-5dc679f513c4 I’m increasingly more fond of softer scifi for getting thought experiments across. Could Le Guin have carefully explained the interstellar ships in Left Hand of Darkness? Sure, but it wouldn’t have added anything and that clear, concise, elegant book would have bloated.
- u/GenerativeAIEatsAss2Jul 31, 2026, 11:58 PM
  This is, for the most part, also the academic consensus of the genre, casting back to Darko Suvin.
u/buckleyschance7Aug 1, 2026, 12:00 AM
What are some examples of SF stories that would be better in a real-world setting? The comment that "the scifi setting isn't used as a canvas, but more like a stylistic choice" doesn't fit the SF books that come to mind for me, but that may be because we're thinking of different works.
u/HotDamnThatsMyJam6Aug 1, 2026, 12:20 AM
I don't mind what setting an author chooses to set their story in. But I do believe there's a distinction between stories that are just told with a sci-fi aesthetic versus actual SF or science fiction. I've seen people having discussions about this on reddit before and my view often seems to go down like a fart in an elevator.
- u/chimney_corner1Aug 1, 2026, 2:54 AM
  Yep, just try to tell.spmeome Star Wars isnt sci-fi...."but, spaceships..."
- u/darkfrances2Aug 1, 2026, 9:11 AM
  I kinda agree with this. While it's not a problem if the author just sets the story against a science fiction background just because, if the background does not have a significant impact on the story then the question does arise: why scifi? "Just because" is an acceptable answer, but it works better if the author specifically mentions this answer somewhere in the book. Scifi tends to be more spectacular than other settings, so adding it stealthily without justification feels a bit like cheating, like secretly adding sugar to food to make it tastier because you don't know your spices.
u/SadCatIsSkinDog30Aug 1, 2026, 12:30 AM
Does a palace intrigue need to be in a Ming Dynasty court? If the answer is “no” I don’t see why it can’t be at the end of time orbiting a black hole.
- u/MyNightmaresAreGreen1Aug 1, 2026, 6:30 PM
  Yeah, but it probably is much more interesting if the machinations of the court or the societal and cultural norms of the time are an integral part of the plot and drivers of motivation for the characters, or if the black hole physics or the fact that time is indeed ending are an important part of the story and not just set dressing. Stories that don't "need" to be told in a certain genre or setting or time etc. tend to feel superficial and popcorny, to me at least.
u/Warrior-Cook5Aug 1, 2026, 12:53 AM
It's been joked that Hyperion is just Canterbury Tales in space. And while that speaks to the narrative format, the ecosystem itself could hold it's own without a plot. What I'm getting as is the universe it's in, is as much the character. The things that happen there couldn't happen elsewhere. The sense of place or setting *is* the plot. A community realizes they're born on a generational ship, a community realizes there's no more babies coming into the world. A small group of people learn how to digitize themselves and become eternal. One could try and bend these to be like the Allegory of The Cave or something, but it's more believable when they're all made up. Not trying to make a point, just recognizing how the location of a story can make the magic happen. If you tear some of this down, it's just yea time at the university.
u/weouthere543213Aug 1, 2026, 1:27 AM
I think there are a different types of genres, but mostly they are categorized by: theme, plot, and setting. Science fiction has been since basically its inception as a commercial genre of fiction, the third type. HG Wells was never concerned about the scientific validity of his work, but he did care utilizing the formalized inquisitive nature of science to inform the stories he told. In many ways science fiction operates as a metaphor to deal the sense of overwhelming newness of the present throughout the 20th century than it is to *predict* the future or to tell stories about pre-existing scientific fact.
- u/chimney_corner0Aug 1, 2026, 3:06 AM
  I strongly disagree. Setting doesnt make a book or a movie sci-fi. If it did there would be way to many setting that would have to be included. Past, future, space, Cleveland.. Just lookong at one year of the Aurthur C. Clarke award, how do you define a genre by setting that includes A Handmaids Tale, Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand, and Green Eyes?
u/ClimateTraditional406Aug 1, 2026, 2:04 AM
As Theodore Sturgeon said: A story built around a human problem and solution which would not have happened without its science content.
u/chimney_corner-2Aug 1, 2026, 2:44 AM
Franky, I dont consider the books that could be in a differnt setting sci-fi.
u/PacificBooks7Aug 1, 2026, 5:03 AM

Does a thriller about palace intrigues really need be told in the setting of an interstellar empire if it could equally be told in the setting of historical Ming China or even a modern multi-national coperation? Does a study about identity really need a bunch of aliens when a contemporary, multi-cultural, urban setting would perfectly suffice? Wouldn't a neo-noir detective story told in a dystopian future setting work as well as in 1920s Shanghai?

Easily one of the worst takes I’ve seen on this subreddit.

Do you guys even like books?
u/DixitRexCorvinus5Aug 1, 2026, 5:07 AM
I'm firmly of the opinion that there's no reason not to throw magic or scifi into a setting. If you could tell a story without it being scifi, well, good for that story but I'd rather you make it scifi anyway because why not? And I do consider both scifi and fantasy to be settings rather than genres, so that counts as making it scifi for me. But that's just my take on it, and it comes down to taste and liking scifi in my media. I could just as easily read my mystery or thrillers or whatever without the speculative elements, I just happen to prefer to have them be there.
u/sdwoodchuck6Aug 1, 2026, 7:19 AM
“It doesn’t need to be; therefore it shouldn’t be” is an approach to storytelling that I neither understand nor remotely agree with.
- u/EltaninAntenna3Aug 1, 2026, 8:05 AM
  Yeah, it's the story police knocking at the door.
u/Bergain19452Aug 1, 2026, 8:24 AM
Using search and replace your rant can be used as a template criticism of any literary style, genre or format. Historical Fiction, Alternative Histories, Romance stories, Detective stories, Coming of Age, Fantasy, Heroic Fantasy, Hero's Journey, Mystery, Horror, 1st Person, 3rd Person, Stream of Consciousness. Did the Odyssey need to be set in the Mediterranean 3,000 years ago? So I think the question is what type of literature do you want to read if it isn't Science Fiction? Lot's a genres require interpretation or extrapolation to understand their context and message, a lot of science fiction is written as science fiction so that the separation from the "here and now" more clearly highlights the elements that are critical to the author's point of view, from Animal Farm, to the Left Hand of Darkness to The moon is a harsh mistress. This is just as true for other genres.
u/Virith2Aug 1, 2026, 9:39 AM

Sure, the scifi setting gives more opportunities for exploration. But to me it often boils down to minor plot contrivances and entertaining effects rather than substance. It feels as if the scifi setting isn't used as a canvas, but more like a stylistic choice.

Yeah, this is my problem with a lot of the recent "sci-fi." Emphasis on "my." Cause while there's nothing wrong with this and it has its audience, I am not that audience.

So I find myself reading increasing amount of older books instead.

I just wish there was more of the "genre" things being written too, y'know?
u/NekoCatSidhe1Aug 1, 2026, 12:33 PM
Speak for yourself. I tend to love detective stories set in science fiction or fantasy worlds, where the unusual setting and technologies often make for a more interesting stories and solutions to the mysteries. And having a version of the Ming dynasty in space sounds intriguing too, because I would love to see a science-fiction version of The Apothecary Diaries, for example. Mashing genres together is often a great way to write a more original story, and I highly value originality in storytelling. It is only a problem when it is done in a lazy and uninspired way, but that is true of all writings. Good ideas are not enough, you need to have good execution as well.
u/gooseposter1Aug 1, 2026, 4:10 PM
I completely agree with you Take The Martian which some people hold up as a paradigm of good hard SF. it's literally just a shipwreck story. I mean what does it being on Mars do compared to a desolate tropical island. What other books like the martian did you hate?
u/DufbugDeropa1Aug 1, 2026, 4:22 PM
"Wouldn't a neo-noir detective story told in a dystopian future setting work as well as in 1920s Shanghai?" It depends on the reader, no? If the reader is a plot-junkie, then the answer is probably 'yes'. The 'what happens next?' reader makes almost no demands on the mechanism(s) that drive the narrative. For them, the stack of events in the story defines it's reading value. An author writing for this kind of audience follows a kind of recipe or trope (however lightly adhered to) and the setting is merely backdrop or ornament in which the 'action takes place.' Nothing wrong with any of this. Folks earn their crust with books like this. But for some stories, the science and technology is its very warp and weft. Some believe that if the story is about "how tech affects humans" (pick a trope) then the tech is interchangeable, since the story is about the affect not the tech. This is not true. The technology of gene splicing affects us quite differently than the technology of mobile phones.
u/Valuable_Ad_77391Aug 1, 2026, 5:41 PM
So much disagreement with OP that I want to say that I agree. Science fiction is supposed to be about science and the implications of science. But sometimes people just take some other kind of story and transpose it to SF for a cash grab.

I think I first noticed this when I was listening to the old 1950s era SF radio drama [X minus one](https://www.youtube.com/live/K-0ojMzOkD8?is=2Zl7Ke29GzGrpcoT) on YouTube. These were radio dramatizations of stories from Galaxy Magazine.

At one point there was a western themed adventure, except set on Mars and the Martians were very obviously Native Americans. The rifles were ray guns and the wagons were flying space shuttles, but nothing about the story required a SF setting. The characters didn’t even need space suits to breathe. The story presents the amazing hot take that genocide is regrettable, but, you know, progress, bro. Watcha gonna do?

Another story was an obvious nautical adventure where a young groom-to-be is drugged and kidnapped from his own bachelor party, only to discover he is now an indentured crew member on a rocket bound to Mars! He has exactly as little freedom as the sailors of old, and the space captain keeps threatening to throw him out the air lock for mutiny. Thankfully, his rich father radios ahead and when they arrive at Mars the space police free him and arrest the ship captain. (Sorry for the spoiler.)

Arguably stories like that don’t need to exist. I listened to them and thought, my god, the New Wave cannot come fast enough.

Despite that I recommend listening to X Minus One because not all of the stories were as bad as those two and because it is good campy fun. SF aesthetics hadn’t really been invented yet so the stories are presented in broad mid-Atlantic accents and accompanied by a heavy handed orchestra soundtrack.

Like a pod flying like a bat out of hell will crash land somewhere. And out pops the pilot and someone will say

“Holy smoke! It’s a woman!”

And the orchestra goes “Bum, bum, bumm.”

And then in her best Lauren Bacall accent: “Never mind about that, sport. If we don’t get a shipment of vaccine to Rigel 9 by morning those settlers won’t stand a snowball’s chance.”

And then in her orchestra again goes “bum, bum, bumm” And there’s timpani roll.

Because if they didn’t do that you wouldn’t know if it was important for all the settlers on Rigel 9 to die or not, or whether pilots in the future are typically women.

It is a hoot!
u/Gravitas_free1Aug 1, 2026, 5:54 PM
I think evaluating any narrative element in terms of "need" is misguided. Technically, you can boil down any story to a handful of pages; most descriptions, characterizations, subplots are, strictly-speaking, not needed. But literature produced this way would be really goddamn boring. I like historical fiction, but I don't see why a Ming court intrigue would be inherently more interesting or valuable than a similar intrigue set in some intergalactic government. The latter gives the author more freedom, though also requires more imagination/creative work. And if that sci-fi setting is poorly thought-out, or clichéd, or simply boring, well that certainly warrants plenty of criticism. But I don't understand why we'd question the "need" of making it science-fiction, because I don't think you ever need a justification to work in a particular genre. The one case where I'd agree with you is when an author makes a SF setting that apes a real-world setting purely to make an empty allegory. "Look, my novel might seem like it's about aliens on a faraway planet, but it's actually about the Jim Crow South! Aren't I clever!" That can be great, but only if you actually have something interesting to say about that real-life setting. Referencing things is not inherently clever or interesting; I'd much rather see an author be genuinely imaginative.