Background reading · English
What if? How science fiction works
Science fiction starts with a 'what if' question and follows it to see what happens. Here's how it helps us think about real life.
Every science fiction story starts with a question: what if? What if people could live on the Moon? What if robots had feelings? What if the sea rose over your street? A sci-fi writer imagines one big change and then follows it carefully to see what happens to people, places and choices.
Kinds of science fiction
Speculative fiction
Some people use the bigger term speculative fiction for any story that imagines 'what could be', including science fiction and fantasy. The difference is that science fiction usually tries to stay believable: its changes could, one day, be explained by science.
Why sci-fi is really about now
One of the first science fiction novels, 'Frankenstein' by Mary Shelley (1818), is about a scientist who creates a living being and then refuses to take responsibility for it. More than 200 years later, people still ask the same question about new technology. Sci-fi lets us explore problems such as fairness, climate change, privacy and power in a safe, imaginary place, so we can think about them more clearly in the real one.
Sometimes sci-fi comes true
In 1945, the writer and scientist Arthur C. Clarke described satellites circling high above the Earth that could send signals around the world. Today they carry TV, internet and weather data. Video calls, tablets and self-driving cars all appeared in stories before they appeared in shops.
Sci-fi from Aotearoa
New Zealand writers have written sci-fi too. Margaret Mahy's 'Aliens in the Family' brings an alien visitor to a New Zealand family, and Brian Falkner's 'The Tomorrow Code' has two Auckland teenagers receiving messages from the future. What would a sci-fi story set in your place look like?
Sources and further reading
Written for Kōkiri Learn students in our own words. Check facts against the sources.