The Future of Science Fiction

Is there any task more futile than this?

How can we know the future of already futuristic fiction, one that reacts in real-time to emerging technologies?

Well, here are the five things I at least hope to see with the future of the genre. I’m making this list based on what we’re seeing in the field today and the current cultural climate.

Here goes.

Anyone reading this ten years from now feels free to either laugh or gasp in astonishment as my safe predictions prove accurate.

1.) Diversification

This is a big issue in the field, one that’s coming to light more and more as scholars put together independent studies on the field’s development outside of mainstream American and British fiction. Although Afrofuturism has been around since the 1990s, we see new critical studies into the history of the genre and the works that have made up its nexus. Such things are happening with Italian and Israeli science fiction. I completed a Master in 2019 Irish Science Fiction, which leant rather heavily on Jack Fennell’s PhD into the same topic. With a definable corpus of literature, I expect we’ll see more confidence emerging within these subgenres, ultimately adding their flavour to the entire field.

This will, of course, force the tricky problem of translations. Currently, most mainstream science fiction is still written for an English audience.

Some amazing stuff is coming out of China at the moment, particularly from the talented Liu Cixin. With the country undergoing rapid technologic developments (China having recently landed a rover on Mars), their speculations on technology will inevitably increase. Commentary on their technological suppression, particularly regarding Facebook, has been wonderfully captured in stories like Ma Bayong’s “The City of Silence”. To keep reading and commenting on this cool stuff, we’ve either got to become multilingual or increasingly rely on quality translations.

I think we’ll see this happen. We’re becoming aware of the need to show diversification in race and sexuality, literature and TV. With this, I think it will increase ways of seeing reality.

Margret Atwood’s speculative novel A Handmaid’s Tale (1985) is an excellent example of this. It’s a dystopia considering women, not as a side issue, but as the central reality of that character’s world. As often happens, the literature was far in advance of the film, but it seems to have become a recent TV phenomenon at just the right time politically.

So, I think, while we’ll continue to see a lot of faceless horror sci-fi films, we’re also going to see an increasing tolerance and understanding of the ‘other’.

2.) Hard SF

Fortunately, or unfortunately (depending on how you look at things), we’ve moved past a lot of our favourite science fiction tropes. We’ve combed over Mars and telescoped the other planets without seeing an inch of living matter. Light is a limiting factor still, and wormholes are more millimetres at the largest (although this hasn’t stopped space operas from breaking light speed).

Yet, we’re also doing all the things we’ve talked about in science fiction for decades. We’re on Mars now and thinking of colonising it within a lifetime. We’re making ‘humans in our image’ in the form of AI.

This is why I think science fiction is going to get more complicated. We need literature to respond to those changes and translate their significance to us non-scientists. Andy Weir is perhaps the best modern example of this, with The Martian (2011, filmic version: 2015). Essentially, it’s a modern-day Robinson Crusoe (1719), but it's much more scientifically stringent compared with the 1954 film Robinson Crusoe on Mars. The science of interest isn’t otherworldly or based on conjecture but the applied use of current technologies. While his Project Hail Mary (2021) has a more far-fetched antagonist in an alien star, its spacecraft and physics are based firmly on reality.

I think we’ll see more stories attempting to do what Destination Moon (1950) and 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) did before the new wave of SF took over. With increased technological achievements, we’ll continue to write about their serious application.

3.) Eco-fiction

Similarly, I think we’ll see an increase in eco-fiction, even as we become more diverse and culturally sensitive. Kim Stanley Robinson, who wrote his own Mars stories back in the 1990s, is increasingly turning his attention to the problems of Earth and ecology in New York 2140 (1917) and Ministry of the Future (2020). While present in the Mars stories, the explicit focus on Earth avoids the idea that we can resettle on another planet, a probability that won’t include most human beings.

It’s not a new trend, but once discovered, it’s one we can’t ignore. Films such as Silent Running (1972) and novels like Kim Stanley Robinson’s Aurora (2015) are perfect examples of limited ecology. Both are set in space ships that represent a microcosm of Earth, describing what happens when an ecology, a sensitive balance, become unbalanced. Both also show that alternatives to living on Earth, such as spaceship travel or colonising planets, are far from ideal. We currently live on the only perfect planet known to us.

As we explore Mars, I think we’ll understand more about our ecology, the precious nature of life and the fragile skin of existence. I think as we know Mars more, we’ll expand our ideas about ecologies, perhaps even reawakening the first revolutionary concerns around ecology that began, in the mainstream at least, during the seventies.

It remains to be seen. With the granddaddy of ecology science fiction Dune (1965) getting its latest remake this year, it’ll be interesting to see if the prominent theme of ecology is kept in or cast aside to focus on Paul’s Messiah complex.

4.) Dystopias

I talked about this topic at length in another blog article, so I’ll keep it brief here. With the success of The Hunger Games and Divergent franchises, I think we’ll keep seeing pessimistic futures.

Notice also both examples here are from young adult fiction. Just as there has been a continued acceptance of science fiction and fantasy in the literary canon, young adult works are also becoming increasingly read.

I have no problem with this. As long as we realise the target demographic of what we’re reading, these works can still provide excellent commentary on life and socio-economic issues.

Yet, I also think there’s increasing teenage-type angst about the future. When we’re not celebrating technological achievements, like surviving Mars, it’s increasingly tough to be optimistic about science and technology, a trend that’s hungover from the 1950’s atomic age.

We have the technology certainly to destroy the world, but little ability, or seeming inclination, to fix it.

We’ve known about overpopulation, pollution, and greenhouse effects for decades but have made only marginal steps towards fixing things.

The wealth gap has also increased, even as social systems continue to improve stutteringly (although access to health care is still an issue in many places).

It’s easy to see why we don’t trust technology or society.

5.) Remakes

I’m most comfortable making the prediction that we’ll continue to plunder our creations.

Marketers like to bet on a sure thing. While risk is often its reward, being different gets you recognised, it doesn’t always hold.

People like what they know. Familiarity with a name or idea brings a feeling of relief and comfort. We know what to think, and whether we like it or not.

So, I think we’ll keep seeing remakes, TV adaptations, and animated spin-offs, excused by better graphics, which have made the previous renditions ‘unwatchable’. With streaming channels now more widely used, we’ll also see films extended into series, as happened with Snowpiercer.

We’ll also see universes explored in more minute detail, as is currently happening with Star Trek and Star Wars. The untold character stories, plot hole fillers, prequels and sequels. Because of the originals' success and their remakes, I think these will continue to be mined, as the Marvel universe and even Lord of the Rings are now, with their return to TV/streaming service serials.

This isn’t necessarily all bad. A remake can say new and original things. However, it also makes it harder for original stuff to get made, as everything continues to either parody or remake from a successful troupe, series, film or book. Eventually, the initial thrill of the story gets lost, and people get hung up on character plotlines and continuity.

I’ve picked on film here, but it’s nothing compared to the number of novel and story spin-offs that have come out of franchises. Where it ends is anybody’s guess. Perhaps as long as the human race lasts, we’ll continue to reboot things.

It’s kept Shakespeare alive. Maybe the choice is a reboot or die. Reboot, part, or watch/read the original. But who’s going to do that when the film looks grainy, the effects cheesy, the language outdated and the ideas somewhat conservative.

Who? Only scholars and fanatics.

These are my predictions. Ye have been warned and promised.