Science fiction may take place in a futuristic setting, alternate universe (including a novel planet, culture, society, etc.) or involve a plot-driving idea somehow related to science, or an extrapolation thereof. It took off in pulp magazines in the early 20th century, after a few 19th century precursors (H.G. Wells and Jules Verne, for example).

In the popular perspective, "Sci-Fi" is blended with, and even assumed to be part of, the "fantasy" genre, within the umbrella of speculative fiction. Science fiction is typically divided into two schools: hard science fiction and soft science fiction, however what defines either is very vague. It is generally accepted that there is a "sliding scale" of hardness rather than something just being simply "hard" or "soft", although sometimes hard or soft science fiction means whatever people want them to mean, and you'll rarely see much consensus except in obvious cases such as Star Wars. Science fiction is also often distinguished by setting, such as alternate reality, cyberpunk, military science fiction, etc. Many fans of science fiction literature (and certain authors) don't like using the term "sci-fi" to refer to serious works in the genre, preferring instead "SF".

"Hard" science fiction has been described in many ways, with science fiction fans often disagreeing on what makes a work hard or not. In one such definition, "hard science fiction" has nothing to do with being "hard to read". It explores ideas generated from actual real ("hard", or serious) science, theoretical or not, and how people might deal with such situations. The "big three" of science fiction - Heinlein, Asimov, and Clarke - tried to write stories that did not do more than project or extrapolate real science, usually into a hypothetical future. Utopian and dystopian societies that are reflections of our own are frequent subjects of social science fiction.[1] This is the definition that people use when praising scientifically interesting works and says nothing about presence or lack of "literary" quality or the existence of themes other than science. Another definition of hard science fiction has also been used as a somewhat derogatory term [2] [3] to define science fiction that focuses more on accurate scientific details and its importance to the plot, while ignoring more literary devices such as character development. Indeed, several hard science fiction fans consider focus on characters and their relationships and personal experiences to be of little use to the story. In this definition, scientific accuracy alone is not enough for a work be lumped into the hard science fiction genre, and focus on technical scientific details over everything else is a must. This definition refers to works where instead of science being a means to an end, the science is the end. Less commonly, the term may be used to define any work that has a hard focus on scientific detail, even if the science is not completely within the realms of possibility. An even less common definition is "science fiction based on hard sciences (physics, chemistry, etc)". In this definition, soft science fiction is a work based on "soft sciences" such as the social sciences.

"Soft science fiction" is even less defined, and is the subject of much debate and controversy within the community. When taken to simply mean "science fiction that's not hard", it is the most common form of science fiction seen in all forms of media. Common forms of soft science fiction include space opera, military science fiction, sword and planet, planetary romance, and superhero fiction. Soft science fiction include works that either have little or no focus on the science aspect of the story, instead focusing on plot, character, or pure entertainment with plenty of action, or works that do have focus on the science, but the "science" is mostly fictional. Devices such as faster-than-light travel, instant teleportation, time travel and psychics are often used. Adventure/exploration tropes and themes such as "good versus evil" are relatively common. There may also be considerable overlap with fantasy (in such cases it is generally regarded as "science fantasy"). Star Wars (arguably science fantasy), Star Trek, Superman, and Back to the Future are examples of works that fall into the softer end of science fiction. Rarely, soft science fiction may also sometimes be used pejoratively to purely mean works that are all style and no substance, with focus on nothing but spectacle and entertainment. By Harlan Ellison and his fans, this is simply referred to as "sci-fi" [4]. Some of the more "literary" science fiction writers generally dabble into the softer areas of science fiction, focusing on the issues presented by the new technology, and how the characters are affected by it, rather than just using them simply as plot devices. Some of the more popular authors of the kind include Philip K. Dick, Gene Wolfe, Jack Vance, and Ursula K. Guin. More satirical/humorous works (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) also fall into soft science fiction. However, there is a lot of grey area between hard and soft science fiction.

Much of science fiction has a social message. George Orwell's 1984 was primarily intended as a satire, but was dressed up as science fiction. Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 played with information control techniques as had been tried with varying degrees of success in totalitarian regimes. And then there's Philip K. Dick, who experimented with every kind of society in his fiction. Ursula K. LeGuin also wrote science fiction novels with social themes, including feminist themes. Modern near-future science fiction (William Gibson, e.g.) often depicts corporations ruling the world, whether overtly or covertly, whereas far-future science fiction is often virtually anarchistic, using the assumption of ultra-cheap power and total information availability (Iain M. Banks, e.g.) as justification. The precious spice in Dune, which is found only on Arrakis and mined amid terrorist attacks from the vaguely Islamic Fremen, stands in for petroleum here on Earth.

Even with the pure entertainment fare, many science fiction aficionados disagree on how serious a particular work should be taken. For example, the various Star Trek series could be formulaic, but did regularly explore themes of philosophy and morality, as well as some ideas from real science. Star Wars, for all its cliched romance, nodded at themes such as genocide, racism, and how people will give up everything for the illusion of safety even if it means their own liberty. The Matrix was primarily a blockbuster action film, but did explore thought-provoking themes of simulated reality. The sequels, less so.

The best science fiction, whether soft or hard, will often have important themes, science related or otherwise, and contrary to popular belief, can be just as literary as mainstream fiction.

Fundies don't like SF: "Science fiction is intimately associated with Darwinian evolution. Sagan and Asimov, for example, were prominent evolutionary scientists. Sci-fi arose in the late 19th and early 20th century as a product of an evolutionary worldview that denies the Almighty Creator. In fact, evolution IS the pre-eminent science fiction. Beware!"

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