Trying to decide what to read next? Try WorldCat's Fiction Finder. Fiction Finder is a works-based based application that provides access to millions of works of fiction described in WorldCat records for books, eBooks, audio books, movies and television. You can search by person, place, topic, genre, character, Dewey and more.
Speculative fiction subgenres to browse by include: Alternative histories (Fiction), Cyberpunk fiction, Fantasy films, Ghost stories, Gothic Fiction, Horror fiction, Paranormal fiction, Occult fiction, Science fiction, Steampunk fiction, and more.
Stories in which one or more events of real history have different outcomes, creating an alternate series of events. Based around the thought of "What if X had happened?" Examples include: Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick, the Fallout video game series, many works by S.M. Stirling, and The Bird is Gone: a Manifesto by Stephen Graham Jones. There is also cross-over with the fantasy genre. For example, the Rebel Mechanics series by Shanna Swendson asks readers to consider what would have happened if the U.S. did not win the Revolutionary War but instead attempt to rebel over a century later with mechanics, while the British have ruled with magic.
Cyberpunk takes place in a high-tech, urban setting with a focus on a gritty criminal underworld juxtaposing against a rigid social order. Examples include: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick (and the movie Bladerunner based on the book), Neuromancer by William Gibson, and the Matrix movies.
Dark in tone, dystopian fiction features a broken society that is meant to be a utopia but is heavily flawed, perhaps with a heavy social distinction below lower and upper classes or gender. Examples include: Brave New World by Aldus Huxley, the Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, and the Hunger Games books by Suzanne Collins.
May have similar elements as general fantasy but may also include a battle of good versus evil with a large cast of characters over several volumes. Takes place in an imaginary world, often with medieval social structures and technology. Examples include the Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien, the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, the Song of Fire and Ice series by George R.R. Martin, The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, the Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, the Binti series by Nnedi Okorafor, and the Stormlight Archives series by Brandon Sanderson.
Works that provoke a response of fear by moving readers/viewers out of their comfort zone. Explores fears that are both realistic as well as beyond the ordinary. May use psychological fear to provoke a response or depend on gore to invoke a physiological response. Examples include The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman, Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury, works by H.P. Lovecraft, and works by Stephen King.
Portraying fantastical events in a realistic tone, magic realism originated in Latin America. Examples include One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel, Beloved by Toni Morrison, The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter, and The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie.
Used for works dealing with witchcraft, spiritualism, psychic phenomena, voodooism, etc., and for works dealing with the mysterious or secret knowledge and power supposedly attainable only through these and other magical or supernatural means. May include creatures such as vampires and werewolves. Examples include the Laundry Files by Charles Vess, Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris, works by Anne Rice, and the Buffy the Vampire Hunter TV show.
Paranormal events go beyond what is able to be described by science such as clairvoyance or telekinesis. Examples include Carrie and The Shining by Stephen King, Whispers from the cotton tree root : Caribbean fabulist fiction edited by Nalo Hopkinson, Lincoln's Dreams by Connie Willis, Cirque du Freak by Darren Shan, and the Ghostbusters movies.
Usually set in a fantastical land, fantasy usually has a magic system that usually is used by or affects human beings. Non-human creatures may be drawn from folklore or mythology, such as fairies, dragons, shape-shifters, and unicorns. Common tropes include: a quest, the Chosen One, a prophecy. Examples include The Once and Future King by T.H. White, The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsay, the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffery, Sister Light, Sister Dark by Jane Yolen, and the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.
Follows an apocalyptic event and explores how people might pick up the pieces after society falls apart. A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr., Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemsion, 6th World series by Rebecca Roanhorse, The Gate to Women's Country by Sherri Tepper, Ship Breaker trilogy by Paulo Bacigalupi, and The Road by Cormac McCarthy.
Pervasive tone of mystery and horror. The name of Gothic came from the typical settings of medieval castles, but other setting elements included secret passages and trap doors. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Dracula by Bram Stoker, works by H.P. Lovecraft, The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole.
Examples include Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells,
A subgenre of science fiction that incorporates elements of steam technology from the late 19th century. It often also includes elements of design related to steam-machinery and Victorian social mores. Examples include Warlord of the Air (and sequels) by Michael Moorcock and the Mortal Enginges series by Philip Reeve. There are quite a few examples of cross-genre hybridization such as with paranormal romance (see works by Gail Carriger), alternate history (see the Clockwork Century series by Cherie Priest), and others.
Urban fantasy has elements of fantasy in that there is often a magic system, possibly magical or non-human creatures, and familiar tropes, but the setting is real-world urban areas and not another type of world. Examines the use of the fantastic in everyday lives. Examples include the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older, and the Kitty Norville series by Carrie Vaughn.