Quote:
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Speculation generally means reasoning from the facts you do have to a conclusion that could be true but for which you have insufficient evidence.
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Don't get hung up on the literal definition of the word "speculation" when trying to determine if something is "speculative fiction." A fictional book about a stockbroker doesn't qualify.
I (and most others) don't use it to
replace other labels (i.e. "Speculative fiction sounds way cooler than science fiction, yo. Let's use
that instead from now on"). It's simply an umbrella classification. Many works blur the lines of science fiction, fantasy, horror, magical realism... and it's just easier to say/type "speculative fiction" when talking about all those clearly related
"outside the realm of reality (currently)" works.
Not to mention, it avoids arguments when people invariably mislabel a work in conversation:
Quote:
"Star Wars is science fiction, dude."
"No man, it's fantasy... check it out, it's got all the classic fantasy tropes."
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Just slapping the speculative label on all of it stops nerd-fights (before anyone gets offended, I consider myself a
nerd).
I'm into Speculative Fiction. Not just sci-fi, not just fantasy, not just horror... but ALL of it. So when I say "the never-ending, installment plan-type series is prevalent in the Speculative genre"... it's simply a shortcut of mine (and many others). You know... so I don't have to say/type; "Scifi, Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal Romance,..."
It's just an
uber-label. So how about we move past it and back to the topic at hand?