What’s the difference between hard sci-fi and soft sci-fi?

When deciding on your next good read, it’s always helpful to know what genre you should be looking for. When digging into science fiction, this is especially important as the differences between hard and soft sci-fi are quite large. The two styles share elements but differ quite drastically in others.

Hard vs soft science fiction

The core differences are how these two genres deal with the future and the sciences they include in the narrative. While some science fiction novels like to be scientifically accurate, others prefer to wrap their theories and concepts up in much less realistic sciences. This is where the difference lies.

Hard sci-fi

Hard science fiction is based on facts, theoretically possible futures, developed current tech, and science. These books often include deep theories, physics, mathematics, and other scientific elements. The more realistic and factually accurate the science and writing, the harder the sci-fi is considered to be. I am making it sound strict and boring, but in actual fact, hard sci-fi has resulted in some of the best, most immersive stories out there.

If you’re looking to delve into some really fantastic hard sci-fi books, check out a few of these classics.

• The Martian – Andy Weir
• Foundation Series – Isaac Asimov
• The Three-Body Problem – Liu Cixin
• Rendezvous with Rama – Arthur C. Clark
• Mars Series – Kim Stanley Robinson

What really makes hard sci-fi work for its fans and readers is the closeness to reality it can often give. Because the science and theories are ones we can almost see and often understand, the verisimilitude of the stories has much more impact. When it’s possible to see the theories of the book happening around us, the realism is right there.

Soft sci-fi

If you’re happy to suspend disbelief for a time and just enjoy some often far-fetched concepts, soft sci-fi will be there for you. In this subgenre of science fiction, the focus is usually much more on psychological, social, economic, and cultural. Science is still involved, of course, but it will often be elements such as time travel, faster-than-light travel, space magic, and intergalactic species. The imagination takes the forefront here, and although a lot of soft science fiction loves to wrap its fantasies up in wonderful ‘science words’, it is often make-believe.

If you’re looking for a satisfying and gripping soft sci-fi read, you’re spoilt for choice. However, I can’t recommend these enough as a great place to start.

• The Culture Novels – Iain M. Banks
• Left Hand of Darkness – Ursula K. La Guin
• Dune – Frank Herbert
• The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy – Douglass Adams
• Klara and The Sun – Kazuo Ishiguro

Really, most science fiction comes under the banner of soft sci-fi. It is much more widely read and often a lot more fun to do so. The writers choose not to limit themselves to real-world sciences and instead wrap their narratives up in wild theories and fantastic sciences. However, that isn’t to say that a lot of sci-fi writers haven’t ended up predicting the future in some way or another.

How soft is too soft in science fiction

Science fiction becomes softer the more elements of fantasy that get added to it. However, there is a limit to how much can be added before it just becomes fantasy. If we look at something like the superhero genre, for instance, there are certainly elements of science fiction throughout it all. However, you would find convincing people it is, in fact, science fiction literature quite a push.

This is because the genre has so many fantasy elements. Sure, there are scientific theories and concepts, but the genre itself is far too deep into fantasy to ever be taken seriously in science fiction. There is a level of snobbery to the genre, and superheroes push soft sci-fi just a little too far.

However, looking at some of the most famous science fiction writers, such as Phillip K. Dick and Kurt Vonnegut, they often have little actual science in their work. However, they are considered among the best in the genre. Their works often revolve around the elements of social and economic impacts the future may hold. Through their often bizarre tales, futures and alternate universes are explored without ever really having to dig into the possible theories or science of how it works.

The discussion of what is hard or soft sci-fi is usually reserved for fanatics. The general rule of thumb is that if you enjoy something, continue doing so. Don’t worry too much about its category. Sci-fi can be a complex study or a guilty pleasure; nobody can judge.