The Military Science Fiction Sub-Genre, Explained

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Taking a long-established staple of fiction and sending it hurtling into space is a respected and common feature of science fiction stories. Fans of the genre have seen more space westerns, space operas, and even space fantasies than they can count. What happens when the tropes of science fiction come into collision with the world of war stories?

It seems like war is the impetus, backdrop, or central theme of most works of fiction over the years. Wars of the past make up all the best period pieces. Wars of the modern day generate non-stop thrillers ripped straight from the headline. Wars of the future provide some of the most engaging sci-fi stories of the medium.

The Super Soldier Trope In Sci-fi, Explained

Military science fiction is the sub-genre most concerned with the mechanics of armed conflict in the far-flung settings of sci-fi. This typically involves deep-space battles, laser rifle skirmishes on unfriendly terrain, countless powered infantrymen sent to slaughter, and the general inhumanity of it all painting the story in a very grim light. Sometimes it is as simple as translating a real historical battle into a new technological environment. Other times it's a fictional conflict against aliens or robots. The big difference is the focus. While most ongoing sci-fi stories contain some form of mass conflict, military sci-fi puts the war aspects of the story into the central focus. Despite the title, something like Star Wars isn't a work of military sci-fi, with a few exceptions. Compare it to something like Warhammer, and the difference becomes clear.

In the late 1800s, a genre of fiction known as «invasion stories» became popularized. These were part fictional war epic and part political commentary, addressing some