Military science fiction (eng. Military science fiction - “military science fiction”) is a subgenre of science fiction and action films that describes future wars or wars with a large number of fantastic elements.
The terms “military science fiction” and “combat science fiction” are similar, but Boris Nevsky distinguishes the genre of science fiction action movie within the general genre of “military / combat science fiction”, which is distinguished by a more primitive plot and greater emphasis on the effectiveness and swiftness of the narrative [1] .
History of the genre
Despite the fact that the first fantastic works describing the wars of the future date back to the 19th century [2] , the birth of fighting science fiction dates back to the middle of the 20th century. John Clute in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction attributes this to the degeneration of the cosmo opera genre. The first classic representative of the genre is the novel " Star Troopers " by Robert Heinlein (1959) [3] . Fighting science fiction gained momentum every time the tension in the world increased - for example, the genre was born at the very peak of the Cold War, during the Vietnam War .
Subgenres
The genre during the 20th century has acquired a number of standard templates [1] :
- "Climbing the career ladder . " The main character begins as a simple soldier and rises to the heights of the command staff. A vivid example is the “ Hired Corps ” series by Rick Shelley.
- "Commander" BF. The protagonist is a major army officer. A vivid example is the cycle "The visionary King" by Christopher Bunch.
- "Private" BF. In contrast to the “commander”, the main character is an ordinary soldier. A striking example is the " Starship Troopers ".
Representatives
- Robert Heinlein - " Starship Troopers "
- Christopher Bunch - The Seer King
- Harry Harrison - " Bill - Hero of the Galaxy ", " Steel Rat ".
- Joe Holdeman - The Endless War
Representatives in domestic literature
- Nick Perumov - “ Empire Above All ”
- Alexander Zorich - “ Tomorrow's War ”
- Andrey Cruz - the entire bibliography
See also
- Super Soldier
- Fictional weapons
- Spy science fiction
- Technotriller
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Boris Nevsky. Genres Fighting fantasy and fantasy . WORLD OF FANTASY AND FANTASY . www.mirf.ru. Date of appeal October 18, 2018.
- ↑ Future War - article from The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
- ↑ Military SF - article from The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
Literature
- Dolgikh A. Yu. From science fiction to para-scientific phantasmatics? // Bulletin of Vyatka State University. - 2018. - Issue. 3 . - ISSN 2541-7606 .
Links
- Military SF - article from The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
- Boris Nevsky. Genres: Fiction