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John Tones
WriterI've been writing about culture for twenty-something years and, at Xataka, I cover everything related to movies, video games, TV shows, comics, and pop culture.
Alba Mora
WriterAn established tech journalist, I entered the world of consumer tech by chance in 2018. In my writing and translating career, I've also covered a diverse range of topics, including entertainment, travel, science, and the economy.
Literary science fiction is less popular than ever. It’s being overshadowed by fantasy subgenres with broader appeal, like the so-called “romantasy.” Books that were once guaranteed bestsellers have become rare, representing a genre that’s slowly disappearing from bookstores. Why is a genre that was so popular now languishing? What has changed since it dominated the fantasy scene a couple of decades ago?
Sales are declining. According to The Washington Post, only 12% of readers express interest in science fiction. This statistic reflects a broader trend. So far this decade, only one sci-fi book has made it into the top 10 each year: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Suzanne Collins’ novel is the sequel to one of the biggest successes of the previous decade, The Hunger Games.
The rise of YA fiction. Science fiction has experienced unprecedented sales over the last two decades, primarily due to the popularity of dystopian and young adult fiction. In the 2010s, 12 books were featured on the bestseller lists. Popular series included The Hunger Games, Divergent, The Host, and A Wrinkle in Time. There was also a market for adult science fiction, particularly in works by well-known authors such as Stephen King and Michael Crichton.
Romantasy. The same readers who once propelled juvenile dystopias to the top of the charts are now gravitating toward lighter fantasy and romantasy. These genres currently occupy the highest positions in bestseller lists. In the last two years, titles such as Fourth Wing, A Court of Roses and Thorns, and Blood and Ashes have dominated the market. Authors like Rebecca Yarros and Sarah J. Maas consistently appear on these lists, something once seen only with King and Crichton.
Media frenzy. The changing interests of readers within the fantasy genre explain the decline of science fiction in sales charts. However, there are other, less obvious reasons contributing to this trend.
One major factor is the media ecosystem. Audiences’ appetite for science fiction is increasingly satisfied by movies and series, which are quicker and easier to consume. Paradoxically, the prominence of fantasy and science fiction in the mainstream media has worked against book sales. After all, why read science fiction sagas when they’re so spectacularly presented in films?
Dystopia is here. From a sociological perspective, interest in science fiction may have waned because reality has surpassed fiction. It’s become a recurring joke that real life has overtaken the pessimistic futures imagined in works such as Blade Runner and The Handmaid’s Tale.
With Generation Z facing a truncated future, it’s only natural that the young people might prefer the romantic escapism offered by Fourth Wing rather than face the grim reality that George Orwell’s 1984 is catching up with us.
Creative crisis. Adding to this is a creative crisis affecting contemporary culture, particularly in the fantasy genre. Many successful films and bestselling books today are sequels or part of franchises. Science fiction has always thrived on risk, innovation, and fresh ideas, so it’s no surprise that the genre has become stagnant in this context.
Author Orson Scott Card, known for Ender’s Game, addressed this issue in 2017. In an article for Writers of the Future, he pointed out that one significant criticism of the genre is that “all the really cool stories that were possible within science fiction have been written.”
Is this the end? In his article, Card also explains a potential issue within the genre. According to him, modern science often leads to less narrative-friendly topics, such as space travel or interstellar wars. The current scientific focus tends to be more on theoretical, submicroscopic, and transcosmic concepts.
However, Card also highlights that there are still innovative authors such as Greg Egan, Liu Cixin, and Ted Chiang. While they may not appeal to the general public, these authors can keep the genre alive. This might be the key. It doesn’t matter whether or not their works hit the bestseller lists, as long as the genre continues to innovate.
Image | John Michael Thompson
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