What is Science Fiction?

-I'm writing a book and it's where North America gets nuked and only a small part of the North America (U.S) is uninfected but a person dies everyday and in sixty days the radiation will go into that uninfected area and the main character comes up with a plan.

I didn't know if that was science fiction but some holographs will show up in the story now and then.

So what is it?



BQ: What is the genre of my story?Science Fiction takes some aspect of science and uses it as part of the story or background. The science can be space (e.g. Star Trek) or psychology (e.g. Flowers for Algernon) but science must be part of the story or at least the background. It's not just because the story takes place in the future.



Your book could be a thriller or just a drama. Ever seen the movie "The Beach"?Well it could be a thriller more than sci fi unless it's way in the future!
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible (or at least nonsupernatural) content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities. Exploring the consequences of scientific innovations is one purpose of science fiction, making it a "literature of ideas".[1]



Science fiction is largely based on writing rationally about alternative possibilities.[2] It is similar to, but differs from, fantasy in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically established or scientifically postulated laws of nature (though some elements in a story might still be pure imaginative speculation).



The settings for science fiction are often contrary to known reality, but most science fiction relies on a considerable degree of suspension of disbelief, which is facilitated in the reader's mind by potential scientific explanations or solutions to various fictional elements. Science fiction criteria include:

A time setting in the future, in alternative timelines, or in a historical past that contradicts known facts of history or the archaeological record.

A spatial setting or scenes in outer space (e.g., spaceship travel), on other worlds, or on subterranean earth. [3]

Characters that include aliens, mutants, androids, or humanoid robots.

Technology that is futuristic (e.g., ray guns, teleportation machines, humanoid computers). [4]

Scientific principles that are new or that contradict known laws of nature--for example, time travel, wormholes, or faster-than-light travel.

New and different political or social systems (e.g., a dystopia, or a post-apocalyptic situation where organized society has collapsed), [5].

Paranormal abilities such as mind-reading, mind control, mental telepathy, telekinesis, and self-teleportation.