What do you look for/enjoy seeing in a Sci-fi story

[Missapogee]

Hi! I've noticed that Sci-fi is one of the less popular genres on Tapas , from what I've seen, they're just less common in general. There are some fantastic ones, don't get me wrong, but the most popular stories tend to trend towards romance. Because of that, It's pretty easy to figure out whats trendy or generally enjoyed in romance comics/stories, but harder for sci-fi stories. So, I was wondering what you guys like seeing in your science fiction? What are some tropes/ cliches/ staples of the genre that you just can't get enough of? What's your favorite thing about sci-fi stories in general?

(I think it'd be interesting to hear you're opinions, since my comic is partially sci-fi)

[CarltonIsaac]

I prefer Hard Science, as in the works of Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke.

If you're looking for some good sci-fi shorts you can try these sites -

https://dailysciencefiction.com/

Tor.com

Clarkesworld Magazine - Science Fiction & Fantasy

https://www.asimovs.com/

[sarrowsmith10]

I think for me I like sci-fi as a secondary genre, not the main point of it. For example, Binary Stars is one of my favorite sci-fi webcomics:

Binary Stars

But the primary part of the comic that I like is the romance, mystery part of it. And the science isn't the mystery, its the mystery between the characters. One character clearly has had her mind wiped and part of the fun of the story is finding out why. Having the universe be in space gives it a lot more freedom to be creative in situations the characters can find themselves in...

Not sure if that helps, but if you focus on a character driven story and use the sci-fi setting to make the situations more plausible, I think you will be okay.

[ivanskilling]

Interesting technological settings or issues attract me to a scifi story.
It also helps if the story doesn't do a huge world-building dump on you and slowly introduces elements of the world/technology.

My personal favorites on this site are:

@IsoRen 's novel on artificial intelligence:

Deeper Meaning | Tapas

@pilot-obvious's comic on embedded technology:

Future Agents | Tapas

and this novel which has a cool setting (I don't think it's being updated though).

Skyline Racers | Tapas

My own science fiction anthology is a collection of short stories, so I think the themes mentioned in it represent the elements that I love the most.

Dark Bytes | Tapas

[rajillustration]

Oh I love sci-fi a lot. I love space operas like Dune. I love it when they get very scientific and weird like Star Trek can be sometimes, jumping into fringe science. I love it when they pull back and play with simple sci fi elements that are just enough to alter the real world into something mind bending and terrifying like Inception did. I also love the gotcha's sci fi can do--like the twists of The Prestige or Planet of the Apes.

Sci-fi is just a genre that covers so many other categories, and I think it's ripe with wonderful potential to have a lot of fun. Even if Star Ships aren't your cup of tea, Sci fi is so much more than that.

[BlunderingAlbatross]

I think like most things I read I like my sci-fi to be more of a setting than the main feature and the stories to be very character- rather than plot-driven. That being said I love space-opera type things and have a big soft spot for mecha

[joannekwan]

I like sci-fis that have a hopeful note about people working together, advancing science, surviving in times of transition. Like my favorite is Lost in Space (the netflix series), and I really liked Arrival.

If there's a high concept behind the aliens/other-worldy, I'll dig it too, like Annihilation.

You can also win me over with some good characters and kickass alien designs like in Lost in Space and Alien.

[Azifri]

One aspect that I particularly enjoy in Sci-Fi is when the author takes a real (or somewhat feasible) technology, tweaks it a bit, and explores the possibilities that may arise from there. I also like to see cool places, megastructures, and giant robots
Other than that, I like the story to be character-driven, have interesting scenarios, and some plot twists.

[J.Lovelace]

I LOVE sci-fi involving scientists, AI, androids and robots in general. Anything cyberpunk or steampunk or dieselpunk.
Time travel or timeline switch is cool too, like in Steins;Gate.

[Darth_Biomech]

I personally enjoy seeing it as not being just a backdrop dressing. (Like for example the only difference with typical romance is them characters riding space!cars instead of cars)

[writercynknapp]

I like hard science fiction in application. Like in "Ring World", where a spaceship shears a connecting nano-filiment and later the invisible thread is used by other in an attack. Like in many Heinlien books.

I like fun science fiction. "Hitchhicker's Guide", Phil Foglio, Robert Asprin,

I dislike sad dystopia science fiction.

I like science fiction that is well designed. Designed to make sense across book series, when the effects can appear magical. "Dune" and "Chronicles of Amber".

The best science fiction enables the protagonist to be active, not swept away. Using something they learn to be used in innovation to save the day.

[Dogss]

I love fantasy and scifi, but not so much for the genres themselves, but rather they are good "backdrops." For me, really great characterization is king. I don't care about the settings at all until I start caring about characters.

[pilot-obvious]

Thanks for sharing my webcomic! I'm glad it's one of your favorites!

I second the slow world-building! It's hard for me to process a huge dump in sci-fi information that teaches me how the world works. I definitely forget information when that happens.

[HGohwell]

My own scifi tends to fall right on the soft science end, when it's not straight up science fantasy. I mean, I love hard science. I have lectures on hard science and futurism playing while I work on my comic a lot. But I am a sucker for a giant robot. My comic is a giant robot series dealing with just how sentient do AIs have to be before they're alive. I like to say on the more grounded side of giant robots and magic, but I don't want that to get in the way.

And that's my thing with scifi. I love lots of different type of scifi, I love the cyberpunk aesthetic. I love to go back and do clockpunk. And just your usual space scifi. One of my favoute series is Muv Luv, a really hard science take on the real robots. But the thing is, the same as with fantasy, is sometimes people get too caught up in the scifi of it rather than the story or plot. I don't want pages and pages explaining why the engine works, I want a brief explanation at best and I want things to be integrated and natural rather than world building and science shoved in my face like a collection of essay on tech with a few characters thrown in to get you from essay to essay.

[apexdraws]

I love stories with alien (or otherwise nonhuman) characters, which is one of the main draws of sci-fi for me :x

[ivanskilling]

No problem, I'm really enjoying it!

Yes definitely, and the weird name drops just make it more difficult to remember.

[CarltonIsaac]

The best science fiction enables the protagonist to be active, not swept away. Using something they learn to be used in innovation to save the day.

Then you'd love Asimov's "The Gods Themselves" if you don't already

[domisotto]

I love Space Opera genre with light humor, fast space ships and aliens. Actually, that's my preferred genre to write in, because you don't have to deal with old boys who hate warrior-women in fantasy, but I don't, because it is an extremely hard sell.

There are studies that indicate that the reader engagement is significantly lower with a work of sci-fi, because of all the unfamiliar words and images. It is probably a bit easier for the artists because you can conceptualize the looks of new creatures and landscapes, but when writing, it is far harder to lead the reader through visualization so that it is not boring to read.

Unsurprisingly, the two subgenres that lead the way in sci-fi are the android romances and dystopian sagas, since they don't have to plow the unfamiliar so much.

Sometimes I do really want to write a sequel to my space opera, but the thought of nobody reading it... meh.

[impossiblesoul]

Sci-fi has great potential for mind-bending games - time travel, memory / brain modification, and the possibility that other life out there is biologically built with different mental faculties than ours. Space politics are also something fun to experiment with (I particularly love the question of autonomy versus intervention). All of these tie into powerful moral dilemmas. Star Trek was something I grew up on, and they knew how to push that difficult atmosphere at times.

Sci-fi to me feels like fantasy in terms of adaptability - except built on the foundation of technology. I also like that the causality of sci-fi feels more concrete when world-building boils down to physics rather than the sometimes rootless whims of magic.

[MeltingCORE]

I love world-building. If you can create an inhuman world for aliens to live on that functionally makes sense and isn't just Earth with sparkles - you've got my attention! I also love cyberpunk themes (megacorps ruling the world, etc) and dystopian themes. And I like when characters are built up, if you're writing a dark story and everyone is soulless, I'm not interested. I think it's more interesting to see characters react and have emotions, even if their world is dark. Sociopolitics and multiple universes are also fun lol.