🚀 Science fiction: how literature shapes the future

Introduction: why science fiction is more than just a genre

Can a book change the world? In the case of science fiction, the answer is a firm yes. Over a century and a half, the genre has not only entertained millions of readers, but also directly steered engineering thinking: from Jules Verne's submarines to the tablets of Star Trek and voice assistants described decades before Siri appeared. Today, in 2026, the influence of science fiction extends far beyond literature: tech giants like SpaceX and Meta openly cite science fiction plots as a source of inspiration for multibillion-dollar projects.

At the same time, science fiction is not only about gadgets and rockets. The genre shapes the public imagination, sets ethical frameworks for new technologies, and helps society prepare for change before it arrives. When a science fiction writer describes a world with ubiquitous artificial intelligence or genetic editing, they are essentially running a thought experiment whose results are then used by policymakers, scientists, and entrepreneurs. That is why at the largest scientific conferences of recent years, from Worldcon 2025 to MIT Media Lab symposia, science fiction is discussed on equal footing with laboratory research: it has become a recognized tool for strategic forecasting.

This article is about how written stories become real technologies, why the science fiction market is experiencing a historic boom, and how every reader can not only keep up with the future, but also take part in creating it.

How science fiction predicts real inventions

The connection between science fiction and real technologies has been traced for more than a century. Researchers from the Houston Law Review analyzed US patent records in 2025 and confirmed the "Gernsback hypothesis": science fiction really does influence inventors, and references to the works of Jules Verne and Isaac Asimov appear in patent documentation alongside technical descriptions. The study's authors call this phenomenon the generative potential of science fiction: it does not merely predict an invention, it sets off a chain of events that leads to its creation.

Below is a table of technologies that first appeared on the pages of books and only years later became part of everyday reality.

The list goes on: Wikipedia documents dozens of confirmed matches, from solar sails to GPS navigation. The journal Nature described a "science fiction science" method in 2025, in which researchers model future technologies and measure participants' reactions to these scenarios, turning science fiction into a tool for quantitative analysis.

Interestingly, the mechanism also works in reverse: modern science itself becomes fuel for new speculative plots. The detection of gravitational waves in 2015 sparked a wave of novels about manipulating spacetime. CRISPR advances in genome editing gave rise to dozens of dystopias about bioengineering. Progress in neural networks and large language models, which accelerated in 2023-2025, has already become the backdrop for a whole body of short stories and novels about human-AI coexistence. This two-way exchange between science and speculative fiction makes the genre not a static archive of predictions, but a living, self-renewing organism.

Growth numbers: why the genre is having a renaissance in 2026

Science fiction today is one of the fastest-growing segments of the book market. According to NielsenIQ BookData, in 2024 sales in the "science fiction and fantasy" category in the UK grew by almost £25 million compared with 2023, a record for the entire period covered by the data. The genre also set an all-time record for weeks at number one on the overall chart: 5 weeks with 4 different books, something no other category has achieved.

The Guardian, citing data from The Bookseller, reports that in value terms the segment grew 41.3% in a single year, from 2023 to 2024. The main driver is the "romantic fantasy" (romantasy) subgenre, promoted by the BookTok community on TikTok. At the same time, as NielsenIQ research notes, 66% of book buyers in this subgenre are readers aged 13 to 34: the genre is confidently capturing the youngest audience with the most purchasing power.

Globally, the numbers are no less impressive. The Business Research Company estimates the fiction market at $11.07 billion in 2025, with a forecast of growth to $11.3 billion in 2026 (CAGR 2.1%). According to Grand View Research, the entire global book market reached $156.57 billion in 2025, and science fiction holds a share of it that is growing faster than other genres. In 16 of the 18 territories surveyed by NielsenIQ, fiction revenue increased in 2024, and science fiction and fantasy made a decisive contribution to that growth.

Behind these numbers lies a fundamental shift in reading habits. If ten years ago science fiction was considered a niche pursuit for geeks and techies, today, thanks to social media, screen adaptations, and the growing role of technology in everyday life, it has gone mainstream. Netflix's "3 Body Problem," Denis Villeneuve's "Dune" films, and Rebecca Yarros's bestsellers have shown the industry that audiences are hungry for complex, scientifically grounded worlds, not just superhero blockbusters. The trend is also backed by economics: publishers are investing more and more in authors working at the intersection of science and fiction, reasonably betting on long-term growth in the segment.

⁉️🤔 Frequently asked questions about science fiction

Is it true that science fiction writers "invented" the internet and mobile communications?

The word "invented" is a strong simplification. Writers did not draw schematics or write code. But they created compelling images of technologies that later inspired engineers to build real products. Arthur C. Clarke described geostationary communications satellites in 1945, 20 years before the first such satellite was launched. Martin Cooper, creator of the first Motorola mobile phone, said directly that he was influenced by the communicator from Star Trek. This is not direct copying, but a "generative" effect: science fiction sets the direction, and science finds the way.

How many science fiction books are published each year?

An exact number is hard to calculate because the genre definition is fuzzy. However, according to NielsenIQ BookData for 2024, in the UK alone the category spent 5 weeks at the top of the overall book chart with 4 different books, a level previously unreachable for the genre. Globally, according to Future Market Insights, fiction accounts for 28% of the publishing market, and science fiction and fantasy is one of the two fastest-growing segments within that share.

Which modern technologies owe their existence to science fiction?

The most documented examples: submarines (described 200 years before they appeared), video calls (Jules Verne, 1889), atomic weapons (H. G. Wells, 1914), mobile phones (Alexander Belyaev, 1928), virtual reality (Stanley Weinbaum, 1935), robot vacuum cleaners (Ray Bradbury, 1950). A full catalog of such predictions is maintained by Wikipedia; as of 2026 the list includes dozens of entries, from space stations to GPS.

How do I start writing science fiction if I have no science background?

A science background is not required. Far more important is the ability to ask "what if?" and the willingness to research a specific topic before writing. Many successful authors, lawyers, doctors, teachers, started by reading popular science articles and consulting with specialists. Platforms like NaNoWriMo offer structured marathons for beginners, and the Scribophile community gives you a way to get feedback from other authors before sending a manuscript to a publisher.

Does science fiction influence government science policy?

Yes, and that influence is growing. A report from the MIT Media Lab in its 2025 report describes a "demo-or-die" approach, open interdisciplinary research that directly links science fiction concepts with the technology transfer process. Forbes noted in September 2025 that at Worldcon 2025 in Seattle, the influence of science fiction on real science was a central theme, and working astrophysicists and astrobiologists openly confirmed that the genre played a key role in their choice of profession.

Which science fiction books are considered must-reads in 2026?

The classic canon includes Dune by Frank Herbert (ecology and politics), 1984 by George Orwell (dystopia and surveillance), Neuromancer by William Gibson (cyberspace and AI), and The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (gender and society). Among contemporary authors, standouts include Liu Cixin with the Three-Body Problem trilogy, Ted Chiang with philosophical stories about the nature of consciousness, and Rebecca Yarros, whose Empyrean series set sales records in 2024-2025 according to a NielsenIQ report. It is important to read not only established authors but also debut writers, whose work reflects a fresh perspective on the issues that matter most right now.

💡 Quick overview:

• Pick a subgenre: cyberpunk, space opera, dystopia, or romantasy, based on what you enjoy reading.
• Read 5-10 key works in your chosen direction, paying attention not to the plot but to the techniques the author uses to create a sense of the future.
• Write a short story of 2,000-3,000 words and send it for review to a community like Scribophile or a local writing group.
• Once the story has gone through several rounds of edits, submit it to a contest (for example, the Hugo Awards for established authors or the Nebula Awards for debut writers) or to a genre magazine.

Conclusion: the future we are writing right now

Science fiction is not an attempt to guess tomorrow. It is a tool that helps us see the spectrum of possible "tomorrows" and choose the one we actually want to reach. When 66% of young readers under 34 buy books that weave together science, technology, and human relationships (NielsenIQ, 2024), and the global book market approaches $160 billion (Grand View Research, 2025), it becomes clear: the genre is not just alive, it is shaping the agenda.

China is a telling example, where in 2024 the state launched a program to support science fiction literature as part of a national strategy for technological leadership. This is recognition at the highest level: a country that wants to build the future must first learn to imagine it, and humanity has not yet invented a better imagination trainer than science fiction.

Want to be a participant rather than an observer? Start small: read one book you have never heard of. Write one story you have been carrying in your head. Ask one "what if?" question, and let it lead you somewhere no one has been before.

And if you are already writing, publish. The future is waiting for your words.