5 Things I Want to See More of in Speculative Fiction

Hey everyone! It’s the first writing post of 2024! This one contains 5 things I want to see more of in speculative fiction. These are my personal preference, but can also be used to make your story have some unique twists.

#1: Close Sibling or Friend Relationships

Okay, really there are two wants in this–number one is close sibling relationships. I LOVE close family relationships, most especially between brothers, for some reason. Even if the siblings are like enemies, if they have some sort of closeness or fondness for one another despite their differences, I love it.

I especially love generally cold older siblings being suckers for their bright and cheery little siblings and both siblings fighting in their own unique way to keep each other safe. I also enjoy parent/guardian-child relationships as well, again, especially when the child is a happy-go-lucky (though not necessarily innocent) smol and the parent/guardian is either a perpetually tired or generally introverted/cold character.

The second want is my major want in most stories. So many stories have romance in them, and while I have enjoyed some romances, 95% of them, I’ve either not cared for or hated. There have been several books I would have given 5 stars if it wasn’t for the negative vibes I got from reading the (even just hinted at!) romance. While this may be my personality speaking, (I’m an INTJ for those of you familiar with the Myers-Briggs types) there are hardly any books (or series) that do not have any romance in them whatsoever.

For an example, I read Jennifer Nielsen’s The False Prince, and I really loved the book. The characters, the concept, the execution, everything was perfect. The plot twist was unique and it was my ideal fantasy book–except for one thing, which inhibited me from giving it five stars (and makes me hesitant to go on in the series). Imogen. I knew the moment she came onto the scene, she would be the love interest. It was so painfully obvious and I actually cringed reading through every one of her parts. Not only was it employing one of my least favorite tropes (teens kinda sorta liking each other and cold ungrateful girl “feeling bad for” and being the only one willing to help kind boy who got injured) but I also really hated Imogen’s character. She was such a jerk, but that’s a rant for another day. And while there was no obvious romance in the book itself (other than I think I remember someone kissing the other on the cheek) it was so obvious it ruined the otherwise perfect book (and maybe even the series) for me.

Some romances I DO like, but I’m so picky, it would be easier to say what I don’t like.

The main romance tropes I don’t like are like above–teen romances (unless they’re like Romeo and Juliet, basically laughing at it). Teens shouldn’t even be thinking about romance–they can’t get married at 13 or 15, so why not write a story where teens actually focus on things they should be focusing on, their life goals, exploring what they want to do in the future, etc, not mooning over each other.

Along with that is romance in books geared toward Middle Grade and (especially younger) Young Adult readers. The readers in this age range are anywhere from 9-19, with YA’s sweet spot being around 13-15 year olds. And like I said above–kids that age shouldn’t be dwelling on romance. So that really annoys me.

I’ve also noticed it’s usually the female characters in romances that annoy me, though there has been the occasional annoying male. I’m so picky when it comes to these characters, and some I can’t even describe why I don’t like, but a few characteristics that annoy me in female love interests are the following: super popular with ALL the guys, a girl who someone falls in love with at first sight, a goody-two-shoes, a flirt, someone who seems to be always right (or just makes minor mistakes and everyone is always supporting her), someone who never has any issues in life, the single Important Girl just because she is the Love Interest, and a girl who is ungrateful and doesn’t know when to accept help because she has to be a Tough Girl. Obviously there are exceptions to all these, but for the most part, a love interest with those characteristics I’m sure to hate.

Also, there’s been maybe one or two stories out there that I’ve read where there has been absolutely no romance whatsoever, whether obvious or hinted at. Even less is having a main character not interested in romance at all and still looking cool. Thus why the second want for this is close friend relationships. Why can’t there be boy and girl characters who are just friends? Not “Just Friends” in the terms that, “we aren’t officially together but we clearly like each other” but truly just good friends that also have other good friends.

So while I like the occasional well-written and well-charactered romance, there is so much potential for developing sibling, familial or friend relationships instead of romances, and I would love to see more of them.

#2: The “Found Family” Trope

This trope is becoming fairly popular now, especially with the success of the manga Spy x Family, and I love it.

In my opinion, it’s not just a bunch of friends going on an adventure together, though maybe some people would describe it like that. My definition of it would be a group of people from wildly different backgrounds who barely know each other (or who don’t know each other) have to come together (either purposefully, accidentally, or coincidentally) and turn into friends over the course of their adventure, then a team, and then a “family”.

Spy x Family takes the family part literally, but the trope doesn’t always mean they all must become a literal family, but in that they act like one. Someone might be the unofficial mom- or dad-friend, while another may be the techie, another the big, supportive sister/brother and another the goofy or kind optimistic one everyone wants to protect. Regardless of their roles, they all love and care for each other like brothers and sisters–and act like it too, with there being disagreements, arguments, and maybe even some fist-fights or hair-pulling. But like a family, they support each other where it counts–and maybe eventually some/all of them do become a real family.

I would love to see more books in all genres with this trope, especially when it’s developed in an unique and realistic way.

#3: More Human Characters in Sci-fi and Fantasy

Consequently, this want could be called “Less humanoid creatures in sci-fi and fantasy”. And again, I should make one thing clear here–some, or most people–may disagree with me in this point, and that is okay. My tastes are quite particular, but since I have them, I know there are some people out there who also agree with me. Also this post is five things I want to see more of in speculative fiction, so I am just being honest.

In most fantasy and even some sci-fi books, there are some sort of “otherworldly” or “mythical” humanoid creatures”. Aliens who can communicate with humans, talking animals, fairies, elves, and other made up creatures which aren’t human but talk, think, and act like humans flood the fantasy and sci-fi market.

While I can sort of understand the aliens in sci-fi, the sometimes hundreds of different humanoid “races” in fantasy stories can really annoy me. When someone calls their fantasy species “Kaalaer’ans” and they give them eagle feet and a lion-like mane but have a human shaped body, I have a hard time imagining them as that every time I read. I’ll probably be imagining a human most of the time, if they’re otherwise talking and acting like a human. If they have wings, I’ll imagine them as a fairy, angel, or imp.

I can understand having certain creatures in fantasy novels, since fantasy is known for its dragons, unicorns, angels, fairies, and elves. But that is why I want more fantasy without humanoid characters, especially ones that could just be described as a human-sized fairy with purple wings and horns or something.

I also understand some fantasy plots call for magic and special abilities. But one does not have to make up a totally new race of creatures just for this and because the genre is “fantasy”. For example, one fantasy book I have partially read has a species of bird-like people (I think? See, that’s how much I remember their physical features.) They live in high mountains and villages and stuff, they have really good eyesight, are a little less emotional than the average human, and they train and ride dragons, but that’s about all I remember about them as a species. In every other way, they act like humans, talk like humans, speak like humans. Why couldn’t they have been a separate people group? Like it’s a fantasy world, you can have a country of people who have really good eyesight, are trained to be unemotional, ride dragons, and live in high places. Maybe it’s because I haven’t read the entire book/series yet, but I felt there was really no other reason to make those people into a completely different species other than the fact that it was a “fantasy” book and to make another species.

Now, the author did have a human character be born with a special ability, which is the type of fantasy I like. Having human characters with special powers or a world where a special ability or personality quirk is inherent to people native to a certain country/ethnicity or to the people of the world as a whole. Her human character actually reinforces my above point. If a human can have a special ability, why couldn’t she make the complete other species of people just be humans with those particular quirks and abilities? It would have been a lot less complicated and it wouldn’t have changed my current imagination of the characters one bit.

Now I understand many avid readers of fantasy enjoy multiple fantasy races and humanoid creatures. But for me, I want there to be a reason they must be some other strange race (such as a fairy or angel–they have wings, and the plot calls for someone with wings). And if they’re called something other than the typical names (Tyrra-ki’n instead of angel, for example) I want there to be some sort of major reason why they aren’t just called angels (or at least something similar) when they’re completely the same in almost every aspect. Plus when I read a book, it’s for enjoyment, so I don’t want to have to mentally blank out every time I see the complicated punctuation-marked name of some fantasy species because I don’t know how to even pronounce it, or it’s super hard to read. And I really don’t want to have to glance back at the glossary every time I come across the name to see how to say it.

This isn’t to say I’m against calling angels anything other than angels, or a group of people with special powers some made up name. In fact, I enjoy creative names of countries and people groups. But not when they’re littered with punctuation and are nearly impossible to read with ease. Something like Irienians versus Ir’lion-talans, for example. I can imagine what Irienians sounds like. The other one I just skip over because of its complexity.

And while I’m sure some readers of fantasy enjoy authors using tons of strange unpronounceable names and five or ten different new species in their books, I would much like to see a book where there is only one or maybe two races, and unique but pronounceable names of countries and people groups.

And as a last note, in case I sound like I despise any sort of fantastical creatures. There are some books and movies in which I have enjoyed such creatures. Books like the Chronicles of Narnia and movies like Star Wars both have fantastical creatures in them. But in Narnia’s example, the creatures are either real life creatures (beavers and lions) or classic mythological ones (fawns and dwarves) and in both, the major characters are all humans (except for Aslan in Narnia, but that is also allegorical). Those are examples of the fantasy with fantastical creatures that I like.

#4 More Clean General Market Speculative Fiction

In case you’re not familiar with the term, there are two major markets for fiction, the “general” market and the “inspirational” market. The “inspirational” market is generally religious stories, or stories with direct religion in them. The “general” market generally does not have direct religion in it, though of course, each story has an underlying message which may or may not align with a certain belief system.

Obviously most inspirational fiction is Christian, and most Christian work is relatively clean, meaning no language, no explicit scenes, minor violence, and no witchcraft. Usually it has some sort of reference to Scripture, Jesus, the Bible or some other religious thing, all of which are positive things (especially if they’re well-written and engaging without being preachy).

However, it can be very hard to know what general market fiction is clean, especially in the speculative fiction department, because witchcraft can so easily slip into a magic system, cussing into a battle scene, and sexual things in a romantic scene. There have been a scant few, which I have recently found and enjoyed, but I would definitely enjoy it if people–Christian people–would write more general market speculative fiction without the junk published in some (probably most) general market speculative fiction today. I also believe it would help provide people who aren’t necessarily Christian with more wholesome reading choices, and may even open them up to the gospel eventually.

But this topic also leads me to my last want.

#5 More Traditionally Published Christian Speculative Fiction

I want clean speculative fiction in the general market, but I also want more Christian fantasy and sci-fi traditionally published. Most traditionally published inspiration fiction I have seen has either been historical fiction, romance, or contemporary fiction. I’ve seen hardly any sci-fi and fantasy, and just a sprinkle of mystery.

However, I’ve seen a TON of self or indie-published Christian sci-fi and fantasy. While several of these indie books I’ve read have been very good and one or two possibly even traditional-publisher worthy, many, just because of the fact that they were indie published, are either hardly noticed or read, and can be very hard to find. There are also several which I have read which, while not bad, have many grammatical and style things which would never be accepted by a traditional publisher, based on my research. And while I understand some people enjoy indie-publishing better (and I’m not saying it’s a bad choice, if it works for someone, it works and I encourage them to keep doing it) I wish more Christian speculative fiction would flood the inspirational market just like historical fiction and romance seems to have.

And part of this I understand is the market, with traditional publishers and agents themselves not asking much for inspirational speculative fiction. But I have seen many agents who take both genres, and I encourage people to at least try to get their Christian speculative fiction traditionally published, as the genre is starting to grow, and I would love to see more of it in the world.

---

These are five of my personal desires to see more of in speculative fiction. What would YOU like to see more in speculative fiction? Are there any tropes you especially enjoy or despise? Do you know of any books with these wants of mine? Are you writing a book with any of these wants? Let me know in the comments below! ~ Kay Adelin