Unlock the Secret World of 7 Punk Fiction Genres That Will Transform Your Sci-Fi Writing Forever

If you have at least a passing interest in science fiction or fantasy, you’ve likely heard of the steampunk genre. Steam or gas-powered technology, clockwork machines and bug-eyed goggles set amidst a backdrop of copper and brass, steampunk is as visually distinctive as it is ubiquitous. But steampunk is just the surface of a much deeper genre, with its own crazy offshoots and bizarre settings.

It’s a genre that’s fascinated me for as long as I can remember, particularly because of its narrow yet incredibly deep scope. It’s like that classic iceberg image, where at the top you have your more popular punk genres, like steampunk and cyberpunk, but peek below the surface and you’ll lay eyes on obscure, quirky, and just plain strange punks.

In this post, I’d like to take a deeper look at what punk fiction is, and how to apply it as a backdrop–or central driving force–to your next story.

First thing’s first: what exactly is punk fiction?

I’m glad you asked. Punk fiction is a collection of genres all centred around a particular technological advancement or aesthetic taken to its extreme. “Extreme” in this context can mean a number of different things. It can be taken to a rosy-cheeked optimistic extreme where this technology has solved all of the world’s ills and everything is sunshine and rainbows. Or it can be taken in the complete opposite direction, where this technology is the cause of the world’s ills, where misery and strife are commonplace due to the use (or misuse) of this technology. It can also go perpendicular, where this technology is neither the singular cause for strife nor the singular antidote to it: instead, it’s an always-present backdrop for the writer to flex their creative muscle, a worldbuilding bedrock upon which they can write their novel.