Science Fiction v Techno Thrillers

[Smellincoffee]

My preference for near-present SF means I read a lot of what might be better called technothrillers: Phillip Kerr's The Grid, for instance, or Michael Crichton's Rising Sun. (Those are both about buildings with an AI system.) Ocasionally I encounter a book that I can't sort easily, like Mark Russovich's cyberthrillers (Zero Day, Trojan Horse) The plot revolves around the technology, so it seems like SF, but it's seemingly present-day.

What is your definition of science fiction, and do you separate it from techno-thrillers?

 

[Romulan_spy]

Yes, I personally see a distinction. Science fiction includes hard science and speculative science. So it can include a story about the first manned mission to Mars, a scientist developing a nano-virus or a time travel machine in the year 5,000. And, the science part is a key element of the story. Techno-thrillers often focus on the the thriller part, a narrow segment of fiction, where technology is present but not the driving force of the story. For example, many Tom Clancy novels are considered techno-thrillers. The focus is on the thriller style story-telling but the story includes detailed and realistic depictions of technology like stealth fighters, nuclear submarines etc... hence the techno part.