More Than This

Speculative fiction is an umbrella genre that encompasses works of fantasy, science-fiction, dystopian fiction, and other stories taking place in an imagined or futuristic world. Although the term “speculative fiction” dates from the 20th century, many historical works of literature can be categorized as such based on genre characteristics or their author’s stated intentions, including Euripides’s Hippolytus (428 BC), William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (c. 1595), J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series (1937-1949), or Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale (1985).

More Than This is more specifically science-fiction, because it includes technologically futuristic elements such as the hyper-realistic online world, the robotic Driver, and the life-support “coffins.” The story also appears to take place in an imagined future, since Seth’s family initially live in a realistic version of England while the Earth is undergoing catastrophic natural disasters and economic collapse. These elements are often found in dystopian fiction, also a genre of speculative fiction, which is often concerned with the evolution of a society after cataclysmic events.

Ness’s narrative is also imbued with philosophical undertones that make it more allegorical than most science-fiction. Allegories are often used to explore philosophical concepts and questions about society or the world.