Hyperspace Science Fiction

What is Hyperspace Science Fiction?

Hyperspace is one of the answers Sci Fi writers have come up with to combat the challenge of interstellar travel—that is, astronomical distances and the impossibility of faster than light travel (FTL). With many science fiction books featuring intergalactic travel (or at least travel between stars), Hyperspace is sometimes used as the 'scientific conciet' powering this travel.

Hyperspace is often used for space opera science fiction or science fiction that's not too concerned about hard real science but more concerned about the overarching story, plot, or characters.

This means you are less likely to find hyperspace used for serious Hard Science fiction or Firm Science Science Fiction subgenres, though there are some older classics like Foundation (Hard Sci Fi) that utilize Hyperspace to explain travel between stars.

Hyperspace is usually described as an alternate space that coexists with our own. Hyperspace is entered with some kind of device or energy field and generally difficult to navigate. Indeed, in the great Star Wars: A New Hope Han Solo says to Luke Skywalker, “Traveling through hyperspace ain't like dusting crops, boy! Without precise calculations, we could fly right into a star, or bounce too close to a supernova, and that'd end your trip real quick, wouldn't it?” Hyperspace is scary, it is complicated, and it is potentially fatal—pretty great place for a story to take place.

Hyperspace as a concept didn't emerge in Sci Fi until the 20th century and by the 1950s hyperspace had become an established plot device. It emerged as authors explored ideas of relativity and became more interested in the ideas of multi-dimensional space.

As a sub-genre it is defined mostly by setting, i.e. there is a hyperspace. There are two main approaches to writing a story within the Hyperspace sub-genre, and they can be combined. The first is that hyperspace is a way to travel astronomical distances. The second is that there are alien species living within it—or humans. However hyperspace is used it is a great backdrop for any sci fi story.