Science fiction has a number of common themes that have been reused by numerous authors.
- Alternate history
- Cyberpunk and Steampunk
- Interstellar travel
- PSY powers
- Post-holocaust
- Robots
- Cyborgs
- Time Travel
- First Contact with Aliens
- Alien invasion
- Clones
- Colonisation
- Dystopias and Utopias
- Parallel Worlds
- Mutants
- Space opera
- Techno-thrillers
- Big Dumb Objects