Every trope we publish for Hard Science Fiction, ranked by demand-signal mentions counted over the 28 weeks to 2026-09-07. 2,074 trope mentions counted in the lane in that window. Pick one for the full readout.
Changing the genre and pressing Check demand reloads the trope list for that lane. 3,851 trope-and-lane readouts, last counted 2026-09-16.
| # | Trope | Mentions | Share of lane | Direction | Tagged titles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hard Sci Fi | 87 | 4.19% | Not called | — |
| 2 | First Contact | 52 | 2.51% | Not called | — |
| 3 | Space Opera | 51 | 2.46% | Not called | — |
| 4 | Found Family | 38 | 1.83% | Not called | 345 |
| 5 | Ensemble Cast | 37 | 1.78% | Not called | — |
| 6 | Philosophical Sci Fi | 31 | 1.49% | Not called | — |
| 7 | Mystery / Suspense Element | 29 | 1.40% | Not called | 56 |
Direction is the change in each trope’s share of the lane between the last 12 weeks and the 12 before — never a raw weekly move. “Not called” means the two bands hold fewer than 30 mentions between them and we will not pretend otherwise. Tagged titles are counted across our whole registry, not just this lane.