I’ve not read many science fiction novels even though I’ve religiously watched shows such as Star Trek, Babylon 5, and Stargate Atlantis. I have read a lot of books in the fantasy genre though, and many of them used varying capitalization rules for species and races.
Recently I was hired to edit a science fiction novel and then a fantasy novel. Both books were filled with many different species and/or races. In order to edit these properly, I had to learn about how each genre handles the capitalization of species and race names. So when do you capitalize them in science fiction and fantasy books?
First, I needed to refamiliarize myself with some definitions I had learned in school. A species is a class of individuals having some common characteristics or qualities. So human would be a species although you will often hear the human race. In order to provide more confusion, the human race is also correct.
A race is a group of people or beings sharing the same culture, history, language, etc. It is an ethnic group. English, Scottish, Chinese, Spanish, etc. would be different human races. Please note that as a species, human is not capitalized but the different races are.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/race-human/Scientific-classifications-of-race
In science fiction writing, the answer is simple: you capitalize them all. When it comes to the species of human though, most of the time it is still lowercase. But there are some science fiction authors who prefer that human be capitalized. As an editor, I could make a valid argument for human not being capitalized, but since every other species is capitalized, I see no reason to do that. At first, human does look out of place when it is capitalized. This is most likely because we’re used to seeing it not capitalized except when it is the first word of a sentence. But if every other species is capitalized then making human lowercase says to me that our species is of less importance.
In the above video, many of the different human races are portrayed so much better than in any picture I could find. You’ll also hear “the human race” as part of the lyrics of the song.
R. Collins is the author of the science fiction book I edited. For The Ones Who Rebel is book 3 in the Samsara Fleet series, and I am currently finishing book 4, For The Ones Who Liberate. As I stated in the first paragraph, I. don’t normally read science fiction books, but I found these books to be quite enjoyable.
In For the Ones Who Rebel, there is a thin line between friend and enemy in war.
Earth was destroyed and Humanity left without hope. Samsara Fleet and a small group of skilled soldiers named the Skulls have restored a glimmer of that hope and have led the fight against their attackers. They’ve survived, but time is growing short. With each passing moment, the enemy grows stronger and their options dwindle.
Brigadier General Kal Norman leads his small team to recover technology that could help change the tide of the conflict. But while retrieving this technology, they must survive a planetary civil war and infiltrate one of the most secure bases in the galaxy.
Lieutenant Colonel Nicole Bergeron travels to the edges of space to seek out new allies in their fight. When she arrives, she finds that not everything is as it seems and has to use every asset at her disposal to get the help that Samsara Fleet so desperately needs.
Kal and Nicole must be victorious to give Humanity a chance of winning this war. If they fail, then everything is lost.
In For the Ones Who Liberate, hope can be a double-edged sword.
For over a year, Samsara Fleet’s only goal has been surviving. While the Nasi remade the galaxy, they stayed out of sight, avoiding the enemy while building their fleet and gaining allies. They are finally ready to attack and recapture the worlds that fell to their enemy. When their first offensive uncovers a devastating surprise, they will need to change their strategy to win.
Kal’s elite scout team will be tasked with unlocking the secret to defeating the Nasi. He will need to overcome his depression and weariness from the war to uncover secrets hidden on the ice planet of Mariga. Nicole will have to overcome her guilt to become the leader that she knows she can be.
What seems like a simple mission will become much more complex as Kal and Nicole discover how much their enemy has changed. The galaxy is fractured, but hope remains.
Writing fantasy is very different than writing science fiction. After a lot of pondering, I managed to come up with some simple rules that make a lot of sense and help one to avoid the overuse (or underuse) of capitalization. We are all human, but as humans, we could be Caucasian, Negro, Chinese, American, Spanish, etc. There are too many possibilities for all of them to be listed. For me, I am a Caucasian human female, but I am also a Kentuckian as well as an Appalachian American.
So in fantasy fiction, common names of species—humans, dragons, gnomes, elves, fairies, nymphs, trolls, wolves—should be lowercase. In Echoes of Dragons by C. Borden, there are also merfolk, mulig, orc, and rana.
An elf is a supernatural creature that is typically represented as a small elusive figure in human form with pointed ears, magical powers, and a capricious nature. But there are many different races of elves in Echoes of Dragons: Dark Elves or Drow, Forest Elves, White Elves, and Willow Elves.
There aren’t as many different races of dwarves as there are elves in the story. But there are Deep Dwarves and Silver Dwarves.
Dragons would be lowercase except when used as the first word of a sentence, but in Echoes of Dragons, there are Drakes, and there are Imperial Dragons, which include Black Dragons, Blue Dragons, Purple Dragons, and Red Dragons.
Two races of giants are in the book: North Giants and Rock Giants.
Only one Heridon has been left alive after the Great Cataclysm although there used to be many more. Since the Heridon is part human, part elf (both species), and part Drake (a race), Heridon would be a unique race and is capitalized.
I thought you might be interested in reading the blurb that will be on the back cover of Echoes of Dragons.
When suns collide…
When paths converge…
A decade after the suns of Mythnium eclipse each other,
strangers on different paths converge as though by fate.
But what fate drives the danger from the southern continent?
What fate deals such harsh blows, unimaginable loss, and shocking revelations?
Are the newfound friendships, unlikely bonds, and unexpected partnerships able to survive what is to come?
Amazon Links: Echoes of Dragons (Awakenings Book 1)
For the Ones Who Rebel (Samsara Fleet Book 3)
For the Ones Who Liberate (Samsara Fleet Book 4)
Recommended Article: Mirabel the Aes Sedai (or How to Build Worlds) – Guest Post by R. Collins
Excellent guidelines. Also, I’m glad you enjoyed EoD, I liked it also!