I’ve rarely seen the term “speculative fiction” being used, so I don’t really have an idea of what it encompasses. Would someone care to explain? I remember “Anathem” being described as such - and by the way: what an amazing book! I recommend it to all nerds, in particular those into history/philosophy/scifi.
Speculative fiction is for people who don’t want to admit they read science fiction. In the same way some people read graphic novels not comics (especially if they are collections of comic books) and go to see elevated horror but none of that ordinary stuff. Heaven forfend they get their cultural shoes mucky down here with the rest of us plebs.