Soft SF uses science as a vehicle to hang the story on, as in using space ships to get the characters from place to place. But the science is simply background, not the heart of the plot, so integral that without it there is nothing.

Soft SF is also SF that relies on the "soft sciences" like sociology and anthropology.

Some people feel that stories about "psychic talents" are soft SF. Others feel that these are science fantasy. Hard and fast rules are rare around here!

One special sub-sub-genre of soft SF is the science fiction romance, currently doing excellent business.

• Foundation, Foundation and Empire and Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov
• The Faded Sun: Kesrith, The Faded Sun: Shon'jir, The Faded Sun: Kutath by C.J. Cherryh
• Foreigner, Invader and Inheritor by C.J. Cherryh
• Engine Summer by John Crowley
• The Man Who Used the Universe by Alan Dean Foster
• Friday, Methuselah's Children by Robert A. Heinlein
• The Book of Rack the Healer by Zach Hughes
• Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin
• The Green Millenium by Fritz Leiber
• Dragonflight, Dragonquest, The White Dragon, Moreta, All the Weyrs of Pern, Renegades of Pern, The Dolphin Bell by Anne McCaffrey
• To Ride Pegasus, The Ship Who Sang, Crystal Singer by Anne McCaffrey
• The Dream Snake by Vonda McIntyre
• The Beastmaster and Lord of Thunder by Andre Norton
• Anthem by Ayn Rand
• The Gray Prince, Big Planet and Showboat World by Jack Vance