Science Fiction vs. Science Fantasy

Nellisir

Hero

• May 4, 2013

• #31

I should point out that I'll happily read a science fantasy as long as it's not billed as hard sci-fi, and I'm OK with breaking the laws of physics for the sake of story. It's similar to action movies, where I usually allow the protagonist one unspoken superpower (Does Not Get Hit; Infinity Bullets; Is Tougher Than Everyone Ever) before complaining.

 

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Nellisir

Hero

• May 4, 2013

• #32

Allomancy is magic because it says it's magic, and because it breaks the laws of physics. It does so consistently, but being a repeat offender doesn't make it legal.

 

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ggroy

First Post

• May 5, 2013

• #33

jonesy said:

If you wait long enough chances are excellent that the perfectly hard science story you wrote way back then has now turned into fantasy. The number of stories that never stopped being hard science (or even better, predicted something while doing it) is really small.

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What would be good examples of this?

 

jonesy

A Wicked Kendragon

• May 5, 2013

• #34

ggroy said:

What would be good examples of this?

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20,000 Leagues Under The Sea was already mentioned. Predicted submarine warfare, the taser, and scuba diving.

The Nanotech Quartet was written long before we had working nanotech.

Tau Zero uses buzzard ramjets for space travel. It's now been discovered that the original designs for the theoretical system would need to be altered for it to work well, but it's still basically the same system used.

 

Ahnehnois

First Post

• May 6, 2013

• #35

Mallus said:

Out of curiosity, what do you find SF-inal about ASoIaF? They seem pretty squarely historical fantasy to me.

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Forgot to answer this. To me, it seems very much like alt history sci-fi. It's prospective; it establishes certain postulates (notably the unpredictable length of the seasons) and asks what would happen if they were true. It also seems to have a rather modern take on the social issues it covers.

 

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windywinter

First Post

• May 6, 2013

• #36

Nellisir said:

Magic breaks the laws of physics. (...)

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Reading the whole thread it seems to be less binary (breaks OR doesn't). Seems that science/fantasy category depends on how author of fiction explains introduced things:
- The more answers to "How it Works" question being "Because, F%%%k You, That's Why" the more it is Fantasy
- The less number of introduced explanations to HiW questions along the fiction text, the more it is Science

If you would compose ingredients:
- Current knowledge
- +200 years
- Break one or two at max currently approved facts
- the rest is so consistent, that on first look explains itself (no need to put Special Character that will monologue explanations)
Then it would be more Science than Fantasy

If you would take:
- Current knowledge
- Stretch one thing to make main hero more Awesomeness
- Every 10 pages explain why this, that happens
Then it would be more Fantasy

 

lin_fusan

First Post

• May 7, 2013

• #37

I submitted a urban fantasy short story ages ago to Marion Zimmer Bradley magazine, and it was rejected because it was "too much like science fiction" since it followed too closely to physical laws.

So I guess a box of endless toys that eats children is science fiction.

 

Last edited: May 7, 2013

Dannyalcatraz

Schmoderator

Staff member

Supporter

• May 7, 2013

• #38

Its a Star Trek replicator that has clearly gone haywire...

 

T

tomBitonti

Adventurer

• May 7, 2013

• #39

A problem of distinguishing science fiction from fantasy using as a basis the closeness of the fiction to an actual possible reality is that most fiction itself is very unreal based on the probability of the described story. Where is the line to be drawn?

For example, a story about a single survivor of a nuclear holocaust uses the holocaust as a narrative boost. Of course, this story starts with a huge boost because of the particular circumstance, but the other billions who died had stories, too. Use of this particular narrative boost to create a story is not really different than the use of fantasy or absurd science elements to create stories.

Thx!

TomB

 

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tomBitonti

Adventurer

• May 7, 2013

• #40

To followup, I suppose we are typing fiction based on the the "what if" aspect of the story. Star wars "what if" is the force. That is so very indistinguishable from magic that the stories are fantasy stories, no matter that the society is depicted as futuristic. Star Trek is all over the place. Transporter accidents are more fantasy what-ifs. Alien symbiotes (Trills) which enable personality to preserve over generations seems more science fiction. Stories that look at the question of how a technically advanced society interacts with a less advanced society, I'm not sure about, since there are historic examples, but the underlying theme is based on technology, which seems footed in science fiction.

In other areas, we could have a "what if" of a physicist who gains superpowers when angered (the Hulk, then Supers as the fiction domain, with an odd fit to both fantasy and science fiction).

That is not to say, this is the only way to present the question. Equally, we could look to how the "what if" element is handled in the story, say, a fantasy element which is subjected to scientific rules (or not).

Thx!

TomB