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Science Fiction vs. Science Fantasy
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<blockquote data-quote="Ahnehnois" data-source="post: 6127297" data-attributes="member: 17106"><p>As with many people, the first thing that jumps to mind is Star Trek. In my case, that's followed by a list of mid-twentieth century novels I read as a kid (Bradbury, Heinlein, Dick, etc.), some of Lovecraft's later works, a melange of space opera television and film, the post-apocalyptic/robot uprising subgenre (everything from Terminator to Fallout to BSG), and a number of thought experiment films like The Matrix or Inception.</p><p></p><p>While I doubt I could list the entirety of science fiction in one post, I don't see anything in my list that could plausibly happen. Frankly, learning about science was a rather disillusioning for me; I used to draw more of a distinction between fantasy and sci-fi, but now it seems to me that they are mostly the same, save a few arbitrary defining tropes.</p><p></p><p>Were you thinking of something in particular as a counterexample?</p><p></p><p>Well, I'm agreeing with the last point. But as to the idea of themes, I don't see any clear distinction there. A lot of horror fiction blends this distinction; Lovecraft has a lot of very scientific ideas but also magic and religion and monsters.</p><p></p><p>There are also examples of fantasy, that seem very much like science fiction thematically (The Song of Ice and Fire asthetic feels very sci-fi to me) and science fiction that is fantasy with aliens (Star Wars). It's also been my observation that science fiction stories that go on for a long time often become more and more fantastical and less grounded as they progress (see Lost, BSG, and others).</p><p></p><p>I mean, there are tons of really good pieces of fiction up there; I'm not criticizing them. I am criticizing the fantasy/sci-fi distinction that this thread was about.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ahnehnois, post: 6127297, member: 17106"] As with many people, the first thing that jumps to mind is Star Trek. In my case, that's followed by a list of mid-twentieth century novels I read as a kid (Bradbury, Heinlein, Dick, etc.), some of Lovecraft's later works, a melange of space opera television and film, the post-apocalyptic/robot uprising subgenre (everything from Terminator to Fallout to BSG), and a number of thought experiment films like The Matrix or Inception. While I doubt I could list the entirety of science fiction in one post, I don't see anything in my list that could plausibly happen. Frankly, learning about science was a rather disillusioning for me; I used to draw more of a distinction between fantasy and sci-fi, but now it seems to me that they are mostly the same, save a few arbitrary defining tropes. Were you thinking of something in particular as a counterexample? Well, I'm agreeing with the last point. But as to the idea of themes, I don't see any clear distinction there. A lot of horror fiction blends this distinction; Lovecraft has a lot of very scientific ideas but also magic and religion and monsters. There are also examples of fantasy, that seem very much like science fiction thematically (The Song of Ice and Fire asthetic feels very sci-fi to me) and science fiction that is fantasy with aliens (Star Wars). It's also been my observation that science fiction stories that go on for a long time often become more and more fantastical and less grounded as they progress (see Lost, BSG, and others). I mean, there are tons of really good pieces of fiction up there; I'm not criticizing them. I am criticizing the fantasy/sci-fi distinction that this thread was about. [/QUOTE]
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