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<blockquote data-quote="Roman" data-source="post: 1883386" data-attributes="member: 1845">Where do the boundaries lie between Fantasy and Science Fiction Genres? Does the inclusion of 'advanced technology' automatically make a genre science fiction? I recall reading in the 2nd Edition Spells and Magic Players' Option book that the presence of a supernatural force/magic is what defines fantasy and separates it from other genres. They even suggested that Star Wars is fantasy rather than Science Fiction because it has the mystical Force. At the time I read it several years ago this definition seemed reasonable and stuck. Now, however, I am not so sure. Many stories generally classified as science fiction have some supernatural powers - even in Star Trek there are telepaths, Babylon 5 also has some, Dune has lots of supernatural effects... Obviously, the Science Fiction and Fantasy are not entirely distinct. Still, how would you define and separate them? Also, it must be noted that although fantasy is based on myths and legends, myths and legends are most likely not considered to be part of the fantasy genre by most people. This leads me to say that what distinguishes fantasy from myths and legends is that unlike them it is not set in our own world.So I propose that the fantasy genre contains several defining elements:- 1) Magic/Psionics/Supernatural or some other mystical force must be present in the story/setting. 2) It is set in different/alternate reality/world. This is still insufficient to distinguish it from other genres, but beyond this I am not sure how to continue. Any thoughts?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Roman, post: 1883386, member: 1845"] Where do the boundaries lie between Fantasy and Science Fiction Genres? Does the inclusion of 'advanced technology' automatically make a genre science fiction? I recall reading in the 2nd Edition Spells and Magic Players' Option book that the presence of a supernatural force/magic is what defines fantasy and separates it from other genres. They even suggested that Star Wars is fantasy rather than Science Fiction because it has the mystical Force. At the time I read it several years ago this definition seemed reasonable and stuck. Now, however, I am not so sure. Many stories generally classified as science fiction have some supernatural powers - even in Star Trek there are telepaths, Babylon 5 also has some, Dune has lots of supernatural effects... Obviously, the Science Fiction and Fantasy are not entirely distinct. Still, how would you define and separate them? Also, it must be noted that although fantasy is based on myths and legends, myths and legends are most likely not considered to be part of the fantasy genre by most people. This leads me to say that what distinguishes fantasy from myths and legends is that unlike them it is not set in our own world. So I propose that the fantasy genre contains several defining elements:- 1) Magic/Psionics/Supernatural or some other mystical force must be present in the story/setting. 2) It is set in different/alternate reality/world. This is still insufficient to distinguish it from other genres, but beyond this I am not sure how to continue. Any thoughts? [/QUOTE]

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