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<blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 6129900" data-attributes="member: 22779">Yes, this.&nbsp; It's not that fantasy doesn't examine philosophical ideas.&nbsp; You're right, that's not true.&nbsp; But, fantasy most often is examining moral issues, rather than ethical ones.&nbsp; Fantasy is far more concerned with good and evil, rather than right and wrong.&nbsp; That's a whole lot reductionist, but, at the core, I do think that is the basic differentiation.Time travel was mentioned.&nbsp; I'm currently reading the Black Company series.&nbsp; The book, Bleak Seasons, is a time travel story.&nbsp; The main narrator is being bounced back and forth in time to, essentially, tell three different stories.&nbsp; Time travel is used as a narrative mechanic in order to tell the story in an interesting fashion.&nbsp; It's no longer truly linear.&nbsp; Considering the Black Company stories are written as a &quot;history&quot; book of the experiences of the Company, it changes the way the story is told considerably from the way the earlier books were written.But, the whole time travel thing is simply a plot device.&nbsp; It has no effect whatsoever on the characters within the story.Which is the basic difference, IMO, between SF and Fantasy.&nbsp; In SF, the &quot;magic&quot; stuff impacts the narrative.&nbsp; In SF the &quot;magic stuff&quot; drives the narrative.&nbsp; The existence of robots gives us Asimov's Three Laws.&nbsp; The Time Traveler's Wife in indelibly linked to time travel.&nbsp; That the method of time travel is never explained and might as well be magic, doesn't matter.&nbsp; That's not what the story is about.&nbsp; But, it wouldn't work as a fantasy story.Ender's Game isn't about good versus evil.&nbsp; It's about humanity.&nbsp; Heck the later books are all about what humanity is.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Hussar, post: 6129900, member: 22779"] Yes, this. It's not that fantasy doesn't examine philosophical ideas. You're right, that's not true. But, fantasy most often is examining moral issues, rather than ethical ones. Fantasy is far more concerned with good and evil, rather than right and wrong. That's a whole lot reductionist, but, at the core, I do think that is the basic differentiation. Time travel was mentioned. I'm currently reading the Black Company series. The book, Bleak Seasons, is a time travel story. The main narrator is being bounced back and forth in time to, essentially, tell three different stories. Time travel is used as a narrative mechanic in order to tell the story in an interesting fashion. It's no longer truly linear. Considering the Black Company stories are written as a "history" book of the experiences of the Company, it changes the way the story is told considerably from the way the earlier books were written. But, the whole time travel thing is simply a plot device. It has no effect whatsoever on the characters within the story. Which is the basic difference, IMO, between SF and Fantasy. In SF, the "magic" stuff impacts the narrative. In SF the "magic stuff" drives the narrative. The existence of robots gives us Asimov's Three Laws. The Time Traveler's Wife in indelibly linked to time travel. That the method of time travel is never explained and might as well be magic, doesn't matter. That's not what the story is about. But, it wouldn't work as a fantasy story. Ender's Game isn't about good versus evil. It's about humanity. Heck the later books are all about what humanity is. [/QUOTE]

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