Science Fiction

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Lemmy World Rules

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Question: should this be a fantasy-free zone? (lemmy.ca)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.ca to c/sciencefiction@lemmy.world

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I read a lot of both SF and fantasy. Most communities I've dealt with have commingled the genres, in part because the line between them can be blurry. Is this community supposed to be strictly SF, or are discussions of fantasy also okay?

I was going to post my mini review of Days of Shattered Faith, by Adrian Tchaikovsky, but it's clearly fantasy (though Tchaikovsky writes quite a lot of SF), so I thought I should ask.

Edit: it seems like I've had pretty good response to the question, and the vast majority would prefer to be more inclusive rather than draw a line. I'll go ahead and continue posting both, though note that so far a moderator hasn't weighed I in, and that could change things.

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[–] RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Are the Edgar Rice Burroughs Martian Tales books science fiction, or fantasy?

Its written as a classic sword & sorcery fantasy story. But it takes place on Mars, and features aliens and flying machines. If Lord of the Rings had aliens and airplanes, but everything else more or less stayed the same, is it still high fantasy, or is it now science fiction?

Personally, I call them Science Fantasy, as they blend Fantasy and Science Fiction, but also don't belong in only one or the other. Fantasy Fiction wouldn't make sense since fantasy is always fiction already. Science Fiction often doesn't focus on science, but it usually features elements that are scientifically plausible, or have a science-back explanation as opposed to something purely fantasy like magic. So combining the two makes sense to me. I don't see why it cant be here.

[–] AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 month ago

I still maintain that it's a spectrum, with some things certainly belonging at one end or the other, but with many things in between.

I will say, though, when I'm reading something categorized as SF, but I find some element of outright magic, it bugs me. As soon as there's magic, or an element that doesn't seem to have any sort of scientific basis at all, it moves out of SF into that middle ground for me. And it might be just personal preference, but the reverse isn't the same for me. I feel like a story can be fantasy and still have elements with a scientific basis. Again, I'm very willing to admit that that's a personal bias.