Concur and I have no issue with the crossover itself in stories. Fantasy is largely predicated on magic systems and creatures. Science fiction begins with known science. Maybe I should have been more specific and said “hard science fiction.” Some of my favorite stories contain elements of both, but sometimes I want hard science like Rendezvous with Rama, Red Mars, or Tau Zero. It can be frustrating to look through aisles or catalogs for hard science fiction and find mostly stories of magic. It’s a mood
But then again, as Clarke said, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
I have a magic crystal, it contains many secrets. At my and only my touch, it will reveal its bounty.
This crystal fits in my pocket but also contains the world. Upon uttering the correct incantation, my crystal will allow me to speak to those far across the realm.
But I must be cautious, pondering my crystal for too long can be addictive and one must exercise restraint, lest nothing else is done beyond contemplation of the depths of the world.
SciFi is just a matter of perspective; to a medieval king my cellphone is a magic crystal. The ability to travel significantly faster than a horse; would have seemed like magic; imagine the talk of great power; if rather than the weeks of travel between London and Edinburgh in the 1700’s you had a personal air craft able to do it in a few hours.
But you’ve identified the differentiating factor. In Fantasy, the hand-waving is mystical. In Sci-Fi, the hand-waving is technical. If ya mix the two, you get Shadowrun, or Star Wars before the midichlorians.
👏 SCIENCE 👏 FICTION👏 DOES👏 NOT👏 INCLUDE👏 FANTASY👏
believes in rigid categories - right
Of course not, because it’s the other way around
Fair enough
Define fantasy. Soft scifi just has more fi than sci and can totally go into the realm of fantasy
Concur and I have no issue with the crossover itself in stories. Fantasy is largely predicated on magic systems and creatures. Science fiction begins with known science. Maybe I should have been more specific and said “hard science fiction.” Some of my favorite stories contain elements of both, but sometimes I want hard science like Rendezvous with Rama, Red Mars, or Tau Zero. It can be frustrating to look through aisles or catalogs for hard science fiction and find mostly stories of magic. It’s a mood
But then again, as Clarke said, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
I have a magic crystal, it contains many secrets. At my and only my touch, it will reveal its bounty.
This crystal fits in my pocket but also contains the world. Upon uttering the correct incantation, my crystal will allow me to speak to those far across the realm.
But I must be cautious, pondering my crystal for too long can be addictive and one must exercise restraint, lest nothing else is done beyond contemplation of the depths of the world.
SciFi is just a matter of perspective; to a medieval king my cellphone is a magic crystal. The ability to travel significantly faster than a horse; would have seemed like magic; imagine the talk of great power; if rather than the weeks of travel between London and Edinburgh in the 1700’s you had a personal air craft able to do it in a few hours.
But you’ve identified the differentiating factor. In Fantasy, the hand-waving is mystical. In Sci-Fi, the hand-waving is technical. If ya mix the two, you get Shadowrun, or Star Wars before the midichlorians.
Building on this, Star Wars is fantasy
Agreed