Sci-fi or fantasy?

[Devsman]

Which do you prefer?

Here's an oversimplified contrast of the two:

Sci-fi: The world is one where we know more about the universe than we do today, including its mechanics, inhabitants or potential technologies. For example, fiction revolving around aliens, deep space, robots or viruses often falls into this category.

Fantasy: The world is one that is fundamentally different from ours, and usually follows different rules or paints a distant past that differs from our understanding. For example, fiction revolving around magic or dragons usually falls into this category.

I prefer sci-fi, personally. I'm usually pretty good about suspending disbelief, so it's not that I dislike fantasy elements as such. My issue is more that these things rarely feel justified or relevant, or else they opt for quantity over depth.

Why can the fairy godmother turn a pumpkin into a carriage? Because she's magic, of course. Why does her magic wear off at midnight, then? I'm not saying there's no possible explanation, but to me, the story would be more satisfying if we knew what it was.

There are exceptions, of course. Bilbo's/Frodo's ring in The Hobbit/LotR was a good example. It has a backstory, and it serves an important purpose in the story.

The other reason is purely aesthetic. I just like machines and outer space more than swords and wizards.

[Schamyl006]

I love them both equally :D

[Blargo]

Sci-Fi.

[B✪✪tsy]

Sci-Fi. Back in the day when Star Wars came out everyone was fan of that except for me. I liked Star Trek.

[Affronter]

Both equally

[Albemouff]

Sci-fi please.

[TGC> The Games Collector]

Why not both?

I kinda would love to see a magic & technology crossover, stuff like Arcanum.
I suppose Final Fantasy also combines it well.

[Mr. Tex]

As far as books go, it's 50-50 for me.

As for movies and TV-shows, they're typically rather generic or too poorly done.

[Grynn]

Hmm, tough question. Let me ask my steampunk Gandalf sexbot.

Początkowo opublikowane przez TGC> The Games Collector:

Why not both?

I kinda would love to see a magic & technology crossover, stuff like Arcanum.
I suppose Final Fantasy also combines it well.

Warhammer 40k?

[Bluepumpkinplayer]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Grynn:

Hmm, tough question. Let me ask my steampunk Gandalf sexbot.

Początkowo opublikowane przez TGC> The Games Collector:

Why not both?

I kinda would love to see a magic & technology crossover, stuff like Arcanum.
I suppose Final Fantasy also combines it well.

Warhammer 40k?

Or Warhammer Fantasy for that matter, the Empire and their steam war machines and guns

[steven1mac]

Modern Science fiction is just fantasy set in space.

[HALO_run]

both, picking one is just dumb

[Morkonan]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Devsman:

Which do you prefer?..

I prefer both, provided they are equally worthy stories. No genre is good or bad in-and-of itself. It's all about the story.

IMO: :)

Science-Fiction is where we ask questions about society and ourselves when confronted with our advancements in knowledge and technological capability. But, our "advancements" in government, social and political forces, and "societal change" in general can be included in that. Science-Fiction is where we experiment with our society in a lab full of mysterious technology. The prime mover in Science Fiction is usually based on technology and/or some form of science. It's great for examining how our lives do or could change or how we may react when confronted with new knowledge.

Fantasy is outstanding for moral and ethical issues revolving around good, evil, power, human struggles against "fantastic" things that may represent very real forces in our real lives. No other genre can push all of these things to "the extreme." In no other genre can you have "pure evil" or "pure good" as its presented by the author. Those concepts are near fantastical if not completely so, in themselves. A fantasy story can be a symphony of these heady concepts, or a catchy limerick that's still illustrative of some basic principle that's reinterpreted. Fantasy's prime motivator is "the fantastic" and often realistically impossible "magical" force, event, place or power.

These genres can be combined with remarkable effect, too.

The original "Star Wars" trilogy... Science-Fiction with a very strong underlying current of Fantasy.

Dune: Unmistakable Science-Fiction with a Fantastic reveal.

Hamilton's "The Night's Dawn" trilogy is Science Fiction, incorporating the Fantastic, revealing more Science Fiction and even more of the Fantastic. It's a modern work that teases the reader pretty darn nicely.


Both genres have their sub-genres:

For Science-Fiction, there's a sort of "regular, normal" sci-fi, which is somewhat Soft, and then Hard Science-Fiction, which delves deeply into suspected Science/Knowledge and then builds on that in a rigorous, somewhat scientificky plausible way. There are more subgenres, like Military Sci-Fi, too.

In Fantasy, we generally see Fantasy as sort of neutral, like with some YA Fantasy, moving into High Fantasy which features mature themes, political and social commentary, even economics and world building, stuff that is more "mature." Low Fantasy would be the stuff of most Disney Fairy Tale productions, with lots of focus on just the magic and little concern for mature inclusions. "Pete's Dragon" or Snow White and the Seven Dwarves would count as Low Fantasy. (Contrary to popular opinion, whether it is High or Low does not rely on "how much" magic is depicted in it or how strong an influence that is. It's about the themes coupled with the intricacies of the setting and how deeply those are explored.)


I like both Fantasy, for the extremes that no other genre can create and Science Fiction for huge injections of imagination food and "what ifs"... :)

[TRethehedgehog]

Początkowo opublikowane przez steven1mac:

Modern Science fiction is just fantasy set in space.

Jedis are space wizards

[Morkonan]

Początkowo opublikowane przez TRethehedgehog:

Początkowo opublikowane przez steven1mac:

Modern Science fiction is just fantasy set in space.

Jedis are space wizards

This is a true, fiction-factually based, statement.

[Medified]

Sci-fi