How do you differentiate Sci-Fi and Fantasy?

[thesoothsayer]

I was wondering about this since I saw the thread titled "Your 'top-5' Sf-Fi books (no fantasy books please)".

It seems to me that most Sci-Fi books have a pretty large dose of fantasy to them. I can't recall a book that was based solely on science and what is achievable with science.

I probably haven't read as many Sci-fi books as most people here, so I'd like to hear what other people here think about it and how they differentiate the two genres?

For example, would you consider "Dune" to be sci-fi or fantasy? Or how about "Do Androids Dream of Electrip Sheep"? Or Asimov's "Foundation" series?

[Teresa Edgerton]

Well, there have been at least a half dozen threads on this same subject already, and you might like to start by reading some of them. For instance:

One quick and easy way to differentiate between SF and Fantasy.

science fiction and fantasy fiction

Science Fiction, Fantasy, or…?

Should Fantasy and Sci/Fi really intertwine?

The question also comes up regularly in other discussions.

[paranoid marvin]

For me

If it describes tecnological or scientific advancement then it's sci-fi

If it doesnt it's fantasy

[ghostofcorwin]

If it has a dragon, orc, wizard with a long white beard and a pointy hat, witches, fairies, fairytale setting, a simplified view of good and evil, not to mention a satanic nemesis who is bent on making all the good creatures unhappy for his own ends (even if they are unfathomable) it's fantasy.

[GOLLUM]

And bear in mind that historically SF is really a subset of Fantasy.

[ghostofcorwin]

While I was being tongue-in-cheek, I do think that SF tends to operate in a universe that is at least probable, even if farfetched, while fantasy allows itself to ignore any restrictions in the interests of engaging it's themes, much as a fairytale does. I agree that it's probably not useful to make any hard and fast distinctions. When it comes to "high" fantasy and "hard" SF, I do think the distinction is apparent enough and what most people tend to think of when using the two terms.

[thesoothsayer]

Originally Posted by Teresa Edgerton

Well, there have been at least a half dozen threads on this same subject already, and you might like to start by reading some of them. For instance:

One quick and easy way to differentiate between SF and Fantasy.

science fiction and fantasy fiction

Science Fiction, Fantasy, or…?

Should Fantasy and Sci/Fi really intertwine?

The question also comes up regularly in other discussions.

Thanks for the links. Surprising my own search didn't turn up with them. Guess I didn't look hard enough.

[Smudge]

For me, if there is magic, swords, horses, etc then it is fantasy.

[Connavar]

What about Urban fantasy where there is no magic,swords,horses ? I have read a plenty of those stories.

For me its simple you know when you are reading any kind of fantasy compared to any type of SF. A Philip K Dick doesnt read like a fantasy book for example.

[ghostofcorwin]

Originally Posted by Connavar

What about Urban fantasy where there is no magic,swords,horses ? I have read a plenty of those stories.

For me its simple you know when you are reading any kind of fantasy compared to any type of SF. A Philip K Dick doesnt read like a fantasy book for example.

What does this "urban" fantasy have that would make it "fantasy?" Does it tend to resemble fairytales? How would you differentiate it from any novel?

[rai]

Originally Posted by thesoothsayer

For example, would you consider "Dune" to be sci-fi or fantasy? Or how about "Do Androids Dream of Electrip Sheep"? Or Asimov's "Foundation" series?

all these are sci-fi

I would say something like 'The Stand' which starts out sci-fi may blend into fantasy but to me books about the future, space ships, little green men from outerspace, robots, atomic bombs, test tube virues etc.. are Sci-fi

and books with magic, dragons, elves (etc.) are fantasy.

Something like 'Dragon Riders of Pern' or the John Norman 'Gor books' have a strong fantasy slant and to me would be considered fantasy.

[Connavar]

Originally Posted by ghostofcorwin

What does this "urban" fantasy have that would make it "fantasy?" Does it tend to resemble fairytales? How would you differentiate it from any novel?

There are fantastical beings,stories that doesnt involve magic in the regular fantasy sense. With elves,pixies etc

Saying there are more fantasy than the popular epic,heroic fantasies.

[Teresa Edgerton]

Originally Posted by ghostofcorwin

What does this "urban" fantasy have that would make it "fantasy?" How would you differentiate it from any novel?

Because it has one or more of the genuine elements of fantasy (magic, supernatural beings, a sense of the numinous, an otherworldly setting) as opposed to mere furniture (horses, swords, castles) that some people confuse with the elements of fantasy because they're only familiar with the tiniest part of what the fantasy genre has to offer.

For more about urban fantasy:

Urban fantasy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For more about the different kinds of fantasy (many of which contain not a single one of the elements you mentioned in a previous post):

List of fantasy subgenres - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As with most wikipedia articles there is much more that might be said, and parts that could be disputed, but these two should give you the bare beginning of an idea of how rich, and deep, and broad the fantasy genre really is.

[ghostofcorwin]

Originally Posted by Teresa Edgerton

Because it has one or more of the genuine elements of fantasy (magic, supernatural beings, a sense of the numinous, an otherworldly setting) as opposed to mere furniture (horses, swords, castles) that some people confuse with the elements of fantasy because they're only familiar with the tiniest part of what the fantasy genre has to offer.

For more about urban fantasy:

Urban fantasy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For more about the different kinds of fantasy (many of which contain not a single one of the elements you mentioned in a previous post):

List of fantasy subgenres - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As with most wikipedia articles there is much more that might be said, and parts that could be disputed, but these two should give you the bare beginning of an idea of how rich, and deep, and broad the fantasy genre really is.

I was kind of figuring that urban fantasy would be of the Dresden Files, Neverwhere variety. When you think about it, the prototype of urban fantasy was the 1001 Tales of the Arabian Nights. A mixture of the mundane, "urban" Baghdad and the wonders of a magic otherworld inhabiting the same space. I think it was Diogenes who said: There is nothing new under the sun."

[Urlik]

Star Ware and Dune to me are Fantasy in a futuristic setting as they have all the elements of fantasy (fantastic beasts, magic, evil nemesis, innocent hero who discovers he has powers) yet both are classed as Science Fiction because of their settings