Flawed Creation
there are two questions here which bother me. they are similar, but not ht same. what is the difference between Sci-fi and fantasy? what is the difference between science and magic?
In this post, allow me to consider the first:
considering the genre first, I would like to say that the distinction is not as immeditely ovious as some would think. there are plenty of books considered "science-fiction" which contain supernatural elements. even heinlein frequently included telepathy, hypnosis, telekinesis, and the like in his stories. on the other hand, there are fantasy stories where the "magic" turns out to be mere theatrics backed up by super-science.
I would contend that it's the way the matter is approached. science-fiction assumes that the world is basically logical and understandable. fantasy doesn't.
Anne McCaffrey's dragonrider books contain dragons, teleportation, and telepathy, but are still, in my mind, sci-fi. why? no wizards, no arcane rituals. not that thje rappinbgs likje staves and pentacles are impotant to me, but there's no sense of wonder. the inhabitants of pern take these things for granted, they work reliably, and seem to be daily life. magic should never work like this.
what do you think?
In this post, allow me to consider the first:
considering the genre first, I would like to say that the distinction is not as immeditely ovious as some would think. there are plenty of books considered "science-fiction" which contain supernatural elements. even heinlein frequently included telepathy, hypnosis, telekinesis, and the like in his stories. on the other hand, there are fantasy stories where the "magic" turns out to be mere theatrics backed up by super-science.
I would contend that it's the way the matter is approached. science-fiction assumes that the world is basically logical and understandable. fantasy doesn't.
Anne McCaffrey's dragonrider books contain dragons, teleportation, and telepathy, but are still, in my mind, sci-fi. why? no wizards, no arcane rituals. not that thje rappinbgs likje staves and pentacles are impotant to me, but there's no sense of wonder. the inhabitants of pern take these things for granted, they work reliably, and seem to be daily life. magic should never work like this.
what do you think?