Interest in sandbox settings?

JoB42

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Good morning!

Curious. Traditionally, I prefer fantasy and that's what most of my writing focuses on. But I do have one project I've been working on that's a bit of a sandbox. It mixes fantasy and science fiction elements. I've been writing it with no thought to a potential market. Just writing the story because I like it, but recently I've started to wonder if there's any real market for this kind of novel.

I mean, this is a real mix. Magic, other dimensional creatures, cyborgs, rail guns, swordsmen, horses, military vehicles, castles, robots, gods, etc.

A complete culture clash, worlds colliding.

So my question: do you think there's an actual market for this, or am I just exercising?
 

lilyWhite

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Science fiction and fantasy overlap in many works of fiction. Science fantasy is a well-established genre with many extremely-successful works. So you definitely don't need to worry about that.
 

Brightdreamer

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+1 to lilyWhite.

Science Fantasy and genre crossover is a Thing. So long as you create a nice world and story, you're good to go. (You might explore a bit to see what's out there; some good, imaginative stuff in that category...)
 

RobertLCollins

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I've written a few works where magic is used like technology. I know some steampunk works combine magic with some amount of SF. Write the story you want to write and see where your muse takes you.

As to getting it out there, think of how you'd persuade someone you don't know to read it. What are the key elements? Is it a fantastical mystery? A journey story? A hero (or heroine) story? Focus on what sort of story it is. You might also want to think about which is more important, SF or F? That might guide you towards any market, or how you'd promote it down the road.

I also think, with self-publishing being what it is these day, you could put it out into the world and just see what happens. Maybe it'll be a fun little thing for you and a few of your readers. Maybe it'll help you find new readers. Who knows? Again, write it and see where it takes you.

Good luck!
 

Esmae Tyler

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I mean, this is a real mix. Magic, other dimensional creatures, cyborgs, rail guns, swordsmen, horses, military vehicles, castles, robots, gods, etc.

The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed. You don't have to be Stephen King to make it work though.
 

Harlequin

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Echoing the others. Science fantasy is my favorite genre and has a very impressive backlog :)

A small selection of titles across eras (well worth a read!)

--Dying Earth, by Jack Vance (the basis for d&d magic)

--Lord of Light, by Roger Zelazny

--Half made World, by Felix Gilman

--Scar by China Mieville (also perdido street station and any others set in that world)

--Daughters of the Sunstone

--Book of the New Sun (sf skewed tho)

And many more. I don't think it will have any difficulty finding a market, no need to worry! It's queryable as either scifi or fantasy in many cases.

For mine, I tend to query as fantasy because the sf elemtns (space ships and clones and dimensional travel) don't kick in till the last third of the novel.
 
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Kalsik

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Remember the words of Arthur C. Clarke: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Its easy to treat Science Fiction and Fantasy as living in the same world, by adhering to that philosophy. If we follow the Kardeshev scale, a tier 1 or 2 culture would be science fiction, because we can imagine it, whereas a Tier 3 or higher would become so advanced and ancient that it would begin to likely emerge with powers seemingly unnatural to us in nature or scale.

Who's to say that the old mystic in the woods isn't actually some descendant or reject from a Tier 3 culture, and his acts of magic are his medicines, nanotechnology and utility fog controlled by what looks like a magic staff [remote control].

Just my two pennies...
 

Jason

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*googles Kardeshev scale* and starts taking notes - that's cool stuff! :)
 

Bacchus

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*googles Kardeshev scale* and starts taking notes - that's cool stuff! :)

Wikipedia said:
The Kardashev scale is a method of measuring a civilization's level of technological advancement, based on the amount of energy a civilization is able to use for communication.

Hmm, I don't think I would score very highly - I leave my phone on silent in case it rings...:Shrug: