Science fantasy

For the magazine of the same name see Science Fantasy (magazine).

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Science fantasy is a subclass of science fiction sometimes with some fantasy elements thrown in, resulting in a blending of the two popular genres of writing. While the two are notoriously difficult to define, the best definition that has been provided is that Science Fiction makes the implausible possible, while Science Fantasy makes the impossible plausible. These definitions deal with changes in the way it is believed the world works because sometimes what is Science Fantasy under one cosmology becomes Science Fiction under another.

Related Topics:
Science fiction - Fantasy - Genre

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For example, when H.G. Wells wrote World Set Free in 1913, the atomic bomb he described was impossible under the widely accepted Newtonian physics of the day, but was completely plausible under the new theory of physics proposed by Einstein. So under Newtonian cosmology Wells was writing Science Fantasy but under Einstein's cosmology he was writing Science Fiction. Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea went through a similar transformation in regards to the power source of the Nautilus from Newton to Einstein.

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This change in accepted cosmology was best summed up by Arthur C. Clarke when he said that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." and is best demonstrated by the mumbo-jumbo or technobabble used for the "science" behind these explanations to give the appeance that the present accepted cosmology is 'wrong'. Sometimes Science Fantasy goes as far as to include magic (sometimes explained as Psionics) but not even bothering to explain how or why they work, especially in the pulp magazines. For example, the Dune universe and the Dying Earth stories are Science Fantasy because the cosmology they used does not fit the way we think the world works. On the other hand, Science Fiction is sometimes used to refer to a fantasy where the fantastic elements are presented as being (relatively) compatible with real-world science; by contrast, in general fantasy, the elements need only adhere to an internal logic. Here, a classic example would be Poul Anderson's Three Hearts and Three Lions. Of course, some works, such as E. E. Smith's Lensman stories, satisfy both definitions at once.

Related Topics:
Arthur C. Clarke - Pulp magazines - Dune universe - Dying Earth - Poul Anderson - Three Hearts and Three Lions - E. E. Smith - Lensman

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Many science fantasy stories were published in the pulps, such as Robert A. Heinlein's "Magic, Inc.", L. Ron Hubbard's Slaves of Sleep. Fletcher Pratt and L. Sprague DeCamp produced the Harold Shea series. All were relatively rational stories published in John W. Campbell, Jr.'s Unknown Magazine. Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore published novels in Startling Stories, alone and together, which were also very good and far more romantic. The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction published, among other things, all but the last of the Operation series, by Poul Anderson.

Related Topics:
Robert A. Heinlein - L. Ron Hubbard - Fletcher Pratt - L. Sprague DeCamp - Harold Shea - Rational - John W. Campbell, Jr. - Unknown - Henry Kuttner - C. L. Moore - Startling Stories - Romantic - The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction - Poul Anderson

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The Martian stories of Leigh Brackett might be regarded as science fantasy, as well as M. John Harrison's Viriconium novels, or Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun. Those last mentioned books belong to the Dying Earth subgenre; books belonging to that subgenre are usually science fantasy. Many works by Edgar Rice Burroughs, especially his Barsoom novels, clearly fall into this category. Terry Brooks' world depicted in "The Sword of Shannara" sits on this line as well. Perhaps the most well-known example of science fantasy is Star Wars.

Related Topics:
Leigh Brackett - M. John Harrison - Viriconium - Gene Wolfe - Dying Earth subgenre - Edgar Rice Burroughs - Barsoom - Terry Brooks - Star Wars

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