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Fuzzy Necromancer Captain
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 Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 6:56 pm
Which is better, fantasy or science fiction?
Why?
What separates fantasy from science fiction?
Is there any overlap? Are there areas that do not overlap?
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Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2010 8:38 pm
As far as I am concerned academically, Science Fiction and Fantasy are both incredibly broad genres that fall under "speculative fiction."
Consider though, for a moment, that "fantasy" especially is a much broader subject than literally any other genre-- so much so that I hesitate whenever somebody calls it that. Genre is defined by themes and motifs and style and plot--think of Comedy, . Fantasy is largely determined by SETTING. Same goes for many science fiction or historical fiction. True, there is a certain "pure Fantasy" genre, which makes use of a recognizable vocabulary of literary themes, tropes and archetypes-- pure good and pure evil, the hero's journey, the mentor. But I would argue that many works of "fantasy" belong to a different genre. Which is to say, The Lord of The Rings is a Fantasy-genre story in a (high) fantasy setting. But Discworld is a satire set in a fantasy world.
That said, I think fantasy has a broader variety of applications than science fiction-- as fantasy often takes place in "created worlds" and cosmologies, whereas science fiction tends to have a much narrow range. It pigeonholes itself too well.
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