Fantasy vs Science Fiction

Further thoughts on the track I’ve been taking this week. Fantasy vs Science Fiction. Why is Fantasy selling better than Science Fiction? I don’t mean now, I mean for the past fifteen years. Is Fantasy inherently better than Science Fiction? Clearly, that’s an answer that can only be a matter… Continue reading

More About SF – Pseudo-Fantasy

Second-to-last post I talked about hard SF. (Last time I talked about a guitar string.) This time, let’s go back a few posts and pick up on something I assigned to the category of science fiction but called pseudo-fantasy. What is pseudo-fantasy? I threw out the example of Anne McCaffrey’s… Continue reading

Hard SF

Let’s continue yesterday’s discussion. Just what is hard SF? Hard science fiction is a story where some aspect of science or technology, usually speculative, is so critical that the story collapses when it is removed. Imagine Arthur C. Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama without Rama. No story. (Side note: the linked… Continue reading

What is Science Fiction

I managed 890 words on Rigel Kentaurus today, which brings to mind the comment I made yesterday about discussiing hard SF today. Just what is science fiction? Most people picture movies like Star Wars or the television show Star Trek when they think about science fiction. Wrong. What, you say?… Continue reading