Quote:
Originally Posted by Worldwalker
By definition, there is no such thing as "hard SciFi" -- if it's hard, it's SF or Science Fiction, not SciFi.
On the other hand, what Doc Smith wrote was arguably SciFi -- pure space opera -- and nothing even close to hard SF. His books are about as hard as the fluffier Star Trek variants.
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What? Is there some kind of definition I've never heard of in 30 years of being an avid science fiction fan? How did I miss that? I always just took "SF", "SciFi" and "Science Fiction" as different spellings of the same thing.
Personally, I've always taken "Hard" Science Fiction to be anything that concentrates on the nuts and bolts of technology. I can't think of many books that do that more than Smith's "Skylark" books, even if it is all silliness.