Quote:
Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan
Let's try for another law:
Science Fiction can have Fantasy elements as well as SF elements, provided those Fantasy elements can be suggested to have a scientific explanation as to their existence, in satisfaction of the first law.
This doesn't necessarily mean every fantasy element must have a given scientific explanation in the story, but that it is generally accepted that there is one, and these fantasy elements do not somehow violate the laws of physics that are in place.
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I like that one, and agree. There's a fair bit of work that explores that sort of boundary, and revolves around Clarke's "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
I'd think there's a deeper underlying premise, which might be stated as "You can't break your own rules". You can mix SF and fantasy elements, but they exist in the same setting, and are governed by a common set of rules and constraints. You need to think through what those are and what the effects will be on your story. You don't have to explicitly state them to the reader (and indeed, part of the attraction of the story may be the mystery of what is going on), but
you need to be aware of them. If you break your own rules, the reader is likely to notice. They may not be aware of
what put them off, but are likely to feel put off and thrown out of the story.
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Dennis