Quote:
Originally Posted by thrawn_aj
I used to be quite militant about this distinction  . Then, I read this little ditty* that brought me down several notches and made me see the light  . (*specifically, pages 21-23 (especially 23) of the link I provided. Very eye-opening).
I realized that the only times I felt compelled to make that distinction was when confronted with bad science fiction or bad fantasy. That is not to say that there are no differences at all, just that the differences do not relate to the quality of the book in any way.
Just a thought  |
Thank you for that link. I was very interested to see how he continued to make strong distinctions between science fiction and fantasy right up to "bunk" (that science fiction can define it's own magic). It seemed that in the final analysis his position is: "If you have people do some magic impossible thing by stroking a talisman or praying to a tree, it's fantasy, if they do same thing by pressing a button or climbing inside a machine, it's science fiction." Of course that still leaves books like his own
Songmaster, where they do impossible things through song.
