Quote:
Originally Posted by fjtorres
Indeed.
The generally accepted guideline is that if the scientific/technological element is removed and the story falls apart, it is Science Fiction. If the SF elements are removed and the core story survives then they are just props, decoration, or a setting and it isn't SF.
In the romance field there is an entire subgenre dedicated to stories set in SF (and fantasy) settings; future cities, spaceships, lost colonies, whatever. The stories are correctly flagged as paranormal romance because the story is about the relationships, not the SF elements.
The same applies to mysteries in SF settings.
Crossovers can happen but they are rare. And hard to really pull off.
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There is no generally accepted guideline. There is only various peoples personal preferences/prejudices. In quite a few of Heinlein's stories, the scientific/technical aspects are purely window dressing. In others, it's central to the story. Does that mean that only a few of Heinlein's stories count as "Real SF"? I certainly don't think so.