Thread: Literary City by Clifford D. Simak
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Old 08-27-2018, 11:24 AM   #28
ekbell
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I've decided that the most useful (to me) way to distinguish between fantasy and science fiction is by looking at the in-universe explanation. If the in-universe explanation involves SCIENCE however implausible and the results are reproducible by anyone who knows enough and has the appropriate tools then it's science fiction. If the in-universe explanation involves MAGIC, the supernatural, the gods and/or some sort of special power(s) given to a very few people for no explicable reason then it's fantasy. These categories are not exclusive so a story can be both science fiction and fantasy.

So I consider City science fiction, perhaps of butter consistency but science fiction nonetheless. However I can understand why someone would have trouble with that classification.

My bugbear is humans who just happen to have inborn psychic powers, I dislike labeling stories containing them as science fiction. If I consider them to be fantasy assumed to be science then I can use my fantasy googles and enjoy the story (assuming it's an otherwise good story).
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