I’m not sure if the term “SF” for speculative fiction as an umbrella term for genres related to science fiction and fantasy is still in vogue (and I know that the usage of the term in recent years is distinct from the way that Hienlin et al initially suggested, but I’m not completely up on that), but I’ve been thinking about the distinction between science fiction and fantasy of late. In part because I’d like to be able to speak more intelligently about what I write (and hopefully write better as a result,) and also as a keen observer of the community, I’d like to do a little reflection. And hell, this is supposed to be my notebook, so there!
On some level, all science fiction worth reading is fantasy of some kind. Reading about science or technology’s cutting edge would be incredibly boring, after all. Having said that, I guess I’d carve the sci-fi/fantasy world into a few groups: the sword and sorcery fantasy, other fantasy stories built on some mythological convention (like vampire and super hero stories, which offer variations on some sort of common or shared tropes. In a lot of ways, any more I’d probably be more inclined to put Star Trek in this category) and science fiction. I tend to call just about everything science fiction: the hard stuff, cyberpunk, space opera, alternate histories, time travel stuff, though I think there’s some overlap here with the shared myth category.
How does that sound to you all?