As a fan of science fiction and fantasy, I always love to see books from both genres and even books that combine them. However, there is a big difference between science-fiction and fantasy, and both genres have their own characteristics that make them unique and stand alone. Although they are both part of the umbrella term of speculative fiction, science-fiction and fantasy have markers that tell them apart. So, for today’s post I’ll be talking about sci-fi vs fantasy and what makes them so different.
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The Origins of the Genres
Science fiction, often shortened to sci-fi, is a genre within speculative fiction that is rooted in scientific principles and the speculation and imagination surrounding those principles. Most books written under the sci-fi banner have long looked at the idea of scientific advancements, innovations, and the ideas of humanity and its interactions and intersection with science and technology.
Sci-fi got its start quite a long time ago, and classics under the sci-fi banner have been published since well before the 1900s. There are many notable figures in sci-fi, such as Ray Bradbury and George Orwell, but there was also Mary Shelley and her work on Frankenstein, which is often considered one of the first true science fiction novels.
Fantasy, on the other hand, is all about things that are not grounded in reality. Everything within fantasy revolves around myth, folklore, and the elements of the supernatural and the unseen. There are things in fantasy that cannot be explained by science, such as magic, mythical creatures, realms of fantasy creatures and more. Fantasy is something that I would say has existed since humans began to write down information, with folklore and tales being passed down from generation-to-generation. There are many notable fantasy authors like C.S. Lewis and Tolkien, certainly, but fantasy has been around for a long time.
World Building
Science fiction settings are typically our world in the future, or alternate versions of our world. If the story doesn’t take place in our world, then it takes place on other planets or potentially beyond the universe itself. The worlds in sci-fi are typically created on the basis of scientific possibility, even if they feel far-fetched–there’s always some level of realism to the whole thing.
Sci-fi authors try to build worlds that are enriched by science and are genuinely impacted by any scientific advancement. This is why you’ll often find that the world building in sci-fi relies heavily on creating planets and developing the technology. This is well unlike fantasy, which works on developing magic systems. Sure, you can intersect the two genres, but sci-fi focuses heavily on explainable tech while fantasy focuses heavily on magic.
Along the same line of thinking, when it comes to fantasy, the settings are almost always fully fictional worlds that have their own histories, rules, systems, cultures, languages, etc… and they are very different from our own world. World building is an extremely important part of fantasy, even if you’re writing contemporary fantasy and it takes place in the real world.
The Thematic Elements
Sci-fi often likes to look very deeply into philosophy and ethics, and ethics is typically the root behind most of the stories written in sci-fi. Looking back at past famous examples of sci-fi, they often explored the ideas of artificial intelligence, genetic modification, space exploration/colonization, the division between classes, and more. Sci-fi likes to encourage readers to think about the potential future for humanity and how these things affect us.
In my crossover-genre series, The Fallen Age Saga, I use elements of sci-fi and fantasy to create my world and I like to use the ideas of sci-fi ethical dilemmas. One of the biggest issues that is presented in Book 1, Malware, is that everything in the world is controlled pretty much by technology and everything relies on technology. The main character, Blide Stevens, is able to exploit the world around him to aid him in his evil actions, thus raising the question of the overreliance on technology.
Fantasy, on the other hand, talks more about the themes of destiny, fate, good vs evil, and more. It likes to show the struggle of humanity against the forces of darkness and the power of sacrifice and selflessness. However, this also depends on which “flavor” of fantasy you’re reading about, so-to-speak, since a lot of fantasy–especially grimdark and dark fantasy–explores ethical and moral dilemmas.
Going back to my series, being a fantasy series as well, there’s a lot of the idea of the struggle against evil but the characters also have morally gray tendencies, and beyond that, magic plays a massive role in the impact on humanity beyond just technology. In fact, technology and magic often intersect in my series, and often not for the better.
Characters and Character Development
In sci-fi, characters are typically people involved in the world of technology and science. They interact frequently with the technology at hand, even if your story is a military sci-fi. The soldiers in military sci-fi are at the forefront of using the very technology that is developed around them. You see some military sci-fi in Book 2 of my series, Soldat. Characters are typically people who are impacted in one way or another by the world around them and its advancements. Blide from Malware is a hacker and constantly finds himself connected to technology, even when his journey dips a little more into the fantasy side of things.
On the other hand, fantasy characters are often archetypes like heroes, villains, the chosen one, etc… Most of the time, the main character follows the hero’s journey and that journey serves as the catalyst for any character development. Blide in Malware is not a hero, he’s quite the opposite, but his journey in the book is highlighted by his discovery of what lurks beyond the face of reality and the magic that dominates pretty much everything around him. This forces him to change as a person, and whether that’s for the better is up for you to find out!
Technology vs Magic
As I’ve been saying for most of this post, technology and magic are pretty much the biggest differences between the two genres. Sci-fi hones in on technology and the advancement of technology is what drives pretty much everything forward in the story. Technological innovations are often grounded in some level of scientific theory and could be real in the future. Virtual reality, robots, artificial intelligence, etc… were all thought of as just being science fiction, but they’re our reality now.
Fantasy works off of the systems of magic, and even if there’s technology, magic is still at the forefront of what works and doesn’t work. Magic systems are often intricate, with strengths, weaknesses, limitations, rules and more. I’ve talked about how to develop a magic system for fantasy before, so you should definitely check that post out for more information. In my series, the main magic system used by the Ones Above–which are the militaristic aliens that you’ll meet in the series–is called Mage Arts and it relies on the production of word-symbols to produce spells, but the most advanced practitioners can conjure the symbols up mentally and produce the spells. The magic is also tunneled into weapons, like guns and swords, intersecting technology with magic.
The Narrative and the Tropes
Sci-fi often follows narratives that talk about exploration, discovery, human interactions with technology, and the consequences of humanity and technology. There’s a lot of things in sci-fi like dystopian settings, time travel, AI, aliens, and more. Sci-fi likes to delve into curiosity and the exploration of the world beyond.
Fantasy often likes to follow the hero’s journey, but it can be more than just that. However, fantasy narratives like to talk about epic quests and the idea of the battle against some sort of evil force. It depends on what subgenre of fantasy you’re following, but the main characters are often at least less evil compared to the villain/antagonist of the series.
Commentary on Society
Sci-fi likes to make commentary on the current state of society, which is often why you’ll see dystopian novels fall under the sci-fi banner, as they take a current state of the world and exaggerate it to show a potential consequence and end-result. Additionally, sci-fi likes to take a look at things like inequality, the destruction of the environment, political corruption, and how technology can be a negative/positive for humanity.
Fantasy can explore a lot of these as well, but fantasy tends to explore things like justice, power, morality, religion/faith, and more. The thing with fantasy is that it can deliver social commentary and critique but project them onto a world that is entirely fictional, allowing for more maneuverability in the story. Additionally, fantasy can explore themes like survival, struggling against oppression and more, but it does so typically through allegorical means.
For the most part, sci-fi and fantasy are quite different in many aspects. Fantasy tends to work heavily on world building, and although sci-fi does require world building, the way the world building is done for sci-fi does tend to be a bit different than it is for fantasy. Sci-fi likes to base its stories off of contemporary and real-world situations, posit potential outcomes in the future, and more. Fantasy likes to explore real-world issues too, but most fantasy stories tend to explore a medieval-esque environment and comment more on social and moral situations related to human interaction.
Technology is again the most major part of sci-fi, while magic is the equivalent for the fantasy series. When you go to write either one, you need to develop both in almost the same level of detail. Now, if you’re like me and you enjoy crossing the two genres together, that’s more work for you, but it could pay off in a really cool way.
Before you head on out, check out my series, The Fallen Age Saga, to get a glimpse at both genres at play in the same setting and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter so you can get updates on all my latest WIPs, book releases, posts, and more!