Comparing Speculative Fiction Genres
Science fiction and fantasy are two of the most popular genres out there, but sometimes people get confused about where a book or movie falls. Is it sci-fi or fantasy? Streaming services and online stores often group the two together in a single category, so people may wonder if “sci-fi and fantasy” is really all one thing. Where is the boundary between the two genres? When you’re comparing science fiction vs fantasy, how are they different?
Science fiction and fantasy are both about things that don’t currently exist, but they are different in their origin, tropes, and focus. Science fiction is about things that could be someday, even if that “someday” is highly improbable. Fantasy is about the impossible, things that will never happen.
Science fiction began with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in 1818. The genre is focused on speculation about advanced or futuristic technology, and how it might impact individual people and society as a whole. Science fiction is often about the future and the way things might change, sometimes optimistically, but often pessimistically. Common science fiction tropes include space exploration, alien encounters and invasions, time travel, dystopian governments, robots, dystopian governments, the apocalypse and post-apocalyptic societies, and used futures.
Fantasy is far older. People have been telling fantasy stories as long as we’ve had language. Instead of technology, fantasy is about the impossible – things like magic, the supernatural, ghosts, and monsters. In general, fantasy is less focused on how the impossible impacts society, and instead focuses on the way magic or monsters impact individuals. Fantasy is often set in the past, in romanticized versions of the Middle Ages or other time periods. Common fantasy tropes include magical artifacts, a world-saving “chosen one,” damsels in distress, quests, prophecies, and hidden worlds.
Some stories fall in a mixed genre called “science fantasy,” which makes comparing science fiction vs fantasy far more difficult. Science fantasy is essentially a fantasy story pretending to be science fiction. It’s often a fantasy story in a science fiction setting. For example, if you combine fantasy’s wizards with science fiction’s space adventures, you get science fantasy like Star Wars.
The boundary between these genres is often blurry, but it’s perhaps best understood on a realism scale.
Science Fiction vs Fantasy Genres in Order of Realism
- Hard Science Fiction – SF that is strongly focused on realism and how things would realistically work. No faster than light travel, no space wizards, nothing that can’t be described by real life science. Project Hail Mary and The Martian by Andy Weir, Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke.
- Soft Science Fiction – SF less focused on realism. The story is less concerned with how a spaceship works, and more concerned with getting the characters to their next alien battling adventure. However, there may still be some attempt to make the technology believable. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick, Neon Leviathan by T.R. Napper.
- Urban Fantasy – Fantasy set in an urban, modern, or otherwise real-world setting. The focus is on magic, the supernatural, and other impossible things, and how they would impact people living in the real world. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, Moon Called by Patricia Briggs, Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead.
- Science Fantasy – The “softest” of soft science fiction, science fantasy is focused on unrealistic technology and how it interacts with the people of a fictional world. It may include unrealistic technology like faster than light travel and laser swords, and magical or supernatural elements. Science Fantasy often lacks the realistic science of harder science fiction, and the realistic setting of urban fantasy. The Star Wars films, Cage of Souls by Adrian Tchaikovsky, and Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples.
- High or Epic Fantasy – Fantasy set in a largely or entirely fictional world. The focus is on magic, the supernatural, and other impossible things, and how they impact the fictional world. It lacks even the unrealistic, magical “science” of science fantasy. Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson.
Urban Fantasy and Science Fantasy can have differing levels of groundedness and realism, but Urban Fantasy’s real-world setting generally makes it more grounded and plausible. Even the most scientifically plausible science fantasy spaceship will feel less believable than a wizard working in present day Chicago. Magic is far less plausible than an interstellar spaceship, but at least Chicago currently exists. (At least it did last time I checked. You never know these days, what with Godzilla and all.)
There are loads of other subgenres that fit in these umbrella categories, with varying levels of realism. Super hero stories and alternate history can be science fiction, science fantasy, epic fantasy, and more. Steampunk stories fall somewhere between science fiction and urban fantasy. Supernatural stories may be urban or high fantasy, or even soft science fiction. Space opera and planetary romance combine the space adventures of Soft Science Fiction with the romance and battles of Epic Fantasy. When it comes to fiction, creative genre mixing is the rule, not the exception.
Whenever you’re discussing science fiction vs fantasy or other genres, keep in mind that genre boundaries are always blurry. Genre labels are useful as a lens to view and interpret stories, as a collection of tropes to help writers target a specific audience, and as a heading to help you find what you’re looking for on Netflix, but they aren’t absolutes. When you’re discussing a story, there is little reason to argue if it’s science fiction vs fantasy. If a genre label isn’t useful to you, feel free to use another. Call Star Trek a western. Call Alien Vs. Predator a romance. Nobody can stop you.
The important thing about a story is not the genre, but how it affected you. Whether it was about magic or monsters or machines, did the characters touch your heart? Did you feel excited, fall in love, gasp with fear? Did it make you laugh, make you think, make you cry? Then whatever genre it is, it’s a fantastic story. It’s a powerful, living thing. It’s just as much a part of you now as your own heart. And that’s enough.
When it comes to science fiction vs fantasy, where do you draw the line? Let me know in the comments!
Have more questions about science fiction? Check my Science Fiction FAQ!
