How Do You Define “Science Fiction” and “Fantasy”?
How do you define sci-fi and fantasy?
The term “science fiction” has never been precisely defined and in fact there have been many spirited arguments among fans about where the boundaries should be set or whether or not some specific book should be included. There were and still are disagreements about whether the term should be viewed only as a genre label or whether it is more generally applicable as a descriptive term. “Speculative fiction” and other alternatives have been suggested although “sci-fi” is generally considered derogatory or related to movies rather than written works. Because science fiction has long been considered an inferior form of writing that never escaped its pulp origins, mainstream authors who wrote speculative fiction such as George Orwell and Aldous Huxley - and more recently Margaret Atwood and Doris Lessing - often tried to distance themselves in order to establish that they were “serious” writers. There are recent indications that the negative connotations of genre fiction may be dissipating at last, as writers like David Anthony Durham and Lev Grossman have illustrated by embracing the fantasy label, but the old prejudices are not likely to die out quickly.
Lord of the Rings
Even though fantasy has been around much longer than science fiction, it was generally considered a subset of science fiction prior to the paperback release of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, at least by publishers, and the two are still routinely shelved together in most bookstores. Horror existed in a kind of limbo, sometimes packaged as science fiction, sometimes as mysteries or thrillers, and in fact it is arguable that horror is more about tone than content. Genre readers are, however, generally able to distinguish among the three though they may argue about individual titles.
An admitted oversimplification might be useful here. Science fiction assumes that there are natural laws – science – which govern the universe and that while we might not yet have discovered all of those laws, new discoveries can be integrated with what we already think we know about the way things work without upsetting our general understanding of reality. Fantasy assumes that while there might be laws – magic – they are not necessarily fixed or completely knowable, they might even change under certain circumstances, and we can never really comprehend everything about the way things work.
Supernatural horror fiction asserts that there really aren’t any incontrovertible laws of any kind, that anything can happen, that we do not understand the universe and never will. Most horror fiction published in English is at least loosely based on the Judaeo-Christian outlook and assumes that supernatural forces of good and evil are at large on Earth. Non-fantastic horror fiction such as The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris or The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux are more akin to mystery and suspense fiction, and the blurred distinction is, as mentioned, a function of marketing.
There are of course stories that don’t fit neatly into these definitions. If the protagonist travels to another planet by technological means, and discovers that magic works on that planet, is the story science fiction or fantasy? If there are vampires in the world, but they are actually a mutation of humanity bound by defined natural laws and with no supernatural powers, is the story science fiction or horror? If a story involves ghosts and werewolves and vampires, but they’re just folks like us and the tone of the book is humorous or adventurous, is it horror or fantasy?
This last has become particularly relevant during the past few years with the rise of the paranormal romance or suspense story, typically featuring a feisty female protagonist in an urban setting who battles against forces of supernatural evil, usually with the aid of other supernatural creatures who are also opposed to the bad guys. Werewolves, vampires, and other creatures formerly associated with evil and dread have increasingly become comic, romantic, or heroic figures. The presence of a vampire would, until recently, automatically move a book into the horror category. That is no longer the case.
King and Straub's The Talisman
Marketing departments are always on the alert for a new label that might boost sales. Science fiction is now offered not only under that label but as techno-thrillers, suspense novels, satire, and as novels of alternate history, each label designed to attract a wider or at least different audience. Fantasy has fragmented – at least in the minds of the publishers – into paranormal romance, magic realism, slipstream fiction, and mainstream fantasy. Horror fiction, which has always been the least popular of the three, has been so fragmented from the outset that there really hasn’t been much change, except that there is a clear divide between the handful who have become “Bestsellers” like Stephen King, Dean R. Koontz, Peter Straub, and others, and the vast majority whose work generally appears as paperback originals or from the small press.
The only real advantage of this to the reader is that if you want more of the same sort of thing that you’ve just read, labeling and sequestration in the bookstore makes it easier to find similar titles. The similarity, however, is in theme and plot only and is no guarantee of quality. It used to be quite common for writers to dabble in multiple genres – science fiction, fantasy, horror, and mystery – rather than specialize. Although some still vary their work, the trend is clearly toward specialization. If a writer knows that producing a sequel to a successful previous book is more likely to ensure high sales than risking something entirely new, it becomes very difficult to stay fresh and innovative.
The problem as I see it is that the reading public is no longer as motivated to follow specific authors as it once was. Writers in all genres have tended more toward the creation of series than standalone books, as though books are now meant to function in the same way as television programs, creating a cast of familiar characters whose adventures we can follow from episode to episode. While this might reassure us that we won’t be greatly disappointed by the next book we read, it does make it less likely that we will stumble across a brilliant new masterpiece. It also tends to make books less penetrable to new readers who may not feel inclined to find all of the earlier titles in the series in order to fully appreciate the latest.
Unfortunately, publishing is a business and in recent years more likely to be part of “big” business, which means optimizing profits, even if that means lowering the quality of the product. Readers and writers have adapted to this new reality, and it seems likely that the old order will ever be restored.
– Don D’Ammassa has been reading science fiction since 1960 and reviewing it since 1970. He edited the Hugo nominated fan magazine Mythologies and has written scores of articles about the field for encyclopedias and other publications. He is also the author of several science fiction novels and dozens of short stories, including Narcissus, Haven, and Scarab. He has very eclectic tastes and savors the work of Edgar Rice Burroughs, J.G. Ballard, Robert A. Heinlein, Theodore Sturgeon, and H.P. Lovecraft, each in its own way. He is also the author of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy and Horror, and The Encyclopedia of Adventure Fiction.
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