Poll: Fantasy or Scifi?

[DugMachine]

Pretty big fan of fantasy. Even if it's the same 'dwarves, elves and orcs' stuff, sometimes it's done really well.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Both... why? Because... Aliens.
Yeah I said it.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Why do I have to choose? Can't I enjoy both?

 

[Lunar Templar]

Uh... both?

They can both be done incredibly well, and they can both be insipid regurgitations of hideously overused tropes.

Examples of fantasy done incredibly well? Has to be much better than the LoTR

LotR isn't that great really. Hell the only reason it's even brought up now is cause of the movies.

OT; I also prefer bot, with a fantasy leaning, even then I'm rather picky about it, use of elves and dwarves with not interesting spin on them? pass. I also tend to be displeased when they universe in question has a half dozen races or so but all I can be is a boring,fucking,human.

 

[AntiChri5]

Apples are awesome, but Oranges fucking suck.

 

[Fluffythepoo]

Would steampunk be fantasy scifi? Sciansy? It not believable science or even really science, but the explanation given isnt "shh its magic" its "shhh it steam ...science!!"

 

[SciMal]

Which one do you like better?

I think the fantasy world feels more organic. It also has magick and dragons, which make it automatically cool.

Sci-Fi.

Fantasy became boring to me in my late teens. It was getting to ridiculously arbitrary. You'd have writers pulling rules out of their asses which were completely new, unpredictable, and ultimately convenient to the plot - and then forget they ever existed two books later.

At least with Sci-Fi, the rules of the Universe are based on reality. They are semi-predictable, or if the writer is any sort of good, consistent with previously shown rules. When they aren't is when I lose interest. Peter Hamilton's "Void" series is a great example of a writer that just got more and more absurd with each successive book; the first book involves a novel way of travel, some really cool "cultural" comments, and by the last book in the series you're reading some bullshit explanation for why the McGuffin is going to change all of reality and make everything all better instantly.

I enjoy giving authors the benefit of the doubt and offer a little more suspension of disbelief for authors not of a science background (<3 Alistair Reynolds, btw), but there are a lot of mediocre ones who think throwing in some future-sex (because we're all uninhibited in the future) and a few cool technologies amidst either a space opera or space battle will distract learned readers.

I do like Neil Gaiman, though. Although even he gets old once you figure out his schtick.

 

[dreadedcandiru99]

I have to go with sci-fi. Game of Thrones is cool, yes, but at the end of the day, lasers are more awesome than swords. That's why the Army can't wait to put lasers on tanks or whatever.

 

[Zeke63]

so hard to choose, on the one hand song of ice and fire and on the other babylon 5 and star trek DS9 lol

 

[LordFish]

My girlfriend loves fantasy and I like Sci-Fi and don't really care for fantasy. Since she kinda likes Sci-Fi that's what we default to

 

[Darken12]

Fantasy is my only reason to read books. I cannot stomach non-fiction, and most of "high literature" (realistic fiction, historical fiction, drama, poetry and so on) is unbelievably boring and pretentious, so that leaves genre fiction, of which romance is rape culture, sci fi is eye-rollingly cheerful and optimistic (yes, even things like WH40K and Event Horizon, because pretty much all of sci fi is the author squeeing with delight at how awesome the future is going to be, even the dystopias), urban fantasy is basically the same story over and over (gasp! hidden magical world! mundane character gets embroiled in politics, action and supernatural shenanigans!), horror is dying off, mystery and suspense are regurgitating the same old plots that Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did better at the turn of the past century, and fantasy is really the only genre worth reading at this point, even if most of it is heteronormative, sexist, racist and so on.

 

[RedDeadFred]

Honestly, I like them equally. They both have amazing movies, TV series and books. I could never pick one over the other. Both have the ability to create brilliant worlds with great characters.

 

[Olas]

Ultimately Sci-Fi because it's generally a creative genre that predicts future problems and introduces scientific and moral dilemmas whereas Fantasy is usually based on conventions and generally introduces big battle sequences with monsters.

That being said I really like both, and they're more like different ends of a pool than different sides of a coin.

edit: Also OP, I know you probably think your soda option is hilarious, but these third (often food related) options got old a while ago and don't contribute anything.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

Uh... both?

They can both be done incredibly well, and they can both be insipid regurgitations of hideously overused tropes.

Examples of fantasy done incredibly well? Has to be much better than the LoTR

Lotr movies or the books? I, for one, don't think the books hold up that well. Sure, it might have created modern fantasy the way we know it, but so did cavemen banging on hollow tree trunks create music.

A Song of Ice and Fire
Berserk
The Witcher
The Vision of Escaflowne
Preacher (IMO it counts, though it's grounded in the real world and has a western vibe to it, but it also has a heavy emphasis on the supernatural)

Sci-Fi always held much more appeal to me.

Especially Cyber-Punk. Cyber-Punk has got to be my all time favourite genre. And there isn't enough good examples of cyber-punk out there. Much to my displeasure.

I'm not seeking to spark a debate here, but I might be your exact opposite in this matter. I prefer fantasy over sci-fi, and somehow cyberpunk never appeals to me. To me cyberpunk universes never feel distinctive enough from another.

My preference is fantasy. Somehow creating fictional worlds based on something that has already happened rather than what we think is going to happen feels more logical to me. And in sci-fi there almost always needs to be a heavier focus on explaining how things work, what with the warp drives, power armour, pulse rifles and all.

 

[The Funslinger]

I think somtimes rules and convetions arent always a good thing...I mean why do you think so many people like starwars?

I'm going to highlight my agreement with you by quoting myself from another thread:

The day some all powerful overseer manages to impose a formula that must be adhered to in order to constitute 'good' story telling, story telling as an art form, a form of expression and just about anything worth creating or observing would die.

OT: It depends on my mood. Also, George R.R. Martin did something amazing with fantasy. Unfortunately, it heralds people shifting from Tolkien rip offs to ripping him off instead, with poorly implemented, over the top grim-dark fantasy universes with maidens being raped, and main character death up the arse.

I dread that day.

 

[Korenith]

Fantasy is my only reason to read books. I cannot stomach non-fiction, and most of "high literature" (realistic fiction, historical fiction, drama, poetry and so on) is unbelievably boring and pretentious, so that leaves genre fiction, of which romance is rape culture, sci fi is eye-rollingly cheerful and optimistic (yes, even things like WH40K and Event Horizon, because pretty much all of sci fi is the author squeeing with delight at how awesome the future is going to be, even the dystopias), urban fantasy is basically the same story over and over (gasp! hidden magical world! mundane character gets embroiled in politics, action and supernatural shenanigans!), horror is dying off, mystery and suspense are regurgitating the same old plots that Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did better at the turn of the past century, and fantasy is really the only genre worth reading at this point, even if most of it is heteronormative, sexist, racist and so on.

Wow, that is possibly the most depressing and reductive assessment of literature I've ever seen. What did you read to make you hate everything so much? All I can think to say is that I am very glad I don't have your outlook on these things else I'd have given up on fiction years ago.

OT: I like both but I find Sci-fi tends to have more scope because it's interested in how humanity will react to new technologies whereas Fantasy has a habit of getting caught up in some epic quest, giving less time over to exploring the smaller details. That said it entirely depends on the author since the best will make something incredible regardless of the genre they pick to work in.