Why do Science fiction and Fantasy have to be mutually exclusive

[Revolutionary]

Ive got nothing against that, however the 'purists' take issue with the sometimes jarring juxtaposition.

 

[Coldie]

Off the top of my head, two of some of the greatest RPG series of recent past mixed Sci-Fi and Fantasy and only were better for it.

Wizardry. In this world, Sorcerers and Fireballs peacefully coexist with Muskets and Spaceships. The technology is omnipresent and somewhat anachronistic, from blunderbusses and crossbows to spaceships, computers, AIs, and microwaves. The game is fueled by the Rule of Cool, complete with Samurai, Ninjas, Hoverbikes, and Lightsabers.

Might and Magic. The seemingly-fantasy worlds of M&M are revealed to be either artificial constructs or colony worlds, abandoned by the Ancients after an attack by a race of zerg-like space devils. Blasters, Spaceships, Stargates, robots, terraforming platforms and artificial planets hide beneath a cheerful sword and sorcery exterior. Oddly enough, the Heroes of Might and Magic TBS spin-off did not include the SciFi elements, but most other X of M&M spin offs did.

 

[RivFader86]

ehm....star wars? Knights and Princesses flying around in spaceships fighting the black knight with swords to save the kingdom/galaxy from the evil magican/force user?
Replace the force with magic and POOF

You even got kind of the party set up of a fantasy story...Luke (the hero knight) Han (the rogue) Chewy (Barbarian)

 

[gl1koz3]

Taste. Whenever some voodoo magic happens on a space ship, I can't help it but feel disgust. Elves? Using computers? Seriously, what the?

 

[JensenBlayloc]

It isn't that you mix them, it is HOW you mix them. Star Wars (as many times posted) is an example of a good mix. Spelljammers? Not so much. For those who are too young to get the reference see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spelljammer

I apologize to both, er.. I mean all, of the spelljammer fans, who might be reading. I mean no offense to you and your personal choice of gameplay.

 

[Fetzenfisch]

science fiction is just a subgenre of fantasy at least in original sense. so a combination of both would be combine apples with fruit

if an astronaut crashes on a strange planet , or the protagonist of a victorian age writer shipwrecks and lands on an exotic island, its practical the same.

 

[Jaywebbs]

because fantasy and scifi are often extremely similar, and using the different names helps us differentiate them.

If they're extremely similar, why do we need to differentiate them?

Final Fantasy disagrees nyoro~! Si-Fi is kinda the Spock genre, with explanations about everything, while Fantasy assumes a degree of exoticism and "cannot be explained just have faith and know its there" logic, the two ideologies of the genre's are incompatable nyoro~

I agree with Demongeneral109 completely here. This is why I want more of a separation of the genres, at least in bookstores. I want a science fiction section and a fantasy section. I'll be in science fiction

to differentiate future and fringe science from past and magic. I dont think we need to differentiate them at all, personally, because they are so similar.

Bollocks,

Honestly Sci-fi requires just as much faith, if not more than, as Fantasy. If Every Sci-fi book or series took the time to explain how the stuff worked the books would be two or three times larger and no one would read it. Take Star Wars: You never find out how the engines work, You have no clue how the weapons work, No one seems to understand how the Death Star is propelled. All of these require some degree of faith else we'd just give up on it saying it's nonsense.

I honestly think the only difference between most sci-fi and fantasy is the time frame.

 

[Zykon TheLich]

Taste. Whenever some voodoo magic happens on a space ship, I can't help it but feel disgust. Elves? Using computers? Seriously, what the?

This is why I dislike the eldar in 40k. Such brilliantly designed costumes and spaceships and stuff, then they take their helmets off...and it's a fucking elf. A goddammed pointy eared, tree loving elf. Clearly they used up all their inventiveness on the tech. I saw a fan redesign of them that made them much more alien, still humanoid and 'fey' but not blatant elves. Was much better.

Honestly Sci-fi requires just as much faith, if not more than, as Fantasy. If Every Sci-fi book or series took the time to explain how the stuff worked the books would be two or three times larger and no one would read it. Take Star Wars: You never find out how the engines work, You have no clue how the weapons work, No one seems to understand how the Death Star is propelled. All of these require some degree of faith else we'd just give up on it saying it's nonsense.

I honestly think the only difference between most sci-fi and fantasy is the time frame.

I disagree. It may not be properly explained and for now it is a 'fantasy' but with a lot of science fiction there is a hope that one day, maybe we might be able to do that or something similar. no one is ever going to be able to combine a frogs leg and a pinch of fairy dust and cast a fireball by saying 'the magic words'. There is at least a basis for science fiction, magic is pure bullshit. Obviously it depends on the series you are talking about thouigh.

 

[gl1koz3]

Taste. Whenever some voodoo magic happens on a space ship, I can't help it but feel disgust. Elves? Using computers? Seriously, what the?

This is why I dislike the eldar in 40k. Such brilliantly designed costumes and spaceships and stuff, then they take their helmets off...and it's a fucking elf. A goddammed pointy eared, tree loving elf. Clearly they used up all their inventiveness on the tech. I saw a fan redesign of them that made them much more alien, still humanoid and 'fey' but not blatant elves. Was much better.

Indeed. The insane amounts of weirdness the original designs of 40k give is one of the reasons I'm done with the series for good.

 

[Woodsey]

Star wars...

Umm, yea I wouldn't complain about it, really.

Star Wars is a space opera.

OT: Because they're just different. Fantasy is dragons and magic (in my mind at least) and Sci-Fi is lasers and warp drives.

 

[Jirlond]

The action of the universes is hard to combine - but it can work.

OUTLANDER is a freaking awesome movie and it combines fantasy and scifi(kinda).

Outside that swords n sorcery and beam guns and magnetic shields cant really combat one another.

Deathstalker books by Simon R Green are very good at being sci fantasy!

 

[LarenzoAOG]

If you put them together you'll inevitably create some type of super nerd and then the people who would one day grow up to cure diseases and invent new cars and shit like that will be socially maladjusted retards who read the new sci-fi-fantasy books all the time like its the fucking bible... thats my theory at least.

 

[Jaywebbs]

I disagree. It may not be properly explained and for now it is a 'fantasy' but with a lot of science fiction there is a hope that one day, maybe we might be able to do that or something similar. no one is ever going to be able to combine a frogs leg and a pinch of fairy dust and cast a fireball by saying 'the magic words'. There is at least a basis for science fiction, magic is pure bullshit. Obviously it depends on the series you are talking about thouigh.

The point is that such technology is just as attainable today as it is possible to conjure fire out of thin air.

Also the space elves thing... They're called Vulcans, and Romulans, and oh hey the even have Drow/Remans.

 

[Zykon TheLich]

The point is that such technology is just as attainable today as it is possible to conjure fire out of thin air.

Ok, your point is that today we can do neither, my point is that one day we may concievably be able to do one, or at least some approximation, which is the whole point of sci fi, there is at least a basis for it, even if it's a hell of a long way off or even unattainable. Magic* is pure bullshit, sci fi only 95-99%.

One of the many reasons I don't watch Star Trek.

*Note that I am talking specifically about magic here not just medieval or whatever fantasy.

Indeed. The insane amounts of weirdness the original designs of 40k give is one of the reasons I'm done with the series for good.

Eh? I was saying that I like the wierd original designs, it's the virtual straight transplant of a traditional fantasy style elf that I don't like.


EDIT: PS everyone, he's not saying they haven't been mixed, he's asking why some people don't like it when they are mixed.

 

[Sark]

They mix all the time. You are an idiot.

 

[Trivun]

I've noticed that whenever a Fantasy story adds elements commonly associated with Science fiction (such as aliens, spaceships, etc) people tend to complain about it, and vice versa.

I wonder why these two genres can't mix. Sufficiently advanced technology may be indistinguishable from magic, but if that is true, shouldn't the opposite also be true?

I give you Artemis Fowl. Fantasy, what with the whole fairies and demons and centaurs and stuff thing, and also sci-fi, what with the whole super-special-awesome technology the fairies use. Only problem is it's meant for teenagers and younger readers (though that doesn't stop me, I love it and I'm almost 20). But that's a good example of sci-fi/fantasy done well.

For a more adult-oriented idea, take a look at Ian Irvine's Three Worlds Cycle. The first part is mostly fantasy, but the second quartet (books 5-8, the Well of Echoes Quartet) is very much fantasy with new technologies also springing up (explained brilliantly in the plot too). Airships, battle tanks, massive manufactories and power crystals and all sorts. Advanced technology crossed with steampunk crossed with fantasy, makes for a pretty compelling setting

 

[SonicWaffle]

Making truces = not evil.

On the contrary, it makes it clear that the demons in question are evil, and hate the Slayers. However, they don't want to fight them, and the Slayers don't have the resources to spare, so for now they're just avoiding each other. Maybe 'cease-fire' is the better term. Either way, it's a compromise: if you don't step out of line, we won't kill you.

Season 4, and it seems those guys are the minority. Remember S5? She basically stomped all over them, telling them what to do. The main guys seem to be pushovers, with a few badasses on their side. The reason they'd want her to think she's weak is so that she does what they tell her. Get her to think "They're smarter, better and right so I'll listen." They seemed to be well connected, but not good on the fighting end of the thing.

Which, frankly, doesn't make sense. The Watcher's Council is a massive, global organisation dedicated to fighting demons wherever they find them. The main purpose of the Watchers is to train Slayers - remember, Giles was the one who instructed Buffy in armed and unarmed combat, and keeps a large stash of personal weaponry in addition to his books - and if you're going to teach someone how to do something, it make sense that you would know how to do it. So as a basic assumption, all Watchers have some measure of combat training. Remember Wesley proudly boasting that he'd slain a couple of vampires under controlled conditions when he entered the show in series 3? Again, it follows logically that they all (except maybe the hardcore research types) have not only some combat training, but also a required amount of field experience.

Since there is (or was) only ever one Slayer per generation, and almost all the Watchers who appeared on the show are able to fight when necessary, logic dictates that the Council have many other operative capable of battling demons. Yes, the Slayer is their strongest weapon, but they'd be fools not to have Initiative-style combat teams ready to fights threats considered too minor for a Slayer, or merely things they wanted done quietly; such being the purpose of the wetwork team.

 

[SonicWaffle]

I give you Artemis Fowl. Fantasy, what with the whole fairies and demons and centaurs and stuff thing, and also sci-fi, what with the whole super-special-awesome technology the fairies use. Only problem is it's meant for teenagers and younger readers (though that doesn't stop me, I love it and I'm almost 20). But that's a good example of sci-fi/fantasy done well.

Surely almost 20 = 19 = teenager? I mean, I know most teens would rather think of themselves as adults, but going by technicalities..

I quite liked the books as a kid too. Mostly because Butler was badass. I haven't read anything since the...third? Maybe the fourth. The one where Opal takes over all the technology and such. I don't really mind admitting that I read sci-fi/fantasy, and I'm 23, but on the other hand everyone knows I'm a massive geek and they don't seem to care that much.

For a more adult-oriented idea, take a look at Ian Irvine's Three Worlds Cycle. The first part is mostly fantasy, but the second quartet (books 5-8, the Well of Echoes Quartet) is very much fantasy with new technologies also springing up (explained brilliantly in the plot too). Airships, battle tanks, massive manufactories and power crystals and all sorts. Advanced technology crossed with steampunk crossed with fantasy, makes for a pretty compelling setting

Holy crap, you mean those brick-thick books that've been sitting on my bookshelf for the past few years? Someone gave me the first 4 (which are apparently also the Well of Echoes, because I've seen the phrase on one of the covers) but I've never gotten around to reading them. A large book does not, in and of itself, put me off. Four large books staring me in the face does

 

[Trivun]

I give you Artemis Fowl. Fantasy, what with the whole fairies and demons and centaurs and stuff thing, and also sci-fi, what with the whole super-special-awesome technology the fairies use. Only problem is it's meant for teenagers and younger readers (though that doesn't stop me, I love it and I'm almost 20). But that's a good example of sci-fi/fantasy done well.

Surely almost 20 = 19 = teenager? I mean, I know most teens would rather think of themselves as adults, but going by technicalities..

I quite liked the books as a kid too. Mostly because Butler was badass. I haven't read anything since the...third? Maybe the fourth. The one where Opal takes over all the technology and such. I don't really mind admitting that I read sci-fi/fantasy, and I'm 23, but on the other hand everyone knows I'm a massive geek and they don't seem to care that much.

For a more adult-oriented idea, take a look at Ian Irvine's Three Worlds Cycle. The first part is mostly fantasy, but the second quartet (books 5-8, the Well of Echoes Quartet) is very much fantasy with new technologies also springing up (explained brilliantly in the plot too). Airships, battle tanks, massive manufactories and power crystals and all sorts. Advanced technology crossed with steampunk crossed with fantasy, makes for a pretty compelling setting

Holy crap, you mean those brick-thick books that've been sitting on my bookshelf for the past few years? Someone gave me the first 4 (which are apparently also the Well of Echoes, because I've seen the phrase on one of the covers) but I've never gotten around to reading them. A large book does not, in and of itself, put me off. Four large books staring me in the face does

You refer to The Opal Deception. A good book, though I much preferred The Time Paradox (the latest one). Definitely a good read .

And as for the Ian Irvine stuff, The Well Of Echoes is the second quartet in the series. The first book in the cycle is A Shadow On The Glass, which is book 1 of the View From The Mirror Quartet. I assume I'm right in saying the books you have are:

- Geomancer
- Tetrarch
- Alchymist
- Chimaera

Is that right? If so, then those are books 5-8. The total series spans 11 books so far, with a trilogy after the listed series, and another trilogy is planned for release beginning sometime next year. I heartily suggest you do give them a try, the books are very well written and if you're into sci-fi/fantasy fiction, they're a great read. The length may be a bit off-putting, although I managed to read the first quartet in about eight weeks (two weeks per book) when I first saw them in high school. I was about twelve at the time, for the record.