Newsletter 05/30/04

Your editor this week is Colin Back on the Ghost Roads

Fantasy and Science Fiction: How Much Like One Can the Other Be?

Last time I discussed the differences (or lack thereof) between magic and technology. That discussion will continue in the letters from the readers this time and hopefully well into the future. For the Editor's point, however, I am going to move on to a different section of the topic, genre conventions.

Every genre and sub-genre has conventions. By this I don't mean the events where people gather to dress up like their favorite characters and see stars of the genre. I'm referring to common themes, settings, character types and so on. These conventions are, to a degree, defining points in the genre. Magic in Fantasy and Technology in Science Fiction are two examples of conventions. In the case of Fantasy and Science Fiction, however, are there conventions that can be used in one which are impossible in the other? That is rather too broad a question to answer in a newsletter, so I'm going to look at some favorite conventions of the two genres and show how conventions from one can be used in the other. I'll look at conventions of Fantasy this time around, and see how Science Fiction conventions make their way into Fantasy next time.

Let's start with some common fantasy conventions. Dragons are clearly near the top of the list. Do we see Dragons in Science Fiction literature? Well, as will be seen in one of the letters, anyone familiar with the Pern series by Anne McCaffery must answer yes. Her dragons are wonders of genetic engineering, and were bred from a native life from of the alien world of Pern. So, dragons do have a place in Science Fiction.

Another common theme in Fantasy literature is sword fighting. Science fiction does have some of this. Star Wars has a group of sword wielding knights. Still, those swords are high tech devices that are really far more than normal swords. In the series Bio of a Space Tyrant, however, sword fights are common, and they use normal swords. The reason for this is that the fights happen in space. Guns aren't so good for personal combat thanks to the laws of inertia. Swords, on the other hand, are perfect for space combat. One hit and your opponent is finished, since it punctures the space suit.

Another convention of Fantasy are various humanoid races, such as Elves, Dwarves hobbits and so on. Science Fiction has similar things, such as Klingongs, Wookies, Vulcans and the like. Alien races and alien fauna serve the same functions in the same way as various races and monsters in fantasy fiction.

In some Fantasy stories, the Gods walk the earth and interfere in the affairs of men. In Science Fiction, we have alien probes, advanced machinery, and incredibly powerful alien races to take the same sorts of roles.

As you can see from the whirlwind tour, many classic Fantasy bits have a home in Science Fiction as well. While next time I will be looking at the reverse situation, I will be happy to examine any Fantasy conventions the readers would like to put forward and see if they also fit in to Science Fiction.