You've got fantasy on my science fiction

[pbray]

A number of discussions in LJ and other blogsplots on defining the genres. I'm more of a seat of the pants person-- "I know it when I see it," but aireon shared a definition that I really like.

A science fiction universe is one in which the universe is finite, that is, it is assumed that all things can, in the end, eventually, even if not within the time frame of the story, be understood (measured, quantified, etc).

A fantasy universe is one in which the universe is infinite; there will always be things that can't be understood.

Comments

[pbray.livejournal.com]

My formal scientific training stopped with freshman physics in college, but I think many scientists would agree that stories built around instanteous communication across galactic distances, and FTL ships that allow characters to skip from one end of their universe to another as easily as ships traverse our oceans, have more in common with fantasy than with science.

And that's even setting aside the pesky questions of "The Force" as magic or why Vulcan mind-powers are any more scientifically plausible than a so-called urban fantasy revolving around a psychic human heroine....

That's why the definition based on open versus closed universes appealed to me on a visceral level. I think this is one of those underlying beliefs that inform an author's works, even if she doesn't consciously recognize it while she's writing.

Speaking of which, enough LJ procrastination. Back to the story!