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As a science fiction writer, I get asked what the difference between science fiction and fantasy is.
Occasionally someone will ask me what I write and then say, “Oh, I love The Lord of the Rings.” While I also love LOTR, alas, it is not science fiction. However, it can be pretty easy to confuse the two genres.
To help clear things up, let’s go over a few key differences between the two popular genres.
1. Possible vs Impossible
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Are killer robots possible? What about a witch who rides her wooden broom to the moon?
Science fiction explores what could happen, while fantasy shows us a world where the impossible is made possible.
Science fiction authors work to expand and explain the science behind their world. It doesn’t always have to be hard science harshly critiqued or revered by the scientific community. The science can be simplistic or superficial.
Fantasy doesn’t have to explain the physics behind a wizard’s magic; he’s just magical, and that’s that. Rather, they expand on the laws or demands their fantastical world holds based on imagined concepts.
2. Setting
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While science fiction and fantasy can have similar settings, there are some key differences.
Science fiction will show a world influenced by technology or some other science-based phenomenon. This world can be a dystopia, utopia, or something in between.
Some believe science fiction is confined to the future, but that’s not the case. Science has been around forever and can be a central theme in any era.
There doesn’t need to be robots or aliens in this past, although that can be fun; the world just has to have some element of science that plays a role in the story.
Fantasy allows us to explore worlds where science doesn’t play a role. It shows us worlds that are impossible and magical. It allows us to explore the supernatural and the unexplainable. Many believe fantasy is only set in ancient or mythical times, but this isn’t so. Magic can exist in any time or universe.
3. Mythical Creatures, Aliens, and Robots, Oh My!
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Mythical creatures or characters and plausible creatures or characters can be tricky to differentiate.
For instance, a giant spider would seem to fall under fantasy. However, it depends on the reason the spider is so big. If the spider evolved to be bigger than usual because of the planet’s atmosphere or for a biological reason, then the giant spider is science fiction.
When a creature or character is defined as an extraterrestrial type being (aka alien), many people confuse this as fantasy. Possibly because some people do not view aliens as something applicable to reality.
Most people in the scientific community will tell you that there’s a pretty high probability that we are not alone in the universe. There’s even an equation to justify it. While we may never meet other life, it is most likely out there.
I understand this might sound far-fetched to some, but it is within the realm of plausibility. Thus, aliens are a science fiction trope.
Mythical characters and creatures like wizards, witches, vampires, and minotaurs all belong to the fantasy genre because there is no scientific basis for their existence and they live outside the realm of the real world.
There are instances where vampires or other mythical creatures have crossed over toward science fiction—when there’s a science-based explanation for their existence.
4. Magic vs Science
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This is an area that can get tricky, confusing, and even downright controversial.
To keep things straight, I say if the science seems magical or the magic scientific, it's science fantasy.
The Marvel Universe is a great example of obscuring the line between magic and technology.
While Iron Man can be considered a science fiction character, Dr. Strange and Thor seem to live in a world where magic and science live side-by-side. This would be science fantasy.
Take Star Wars and, in my humble opinion, Dune, these can arguably be placed in science fantasy. While there are themes of space, interplanetary war, and technology; magic also plays a large role in both.
In Star Wars, the force plays a major part in the plot, and in Dune, the Bene Gesserit could be viewed as magical beings.
Some argue (and rightly so, I think) that these ideas, while perhaps not in the realm of the reality we understand, could be roughly based on science.
The force is described as an energy field that surrounds all things in the universe. And the Bene Gesserit used eugenics and conditioning to mold their sisterhood. When we think of these concepts in a theoretical way, they could be science fiction and not fantasy.
5. Tropes
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In science fiction and fantasy and almost all stories, there is typically a hero or a group of heroes, a dark lord or an evil emperor, various races and species, and a quest or a journey.
Tropes can be used to help the reader differentiate between science fiction and fantasy.
Classic Tropes of Fantasy
Dragons
Castles
Wizards/witches
Elves
Warriors with swords
Classic Tropes of Science Fiction
Aliens
Scientists
Time travel
Robots/AI
Spaceships
As mentioned earlier, many of these can cross over between the two genres depending on how they are presented.
Subgenres
There are numerous subgenres in science fiction and fantasy, which can help make distinctions.
Both fantasy and science fiction are speculative. They ask “what if?” and are a wonderful way to explore and examine aspects of the real world through a unique lens or to lose ourselves in worlds unknown.
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