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Category:Science Fiction: Difference between revisions
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''"It's been said that science fiction and fantasy are two different things: science fiction the improbable made possible; fantasy, the impossible made probable..."''|'''Rod Serling''', ''[[The Twilight Zone]]''}}
As a literary genre, Science Fiction (A subset of [[Speculative Fiction]]) is broad and incorporates subgenres ranging from [[Steampunk]] to [[Cyberpunk]], running headalong through [[Space Opera]] on the way.
The one defining(-ish, definitions differ) trait of Science Fiction is that there is technology that doesn't exist ''in the time period the story is written in''. Consider ''20,000 Leagues Under the Sea''. The story was written in a time when submarines were still at the prototype stage, so ''20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'' falls within the boundaries of Science Fiction.
However, Science Fiction is as much a genre as a [[Standard Sci
In general, without getting too much into the advanced and diverse subgenres of Science Fiction, there are two schools -- [[Mohs Scale of Sci Fi Hardness|"hard" and "soft"]]. "Soft" science-fiction usually uses technology as a means to an end, merely a backdrop that allows [[The Captain]] to fight for Justice™ with a [[Stun Gun|Stun Ray]] against the evil aliens and have [[Boldly Coming|space sex]] with the [[Green-Skinned Space Babe]]. Due to the desire to tell a story for [[Lowest Common Denominator|the masses]], Soft Science Fiction tends to be rather loose on the scientific integrity. On the other hand, "hard" science-fiction usually tries to use the advanced technology as something that is important in itself, with its consequences, limitations and new uses being the main plot points. [[Isaac Asimov]]'s Robot stories, per example, are about how robots affect and are affected by society, and how the [[Three Laws of Robotics]] have effects upon them. Here, the technology tells a story in itself, and because the explanation of technology rarely has anything to do with violence or sex, hard science fiction is usually a niche market, especially because [[Viewers Are Geniuses|readers are expected to understand how the technology involved works,]] which often is a realistic manner based on [[Science Marches On|then-current]] research and understanding of technology. (''[[The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress]]'' doesn't have then-unheard of calculators, so everyone runs around with slide rules, which was common in [[The Fifties]]). Another unfortunate tendency is for hard sci-fi writers to scoff at well-developed characters and stories as "soft"; quite often the plot is sacrificed [[For Science!]] This divide has been around since, essentially, [http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=231 the very beginning of the genre].
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[[Category:Speculative Fiction]]
[[Category:Literature Genres]]
[[Category:Genres]]
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