(Image credit: “Thrust” by Wasso Kozlina IV)
“Science Fantasy” is a term that has had a number of different meanings in the past. The phrase used to be used in a somewhat derogatory way, in order to contrast “lighter” or more “fantastical” works with the rigorous, and implicitly more preferable, works of “hard” science fiction.
But the term is being used now, more and more, to describe media that combines tropes from both the fantasy and science fiction genres. It is still seen as a lesser genre, and the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction even calls it a “bastard genre.” But I think science fantasy is not only interesting and exciting, I think it’s important.
First off, science fantasy is a genre that exists only because of the categorization between these two main poles of speculative fiction. In the early days of science fiction the genres were not so separate, and it was only in later decades the boundaries became more well-drawn. But like many such boundaries, once set, the temptation to cross them becomes irresistible. Any such boundary is almost an invitation for artists and creatives to come and break it.
A work that contains tropes from two or more once-distinct genres is difficult to categorize, and by its very existence throws the whole program of categorization into question. It exists in an ambiguous, liminal, in-between space. It is a shade of grey amongst the black-and-white, and as such, reflects the same ambiguous “greying” that we see in the social, political, and cultural spheres in our world.
Science fantasy is an explicitly post-modern genre, one that acknowledges that the audience is aware of and understands genre distinctions, before gleefully and self-consciously blurring them. This initial crossing of genres then opens the door for yet more genres to flood in, which is why mystery, horror, and historical genre tropes often appear in science fantasy. Seeing these genres side-by-side invites the audience to reconsider what is possible, to examine and integrate rival frameworks, and to explore the unknown and unfamiliar and therefore confront the Other and the Shadow.
Against forces that seek to categorize and flatten individuals into easily graspable demographics, science fantasy makes space for and celebrates the full complexity of humanity, and is therefore political. Why must there be binaries? Why must there be borders? If we are grouping people, why? And who benefits from those distinctions?
Moreso than other genre-mashups, because of fantasy’s wistful gaze toward an idyllic imagined past and science fiction’s analytic projections into an array of possible futures, bringing these two perspectives together calls up the full temporal range of human experience and unites it in a present that can be, at its best, a transcendent moment.
Also, it’s just cool, right? A wizard with a ray gun? A cyborg dragon? That’s just Awesome.
That’s Science Fantasy Awesome.
In this blog, I’m going to explore examples of science fantasy media and examine them with this lens: What makes these works ambiguous? Where are the places where fantasy and science fiction meet? And what makes them awesome?