RootsBooster Posted June 5, 2012 Author Share Posted June 5, 2012 fantasy is not science fiction! I never said it was. What I said is... Fantasy IS fiction ...which is true. ... Science fiction involves a suspension of disbelief which is different than that involved with fantasy. In fantasy, you never go back to believing that there are trolls, unicorns, witches, and so on. But in science fiction, you read it, and it's not true now, but there are things which are not true now which are going to be someday. Everybody knows that! And this creates a very strange feeling in a certain kind of person -- a feeling that he is reading about reality, but he is disjointed from it only in temporal terms. It's like all science fiction occurs in alternate future universes, so it could actually happen someday. The same could be said for fantasy, depending on what you consider possible. Take for example "Clash of the Titans", it has gods in it. Some people consider gods a totally believable concept. Fantasy isn't all about "trolls, unicorns, witches, and so on" either. Are you one of the people who can't enjoy a book if they find the subject unbelievable? EDIT: I'm not even going to start about all the fantasy in the Bible! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootsBooster Posted June 5, 2012 Author Share Posted June 5, 2012 for me what I like about science fiction is that it can be used as a medium to explore current day fears taken to an extreme. I like stuff set in distopian futures. Any fiction can can do that, if it's written to include it. Many of Stephen King's horror stories are largely about small-town politics/hierarchies/social control as a side issue. The zombie(ish) movie 28 days later was science fiction as well as horror, exploring the abuse of scientific experiments. Very often horror, sci-fi & fantasy are intertwined in literature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johncocker Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 for me what I like about science fiction is that it can be used as a medium to explore current day fears taken to an extreme. I like stuff set in distopian futures. maybe you're a fan of the late great p. k dick. an amazing writer as for belief and immersion in si fi p .k took it a step further. some time in the 70's Dick believed he was receiving a series of communications from an entity that he called VALIS, for Vast Active Living Intelligent System. These were delivered via an "information-rich pink beam" that transmitted directly into his mind. At first the messages were in the form of laser beams and geometric patterns, eventually they involved him living a double live as a persecuted Christian in Rome during the first century A.D. He ended up writing about these experiences in the books VALIS, Radio Free Albemuth and an 8,000 page long journal he called Exegesis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootsBooster Posted June 5, 2012 Author Share Posted June 5, 2012 maybe you're a fan of the late great p. k dick. an amazing writer as for belief and immersion in si fi p .k took it a step further. some time in the 70's Dick believed he was receiving a series of communications from an entity that he called VALIS, for Vast Active Living Intelligent System. These were delivered via an "information-rich pink beam" that transmitted directly into his mind. At first the messages were in the form of laser beams and geometric patterns, eventually they involved him living a double live as a persecuted Christian in Rome during the first century A.D. He ended up writing about these experiences in the books VALIS, Radio Free Albemuth and an 8,000 page long journal he called Exegesis. Ah... Sci-fi fantasy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSmith Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 Last week I heard a review by a panel of several book critics on the radio. The book they were reviewing was called "Dark Matter", a ghost story set in the Arctic. Two of the reviewers basically said they kind of liked it but couldn't enjoy any fiction in general because "you have to be able to believe in it for it to be enjoyable". I don't agree with this and I don't actually understand their reasoning. I don't believe in ghosts, werewolves, aliens, zombies, or demons but I enjoy reading fiction, horror mostly. I find a well written novel can be thrilling and immersing, regardless of the subject, isn't that the point of the art of writing? Does anyone agree/disagree and why? They clearly lacked an imagination. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 ...Ability to suspend disbelief might be crucial to enjoy many stories, but perhaps it can only go so far or only work in certain circumstances. I think most people will happily suspend their disbelief to allow for writers' leaps of imagination within their genre conventions, even if they're very familiar with that particular genre, but a small transgression can have the ability to drag the reader/viewer out of that fictional world. For example, I might suspend my disbelief to allow a scientist to create a vampire/kitten hybrid provided that I can see that the scientist knows one end of a Gilson from another. Have the scientist plunge her pipette into a test-tube without first sticking a tip on its end, or have her blithely contaminate her workspace, or have a few beakers of bright red and green liquids bubbling away in the background, and the woman in the lab coat is immediately just another actress from central casting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johncocker Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 Ah... Sci-fi fantasy he also wrote "reality is that which, when you stop believing in it doesn't go away." round about the same time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johncocker Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 I never said it was. What I said is... ...which is true. The same could be said for fantasy, depending on what you consider possible. Take for example "Clash of the Titans", it has gods in it. Some people consider gods a totally believable concept. Fantasy isn't all about "trolls, unicorns, witches, and so on" either. Are you one of the people who can't enjoy a book if they find the subject unbelievable? EDIT: I'm not even going to start about all the fantasy in the Bible! the difference is in your case illusory:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handypandy Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 Over the years i have read hundreds of fiction novels. During the experience, I believed them all. I've read a fair few factual books that were totally unbelievable! I am going to plug a new book here,written by someone I know. It is out on Kindle as a childrens book, but I have read the first chapter on Amazon and I'm hooked:) The book is called "Lucy Messenger and the Holy Grail". The author has just moved to Sheffield on a whim, not knowing anyone(I met her through work). I have asked her to join the Forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxman Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 I recently read a book set in Sheffield that that was let down by small, descriptive errors. If I'd never lived in Sheffield I no doubt wouldn't have batted an eyelid and would have merrily read it and enjoyed but when a book is so firmly associated with a place, and the writer can't even be bothered to get major road layouts correct or accurately descibe the direction in which trams travel then it loses all integrity I'm afraid. I could far more easily believe in distant worlds and shapeshifters than in the rest of his story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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