Thin Line Between Science Fiction and Fantasy (continued)

Science Fiction and Fantasy are two genres that have been grouped together for as long as I can remember (even longer than that, actually) and it’s not really too hard to see why. As a child growing up in the 80’s, seeing a mash-up of spaceships, robots, swords and magic was common in the realm of cartoons and movies; such as, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Thundercats, Krull, Heavy Metal and Flash Gordon. But there were books mixing these two genres together way before the 80’s.

A ground-breaking novel of its time, Dune by Frank Herbert, published in 1965, is a story set in the distant future with interstellar space travel, politics, religion, technology and ecology. Often called the greatest science fiction novel of all time, Dune holds an authority in the science fiction genre like no other. Dune is like science fiction’s Lord of the Rings; in the words of science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke: “Dune seems to me unique among novels in the depth of characterization and the extraordinary detail of the world it creates. I know nothing comparable to it except The Lord of the Rings.” The journey and mystic feel of the novel gives the story an appeal that fantasy readers can gravitate to—with psychic powers in place of magic, swords as weapons, prophecies and the semi-feudal political structure of the empire. Douglas Cohen explains on Tor.com how Dune is science fiction for fans of fantasy—that post is here.

Another popular science fiction series is the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey—the first book, Dragonflight, published in 1968. One would think with the word “dragon” in the titles, and the covers of these books showcasing this fantastical creature, that the Pern novels were straight fantasy. But, again, we’re dealing with a story that takes place in the distant future, were mankind inhabits a planet called Pern, but society is reduced to a more post Middle Ages-type of setting with low technology. The dragons are basically “animals” genetically modified so that the humans can communicate with them through telepathy and use them to fight off virus-like organisms called Thread. Again, it is psychic abilities that give the characters their “magic-like” abilities.

One who has often been accredited as one of the founders of “science fantasy” is Christopher Stasheff, who had his first book in the Warlock of Gramarye series published in 1969. The first book, called The Warlock in Spite of Himself, tells the story of undercover agent, Rodney Gallowglass, who discovers a planet called Gramarye inhabited with people who dwell within a medieval-type civilization. Riding around on Fess, his robotic companion—who takes the guise of a robot horse—Rodney Gallowglass’s use of technology makes him a wizard in the eyes of the inhabitants. There are other parts of the series where “real” magic comes into the act. These books are not trying to be science fiction, nor are they trying to be fantasy. The author uses the components of both genres to kind of illustrate his political views within an adventurous story.

Even earlier than the works mentioned above, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Mars (or Barsoom) series, starting with the publication of A Princess of Mars in 1917, told the story of John Carter from planet Earth finding himself on Mars and having great strength and special abilities, making him renown as a hero on Mars—a work containing a lot of fantasy-like overtones. Later authors, like Jack Vance, Arthur C. Clarke and John Norman, were inspired by Burroughs’ Barsoom series. John Norman’s Gor series, first published in 1966 with Tarnsman of Gor, goes along the same vein as Burroughs’  Barsoom series—a man from Earth going on a journey within an alien planet. Books like these tend to fall under the subgenre phrased as “Sword and Planet”, a phrase said to have been invented by Donald A. Wollheim (founder of DAW books) in the 60’s. Sword and Planet pertains to science fantasy stories which take place on other planets, where the protagonist is usually someone from Earth and the combat is usually hand-to-hand, with swords as the typical weapon.

Hard Science Fiction is based entirely on more plausible science within the story, but in the “softer” Science Fiction you will find stories where physic powers and telepathy are the “magic” within the stories, found in many books like the Saga of the Pliocene Exile by Julian May and Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Darkover series, in addition to Dune and the Pern novels.

Now, I can’t go away without mentioning Star Wars. I won’t say much about it because I have already discussed Star Wars a couple of years ago on this blog (you can read about it here), but I think what makes Star Wars such a huge success is because it’s a perfect mix of science fiction and fantasy with great adventures and unforgettable characters.

So, when you really look at the long history of science fiction, you really can see the reason why these two genres tend to co-exist together. They share a section together in the bookstores, and they share the successful explosion of speculative fiction in the 20^TH century. But let’s not forget that Fantasy has been around much longer than Science Fiction, and the two of them married together really makes a great match.  


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