What’s the difference?
Who knew that there would be such strong feelings about my post about “The Marvelous World” series? Ironically, while the dialogue about race that followed on such sites as digg was a bit dispiriting, it was more my classification of the book that set most people off. In fairness, I was warned by a fellow blogger shortly after posting. I had no idea that people felt that strongly about it.
You see, the author of the work has classified the book as science fiction (remember, it’s not out yet so I haven’t read it). The series has been compared to Harry Potter. So, thinking logically, I made the leap that Harry Potter was science fiction. And I’ve already admitted that I am probably the only person in the world who hasn’t ever read a Harry Potter book. So, I made the statement in my digg summary that books works were science fiction. Oh, the horror! Apparently, this is a terrible mistake to make. But an honest one. I can’t find two explanations of the differences between the two genres that are consistent.
So, I offer this for debate here: exactly what is the difference between science fiction and fantasy?
This is the first explanation that I received:
Let’s see, science fiction is based on something that *could* be real, like space travel. Fantasy is based on something that probably could never be real, like unicorns, or dragons, or magic wands….
Enlighten me. Please!
Harry Potter, Marvelous World, science fiction, fantasy, genre, digg
April 23rd, 2007 at 11:55 am
[...] I know what you’re thinking, “Thank goodness!” It’s true. As a children’s book blogger, I really should be mentioning Harry Potter. And I will. Book launches and stuff? I got that covered. But really important Harry Potter details? I can’t be relied upon to do that. Remember, I’ve never read a Harry Potter book before and I still haven’t figured out the difference between fantasy and science fiction (though that may change since I just received two fantasy books to review). [...]
April 23rd, 2007 at 11:55 am
[...] So there! All of you who were offended about the sci-fi thing can put your knives away. But then, I’m still waiting to hear what the difference is… [...]