I’ve been reading science fiction long enough that I remember the “Golden Age,” when editor John W. Campbell of Analog magazine (earlier Astounding Science Fiction) guided the careers of such greats as Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Theodore Sturgeon, and Arthur C. Clarke. Lost in a library stack, I’d pull book after book off the shelf and read them without ever checking them out.
Then I watched the fantasy genre take over. Hard science seemed to give way to “soft sciences” aimed at psychological issues. (I think it no coincidence that this happened at the same time a drug culture took over young people in the U.S.) With less focus on the science, stories developed into magical and imagined realms, led by J.R.R. Tokien, Fritz Lieber, Ursula K. LeGuin, and Anne McCaffrey.
Since then, the two genres have walked hand-in-hand, with the coveted Hugo awards going to both sides.
But what is the difference? My essay on the topic was just published by Hallard Press, and I invite you to read it here: Fantasy … or Science Fiction?
Doc Honour
April 2023
Doc Honour Books 