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Sep 1, 2021 · Science fiction often takes place in a dystopian society sometime in the future and contains elements of advanced technology. A fantasy story, on the other hand, is usually set in the fantasy realm and includes mythical creatures and supernatural powers.
- Science Fiction
Science fiction is one of the most creative genres in...
- Science Fiction
Jun 5, 2018 · Science fiction and fantasy are the preferred form of literature for 85.6%, and the same proportion state that science fiction and fantasy are as good as or better than other forms of writing. Respondents describe themselves as “dreamers” more than “realists,” 72.1% are proud to be seen reading science fiction, and 84.3% believe that ...
- Christopher Benjamin Menadue, Susan Jacups
- 2018
The main difference between fantasy and science fiction is that fantasy deals with the impossible, whereas science fiction deals with the possible. Fantasy features magic and monsters, the realm of the imagination, and science fiction is grounded in scientific principles.
- Movement Origin
- Representative Authors
- Representative Works
- Media Adaptations
- Themes
- Topics For Further Study
- Style
- Movement Variations
- Historical Context
- Compare & Contrast
c. 1818 Aliens, time travel, sorcerers, and dragons! The domains of Science Fiction and Fantasy literature are recognizable to many people, and throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the messages and social commentary behind these icons captivated readers, and more recently critics. Science Fiction and Fantasy appear from the outside to...
Isaac Asimov was born January 2, 1920, in Petrovichi, U.S.S.R. (the former Soviet Union), and moved to the United States with his parents in 1923, becoming a U.S. citizen in 1928. Asimov was a voracious reader. His love of science led to a doctorate in chemistry from Columbia University and a subsequent post as a professor of biochemistry at Boston University's School of Medicine—a position he held for much of his writing career. Although he published more than 450 fiction and nonfiction book...
Ray Douglas Bradbury was born August 22, 1920, in Waukegan, Illinois. During the depression, Bradbury's family moved to Los Angeles to find work. Bradbury began, like many other Science Fiction authors of the golden age, publishing his fiction in the fanzine he edited. In 1941, Bradbury published his first short story, and six years later, published his first story collection. With the publication of The Martian Chronicles, a series of interconnected short stories about the human colonization...
Robert Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was born July 7, 1907, in Butler, Missouri. Unlike many of his contemporaries, who started writing Science Fiction in their youth, Heinlein did not enter the field until he had already worked as a naval officer and studied physics and mathematics at the University of California, Los Angeles. As one of the Science Fiction writers for genre magazines during Science Fiction's golden age, Heinlein had a sophisticated writing style and raised the bar on Science Fiction litera...
Brave New World
Huxley's internationally acclaimed work, Brave New World, first published in 1932, is a nightmarish vision of what could happen in the future if politics and technology supersedes humanity. Huxley's novel depicts a futuristic, supposedly ideal world in which there is no sickness, disease, or war. However, to achieve this ideal, people are mass-produced in test tubes; social classes are created through genetic manipulations that predetermine a person's intelligence and body type; and unwanted...
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia, Lewis's seven-volume Fantasy series, was originally published between 1950 and 1956. The series (which followed a different order than current editions) started with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, a story about four English schoolchildren who find a portal to Narnia—a parallel Fantasy world—through a wardrobe. In Narnia, they learn they are there to fulfill a prophecy. In the process, they meet fantastical creatures, battle a witch, and witness the Christ-lik...
Frankenstein
Shelley wrote her novel Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus when she was in her late teens. The story was her entry in a writing contest with her lover, poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, the infamous poet Lord Byron, and John Polidori, who was Byron's doctor. Shelley's work, commonlyreferredtosimplyas Frankenstein,was published in 1818, and is widely regarded as the first true Science Fiction work for its reliance on scientific, rather than supernatural, action. The original novel differs greatly...
Brave New Worldwas released as an audio book in 1998. It was published by Audio Partners and read by Michael York.Four of the books from Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia series were made into award-winning television shows by BBC Television. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1988) was directed by Marilyn Fox....Director James Whale's classic, Frankenstein, was released as a film in 1931 by Universal Studios and starred Colin Clive as Dr. Frank-enstein and Boris Karloff as his monster. As of 2008 the movie...Frankenstein has seen many permutations on film, including Kenneth Branagh's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein,releasedin1994 and starring Branagh and Robert De Niro. Humorous adaptations of the Frankens...Science and the Supernatural
Science Fiction often reflects the time in which it is written. So it is that in the early twentieth century, when society was still heavily focused on technological innovation through science and industry, stories were often exploratory in nature. These stories were usually dominated by natural sciences like physics and astronomy, which often manifested themselves plot devices like spaceships or evolution. These plot devices were often incorporated into tales about humanity's future or alien...
There is no commonly accepted definition for what determines a hard science from a soft science, although many use these terms. Research some of the many sciences that Science Fiction authors have...One of the common beliefs about Science Fiction authors is that they intend to predict the future, and some works have been criticized when they have not accurately done so. Find three technologies...Many Fantasy authors begin their tales by creating a map of the imaginary world they are creating. Draw a map detailing an imaginary world of your own creation and label all of the major geographic...Utopia and Dystopia
A utopia is a literary form that features an idealistic imaginary society. In most cases, these ideals are unattainable. The author writes about this imaginary place not because he or she hopes to achieve this ideal but because the author hopes to inspire debate about the issues expressed in the work and so bring about social change. In Science Fiction, writers have in turn commented on the unattainable quality of utopias by writing dystopias— visions of a future society that, in striving to...
Description
Science Fiction by its very nature incorporates some form of scientific description in its tales. In some works, such as Asimov's I, Robotstories that examine the use of robots in human society, the science is meticulously explained as an integral part of the plot. Asimov writes, "Inside the thin platinum-plated 'skin' of the globe was a positronic brain, in whose delicately unstable structure were enforced calculated neuronic paths." This robot brain, like a human's, fits "snugly into the ca...
Setting
One of the most important choices Science Fiction and Fantasy authors make when creating stories is the setting. Because most Science Fiction and Fantasy works involve "rules" established through generations of other writers— such as Asimov's famous "Three Laws of Robotics"—the choice of a setting can introduce potential constraints. While writers sometimes bend or break those rules, deviating from them requires the formulation of a convincing and compelling alternative. The choice of a setti...
Science fiction had a profound effect on the development of motion pictures. From almost the very beginnings of film, Science Fiction movies have developed special effects, starting with the first real Science Fiction film, George Meĺiès's A Trip to the Moonin 1902. Since then, Science Fiction films have had a hit-or-miss history, and many literary...
Science Fiction has its roots in the nineteenth century, a time when the world experienced an explosion in new inventions and an appreciation of science and scientific methods as a means of progress. With the advent of the daguerreotype (the precursor to photography) in the first half of the century, humans harnessed the power to record images quic...
1900s: The Wright Brothers make their historic flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, proving to the world that humans can fly.1940s: German-born scientist Wernher von Braun develops the V-2 rocket for Adolph Hitler, envisioning it as a means for space travel. Hitler, however, uses the rocket as a weapon during World War I...Today:Having experienced both extraordinary success and tragic failure, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) continues to plan and send exploratory missions into space.1900s: Einstein proves the existence of atoms.1940s: The United States is the first to harness the power of the atom and demonstrates the awesome, destructive power of nuclear warfare when it drops...Dive deep into Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature with extended analysis, commentary, and discussion
Oct 11, 2024 · Science fiction and fantasy may share some similarities, but they each have their own distinctive characteristics. Science fiction focuses on scientific concepts and the impact of technology on society, while fantasy immerses readers in magical and mythical realms.
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Fantasy and science fiction are two popular genres that captivate readers with their imaginative worlds and compelling narratives. While both genres transport readers to extraordinary realms, they differ in various aspects, including their settings, themes, and use of scientific principles.
