Science Fiction vs Fantasy

Use this forum to discuss the July 2020 Book of the month, "Zona: The Forbidden Land" by Fred G. Baker.
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victoriasimons
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Re: Science Fiction vs Fantasy

Post by victoriasimons »

I would say that the book has science fiction influences, due to the chemical alterations, details and scientific changes to the world. However, it does not consistently stick to this genre, as you say, these influences only become apparent around halfway through. I wonder if it might be classified as speculative fiction instead?
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Post by Officialboluwatife »

Not seeing the science fiction from the start is a suspense which I encourage. It is a science fiction story and not fantasy.
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Post by houligan19 »

I thought the sci-fi aspect was on target. A strange occurance with an attempted scientific explanation that seemed feasible to me.
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Post by Francis okorie »

I feel it was science fiction but it wasn't as deep as I thought it would be but I can say it's more science fiction than fantasy.
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Post by Awilson531 »

I would say this fits mostly within sci-if, but as others say it does seem to float around a few genres. Is there an encompassing genre for science fiction, fantasy and likewise? Would that be speculative fiction?
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Post by Edwin Amah »

Science fiction has it's own time to be introduced and we may not likely compare that with fantasy. I think the science fiction in this book is quite justifiable.
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Post by Amy Murdoch Coleman »

I wouldn't say that it's "normal" for science fiction books, but I actually really appreciated that the sci-fi elements were a little more muted. So many books of this genre really drown the reader in hard-to-digest descriptions and encounters, so they cease to be realistic (or enjoyable).
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Post by rahilshajahan »

rumik wrote:
> The lines between science fiction and fantasy often get blurred, they're
> both lovely genres so I see no faults in this book leaning more towards one
> or the other.

I completely agree with rumik. Fantasy genre is like a super set to science fiction. In the end of the day, real life scenarios have nothing to do with either of them.

I think the author brought in sci-fi as to vaguely explain the unnatural observations in Zona giving it some relatable features to that of the real world. The book was a good read nonetheless.
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Sushan Ekanayake
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Making a science fiction too scientific won't be healthy for the majority of the readers who do not prefer science much. So the content which is targeted to such audience might appear as just fantasy
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Post by Fatima Saif »

There is no initial point for where to begin scientific fiction or fantasy part in a book. It's totally writer's choice to select where it fits in the story plot. There's no beginning no ending point for fantasy, romance, mystery or fiction to be written. Story is based on imagination and imagination is always beyond limits. So Zona is still a good book worth reading and it has nothing wrong if fiction part has less contribution in it.
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Post by Haywhyre7 »

yeah quite true...i also felt it was more fantasy than science-fiction. Though I felt that's what the author intended perhaps for non-readers of science fiction
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Post by kathy2705 »

I think it is more of a fantasy because of the exaggerated relationship between humans, nature and animals.
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Post by Astrolorraine »

Well, it depends. The lines are quite blurry between sci-fi and fantasy, in fact they are often lumped together as the SFF genre. As to how early those elements become obvious, it completely depends on the author. Often it's obvious from the start (think Lord of the Rings), but other authors like Stephen King for example will let a significant portion of the book be character-driven before introducing magical elements. So, it's not too unusual I'd say.
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Post by grgmrn »

I think this is more of an adventure-slash-mystery book than it is actual science-fiction, and the science-fictional element it does contain is not particularly important to the story it tells. I'm not sure but I believe it was Arthur C. Clarke who said something along the lines of: 'Real science-fiction is that in which removing the science-fictional part collapses the story.'
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Post by Nelson Reviews »

"I kept waiting for the science fiction, and it really didn't appear until halfway through the book. Is that normal for science fiction books?"

"Yes it is Normal"

Personally, my anticipation is that, the fantasy scenes are what made Zona even more overwhelming. I was so moved by the quick build up of Tyler's
intimecy relationship with Irina, to an extent that; I forgot this is a science fiction novel. The adventurous context of this book gave me a tremendous grove each time I read! Such that I didn't even notice each time a science fiction plot nor scene kicked in.
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