[image error]I’ve been a little bit sickened lately, by the number of fantasy and paranormal novels showing up on sci-fi shelves.

Sci-fi and fantasy might both fall under the banner of ‘speculative fiction’ but they’re not the same thing.  Horror also falls under that banner but nobody seems to confuse sci-fi with horror or horror with fantasy.  So, what’s sci-fi and, if it’s not fantasy how can it be magic?

I’m so glad you asked.

Just for the sake of clarity, let’s start with a the actual name of the genre. It’s called ‘science fiction’, we shorten it to sci-fi because we can.  The Merriam-Webster dictionary says the definition of science fiction is as follows:

 “fiction dealing principally with the impact of actual or imagined science on society or individuals or having a scientific factor as an essential orienting component”

Being a writer of science fiction, I have no problem with this definition.  In fact, because I’m a bit of a science nerd, I quite like having solid definitions and categories around which to base my imaginings and **cough** my life.

Problems really only occur for me, when I start scrolling through the sci-fi section of online bookstores…where I find dragons.  Dragons, magic swords, people with unearthly and inexplicable powers do not belong in the science fiction section.

Oh yes, fantasy authors everywhere are yelling about how I’m being a science snob and far too sectarian for my own good.  Be quiet, I write fantasy and paranormal as well.

Here’s the thing.  Science-fiction, should involve some form of science.  Note the definition above;  ‘Actual or imagined science’.  Most of the classics and many of the greats involve what I like to call ‘extensions’ of existing scientific processes or theories. These writers take what they know is already happening in the science world and stretch those processes just as far as they can imagine.  That’s where the real magic happens.

The magic of sci-fi is the magic of wonderment, of possibility and of horizons far beyond our own.  This magic is not unreachable or unattainable, it’s ours, it’s so close we can smell it. With a good telescope we can begin to see it take form. Science fiction isn’t a dream universe that will remain forever beyond our grasp, it’s inspiring and hopeful and stretches the boundaries of human endeavour beyond current horizons.  That’s what attracts readers and it’s what puts the onus on sci-fi writers to make a damn good job of what they do.

Doing a good job means a good writer of science fiction should know what’s possible and what’s not.  Then they need to make the impossible at least seem as though it could happen. I always think of Michael Crichton when it comes to this aspect of writing sci-fi.  Michael Crichton wrote physics text books long before he wrote Jurassic Park. What happened in Jurassic Park is not possible, he knew that, but he wrote it so well and provided just enough truth, that we believed the lie…many people still do.  It’s the writerly equivalent of a magician’s ‘sleight of hand’.  We show you the card, we remove it from the deck…but we still have readers believing it’s there.  Magic.

So, if you’ve never read a sci-fi novel, do yourself a favour and next time you’re browsing buy yourself a book about some real magic!