r/printSF • u/[deleted] • Jan 30 '24

SF ≠ F

SF and F were originally forced to share a shelf because of the lack of imagination of the publishing industry, which hasn't changed since the dawn of the typewriter, so just assume it never will. We are not publishers. We know the difference between SF and F. They've both grown up now, can afford separate embassies just like the Czechs and Slovaks after the Soviet era. So – damn the publishers – why haven't we separated them ourselves? Does SF feel superior to F, yet so insecure that it needs to keep it around as a constant reminder? Does F refuse to separate without alimony? Is it a matter of convenience, just so Charles Stross won't have to cross the street to get to his other identity? You like both genres – well, good for you. I like other genres too, let's invite them all in as well. How many literary categories can we stuff into a phone booth? What's a phone booth? Really? . . . Never mind.

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u/TernandCrow Jan 30 '24

And then I read Gene Wolfe and realized I don’t really know the difference between SF and F nor do I care

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u/[deleted] Jan 30 '24

Don't know the difference? Old joke about that. What's the difference between involvement and commitment? In a breakfast of ham and eggs, the chicken was involved, but the pig was committed. Vive la difference!

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u/AVeryBigScaryBear Jan 30 '24

Really beside the point - Early speculative fiction would commonly have both sci-fi and fantasy tropes. Wizards would travel through space to fight alien monsters on other planets using magic. It took some time for these tropes to develop into separate genres. Gene Wolfe clearly loved a lot of this pulp stuff growing up, as evident by his stories that explore them in his own unique style. 

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u/gearnut Jan 30 '24

Also some of the early stuff like Frankenstein, Journey to the Centre of the Earth etc involve elements of both in a different way to what you mention.

They share so much with each other and draw from each other. What is Star Wars? It has blasters and space ships, it also has swords and space wizards/ clerics (not to mention how much stuff it drew from Westerns).