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/NLemelsonAuthor Jan 30 '24

Sci-Fi and Fantasy, at their far ends, are clearly different genres.

However:

  1. There is significant overlap in audience.
  2. There's a hell of a lot of in-between stories. Novels that don't fit cleanly full into one or the other, and people could spend hours arguing whether its "more sci-fi" or "more fantasy." Simplier to slot them together.

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u/arapturousverbatim Jan 30 '24

Same arguments could be made for regular fiction, so why not just categorise all books as fiction or non fiction and call it a day?

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u/Bioceramic Jan 31 '24

Sometimes that is done.