Hard Sci-Fi vs Medieval Fantasy? - Magic vs Theoretical Science.

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Title.

  • Hard Science Fiction

    Votes: 41 53.9%

  • Medieval Fantasy

    Votes: 35 46.1%
  • Total voters
    76
Cedric_Eff

Cedric_Eff

Eraserhead, but Bear. Bearaserhead.
kiwifarms.net
Joined
Apr 28, 2018
How do you Kiwis feel about Medieval Fantasy or Hard Sci-Fi? Which one do you guys like?
 
Being a fan of the Zelda franchise I prefer the latter. However, I would be interested in a hard sci-fi movie to watch. The reason I prefer fantasy is because with fiction and entertainment I like to escape into another world, at least for a few hours.
 
Oh. That bait.

Uh.

I may or may not be working on a project that kind of combines them.
 
Hard sci-fi is objectively the best fiction and if you disagree, ape brain.
 
Also is there a distinction made here between classic SF and the kind of "Hard" SF where if you can't do calculus in your head you're totally lost? There are a lot of classic SF stories people consider "Hard" that are complete fucking fantastic nonsense by today's standards even if they're still good stories by great authors.
 
Depends on how we're defining hard sci fi. I ping pong back and forth between both genres at different times.
 
I do find it harder to find good fantasy. But when you find some good fantasy, it's usually fantastic.
 
I'd say fantasy is better overall, since a lot of hard sci-fi ages like milk. (Soft sci-fi is basically fantasy with a space-themed coat of paint.)
 
I mean, I love a good knights and swords and siege story as much as anyone. Magic's good too. I love fantasy in general. A Song of Ice and Fire, Kingkiller Chronicles, Moorecock, Discworld, Sanderson's multitude of works. If any of those count.
But, Sci-Fi is above all to me, right next to horror. "Foundation" I read all of and loved it, "I Robot" and "Robot Dreams" and "Robot Visions" I read many a time, 40k is so much fun, "Hitchhikers Guide" is god tier to me, Moorecock again, time travel stuff like "All You Zombies", "By his Bootstraps" and "Time and Again" is fun as well, "The Circle" is a good one, "The Simpleton" is an interesting one, I could go on. Hell, "Animorphs" holds a very special place in my heart.
And that's not even getting into films. The genre of 'Person Stuck on Spaceship and Going Fucking Nuts' is one of my favorites. And I fucking love robots, and I blame Asimov for that. "Interstellar" makes me cry like a bitch, "Upgrade" is one of my favorite movies of all time, "Alien" and "Aliens" are classics for a reason, the "V" miniseries is a fun one, "Colossus The Forbidden Project" is a neat old sci-fi flick. Again, I could go on forever.
So yeah, sci-fi beats fantasy for me.
 
Overall, I prefer sci-fi, specifically soft sci-if. The issue I have with hard sci-fi is that it loses its allure as we make scientific advancements. Imo sci-fi is at its best when it embrace characterization, the dark, and the ludicrous like 40k or Futurama. I also like it when they focus on how tech shapes or changes the dynamics of civilization.

I enjoy a good fantasy story too, I just don’t enjoy it *as* much.
 
IAmNotAlpharius said:
Overall, I prefer sci-fi, specifically soft sci-if. The issue I have with hard sci-fi is that it loses its allure as we make scientific advancements. Imo sci-fi is at its best when it embrace characterization, the dark, and the ludicrous like 40k or Futurama. I also like it when they focus on how tech shapes or changes the dynamics of civilization.

I enjoy a good fantasy story too, I just don’t enjoy it *as* much.
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I think if hard sci-fi has good writing and stories behind the science, it can last forever. Take Asimov's robot stories, for example. They're still great, because they have great stories about man and machine interacting in all of these interesting ways at their core.
 
CivilianOfTheFandomWars said:
I think if hard sci-fi has good writing and stories behind the science, it can last forever. Take Asimov's robot stories, for example. They're still great, because they have great stories about man and machine interacting in all of these interesting ways at their core.
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The foundation series is great too. I’ll always have a soft spot for it since my father introduced me to it.

I think the issue with hard sci-fi is that some people focus too much on the tech and not enough on the characterization and writing. A good plot and well written characters will stand the test of time.
 
IAmNotAlpharius said:
The foundation series is great too. I think the issue is that some people focus too much on the tech and not enough on the characterization and writing.
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Foundation is great. I read all of them and enjoyed even the latter ones. The characters of The Mule and Hari and so many others were great, the core ideas were well executed, and the plots were engaging. I'm honestly surprised that it's not brought up more often when people talk about Asimov. It might be the length.
 
If I had to pick, I greatly enjoy reading SF. Infact, I find it nearly impossible to read fantasy unless its something like Robert E Howard. I'm not one of those tards that thinks Tolkien is a bad author or whatever, but I find myself just losing interest every time I try to pick up LotR or even The Hobbit. Though in debates like this I prefer to cheat and pick a third option.

Horror is where its at bitches.

That said, on the other side of this, I can tell you that its a lot fucking easier to write fantasy than it is to write SF. SF has all this baggage of modern science attached to it, so introducing shit like power crystals, space rangers and alien tiddies feels stupid no matter how delicate or thought out you try to be with it. Meanwhile fantasy settings can eat that shit straight up because its magic and I don't gotta explain shit unless I want to.
 
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