Subject: Is Star Wars really Science Fiction?
Posted by: Flamis
Date: Sep 09 09
I'm not sure that this is the right place to say this, but... I'm a big fan of Science Fiction literature - and it's so damned frustrating when I try to prove my expertise in "Who's the Expert" and all I get is 15 questions from Star Wars novels. Heck, I'm not even sure those books qualify as Science Fiction... Science Fantasy maybe. What do other people think?
Posted by: Flamis
Date: Sep 09 09
I'm not sure that this is the right place to say this, but... I'm a big fan of Science Fiction literature - and it's so damned frustrating when I try to prove my expertise in "Who's the Expert" and all I get is 15 questions from Star Wars novels. Heck, I'm not even sure those books qualify as Science Fiction... Science Fantasy maybe. What do other people think?
25 replies. On page 1 of 2 pages. 1 2
Cymruambyth 
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Is there that big a difference between science fiction and science fantasy? They both deal with the futute, they both deal with technological expertise that we do not have, so I really see no difference. Reply #1. Sep 10 09, 2:15 PM |
| Cymruambyth
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Ouch, that should be 'future', not 'futute'. Reply #2. Sep 10 09, 2:16 PM |
Anton
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Of course it is science fiction. Reply #3. Sep 10 09, 2:22 PM |
aya3098
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I'd have to agree with Flamis... I haven't paid attention to any of the movies, but get the basic concept. I'd say it's almost like a cross between Science Fiction and Science Fantasy. Reply #4. Sep 10 09, 3:29 PM |
bibledude
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Not only is it science fiction, but some people call it there "religion"! I love the Star Wars books! Reply #5. Sep 29 09, 3:56 PM |
BxBarracuda
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If possible I would seperate the movies and books regarding them from the rest of the novels they have spawned. George Lucas created the Star Wars universe and wrote the screenplays for the movies. He was only part of the writing for the books based on the first two movies. Since then numerous authors have contributed to the Star Wars universe. Biggest question for me is, do the books follow one timeline and not cause discrepenices with each other? I think once you go past a number of books on a topic, especially in a short time, then you go into the sci-fi fantasy realm, more akin to the novels based off of Dungeons and Dragons. Reply #6. Sep 29 09, 4:54 PM |
Rowena8482
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Star Wars domninates the Expert because there are more quizzes on SW than on all the other SF topics put together. SW does also have a category of its own, but so far Terry hasn't got round to taking it out of the regular Sci-Fi category for the Expert games. This did get a mention in a thread over in the Feedback forum a while ago, but I'm not sure what came of it in the end... It get me too, I "don't do" Star Wars but love and have written some other sci-fi quizzes. It'd be nice to see them get a chance too. That said, I think that with SW removed, the DragonLance would then dominate as they are the next most numerous... at least I've read those though :-D Reply #7. Sep 30 09, 5:24 AM |
darthrevan89
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I, of course, love "Star Wars" :) - but completely agree that it's more Fantasy than "Science" Fiction. There's not much science going on in SW. From my (very) limited base of literary knowledge, I'd say "Star Trek" is more my idea of true sci-fi, since its concepts are far closer to things in actual science. Reply #8. Sep 30 09, 7:50 AM |
| Anton
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Not much science in Star Wars? Light sabers, futuristic guns, space ships that travel the speed of light, droids, and all that sounds like science to me. Guess what? That is half the movies right there. In no way, shape, or form, is Star Wars NOT science fiction. Reply #9. Sep 30 09, 10:50 AM |
| darthrevan89
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I just meant there's not so much science that's based in reality. For example: the lightsaber. Okay, so it's a laser - but what determines the length? A laser should be indefinitely long and NOT come to a nice short point the way a lightsaber does. On the other hand, the concept behind Star Trek's transporters are not such stretch. There's a lot more of a fantasy element (the Force, e.g.?) to Star Wars, IMHO. Reply #10. Sep 30 09, 12:55 PM |
| Yarabokin
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I think star wars can be classed as "Space Opera". The story is a classic old time good vs evil, it could be set anywhere. It just happens to be set in space. The technical details are unimportant. Sci Fi itself, I think, uses a premise that requires the science to be part of the story. And to be more realistic. Reply #11. Sep 30 09, 1:39 PM |
| Anton
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"I just meant there's not so much science that's based in reality." That's why it is called science fiction. lol Reply #12. Sep 30 09, 3:13 PM |
daver852
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I'd say it's garbage. Reply #13. Oct 01 09, 8:50 PM |
jonnowales
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There is a difference between science fantasy and science fiction and that is how darthrevan has described. In fantasy you don't have to explain the scientific reasoning for why something happens - it can just simply be down to 'magic' and also fantasy generally takes place in the past. Science fiction however, is often set in the future and requires scientific reasoning for the technology etc. That is, there is science behind what is going on. (It doesn't matter if it is some sort of pseudo-scientific nonsense). I would say that Star Wars is Sci-fi, not fantasy, as it isn't based on any myths, takes place in other planets and uses some sort of laser arrangement for the light-sabers. Even though it doesn't fully follow the scientific rules that apply to lasers, it is still put down to some science (again doesn't matter if it is some weird concoction) rather than "magic", like the basis of wands in Harry Potter. A guy was explaining this one week on "Mastermind", it was one of the few times I was interested in the midway talk (which is now at the beginning) given by a contestant on the show. Reply #14. Oct 02 09, 5:38 AM |
john_sunseri
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I'll come down on the side of 'not science fiction'. Lucas et al. have created a fabulous universe, but there's just too much bad science for it to qualify. When there's an explosion in space, you shouldn't be able to hear it. When someone shoots a laser bolt at you, it's traveling at the speed of light--no WAY you're going to be able to whip your lightsaber around fast enough to block it. If the Force allows you to detect the proximity of other Force people, how come Vader wasn't able to sense that Leia was Force-sensitive when he was torturing her? How come an X-Wing navigation droid is able to break into every Imperial security system in the universe within fifteen seconds? That giant space worm in the asteroid in EMPIRE--how the heck did THAT evolve, and what does it eat out there? Why do spaceships have wings? Why on earth do the stormtroopers wear armor, since it provides absolutely no protection against guns, swords or even clunks on the head? I could go on, but I won't. The movies are fun space westerns, but I can't in good conscience call them science fiction. Reply #15. Nov 08 09, 4:48 PM |
Cross36
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I see it to be closer to fantasy as we travel to different regions of the solar system. But there are many lessons and truths pertaining to family and religion in the text. Reply #16. Dec 30 09, 11:45 PM |
blindcat78
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It's sci-fic, however, it all depends on one's point of view. Reply #17. Mar 23 10, 2:09 PM |
reeshy
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I'd say it is science fiction, using the word "science" VERY lightly. Actually, apparently I'd prefer science fantasy, as I can't stand when movies etc. try to justify things with their "scientific explanations", haha. A movie containing a "solar eclipse" at night comes to mind. O_O Sorry for that mini-tangent. Back to Star Wars. :) Reply #18. Apr 15 10, 6:15 PM |
xbunny
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Just when they beam you, LOL Reply #19. Apr 19 10, 12:05 AM |
| Mink
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It IS science fiction but only just for me! I grew up with the likes of Heinlein, Sheckley, Pohl, Asimov etc and would love to see more of their work appearing in quizzes (yes, I know, but at the moment I don't have the time!). The other one mentioned (Dragonlance?) is clearly fantasy not scifi and I don't consider any of the fantasy literature to be scifi. I'm with the others who would like to see Star Wars and the fantasy fiction getting its own category but I suspect there wouldn't be enough "classical" scifi left then to sustain a separate category. There was a recent quiz on the more classical scifi but I can't remember the author - it was very good. Maybe we SHOULD all get out there and write our own quizzes! Reply #20. Apr 19 10, 1:30 AM |
25 replies. On page 1 of 2 pages. 1 2
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