Should Fantasy and Sci-Fi be Sorted Separately?

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

I like my reading groups like I like my shelves: Eclectic, united, and digital.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Oh, it sounded like you were asking the group to split! And I like the mix here.

Otherwise, I think I still enjoy my position as stated above. I don't want five different places my book might be. I go online if I'm looking for something specific, and if I'm browsing, sections for Speculative Fiction, Literature, Romance and so on is plenty division for my tastes! Because I either know what I'm looking for, or want to try something different. If the former, a bookstore will never be my friend, no matter how small the sub-divisions--there are just too many books and too many authors to sort through or expect to find on physical shelves. If the latter, I'm comfortable using clues from coloring, fonts, and covers plus back blurbs and perusing to make a choice.

[Kateb]

mmm Allison I find your comment brilliant, I am not great at expressing my ideas but can I just say ditto.

[Sarah]

Keith, I need you to please stop mentioning your writing on the threads. The group rules state that this is only allowed in the Goodreads Authors' Discussion folder.

[Keith]

Sarah Anne wrote: "Keith, I need you to please stop mentioning your writing on the threads. The group rules state that this is only allowed in the Goodreads Authors' Discussion folder."

Very sorry. My apologies. I deleted the messages.

[Suzan]

Fiction has multiple divisions one of them is what can be categorized as science fiction. Science fiction materials should include stories on speculations that can be explained at certain level by our physical sciences. When fictional material can not be explained by physical science then it should belong to different category. That will make finding materials easier for readers.

So, yes I agree to separate categories unless there is a benefit of keeping the categories together(fantasy and science fiction) that I am not aware of right now.

[T. K. Elliott (Tiffany)]

I always prefer separate categories, if there are enough books to merit it. When I'm in the mood for fantasy, I'm not in the mood for sci-fi, and vice versa. As long as the sections are clearly labelled, if I want to look in more than one section, I can.

Generally, I know what sort of book I'm after, so it's better for me to have everything sorted into as many subcategories as possible. Then I have the choice whether to go deep, or go wide. The fewer subcategories, the more time I waste looking at stuff I'm not interested in, and therefore I'm less likely to buy anything as I might run out of time before I find the sort of thing I want.

And if we're talking physical bookshops, most of them will shelve similar-type books together, so you don't have to go all the way up to a different floor, or something.

[Kateb]

Suzan wrote: "Fiction has multiple divisions one of them is what can be categorized as science fiction. Science fiction materials should include stories on speculations that can be explained at certain level by ..."

I think you may need to read previous comments . I agree with separating sci fi from fantasy but many on this thread are now discussing in separating into genres as well . This last idea I disagree with because I like browsing though various genres.

[Jacen]

Kateb wrote: "I think you may need to read previous comments . I agree with separating sci fi from fantasy but many on this thread are now discussing in separating into genres as well . This last idea I disagree with because I like browsing though various genres. "

Assuming you're referring more to sub-genres(as the Sci-fi and Fantasy would be genres), that's pretty much where I am. Despite clearly being in favor of the split(I started the thread after all ^_^), I actually wouldn't want it divided more than just a clear Sci-fi/Fantasy division. Not necessarily because I don't think such a fine split is theoretically useful, but because the greater the subdivision, the larger the problem you have with defining where each book should go.

I think with merely splitting Fantasy and Sci-fi out to separate shelves, you could handle most of the limited crossover issues. Subdividing much more than that, though, would likely be a nightmare.

[Kateb]

yes i think you are right Jacen

[Mary]

Trike wrote: "Planetary Romance is NOT the equivalent of PNR. It's the older definition of romance to mean "adventure."."

Derived from the use of "romance" in medieval literature, which originally meant "work written in the vernacular." The tales of King Arthur are probably our most familiar example.

[Deborah]

Completely agree with Jacen

[Ramon]

I have been reading SciFI for some 50 years now, and I always hated it being mixed with pure Fantasy or supernatural horror, which, by the way, I do not like at all.

I don't buy the argument either that "soft SciFi" and Fantasy are difficult to separate. Using the same argument, you could argue that Romance and SciFi cannot be separated if a SciFi story talks about love (what about a love story between an alien and a human?). This kind of case occurs for all genres, which often overlap.

It is not only possible, as Jacen points out, to tag a book as belonging to two different categories online, and find it in both. Actually, when you publish a book and register the ISBN, you are specifically requested to indicate the genre of the book, and depending on the country you can specify 2 or 3 genres. (I know that because I am also an author and work internationally). However, the first specified genre is usually considered the main one. And SciFi is for ISBN purposes considered a genre of its own.

But I would expect in a store to have the book listed in the main category, not mixed with something that -IMHO- is totally different.

[Kateb]

But Ramon you are really saying the same thing as Jacen, he wanted sci fi and fantasy split, but didn't want to worry about the many sub genres being split up.

Some of our lovely people on this page want separate sub genres.

[Ramon]

I honestly don't think that subgenres are necessary, but SciFI should be separate from Fantasy and Horror.

[James]

I'm not sure if these quotes have showed up on this topic, but they are my favorites.

“Arthur C. Clark wrote:
Science fiction is something that could happen - but usually you wouldn't want it to. Fantasy is something that couldn't happen - though often you only wish that it could.”

“Mark Rosewater wrote:
Science fiction, at is core, is about exploring what if. It is literature investigating humanity’s potential. Fantasy, at its core, is about morality. It’s exploring the internal struggle of good and evil within humanity.”

[Mary]

Clark's definition would make FTL starships fantasy and ghost stories SF.

[Kateb]

James wrote: "I'm not sure if these quotes have showed up on this topic, but they are my favorites.

“Arthur C. Clark wrote:
Science fiction is something that could happen - but usually you wouldn't want it to. ..."

I really like these definitions