Science fantasy

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SF on this website is a broad tent, including, among other genres and subgenres, science fantasy.

Science fantasy are works of SF which read like fantasy but have a scientific (actual, pseudo, or purportedly scientific) explanation for the fantastic elements. Examples:

  • Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover stories -- The first stories begin in a medieval world with magical powers. In later stories it is revealed that Darkover is a lost colony, and the magical powers are given legitimacy as psychic powers which can be understood by science. The backstory is most clearly revealed in Darkover Landfall.
  • Anne McCaffrey's Pern stories -- The first stories begin with dragons in a medieval fantasy world (see Dragonflight (1968)) over the series it is revealed that this is a lost colony; the dragons are the result of a breeding program by the original colonists; and the medieval social and political structures are the result of devolution from more democratic social structures. This science fiction backstory is most clearly explicated in Dragonsdawn (1988).
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