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I think Science Fiction and Fantasy should be recognise as two completely separate genres, and I will go further and say they are completely incompatible. There I have said it.

Science Fiction is about the possible (albeit maybe improbable), it is an extrapolation of the natural, whereas fantasy is about the impossible, or the supernatural.

If anything, fantasy should be paired with horror or theology.

As a child I can't recollect going to the sci-fi section of a library or book store and being bombarded by tales of dragons and dungeons - what happened?

The worst part about the pairing is that true sci-fi, often referred to as hard sci-fi, seems to have become almost totally submersed by fantasy (this forum being a pretty fair example).

I remember about 30 years ago having a strong argument with a book retailer that I thought she should separate the two, I think I can recall that her argument was that true sci-fi is too small a genre to stand on it's own. That situation seems to have worsened and I for one am the sadder for it.

I agree! I always get annoyed at bookstores when horror doesn't have its own section. I guess I've just come to accept that certain genres are lumped together. However, I think that genres can be limiting. Some of the best books defy genre.

Lisalovecraft wrote:Some of the best books defy genre.

That is very true, alas it makes them all the harder to find, like gems.

Ahhhh, that's so true! I went into a bookstore a bit of time ago to purchase one of the A Tale of Fire and Ice novels, and for some odd reason, it was in the sci-fi section...? Totally agree with the fact that some of the best books I've ever read defy genre, because genre can be very limiting.

I kind of agree.... They are two different themes completely. At least it says science fiction AND fantasy. So it does recognize them as separate in a way, even though they group them together.

I definitely agree that Sci-Fi and Fantasy are different genres. However I do think there can be some overlap, depending on the story line and the world that was created by the author. I think if anything, stores lump genres together in order to encourage those who don’t read certain genres often to try something new. I don’t think it is inherently wrong, but it can make it difficult to find what you are looking for if you want a specific genre.

I actually completely agree. As an avid fantasy reader, I have an extremely difficult time getting into science fiction because “science” is literally in the title, and there’s always some form of it that is important to the book. That’s not to say that there’s anything wrong with that, but magic is based completely on made up principles while science fiction relies on actual, fact-based science, so they should be in completely different categories, as you said.