Hello, friends! Today I want to talk to you about a genre called “future fantasy.” To be clear, I didn’t entirely make up the concept of future fantasy. There are plenty of books that have a weird blend of science fiction and fantasy (ahem Star Wars) and I know some of you are going to argue with me and say that “Science Fantasy” is already a thing, so… okay, yes, I know.

But, I want to posit that the science fantasy genre is too big, and we need more categorizations. I mean, look at the romance genre. They have categories up the wazoo! (Resisting making a very inappropriate joke here; I’ll let you make it yourself lol.)

Anyway, not only do we need more categorizations, we need clearer ones. One of the things I noticed during my delve into the romance genre, is that they know their tropes. Like, really well. So, once you get into a genre, you can pretty much tell what you’re going to get, just by looking at a cover and reading a blurb. Of course, there are pros and cons to this, but I would argue that while we definitely need writers exploring the edges of genres and filling in the gaps, we also need books that fill readers’ needs right now, and more importantly, we need to be able to clearly communicate that.

All that is besides the point, however. Let’s talk future fantasy!

Remember how I made a chart I thought would help clear up some of the inconsistencies in the romance genre? Well, I made one for science fiction and fantasy too! Scifi & fantasy are often talked about as one thing, and fans of those things often get annoyed by the categorical lumping, because in their minds there are clear differences between the two.

But I think the differences are a lot fuzzier than we might hope. And if we can’t explain the nuances of our genres, then how can we ever hope to convert people to the cause?!

So let’s unfuzzify them.

Defining Science Fiction and Fantasy

See figure 1 below:

For those of you who can’t read my terrible hand writing, the image is of a graph (chart?). The x-axis is labeled technology and the y-axis is labeled magic.

By technology, I mean loosely that the world or the plot has technology in it. This can mean anything from cars to spaceships to vaccines to whatever, that were created by scientists primarily, and at least originate with an idea that is based in our current knowledge of how the world works.

By magic, I mean loosely that the the world or plot has magic in it. This means that things happen in the world which are not related to science, and has nothing to do with how we understand the world to work.

Star Wars is a perfect example. Spaceships, aliens, planets all originate with modern science—we have spaceships, we’ve seen other planets, we’ve sent space probes into interstellar space, and the idea of civilization being able to live and exist the way it does in Star Wars is not too much of a leap of imagination.

Star Wars also has magic. The Force is a mysterious thing that doesn’t really have an explanation. (I’m working off the movies here; have not read the books). It is not based on a current scientific understanding of the way the world works. It’s magic.

Many science fiction stories incorporate magic, and many fantasy stories incorporate technology. Which is why we have “science fantasy” as a category. But honestly, that’s still wicked confusing.

What if a book is set in a fantasy world, but there is a “scientist” who makes technology out of magic? Or what about something like Harry Potter, with contemporary technology and magic?

Or, what if you’re like me and you write a whole series in a futuristic scifi world, but the entire story is based around a character discovering magic, and is made up of nothing but fantasy tropes?

If you follow along the x-axis, this would be considered all scifi. Think military scifi, Dark Matter, Jurassic Park and other Michael Crighton, Greg Bear, etc.

If you follow along the y-axis, that would be considered just fantasy: think Tolkien, Tamora Pierce, Shadow & Bone, Game of Thrones, Terry Pratchett, Sarah J Maas, etc.

But in the middle, that’s what I’m most interested in. Where science/technology and magic both play a role in the story. Dresden Files, where a wizard can have a cell phone. Or Enchantress From the Stars, where from one viewpoint, technology is magic, and from the other viewpoint it’s science. Or Star Trek, where it’s mostly spaceships and technology, but then you have mind readers, and species who can do anything. Or Doctor Who, which is a time travel show (science fiction!) but also magic—take The Christmas Carol episode, with cryogenically frozen people and also flying fish. The “scientific” explanation is just … “aliens” but what at what point does unexplained “science” simply become magic?

The answer here is: we need more categories.

This middle of the chart, which I’ve loosely defined as Science Fantasy, could be broken up into many categories if we wanted to. It’s the wild, wild west ya’ll.

Defining Future Fantasy

Finally, I have arrived at the point of this essay, in which I posit that one possible genre category that would be useful is called “future fantasy.”

The characteristics of future fantasy are as follows:

It is set in a separate world. Basically, not earth. Think Middle Earth.
But, it is a technologically advanced world. That can look like a lot of things, but think androids, hover tech, virtual reality, AI, spaceships, whatever you want.
AND it has magic that is meaningful to world and to the plot. Like Harry Potter. Lord of the Rings. Or ACOTAR.
The tropes would align more with fantasy tropes than with sci-fi: more of good vs evil, the chosen one, the dark lord, taverns, powerful artifacts, overqualified heroes, magical creatures, a quest, etc. and less of time travel, alternate universes, evil aliens, simulations, pure energy lifeforms, secret labs, mad scientists, evil AI, technobabble.

(Obviously, I’m a big fan of breaking rules, so clearly these are just general thoughts, not set in stone.)

Also clearly, I think Star Wars would probably pretty closely align with future fantasy, though I know it’s usually categorized as a space opera. Which is fine. Whatever. Stories can be more than one thing.

I think the Marvel Universe might also qualify, except for the part where it’s modern day, but like I said, rules are meant to be broken.

Also, the new series I’m about to release would definitely qualify.

A separate world, check (see map).
Advanced tech, check: androids, hover tech, big cities, etc.
Magic that is meaningful to the world and the plot, check.
Tropes align with fantasy: good vs evil, chosen one, dark lord, taverns, powerful artifacts, overqualified heroes, a quest, etc.

So yeah. Future fantasy.

I’m curious if you can think of other books/movies/TV series that fit the definition, and if so please, please, please let me know, because I want to read them.

And also, I’m curious if you have thoughts for any other sci-fi and fantasy categories that you might add into my chart.

That’s all for today! If you want to stay updated on my work, click here to sign up for my newsletter!