Editing Science Fantasy (section)

==Science Fiction vs. Science Fantasy==

Its worth pointing out that there are settings which technically qualify as science fantasy but are generally not considered one due to the fantasy aspects being used very sparingly. 

[[Star Trek]] is probably the most notable example of this, as it does have things such as Q and the Prophets but they are rarely featured, hence why Star Trek is generally considered to be just science-fiction. It also helps that such intrusions of Fantasy elements are treated in a true Science Fiction-y way: Q and similar "Godlike" entities are viewed as merely a "sufficiently advanced Alien" in the Arthur C. Clarke sense (and we are shown the flipside, how Picard & Crew look like Gods to sufficiently primitive aliens, in a couple of ST:TNG episodes), and the Prophets are mainly used as a method to have time-related shenanigans, or have some religion vs. science debate where the divine entity (A) explicitly exists, (B) is explainable as "sufficiently advanced and unusual aliens", and (C) aren't jerks, just bad at communication with those of us who experience time linearly.

[[Dune]] provides another good example: While there are plenty of mystical and "magical" elements, they are examined the same as any other natural phenomena; the religious elements are used purely for in-universe-manipulation, not treated as in any way true.

[[Star Wars]], on the other side of the line, explicitly has mystical elements without explanation that are treated as mystical both in-universe and by the authors.

This is edifying for the dividing line between Science Fantasy and Science Fiction: '''How the "magical" elements are treated''' is usually more important than ''what'', exactly, those elements are in determining what genre you are in.

===Hard Fantasy===

A somewhat special case in the Science Fiction vs. Fantasy argument: There exists a classification known as "Hard Fantasy", where there is a magic system, yes, but the author goes out of their way to spell out all the important details, and tries to follow through on the logic of such a system.

As a general rule, if magic is regarded as an almost scientific force of nature and subject to the same sort of rules and principles, you have Hard Fantasy.

Interestingly, it's possible to mix "Hard Fantasy" with a "Soft Magic" system, where the exact mechanics of magic are left vague; this can happen when the costs and limits of magic are clear, even as the exact mechanics are not. For example, in Lord of the Rings, great things can be accomplished by "magic"<ref>And it is explicitly spelled out that the Elven word for what Hobbits call "magic" is "craft" or "skill"</ref>, but it is noted that such great workings come at a great cost; Sauron, for example, poured a lot of his power into the various Rings he crafted, which in the end left him much weaker without them, but with them, particularly with the One, he was unstoppable. No particular details of how Sauron and Elves crafted their Rings are given, but the costs, and rough powers of the Rings (which, among other things, allow the user to defy entropy and act as power amplifiers) ''are''.

This approaches Science Fantasy from the other direction, as it were. Examples of "Hard Fantasy" include [[Exalted]], [[A Song of Ice and Fire]], and [[Discworld]].