Genres
Science fantasy
A hybrid genre within speculative fiction that blends science fiction and fantasy, giving fantastical worlds scientific or naturalistic justifications.
Science fantasy (abbreviated sci-fantasy) is a hybrid genre within speculative fiction that blends science fiction and fantasy: it depicts worlds that look fantastical but are given scientific or naturalistic justifications, recasting mythological creatures and magic as, for example, alien biology or misunderstood technology. The classic contrast is Rod Serling's: science fiction is "the improbable made possible", fantasy "the impossible made probable"; science fantasy delivers the impossible wearing the first one's clothes.
The hybrid suits space opera sweep, with Warhammer 40,000 described by critics as action-oriented science fantasy, and crossing-worlds plots descended from portal fantasy, like the Harold Shea stories of Pratt and de Camp. The genre's contract is explanatory consistency: once the impossible has been justified, the justification itself becomes a world rule the story must keep.