Science Fantasy is an often-misunderstood genre. Is it Science Fiction or is it fantasy? To understand what science fantasy is, let’s first understand the definition of science fiction and fantasy.
What is Science Fiction?
Science Fiction is based on imagined and futuristic concepts that explore scientific, technological, and major social or environmental changes and advances. These concepts frequently take the reader through space, time, and alien worlds. Though we may not see these elements in our world as we know it, the imagined ideas remain plausible.
Science Fiction can be further broken down into Hard and Soft Science Fiction. Hard science fiction will be more about the technology, while soft science fiction will be about the people or plot.
Here are some sub-genres of sci-fi:
Space Opera
Dystopian
Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic
Hard Science
Soft Science
Steampunk
Time Travel
Galactic Empire
What is Fantasy?
Fantasy Fiction is based on imagined ideas that simply could never happen in our world. The reader is usually taken through magical worlds, with mythical creatures, and other fantastic supernatural ideas.
Fantasy can be broken down into the medieval or modern settings. With either setting, fantasy is always fantastic.
Here some of the sub-genres of fantasy:
High/Epic Fantasy
Low Fantasy
Urban Fantasy
Portal Fantasy
Magical Realism
Fairy Tale/Folklore
Sword and Sorcery
Superhero
What is the Science fantasy?
Science Fantasy is a hybrid part of Speculative Fiction where portions of science fiction are combined with fantasy. You can create a hero with magical powers that rides a cyborg unicorn into battle, and you have yourself a merry little science fantasy book.
Perhaps one of the most famous Science Fantasy movies is Star Wars. While it contains space travel and scientific elements that are plausible, but it also includes fantasy elements like beings who can control things with their minds. If you look at the main plot through the nine Skywalker films, you’re basically taking an epic fantasy placing it in a space setting were laser swords meet blasters.
What category does science fantasy fall into?
To state it simply, Science Fantasy is both science fiction and fantasy. Each science fantasy book will be unique. While one book will lean more towards fantasy, another will lean more towards science fiction. It all depends on the vision of the author. That’s why I find this genre so fascinating.
I read and write science fantasy books because you can pull from both sides of the speculative fiction categories. It creates really fantastic unique stories that pull the reader into a plausible world of magical realistic story telling.
If in the speculative fiction section of the bookstore and you can’t decide what to read, give science fantasy a try.
Here are nine science fantasy authors you can check out.
Sara Wright
Kay L Moody
S. G. Blaise
Tara Grayce
Marissa Meyer
Kiera Cass
Jennifer M Eaton
Amy Ewing
Kaylin Lee
Here are nine Science Fantasy books you might enjoy.
The Progenitor by Sara Wright
Peace was all Xendara desired, but her enemies hunger for her power. Princess Xendara is the heir to the throne, but her life is turned upside-down when a mysterious spaceship attacks. She learns her father had secrets. With his untimely demise, she must uncover them before her enemies remove her from power. In her quest to keep peace within the Six Systems, she discovers a power she didn’t know she had; a power that everyone is looking to exploit. With the help of her childhood friend Darijus, she unlocks long lost memories of her past, only to find his destiny is intertwined with her own. A prophecy guides her choices to the correct timeline. But can she trust a prophecy that foretells the death of a loved one? With the destiny of the Universe on the line, who she chooses to trust will divide a galaxy.
With powers her enemies aim to exploit, will she risk galactic war?
The Jewel by Amy Ewing
The Jewel has many meanings: wealth, beauty, royalty. But for Violet, the Jewel has always meant servitude.
Born and raised in the Marsh, Violet is destined for the Jewel. She is trained as a surrogate for the elite and is bought by the Duchess of the Lake at auction. And she quickly learns that beneath the Jewel’s glittering façade lies the cruelty, backstabbing, and hidden violence that have become the royal way of life.
Violet must accept the ugly realities of her life...all while fighting for her survival. But before she can accept her fate, Violet meets a handsome boy who is also under the Duchess’s control. A forbidden love sparks.
But their illicit affair has consequences, which will cost them both more than they bargained for. And toeing the line between being calculating and rebellious, Violet must decide what, and who, she is willing to risk for her own freedom.
Truth Seer by Kay L Moody
In this gut-wrenching dystopian tale, a young woman must learn the meaning of trust and anarchy and that the truth is rarely what it seems. Not even the truth will set you free in a world of lies. It’s 2121, and Kenyan-born Imara is a human lie detector, making her valuable and dangerous—but most of all, cynical. One can only take seeing the swirling colors of deceitfulness on others for so long.
When her sister is taken hostage into the depths of Egyptian catacombs, only the power to see the best in others can set them both free.
In this intriguing and fast-paced dystopian tale, a high-tech future collides with an ancient past. Enjoy a world that yields heroic and flawed characters and demands the ultimate sacrifice.
The Last Lumenian by S. G. Blaise
MOST PRINCESSES NEED SAVING. THIS ONE WILL SAVE YOU.
She is a rebel. Lilla is fighting for the refugees’s freedom from oppression. The king, her father, lost touch with reality ever since Lilla’s mother died. Now everyone else is paying the price. The arrival of Callum, a powerful Teryn general, complicates Lilla’s life. His presence leads to conflicted feelings and friction with Arrov, a handsome pilot and fellow rebel. Her life is not what she imagined it to be. Not by far. Meddling gods, love interests and sudden magical abilities have no room in Lilla’s world, but that has become her new reality. No matter how hard she pushes them away, it’s too late. They all seek to control her anyway. Now the Era War between two ruling archgods forces Lilla to act: accept who she really is magic and all; find true love; fulfill her destiny by defeating the Archgod of Chaos and Destruction before He finds her. The Last Lumenian.
Fierce Heart by Tara Grayce
Essie would do anything for her kingdom…even marry an elf prince she just met that morning. The human kingdom of Escarland and the elven kingdom of Tarenhiel have existed in an uneasy peace after their last wars ended with both kings dead. As tensions rise once again, desperate diplomacy might be the only way to avert war. If only negotiations between elves and humans were that simple. When a diplomatic meeting goes horribly wrong, Essie, a human princess, finds herself married to the elf prince and warrior Laesornysh. Fitting in to the serene, quiet elf culture might be a little difficult for this talkative princess, but she’s determined to make it work. With impending war and tenuous alliances, it will be up to Essie to unite her two peoples. And maybe get her hands on elven conditioner while she’s at it.
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . . Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.
The Selection by Kiera Cass
Prepare to be swept into a world of breathless fairy-tale romance, swoonworthy characters, glittering gowns, and fierce intrigue perfect for readers who loved Divergent, Delirium, or The Wrath & the Dawn.
For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape a rigid caste system, live in a palace, and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon. But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her, and competing for a crown she doesn’t want.
Then America meets Prince Maxon—and realizes that the life she’s always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.
Starship's Mage by Glynn Stewart
A ship that cannot leave A Mage that will not stay A meeting of desperations In a galaxy tied together by the magic of the elite Jump Mages, Damien Montgomery graduates into their numbers—only to discover that without connections, he can’t find a ship and is stuck in the Sherwood system. Pirates attacked David Rice’s jump freighter, leaving him with a dead Mage and a damaged ship—stuck in Sherwood, where a grieving father has blacklisted him from hiring a replacement Jump Mage. When their desperate needs meet, Damien Montgomery is drawn into a conflict with the most powerful criminal organization in the galaxy—and to the attention of the Mage-King of Mars himself!
Renegade Magic by Jennifer M. Eaton
In outer space, there is no right or wrong...unless you get caught.
Cal and his crew roam the galaxy, stealing food and giving it to those in need. They’re living the smuggler’s dream, until his crew kidnaps a ruthless galactic law enforcer, hoping to convince her the good they do outweighs their crimes. The enforcer can harness primordial energy, which makes her body a weapon, and once she gets out of their power-sucking handcuffs, she’ll execute every one of them for a myriad of crimes, most of which they’re admittedly guilty of. Yes, they’re smugglers who’ve broken countless laws, but could showing her the good they do change the mind of a woman programmed to kill first and ask questions later? Maybe. If they live that long. STAR BANDITS: UPRISING is a five-book action adventure space opera with elements of Guardians of the Galaxy, The Expanse, Firefly, and Robin Hood.
Fated by Kaylin Lee
Quiet, hardworking Cinderella will do anything to protect her family, but as her world comes crashing down, what if she's been the one in danger all along? Kick off this thrilling six-book fantasy series with a sweet-yet-suspenseful Cinderella retelling unlike any you've read.
All Cinderella wants is to take care of her family.
After working tirelessly for five years to prove herself among the city’s elite, she’s about to graduate and win a coveted spot in city government. Then it all blows up in her face—literally.
A violent, anonymous force has been targeting commoners in horrifying attacks. Now they’ve set their sights on Cinderella. Either that, or she’s losing her mind. It doesn’t help that she’s falling for a mage who’s way out of her league.
Just as she manages to recover from the attack that left her scarred and traumatized, the city’s mysterious enemy destroys what’s left of her future. But when they go after her family, they cross the line. The whole city is in danger now.
How much is Cinderella willing to risk to save the city that has always hated her?
Have you read any of these books?
Are there other science fantasy books you've enjoyed?
Are you an author who’s written a science fantasy book?
Let me know in the comments below.
Sara Wright is a science fantasy author who loves to add dash of sweet romance to her books.
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Time Crystal by Sara Wright
The Progenitor Chronicles
Synopsis:
Time Crystals are forbidden for a reason, but King Oren must use one to save a civilization.
King Oren’s only goal was to be a peaceful caretaker of the galaxy. But when a girl falls through a portal into his courtyard clutching a forbidden Time Crystal, his life changes.
With a cataclysmic event imminent, he must lead a group from his home system to the opposite side of the galaxy. Everyone looks to their seemingly immortal race for aid, but even with their elemental powers, they are far from perfect.
Armed with the Time Crystal, they seek to stop an exploding star from decimating an entire population. The problem is, he doesn’t know how to use the crystal. Even worse, he might die trying.
Will King Oren stop the star from exploding? Or will time unravel?
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My books are also science fantasy.