Reply #15: Dune is sci-fi [View All]

[Chovexani]

But despite Herbert's dry writing style I find it the most accessible of the sci-fi I have read because it does resemble fantasy in that there is a lot of political intrigue and mystical elements in the story. Even though I am a fan of both genres I lean more towards fantasy, so it really appealed to me.

Although there are similarities between them I think it's a mistake to lump fantasy and sci-fi together, they are two very different genres (especially when you start getting into stuff like "hard" sf vs. "soft" sf, etc.).

I like what David Eddings said about it: SF spends 20 pages explaining how the watch works, fantasy tells you what it looks like and then gets on with the story. :P

(Edit: I'm not terribly fond of any of Piers Anthony's stuff but the Xanth books are the absolute bottom of the barrel. They're some of the worst crap I've had the misfortune of reading--they're not funny, they're just unbelievably corny. If you want fantasy that brings the funny, read Terry Pratchett instead.)