Post History

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/24588
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/24588
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

In his book _How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy_, Orson Scott Card mentions the differences between fantasy and sci-fi readers, and even says that an author should stick to only one genre, as the readers of the other genre will not know who he is (to which my answer is to simply be a bestseller in both, but I digress). My point is, those two genres are different, and have very different readers as far as tastes are concerned.

Therefore, I am wondering if it is a bad idea to create what I am terming 'Science-Fiction-Fantasy.' Or maybe 'Fantastical-Science-Fiction.' The idea is that the novel is both science fiction _and_ fantasy, no matter how inconceivable that might seem at first.

**Is this a bad idea?** My assumption is that it would be, as fantasy readers would be turned off by the sci-fi elements, and sci-fi readers would be turned off by the fantasy elements, thus turning out a novel that was 'mediocrely' received at best (obviously there would be some cross-over, but on the whole readers tend to stick to one or the other). Consider some examples:

- A fantasy novel, concerning elves and magic and such, but taking place in a post-apocalyptic setting where 'magic' is based in hard science, and explained as such. 
- A strange fantasy world, which turns out to be a massive space ship hurtling through space. 
- An advanced sci-fi civilization, which gets invaded and destroyed by vastly superior elves, using magic to invade Earth. 

The last one in particular is a prime example of what I'm going for, and I think it really shows the total contrast between the two sides of the genre. Creating a novel like this would certainly be original (to the best of my knowledge). But would it work?

Original score: 22