this post was submitted on 31 Jul 2023
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Science Fiction

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What makes a great sci-fi story? (self.sciencefiction)
submitted 1 year ago by grasshopper_mouse to c/sciencefiction
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I'm curious what users feel makes a great sci-fi story. What elements do you feel "make or break" the story specifically where sci-fi is concerned? For me, I really enjoyed the Expanse series, as it feels like there's a sort of "believability" to it all. The authors make everything seem very realistic, even if some of the descriptions and physics are made up.

What is it about your favorite sci-fi books and shows that make them your favorites?

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[–] Izzy 8 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Most people I've talked to tend to disagree with me here, but my favorite type of book is one that focuses primarily on the fictional science rather than the characters. It's interesting how the main focus of most science fiction is not fictional science, but I suppose most people read stories to hear about the people in those stories. Personally, I don't care too much about how people think or what they want. I want to hear all about your wildest techno babble as others have called it. Anything that is fascinating to ponder, but of course the more it makes some type of sense the better. Characters to me are more like a necessity to move a story forward and to see it from a perspective that makes sense. They are simply a camera lens into the world I want to hear about.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

For me it’s kind of both. If a book has flat, boring characters, I can still enjoy it if it has interesting fake science and/or worldbuilding. And a book with iffy worldbuilding can still be a gripping read if the characters are done well. The best books have both. But they do need to have one or the other.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I'm the same. I like hard science fiction. Or hardcore science fiction. You bend a few rules. But then you take them to their logical conclusions. The story and the people are used to demonstrate what this thought experiment does to the universe.

I've especially enjoyed Larry Niven's books, he has this very hardcore science approach.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I wonder if this is why I haven't enjoyed Dreaming Void or Pandora's star as much as I thought I would. The focus definitely seems on the characters more than the world/science.

Meanwhile some of my favorite books involve exploring new worlds and delving deep into what they're discovering: Aurora, Rendezvous with Rama, Long Earth, and the like.