>> Science fantasy stories tend to be space operas: focus on characters and their adventures rather than technology
Now I'd like to see a definition of 'space opera'. Here's Brian Aldiss' take on it: "Science Fiction is a big muscular horny creature, with a mass of bristling antenna and proprioceptors on its skull. It has a smaller sister, a gentle creature with red lips and a dash of stardust in her hair. Her name is Space Opera".
This is a great definition although arguably not as useful when you have to classify actual stories.
To me Space Opera is more about the plot (large scale, the main characters being important movers in the setting) while the Science Fiction vs Science Fantasy debate is more about the setting.
That is, I think it's possible to have Space Opera Science Fiction (imagine if you removed the protomolecule and its tech from the Expanse and just had the Earth/Mars/Belts political story) or Space Opera Science Fantasy (Star Wars of course is the most prominent example).
I think of Science Fiction as a very broad field with lots of sub genres like hard science fiction where the science is front-and-center and obeys our current understanding of physics to space opera that has a grandiose storytelling component and is epic in scale. I don't think any of these are firm categories and many books have aspects of many sub-genres
> I don't think any of these are firm categories and many books have aspects of many sub-genres
Agree. Some also vary as they progress. E.g. the Charles Stross 'Merchant Princes' sequence that starts out looking like a portal fantasy (people can jump to parallel worlds by looking at a special pattern) but (mild spoiler) becomes quite hard SF as the mechanisms behind the jumping become understood by the protagonists.
Now I'd like to see a definition of 'space opera'. Here's Brian Aldiss' take on it: "Science Fiction is a big muscular horny creature, with a mass of bristling antenna and proprioceptors on its skull. It has a smaller sister, a gentle creature with red lips and a dash of stardust in her hair. Her name is Space Opera".
This is a great definition although arguably not as useful when you have to classify actual stories.