“Science Fiction and Fantasy” by Bonnie Brunish

Science fiction and fantasy are very different genres, but at Abyss & Apex, we welcome both. And we have good reason.

Many fantasy stories are set in a world of the past. Empires, kingdoms, and principalities are the norm. Wars are waged from horseback with swords, spears, and axes—and with magic, of course. Technology is at pre-Enlightenment level. This is a world our ancestors would have found familiar. Even the magic would have seemed normal, for in ancient times, magic was real. Nations employed astrologers. Alchemists seemed on the verge of discovering amazing secrets. Even Newton, after he had formulated the universal law of gravitation and co-invented calculus, continued his alchemical researches. Evil spells and curses were considered real threats.

Talking animals may appear in fantasy stories. Perhaps this too reflects a world familiar to our ancestors—but ancestors more distant than those who lived in medieval times. Whenever I read an animal myth that begins with “back when animals were people,” I can’t help but think the time referred to was when animals seemed like people because our species had not yet grown so distant from them, a time when we understood animal gestures and vocalizations as clearly as if they were words.

Dragons abound in fantasy stories, and even they may be inspired by ancestral memories of times before our ancestors became fully human—so Carl Sagan suggests in his 1977 Pulitzer-prize winning book The Dragons of Eden.

Unlike fantasy stories, science fiction stories are often set in the future. They feature technology that hasn’t been invented yet, systems and machines more advanced than anything known today. Social institutions, mercantile ventures, and governing bodies in science fiction stories may also be unknown to present day humans. Perhaps they are the projection of current trends or the manifestation of ideas in sociology, biology, or philosophy. Instead of dragons, aliens or AI may appear as the powerful, threatening, and enigmatic “other” to challenge science-fiction protagonists.

Science fiction asks readers to imagine strange places, to experience different, even alien, points of view, to expand their minds in multiple dimensions. Science fiction stimulates the intellect, asking for a new understanding of what is real, what is possible.

With its emphasis on past realities, on the natural world our ancestors felt part of, fantasy speaks to the heart. It asks us to get in touch, once again, with the deep truths that modern hurry and complexity can lose sight of. It reminds us of our origins. Science fiction stimulates the brain. It asks us to watch where we’re going, to survey the infinite possibilities that could be our future, and to choose wisely.

Head-talk and heart-talk—both are vital. That is why you will find science fiction as well as fantasy at Abyss & Apex.

— Bonnie Brunish