How to blend Fantasy with Sci-Fi

Is it possible for a story to have concepts like magic, elves and dragons, while still having things like laser guns, clones and aliens? I ask because, i\'m in the process of writing a fan-made sequel series to show that i like, and it basically had the concept of magical creatures as its theme. However, since it took place in a modern setting, i felt that i could get away with a little technology; guns, helicopters, jets, submarines and secret labs, the basics. But i also kind of want to add in things like aliens, cloning operations, genetic mutations and advanced technology, none of which seem to fit into a franchise with a magical world as its premise.

I\'ve tried to use the Disney Show, Gargoyles, as an example to follow, since it had a somewhat fantastical premise while still incorporating modern technology well. But i still don\'t know

Is it possible? Short answer: yes. Long answer: yes, BUT.

You can do pretty much anything as long as you can execute it properly. In this case? If you can A) make those magical elements fresh and/or interesting, and B) reconcile the magic with the technology, then there's no reason why you should worry about screwing up. Well, I'm probably making it a lot simpler than it really is, but if you take time out to consider as much as you can, you'll put yourself in a better position with your project.

Here's an example: Final Fantasy. Even in the latest iterations, the characters are all moving through futuristic worlds, taking down mechs with melee weapons; there's a gap that hasn't really been bridged there (handwaved, maybe — if you're generous). What's the solution? Give good reasons as to why your world uses certain conventions when they're a big departure from our own — or just violate common sense. If you're going to rely on guns, you're in a good place.

But my hunch is that you're going to reach moments where somebody or something will use more fantastic elements, and it's up to you to satisfactorily explain how that can mesh with everything else. Got some kind of elven knight strutting around with a halberd? Build on that; make the halberd a part of his culture, even when there are better alternatives. Boost his stats, and make a part of the plot about science-types trying to figure out how he's so stronk. Or, going off of that, you could make the magic/fantasy stuff powered by a sort of black box that powers — if not creates — the fantasy stuff, while Team Science tries to figure it out.

Or just go with a Magic Versus Science plot. If you can't have the two come together, make them duke it out.

That all said, I'd recommend keeping it simple; don't go for excess unless you're certain you can handle it. Magic, elves and dragons I can get behind, but I'm concerned that the balance gets thrown off when you add in aliens. Unless the aliens are the ones giving the tech to others, but even then that's not an easy solution.

But whatever. It's your project, so you just have to do what's best. Just keep asking yourself questions about how you can flesh out those elements, and you'll get to a good place eventually.

Star Wars says yes^note Most agree its fantasy, though fantasy cliches are reworked a bit, Shadowrun says yes. Urban Fantasy by nature says yes.

I think you need to ask yourself how much Sci Fi can your chosen base franchise handle?

Also consider this, most sci fi elements have fantasy equivalents/parallels and vice versa. Aliens could be The Fair Folk. Clones versus Golems (though they a little more robot-like). Genetic mutations as curses/blessings/limited magic abilities. And advanced tech starts becoming Magic from Technology.

What you need to do is each point in your story ask yourself if there is a magic solution and is there a tech solution? For instance, will the plot implode if one character has a mobile phone? Or why hasn't the dragon just burnt everything to the ground? Admittedly often the first couple of dot points on Magic Versus Science are used to prevent this.

I blend the two of them together. I have elves and trolls and space travel with terra formed planets. Most of my fantasy races, such as the trolls, satyrs, centaurs, etc. are aliens.

Personally, I like the idea of magic being a scientific discipline in it's own right, complete with falsifiable predictable and reliable results and definable scopes in which it will, or won't, work - thus leaving it open to coexist with other scientific disciplines and having some areas where magical solutions have been found and other areas where technology (or magically enhanced technology) is required.

Pretty much the same as the fields of science work together to produce our technology now and how advances in one field spill over into others.

There's nothing that says that this could not be taken to the point where they are using tried and true advanced magical techniques to make it safer to travel between planets in their space craft.

Nothing at all to say that any given "monster" isn't a valid species with its own branch of the evolutionary tree (providing it has, or had, a valid and plausible niche to fill) or that the "vaguely humanoid" fantasy races aren't fellow primates from different branches of the tree that independently developed intelligence.

Or that the Sidhe isn't an alternative universe (with a radically different rate of time to explain the whole "stay for a-year-and-a-day but return to find 300 years have passed" thing) inhabited by strange vaguely humanoid aliens that can enter our world (or we enter theirs) through portals between the dimensions.

Depending on what rules you set, you can do damned near anything and make it work, just as long as consistency is maintained and readers can go "ah, they're doing that because magic doesn't work in that situation" or "ah, they don't have that because they use magic instead" rather than "WTF? Why would they build that if it was made clear only three pages ago that anyone with a quart of milk, three grams of silver and the right incantation could achieve the same result?"

I'm of the "this incantation enables us to refine our best nano-scale constructs and improve the capacity of this battery by two watt-hours per cubic centimetre" and "the x-rays and ultra-sound scans reveal you have a deformation of your heart that could cause problems in later years and shorten your lifespan considerably, but fortunately it's easily cured with a minor transformation spell" school of mixing science and magic and the "the gorilla and troll lines diverged at about the same time as chimpanzee and human lines" school of classifying fantasy races.

I say go for it. We could use more Science Fantasy works. Heck, some settings have people with a spellbook in one hand and a lazer gun in he other. For example, Star Ocean or War Hammer 40000'.

edited 29th Jan '15 10:16:38 PM by dvorak

The Fantasy Kitchen Sink story I was working on (until I shifted it to the back burner for an indefinite period) was set in what would be around 600AD if the Christian calendar existed in that setting but there were plans for sequels set far later after further research into the various sciences (of which magic is one) and developments in technology.

In theory, there would have one day been stories with Lunar and Martian colonies, space stations, asteroid mining, cybernetic prostheses, space craft, space elevators and other staples of Science Fiction intermingled with shape-shifters, fantastic creatures and races, spell-casting magic users, magically-enhanced equipment and even one-way accelerated time travel of the "wander into the right (wrong?) area, then hang out with the "locals" for a year and a day before going home" variety - for those who really really really want to meet their great-great-great-great-grandkids but weren't born immortal...

I'd certainly like to see more SF/Fantasy fusion works.