Five SF Stories That Look Like Fantasy
https://www.tor.com/2022/06/22/five-sf-stories-that-look-like-fantasy/

Happily, tor dot com has settled into titles that are pretty descriptive
(earlier ones tended to promise stuff from me that I was not offering).
This is what it says, some examples of science fiction stories that at
first glance seem to be fantasy.
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

On 6/22/2022 10:18 AM, James Nicoll wrote:
> Five SF Stories That Look Like Fantasy
> https://www.tor.com/2022/06/22/five-sf-stories-that-look-like-fantasy/
>
> Happily, tor dot com has settled into titles that are pretty descriptive
> (earlier ones tended to promise stuff from me that I was not offering).
> This is what it says, some examples of science fiction stories that at
> first glance seem to be fantasy.

The "Lord of Light" was ok, nothing special. I gave it three stars out
of five for droning on and on and on and on ...

Lynn

On Wednesday, June 22, 2022 at 11:18:29 AM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
> Five SF Stories That Look Like Fantasy
> https://www.tor.com/2022/06/22/five-sf-stories-that-look-like-fantasy/
>
> Happily, tor dot com has settled into titles that are pretty descriptive
> (earlier ones tended to promise stuff from me that I was not offering).
> This is what it says, some examples of science fiction stories that at
> first glance seem to be fantasy.
> --
> My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
> My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
> My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
> My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

It was so good that you left it out of the subject of this thread? (All I see is "[tor dot com]".)

In article <257d90f8-573a-4274-9fa8-99021dc3c81an@googlegroups.com>,
Martin <mooremar@gmail.com> wrote:
>On Wednesday, June 22, 2022 at 11:18:29 AM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
>> Five SF Stories That Look Like Fantasy
>> https://www.tor.com/2022/06/22/five-sf-stories-that-look-like-fantasy/
>>
>> Happily, tor dot com has settled into titles that are pretty descriptive
>> (earlier ones tended to promise stuff from me that I was not offering).
>> This is what it says, some examples of science fiction stories that at
>> first glance seem to be fantasy.
>> --
>> My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
>> My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
>> My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
>> My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll
>
>It was so good that you left it out of the subject of this thread? (All I see
>is "[tor dot com]".)

In my defense, I woke up stupidly early from a nightmare [1] and could not
get back to sleep.

1: I agreed to manage the scriptwriting process for an amateur musical for free
and without credit. That may not sound like a nightmare unless you know the
organization in question.
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

On 2022-06-22, James Nicoll <jdnicoll@panix.com> wrote:
> Five SF Stories That Look Like Fantasy
> https://www.tor.com/2022/06/22/five-sf-stories-that-look-like-fantasy/
>
> Happily, tor dot com has settled into titles that are pretty descriptive
> (earlier ones tended to promise stuff from me that I was not offering).
> This is what it says, some examples of science fiction stories that at
> first glance seem to be fantasy.

Very nice selection this time, James, very nice indeed.

I have had the Kai Ashante Wilson on my tbr for a _very_ long time, and I
now run it up to the head of the queue if it belongs in that company.
--
dgold <news@dgold.eu>

James Nicoll wrote:

>Five SF Stories That Look Like Fantasy

The Innkeeper Chronicles by Ilona Andrews kind of fit into this. It
starts out with Dina, who operates a magical Inn on Earth where
Vampires and other creatures can visit and interact in safety. She's
also dealing with the new werewolf that moved into the neighborhood.

But, it turns out that the Inn is a telepathic creature that the
Innkeeper bonds with, which can open portals to other places. The
Vampires are aliens, a future-feudal warrior humanoid race that live on
distant planets and just happen to have big fangs. The werewolf is the
descendant of genetically-engineered super-soldiers whose parents fled
the final defeat of their world in a war.

Again, the line between SF and fantasy gets awfully blurry in this sort
of work, where the motto seems to be "we break more laws of Physics and
Biology before breakfast than most people do . . . ever."

PS: I'd say that the reason psychic powers got grandfathered into SF is
that many thought they were probably real or plausible and just needed
some scientific exploration. Some still do. Of course, some believe
magic is real too.

Brian

"Default User" <defaultuserbr@yahoo.com> wrote in
news:t984bg$3kq3a$1@dont-email.me:
>
>
> PS: I'd say that the reason psychic powers got grandfathered
> into SF is that many thought they were probably real or
> plausible and just needed some scientific exploration. Some
> still do. Of course, some believe magic is real too.
>
>
> Brian
>

I suspect it has more to do with the historical accident that John
Campbell liked stories that included psychic powers.

In article <XnsAEC256EE2A475mmikedacomcastnet@85.12.62.254>,
Michael Ikeda <mmikeda@erols.com> wrote:
>"Default User" <defaultuserbr@yahoo.com> wrote in
>news:t984bg$3kq3a$1@dont-email.me:
>
>>
>>
>> PS: I'd say that the reason psychic powers got grandfathered
>> into SF is that many thought they were probably real or
>> plausible and just needed some scientific exploration. Some
>> still do. Of course, some believe magic is real too.
>>
>>
>> Brian
>>
>
>I suspect it has more to do with the historical accident that John
>Campbell liked stories that included psychic powers.

I wonder how much telepathy etc figured into pre-Campbellian SF. Certainly
it's an element in the _Cosmos_ round-robin serial from the early 30s.
--
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..

On Sunday, June 26, 2022 at 8:32:50 AM UTC-4, Michael Ikeda wrote:
> "Default User" <defaul...@yahoo.com> wrote in
> news:t984bg$3kq3a$1...@dont-email.me:
> >
> > PS: I'd say that the reason psychic powers got grandfathered
> > into SF is that many thought they were probably real or
> > plausible and just needed some scientific exploration. Some
> > still do. Of course, some believe magic is real too.
> >
> I suspect it has more to do with the historical accident that John
> Campbell liked stories that included psychic powers.

It was a bit more than liking stories about psychic powers. To quote
one of Campbell's editorials:

"Science has ducked the issue of studying psi very simply; it has denied
that there is any phenomenon to study. In doing so, it is denying a truth
— an unpleasant, perhaps disastrous, truth."
(https://archive.org/stream/collectededitori01camp/collectededitori01camp_djvu.txt)

Of course, psychic powers were fairly common in science fiction
even before Campbell's descent into pseudoscience in the 1950s:
the Lensman series, Foundation, Slan, etc. It was a reflection of
the popularity of "ESP research" at the time.

On Sunday, June 26, 2022 at 1:10:36 PM UTC-4, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
> In article <XnsAEC256EE2A475...@85.12.62.254>,
> Michael Ikeda <mmi...@erols.com> wrote:
> >"Default User" <defaul...@yahoo.com> wrote in
> >news:t984bg$3kq3a$1...@dont-email.me:
> >
> >> PS: I'd say that the reason psychic powers got grandfathered
> >> into SF is that many thought they were probably real or
> >> plausible and just needed some scientific exploration. Some
> >> still do. Of course, some believe magic is real too.
> >
> >I suspect it has more to do with the historical accident that John
> >Campbell liked stories that included psychic powers.
> I wonder how much telepathy etc figured into pre-Campbellian SF. Certainly
> it's an element in the _Cosmos_ round-robin serial from the early 30s.

_Galactic Patrol_ was written and sold before Campbell took over
at _Astounding_.

In article <6e544710-72e9-4fd6-b426-0a315657720en@googlegroups.com>,
Ahasuerus <ahasuerus@email.com> wrote:
>On Sunday, June 26, 2022 at 1:10:36 PM UTC-4, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
>> In article <XnsAEC256EE2A475...@85.12.62.254>,
>> Michael Ikeda <mmi...@erols.com> wrote:
>> >"Default User" <defaul...@yahoo.com> wrote in
>> >news:t984bg$3kq3a$1...@dont-email.me:
>> >
>> >> PS: I'd say that the reason psychic powers got grandfathered
>> >> into SF is that many thought they were probably real or
>> >> plausible and just needed some scientific exploration. Some
>> >> still do. Of course, some believe magic is real too.
>> >
>> >I suspect it has more to do with the historical accident that John
>> >Campbell liked stories that included psychic powers.
>> I wonder how much telepathy etc figured into pre-Campbellian SF. Certainly
>> it's an element in the _Cosmos_ round-robin serial from the early 30s.
>
>_Galactic Patrol_ was written and sold before Campbell took over
>at _Astounding_.

I wonder if there were any bleedover from the Spiritualism of the 20s?
--
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..

On Sunday, June 26, 2022 at 1:35:13 PM UTC-4, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
> In article <6e544710-72e9-4fd6...@googlegroups.com>,
> Ahasuerus <ahas...@email.com> wrote:
> >On Sunday, June 26, 2022 at 1:10:36 PM UTC-4, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
> >> In article <XnsAEC256EE2A475...@85.12.62.254>,
> >> Michael Ikeda <mmi...@erols.com> wrote:
> >> >"Default User" <defaul...@yahoo.com> wrote in
> >> >news:t984bg$3kq3a$1...@dont-email.me:
> >> >
> >> >> PS: I'd say that the reason psychic powers got grandfathered
> >> >> into SF is that many thought they were probably real or
> >> >> plausible and just needed some scientific exploration. Some
> >> >> still do. Of course, some believe magic is real too.
> >> >
> >> >I suspect it has more to do with the historical accident that John
> >> >Campbell liked stories that included psychic powers.
> >> I wonder how much telepathy etc figured into pre-Campbellian SF. Certainly
> >> it's an element in the _Cosmos_ round-robin serial from the early 30s.
> >
> >_Galactic Patrol_ was written and sold before Campbell took over
> >at _Astounding_.
> I wonder if there were any bleedover from the Spiritualism of the 20s?

SFE suggests that J. B. Rhine's _Extra-Sensory Perception_ (1934) was
mostly to blame. To quote Chapter 9 of _The Problem of
Disenchantment: Scientific Naturalism and Esoteric Discourse
1900 - 1939_ (2014):

"Rhine's research at Duke grew into a full-blown research programme
in what was about to be called parapsychology. By the end of the
1930s it would have its own peer-reviewed journals, and produce its
own PhDs. For the first time, psychical researchers could call
themselves professionals."

Of course, there were a lot of other ESP-related activities during the
1930s: mediums, spiritualists, independent "psychical investigators",
etc. It's likely that different science fiction authors and editors were
affected by different parts of that spectrum, e.g. Charles Fort
influenced a number of SF authors, notably Eric Frank Russell.