So. Which pic is Jarael in KorOR comics?
this post was submitted on 26 Jul 2025
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So, what does that make Quark?
Space Gollum.
I know very little about Star Trek. That was just the first thought that popped into my head.
I've always liked the definition that in SF, the rules are set by physics, and in fantasy the rules are set by the author.
That's not quite right. In sci fi there are rules that remain logically consistent, based on known physics or not. In fantasy, they can make up the rules as they go along.
Compare Star Trek and Star Wars. Trek's subspace field theory is not any kind of known physics, but Trek is still sci fi. Because the subspace fields are fairly consistent about what they do. Star Wars' fan base damn near revolted when the series hinted that The Force might not be purely mystical.
Sci fi doesn't have to explain what the rules are to the reader. They just have to be be discoverable using the scientific method. Dragonriders of Pern is hard science fiction, originally published in Analog.
Star Wars’ fan base damn near revolted when the series hinted that The Force might not be purely mystical.
The series hinted that in the first movie when it was introduced. Sorry.
The thing with midichlorians was protested because it was damned stupid. Original Star Wars managed mostly to walk the line between specific and stupid. You don't have to invent a stupid explanation of a space age technology if you can do with vague hints. Most people IRL too don't know a lot.
Even in prequel and post-prequel EU midichlorians would usually be ignored or referred as just one variant (Jedi powers are not very well explored, you see, they have plenty of competing theories, you see, secrets of the powerful and all that).
Star Wars also has rules that pretend to be logically consistent. Say, hyperspace travel and how in the movies it's shown that it's, ahem, important and an error in anything might lead you to drop out in the middle of a star something-like-that, and also in the EU that a failed hyperdrive might work like a medium-sized nuke. Which makes sense for a device that literally transposes your dimensions in the universe or whatever, should be lots of energy.
Except I've read a few comically stupid books like "Wraith Squadron" where there's no balance at all, a "hacker" pilot can check all of a planet's archives by being in its orbit, things like that. But the preceding books about pilots (by a different author) were good.
I'd say Star Wars is more about vibes than about opinionated future of humanity. But compared to ST it's not less sci-fi.
Stop pretending they didn't make shit up constantly in Star Trek
I think of scifi as being fantasy + explanation. Not necessarily a good explanation, but AN explanation.
