From Science Fiction:
Science fiction is an extremely broad category. I have just read the concluding section of Prince Of Outcasts
by SM Stirling. Soldiers fight with swords and the supernatural is
manifested so is this sf? Yes. The story is set in the future. The
premise of the series is that advanced technology has stopped working,
therefore warfare has returned to swords. The supernatural is a
transcosmic consciousness that had emerged from a previous cosmos and
has caused the Change. Thus, every feature of the plot is scientifically
rationalized although several volumes read like fantasy. The companion
series, about the temporally displaced Nantucket, is time travel sf
without any supernatural manifestations beyond the as yet unexplained
Change/Event. The premise of divergent timelines allows for any number
of coexisting scenarios as demonstrated in other novels and series by
Stirling. Sf as a literary ghetto developed various stereotypes and
cliches but is always able to transcend them.
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