Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Space Opera and Science-Fiction (part 3)


What is “hard sci-fi,” then? If Solar Echoes is considered to be a space opera, what about it prevents classification as hard science fiction? Hard sci-fi involves an emphasis on scientific accuracy and technical detail, but there is some flexibility in how much the story can stray from established science. For instance, faster-than-light travel (FTL) is something many hard sci-fi authors avoid, though sometimes it has been used as a necessary plot device. In such cases, the story must be rigorously consistent and detailed with regard to how an FTL society would be realistically depicted. The “hardness” of the genre is often measured by how practical and theoretically plausible the scenarios are.

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