Yep, I have that sci-fi itch that I'm looking to scratch yet again. I've asked before, to limited success, but it's another year, so here goes...
Ever notice how there’s ton of visual media for the sci-fi genre that scratches your average RPGer’s itch?
Ever notice how few novels/series do so? Most are one-trick-ponies (1 exaggerated tech/theme) or still stuck in the Sci-fi-as-morality-play mode.
So what are good sources of “RPGer Sci-Fi”?
Examples of what I’m seeking include:
Firefly/Serenity
Mass Effect 1 & 2
Dead Space 1 & 2
HALO
Star Trek (recent movie focus on characters & action rather than morality-lesson-of-the-week TV style)
Battlestar Galactica (yeah, it could be preachy, too, but it was well done and presented a fairly consistent universe with lots of action)
Battle: Los Angeles
Alien / Aliens
Honorable Mention Sci-Fi films (fall into trap of 1-trick-pony more than others):
Predator
Terminator films
I, Robot (film)
Minority Report
Also, what novels make for good gamer sci-fi but are classified as adventure, mystery, or some other genre?
Film examples:
Adventure = Indiana Jones – Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Adventure/Thriller = EagleEye, Source Code
Espionage Thriller = Mission Impossible films (tech), Bond series
Superhero = Batman (recent films), Captain America, Iron Man
Are we talking about movies or books? You say novels but you talk about films.
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Can you give some examples of recent written SF that fall into your one-trick pony or morality play categories?
More constructively, I think Big Dumb Object SF appeals for at least some of the same reasons that RPGs do--usually there's an intrepid group that has to explore the BDO and/or solve some mystery associated with it, and there's your reskinned dungeon. Examples include Charles Sheffield's Summertide series and a lot of Alistair Reynolds (Diamond Dogs, Pushing Ice, Century Rain). Other Reynolds books that appeal: The Prefect, House of Suns.
Are we talking about movies or books? You say novels but you talk about films.
Novels.
I'm citing films & video games because there's a plethora of those IPs that support "RPGer Sci-Fi". However, trying to find sci-fi fiction that's cut from similar cloth has been an incredibly frustrating endeavor.
So ... on the novel side, I really enjoy the Games Workshop's Black Library.
Many of us got subjected to schlock from some of the US gaming tie-in novels in the 80s and early 90s. (Some were very good, and some were truly horrible.)
Almost all of the Black Library material is well written and well edited.
In service,
Rich
www.drgames.org
Are we talking about movies or books? You say novels but you talk about films.Novels.
I'm citing films & video games because there's a plethora of those IPs that support "RPGer Sci-Fi". However, trying to find sci-fi fiction that's cut from similar cloth has been an incredibly frustrating endeavor.
I find I don't understand what 1 trick pony means here
I find I don't understand what 1 trick pony means hereAre we talking about movies or books? You say novels but you talk about films.Novels.
I'm citing films & video games because there's a plethora of those IPs that support "RPGer Sci-Fi". However, trying to find sci-fi fiction that's cut from similar cloth has been an incredibly frustrating endeavor.
The one-trick-pony sci-fi story is where the plot hinges around one element being exaggerated while keeping everything else essentially the same. Examples:
The "Robot Story" - Robots are everywhere. No advanced weaponry, no spaceflight. Just robots.
The VI story - Virtual reality is prevalent, everything else...not so much.
The Biotech story, the global warming disaster story, etc.
There's nothing wrong with a one-trick-pony story as a standalone story. They usually don't hold up in series format or as a distinct universe/intellectual property. For example, Michael Crichton wrote a lot of good one-trick-pony stories. You'll notice he didn't write a lot of sequels and they're all pretty much set in the modern day with one element hyper-amplified.
Here's the simpler criteria:
What sci-fi novels/series that, while reading or upon finishing the book, you could envision the setting & themes of the book sustaining a sci-fi RPG campaign? And yes, this means action, tension, combat, intrigue b/c I've yet to see the successful "Hard Sci-Fi - the cerebral role-playing game of moral allegory" appeal to a group of RPGers that typically plays FRPGs.
So ... on the novel side, I really enjoy the Games Workshop's Black Library.
Many of us got subjected to schlock from some of the US gaming tie-in novels in the 80s and early 90s. (Some were very good, and some were truly horrible.)
Almost all of the Black Library material is well written and well edited.
In service,
Rich
www.drgames.org
Thanks. I'll have to check some of them out. I'm a fan of their Warhammer fantasy line. I'm not very familiar with the 40k setting, however.
Leaving Crichton aside, because I don't think he's writing hard SF, I ask again: What are some specific examples of hard SF that meets your definitions of one-trick pony and morality play? Not category examples.
Well since I've avoided those books like the plague in recent years, I can't give you a specific example of recent works that fall into those categories as none currently sit upon my bookshelf. Crichton is the most recent example of stuff I've read that fits the bill.
I also never said it had to be hard sci-fi.
I refer you to the question "Could this work as a RPG game/setting? If the answer's no, I'm probably not interested.
I'm also not interested in debating whether or not a sci-fi book meets my or your definition of the morality play or one-trick pony. If the examples I've provided don't give you an idea what I'm seeking, rather than what I'm not seeking, we don't have much to discuss. (And that's ok, btw...)
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The reason I was after clarification on the one-trick pony is that Way Back When, that was a major genre of SF--change one thing, then try to rigorously play out the ramifications of that single change. Larry Niven's jump booth stories looked at the sort of society you might get with cheap commercial teleportation, Pournelle's CoDominium stories started with a stardrive being discovered in 2008 (he was writing in the 60s and 70s), and looked at how relations between US/NATO and the USSR played out after that, etc. It sounded like you were talking about those sorts of stories, but I wasn't sure. I still have no idea what you're talking about wrt morality plays, though.
Anyway, I gave some examples in my first reply. Next question, I suppose, is what sort of RPG are we talking, here? Alexis Gilliland's _The End of the Empire_ has a lot of SF espionage, and _The Prefect_ is a far-future police procedural...is that the sort of RPG you're interested in? "Top Secret" in space? Charles Stross' _Glasshouse_ is more SF espionage, with a side of oddball mil-SF in the background. Neal Stephenson's _Diamond Age_ could be a decent cyberpunk setting. Back to Stross, his Merchant Princes series starts out as a single change (existence of a secret clan of worldwalkers on contemporary Earth) and ends up with...well, lots of changes. I already talked about BDO stories and named a few; there's your dungeon crawl/exploration.
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 8
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I still have no idea what you're talking about wrt morality plays, though.
I think he's talking about stuff like This maybe?
I still have no idea what you're talking about wrt morality plays, though.I think he's talking about stuff like This maybe?
"No, I am hygiene!"
Hee hee!
Heh. And then there's the opposite problem of the "one-trick-pony" in SciFi - the "Kitchen Sink" disease, which tries to incorporate EVERYTHING into one setting. See Simon R Green's "Deathstalker" series for an example. I've given my opinion of it in this thread.
I refer you to the question "Could this work as a RPG game/setting? If the answer's no, I'm probably not interested.
Then maybe your answer is simple: look for settings with a game associated. I took that approach years ago. I saw that there was a "GURPS Humanx" and a "GURPS Uplift" and started reading the Humanx Commonwealth books by Alan Dean Foster and Uplift series by David Brin for that reason. (As far as Humanx goes, I thought that the early Flinx books and "Nor Crystal Tears" were good - and indeed, I firmly believe that the Thranx inspired the Vrusk in Star Frontiers - but the Humanx series eventually got stretched too thin. And if you want to know more about Uplift, see this thread.
Also, Timothy Zahn's "Conquerers" trilogy comes to mind. That series was good, but it could have been GREAT if not for all the pseudo-scientific gobbledegook used to fill up pages.
Or you could just read "Star Wars" novels.
(But for some reason, none of this stuff really impressed me the way the "one-trick pony" does, in prose. I don't know why that is.)
I find I don't understand what 1 trick pony means hereAre we talking about movies or books? You say novels but you talk about films.Novels.
I'm citing films & video games because there's a plethora of those IPs that support "RPGer Sci-Fi". However, trying to find sci-fi fiction that's cut from similar cloth has been an incredibly frustrating endeavor.
The one-trick-pony sci-fi story is where the plot hinges around one element being exaggerated while keeping everything else essentially the same. Examples:
The "Robot Story" - Robots are everywhere. No advanced weaponry, no spaceflight. Just robots.
The VI story - Virtual reality is prevalent, everything else...not so much.
The Biotech story, the global warming disaster story, etc.
There's nothing wrong with a one-trick-pony story as a standalone story. They usually don't hold up in series format or as a distinct universe/intellectual property. For example, Michael Crichton wrote a lot of good one-trick-pony stories. You'll notice he didn't write a lot of sequels and they're all pretty much set in the modern day with one element hyper-amplified.
Here's the simpler criteria:
What sci-fi novels/series that, while reading or upon finishing the book, you could envision the setting & themes of the book sustaining a sci-fi RPG campaign? And yes, this means action, tension, combat, intrigue b/c I've yet to see the successful "Hard Sci-Fi - the cerebral role-playing game of moral allegory" appeal to a group of RPGers that typically plays FRPGs.
So basically you want EVERYTHING in the book. Good luck with that.
No one mentioned Dune yet?!
Also: Honor Harrington series by David Weber, Starfire by David Weber and Steven White.
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Or you could just read "Star Wars" novels.
I was wondering how far this thread would get before this suggestion popped up.
Im assuming the OP wasnt going to consider Star Wars/ Star Trek, considering they ought to be the most obvious choices.
If Im wrong and you are interested in using Star Wars, OP, I suggest starting with the Thrawn trilogy by Timothy Zahn, or the Darth Bane trilogy by Drew Karpyshyn.
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While not necessarily far enough from the real world to truly give you a fully new setting, I'd like to recommend some books by Charles Stross (British sci-fi author).
Namely, two series - the Laundry (consisting of the Atrocity Archives, the Jennifer Morgue, and the Fuller Memorandum) and the Halting State series (Halting State, Rule 34).
The Laundry is close to a one-trick pony, I suppose - the conceit is that magic is real, it involves drawing on the attention of terrible beings from outside reality, and it is powered by mathematical equations, which makes mathematicians and computer programmers super dangerous. And it focuses around a member of a british secret agency dedicated to keeping the world safe from such dangers. So you've basically got a tech-heavy lovecraftian secret agent thing going on.
Halting State is pretty much just near-future hard sci-fi, looking at where our technology is going and extrapolating how that will affect society.
(I wouldn't recommend his Merchant Princes series, which is just... not nearly as well written or engaging).
I mentioned Stross above, but hadn't thought about Halting State/Rule 34, and rejected the Laundry stories as being too close to contemporary. OTOH, I could see an interesting, albeit deeply weird, campaign based on Saturn's Children.
I could see both serving as interesting RPG settings. Both of them are very focused on taking a theme and exploring how it truly effects those that interact with it. The Laundry, in fact, I think might already have something like that out there, adapted from the Call of Cthulhu rules. And I can easily see Halting State as a bridge between a Modern RPG and a more fully cyberpunk setting like Shadowrun.
More closer to own turf: The Invincible and Solaris. Other things by Lem are interesting too, however they vary in quality greatly.
Actually while Sturgeon did agree that 90% of SF and Fantasy is crap, he explained it was only because 90% of everything is crap.
+1. That's just what I was going to say.
And that's why we ask each other for recommendations, as BPorter is doing.
What sci-fi novels/series that, while reading or upon finishing the book, you could envision the setting & themes of the book sustaining a sci-fi RPG campaign? And yes, this means action, tension, combat, intrigue b/c I've yet to see the successful "Hard Sci-Fi - the cerebral role-playing game of moral allegory" appeal to a group of RPGers that typically plays FRPGs.
Your absolute #1 port of call here must be Peter F. Hamilton. He has three notable SF universes and I think all three fulfil your criteria.
First up is THE NIGHT'S DAWN TRILOGY (The Reality Dysfunction, The Neutronium Alchemist, The Naked God, plus a companion, The Confederation Handbook, and a short story collection, A Second Chance at Eden). Set in the 27th Century, it depicts humanity as having split into two strains: the 'normal' Adamists who use standard-tech starships and cybernetics and the Edenists, who use biotech and have developed telepathy. The Confederation is plunged into crisis when an ancient menace escapes from a primitive jungle colony world and begins engulfing the human race. Very clever stuff, with a broad and compelling universe.
Then there is the GREG MANDEL TRILOGY (Mindstar Rising, A Quantum Murder, The Nanoflower). This is near-future cyberpunk stuff set in a post-apocalyptic tropical Britain ravaged by climate change and nuclear war. Much shorter books than the Night's Dawn stuff as well.
Then there's the COMMONWEALTH/VOID universe, which consists of THE COMMONWEALTH SAGA (Pandora's Stark, Judas Unchained) and THE VOID TRILOGY (The Dreaming Void, The Temporal Void, The Evolutionary Void). It starts off with the development of wormhole tech that makes space travel unnecessary, as people can simply walk from one planet to another through portals. An ancient alien race escapes from imprisonment at a nearby star, however, and humanity is forced to crash-build a space warfleet from scratch, leading to chaos. The latter trilogy takes place a thousand years later and revolves around the discovery of another universe located within a singularity within the Galactic Core.
I would also recommend Dan Abnett, particularly his WARHAMMER 40,000 material (that requires no foreknowledge of the rest of the setting). For ground-combat stuff, the GAUNT'S GHOST series in unbeatable. For interstellar, planet-hopping adventures with a small group of people going up against the universe, there's the EISENHORN and RAVENOR trilogies (available in convenient omnibuses). For the epic, massive, full-on interstellar war stuff, there's THE HORUS HERESY (multiple authors, but Abnett kicks it off with HORUS RISING).
Beyond that there's David Brin's UPLIFT SAGA (start with the second book, Startide Rising, as the first book is a bit weak), Tad Williams' OTHERLAND (an epic cyberpunk adventure), Alastair Reynolds' REVELATION SPACE books and his various stand-alones, and Dan Simmons' HYPERION CANTOS (though the universe doesn't open up and become more epic until the second book, though the first is artistically much stronger).
A special mention for Stephen Donaldson's GAP SAGA, which is excellent. A small bunch of humans on a ship at the edge of explored space suddenly become involved in hugely important events as humanity tries to avoid war with a technologically superior alien race. Really great stuff.
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I would have to agree with the suggestion of David Brin's Uplift series as well. Plus Larry Niven (with various co-authors) has a few that have always caught my eye for gaming universes (unfortunatly my last group was medieval style only). Niven's Integral Trees and The Smoke Ring are awesome IF you can find copies, but also the Ringworld series and the Mote in God's eye duology are incredible. Asimov's Foundation is a little old and dated but very credible for gaming ideas. Hamilton's series mentioned earlier is good, and for hard core Sci Fi try Steven Baxter, tho he's a little hard to follow he has some very interesting ideas on where humanity might go. Allen Dean Foster's Sentenced to Prism is Excellent and unique ( great creature ideas with adaptable Photovores.) As well as his Flinx novels. could go on but already listed a lot. luck.
In my opinion...amounting to a hill of beans...
* Voice of the Whirlwind - Walter John Williams - For a book written in '86 it holds up remarkably well (individual tastes being what they are).
* Avery Cates Series - Jeff Somers - They aren't masterworks of sci-fi, but they are quick reads with an interesting (albeit cliche) lead character. They also fall under the cyberpunk genre.
* Altered Carbon - Richard Morgan - Morgan's depiction of a future world/universe is done quite well here. The actual plot of the book is a bit meandery and Morgan's propensity for GRAPHIC (to the point of rediculousness and beyond) sex scenes is grating. BUT...good world building. The other two stories in the Tekashi Kovacs series are not quite as interesting as the first (in my opinion) but Morgan explores more of his universe in them, so it can be interesting for imagery etc. These books get lumped into cyberpunk on the shelf but they are more transhuman imo.
* Iron Empires (graphic novels) - Christopher Moeller - A cool space opera-esque universe that mashes together many parts and pieces of sci-fi that came before (everything from Star Wars to 40k and beyond). The fully painted artwork is awesome though.
* Pandora's Star & Judas Unchained - Peter F. Hamilton - Previously mentioned, and very good. His writing style is dryyyyyyy, but his subject matter is so very flyyyyy. Sort of like the sci-fi love child of Asimov and Tolkein. You can't really pick and choose between the two books because they are truly one story with a record skip in between.
* Hyperion & Fall of Hyperion - Dan Simmons - Sort of Wizard of Oz being reimagined by Stephen King with the movie Brazil on in the background and the sound-track for Requiem for a Dream on the headphones...it's a twisty journey but is ultimately an interesting experience. Definitely good at evoking emotion from the reader.
* Dune - Frank Herbert - Kind of an essential to have in the ol' memory banks imo. I haven't read it in...gee-wiz..twenty one years so I can't speak to how it would hold up to modern sensibilities. There have been many things that have blatantly ripped off this story since its introduction to the world (books, comics, film, art, etc).
* My Teacher is an Alien - Bruce Coville - What!? I read this to my little brother when he was a kid and we loved it...not all sci-fi has to take itself so seriously :-)....especially in a world that seems to somehow enjoy Twilight & Harry frakking Potter
* Burning Chrome (compilation) - William Gibson - Say what you will about "one trick ponies." Gibson spawned a lot of interesting ponies, and this book gets high marks in terms of cool imagery for gamers. Some fall flat, but they are pretty varied and each story has at least one redeeming quality :-). Also, amongst its pages, Johnny Mnemonic still ranks as my absolute favorite Gibson work.
* Almost Anything by Phillip K Dick - The guy showed the world that sci-fi can actually be interesting to read (I hate Asimov man...I appreciate his contribution to the genre but...ugh...). Blade Runner, Total Recall, Adjustment Bureau...Hollywood keeps ripping the guy off time and time again, and he died poor and crazy.
The Destroyermen series by Taylor Anderson is quite good.
It's not spaceships, but WWII meets alternate reality.
The Cobra series by Timothy Zahn would make an excellent campaign setting.
The Quadrail series by Timothy Zahn is very interesting as well.
I'm really surprised that no one's mentioned Jack Vance's Dying Earth. It was good enough inspiration material for Gygax. I tend to think of it as a crossover between SF/Fantasy.
I just read this for the first time recently and it's wicked awesome!
I can see and understand the description as SF/Fantasy, but I personally would just describe it as fantasy. I think that if the standards of what I'll call plane-building were as established in his generation's reading public as they are today, The Dying Earth wouldn't have taken place on this planet. I haven't read the rest of the books in the series, though.
I also went through a steampunk phase not to long ago, so if those count I'd add:
The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling
The Peshawar Lancers by S.M. Stirling
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
and The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson which is really cyberpunk pretending to be steampunk.
Those books all have awesome stuff that could be valuably mined by gamers.
Your absolute #1 port of call here must be Peter F. Hamilton. He has three notable SF universes and I think all three fulfil your criteria.
First up is THE NIGHT'S DAWN TRILOGY (The Reality Dysfunction, The Neutronium Alchemist, The Naked God, plus a companion, The Confederation Handbook, and a short story collection, A Second Chance at Eden). Set in the 27th Century, it depicts humanity as having split into two strains: the 'normal' Adamists who use standard-tech starships and cybernetics and the Edenists, who use biotech and have developed telepathy. The Confederation is plunged into crisis when an ancient menace escapes from a primitive jungle colony world and begins engulfing the human race. Very clever stuff, with a broad and compelling universe.
Then there is the GREG MANDEL TRILOGY (Mindstar Rising, A Quantum Murder, The Nanoflower). This is near-future cyberpunk stuff set in a post-apocalyptic tropical Britain ravaged by climate change and nuclear war. Much shorter books than the Night's Dawn stuff as well.
Then there's the COMMONWEALTH/VOID universe, which consists of THE COMMONWEALTH SAGA (Pandora's Stark, Judas Unchained) and THE VOID TRILOGY (The Dreaming Void, The Temporal Void, The Evolutionary Void). It starts off with the development of wormhole tech that makes space travel unnecessary, as people can simply walk from one planet to another through portals. An ancient alien race escapes from imprisonment at a nearby star, however, and humanity is forced to crash-build a space warfleet from scratch, leading to chaos. The latter trilogy takes place a thousand years later and revolves around the discovery of another universe located within a singularity within the Galactic Core.
I would also recommend Dan Abnett, particularly his WARHAMMER 40,000 material (that requires no foreknowledge of the rest of the setting). For ground-combat stuff, the GAUNT'S GHOST series in unbeatable. For interstellar, planet-hopping adventures with a small group of people going up against the universe, there's the EISENHORN and RAVENOR trilogies (available in convenient omnibuses). For the epic, massive, full-on interstellar war stuff, there's THE HORUS HERESY (multiple authors, but Abnett kicks it off with HORUS RISING).
Beyond that there's David Brin's UPLIFT SAGA (start with the second book, Startide Rising, as the first book is a bit weak), Tad Williams' OTHERLAND (an epic cyberpunk adventure), Alastair Reynolds' REVELATION SPACE books and his various stand-alones, and Dan Simmons' HYPERION CANTOS (though the universe doesn't open up and become more epic until the second book, though the first is artistically much stronger).
A special mention for Stephen Donaldson's GAP SAGA, which is excellent. A small bunch of humans on a ship at the edge of explored space suddenly become involved in hugely important events as humanity tries to avoid war with a technologically superior alien race. Really great stuff.
I copied Werthead here because I've followed his advice before and been pleased.
I bolded the series I've read and can agree with.I've enjoyed Stephen Donaldson's books though I didn't read the Gap series.
There's also a Gamma world novel by Mel Odom that was both good and true to the new setting.
dot
I just recently read "The Forever War" by Joe Haldeman. You want a novel that has the complete picture? This is it. The Author goes to amazing and interesting extrapolary detail on the implications of all kinds of social, pyschological and technological developments.
The plight of the main character is ofcourse intersting, but the radical ways the setting of the book shifts are really interesting. I have only read one other series that really accepts the potential implications of reletivity on space travel instead of handwaving it with 'warp engines' or 'hyper drive'.
I have only read one other series that really accepts the potential implications of reletivity on space travel instead of handwaving it with 'warp engines' or 'hyper drive'.
Um... how about Orson Scott Card's original "Ender" saga? (I mean back when it was just 4 books - Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, and Children of the Mind.) The "hand-waving" part doesn't start until almost the end of book 3.
Or was that the one other series to which you referred?
Last Legion by Chris Bunch; a pretty good military sci fi at the troop level; having been a soldier; I can say it has a lot of themes and insights that are right on from a soldiers perspective; enough to piss me off at times hehe; pretty good book
I don't read much Sci-fi, but when I find a good one...
Might I suggest the author Neal Asher? A few of his more memorable ones, in my mind:
"The Skinner" - Asher's Spatterjay world is incredible. And while the trade paperback says "Dune meets Master and Commander", it is SOO much more.
"Gridlinked" is also a good starting point, though it has no world of Spatterjay (sadly).
I've read most all of Asher's books. He's a damn fine writer with excellent characterization, plot, and universe-building.
I'd suggest grabbing either of the two above, and seeing how you like it. I'm re-reading "The Skinner" now (for the half-dozenth time) and I still love it.
(And with that recommendation, I throw in Zelazny, because I have to.) :)
I have only read one other series that really accepts the potential implications of reletivity on space travel instead of handwaving it with 'warp engines' or 'hyper drive'.Um... how about Orson Scott Card's original "Ender" saga? (I mean back when it was just 4 books - Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, and Children of the Mind.) The "hand-waving" part doesn't start until almost the end of book 3.
Or was that the one other series to which you referred?
Actually I havent read enders game yet, though I did recently pick up the first book in the series and its on my 'to read' list. The other one I was thinking of was a 2 book series by Mary Doria Russel, The Sparrow and Children of God.
Really depends on what you like; there is all kinds of good Sci Fi like "the moon is a harsh misress" and "Friday" and "Farnams Freehold" and ERB's Beyond the Farthse Star and such, but there mostly about peeps doing regular stuff in a space setting. Not to much Empire buiding or Space Wars and stuff; those are hard to find. Star Trek type books about a starship and a captain and crew visiting places and haveing battles is a real solo act as far a the genre, yet animae does it all the time; so I am kinda wondering if they are out there and suck so I dont hear about em; or just plan cant find em cause their are so many authors.
so, give a short synopsis about the books you post; thanks.
I'm really surprised that no one's mentioned Jack Vance's Dying Earth. It was good enough inspiration material for Gygax. I tend to think of it as a crossover between SF/Fantasy.
There's an actual DYING EARTH RPG (from Pelgrane Press), came out a decade or so ago. Was reasonably decent, that I vaguely recall.
However, it's more of a 'rationalised fantasy' (i.e. it's set so far in the future that there's all sorts of possible SF explanations for the magic and fantasy stuff that happens in the books) than an out-and-out SF series.
