this post was submitted on 31 Jul 2023
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Science Fiction

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December book club canceled. Short stories instead!

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Lemmy World Rules

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What makes a great sci-fi story? (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 year ago by grasshopper_mouse@lemmy.world to c/sciencefiction@lemmy.world
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I'm curious what users feel makes a great sci-fi story. What elements do you feel "make or break" the story specifically where sci-fi is concerned? For me, I really enjoyed the Expanse series, as it feels like there's a sort of "believability" to it all. The authors make everything seem very realistic, even if some of the descriptions and physics are made up.

What is it about your favorite sci-fi books and shows that make them your favorites?

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[–] guylacaptivite@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Strong world building. No matter how farfetched the technology/society/species, if there is enough backstory or precedent anything is believeable. For example, Isaac Asimov's robots aren't realistic at all but he starts by laying down a set of rules (three laws of robotics)and wrote entire books worth of stories detailing their development. This not only allows readers to suspend their disbelief and accept that sentient robots exist but gives context and relatability to all of your characters/events/locations. The Expanse acheived the same by simply rooting it's fiction deeply in reality which makes it inherently relatable. The rest is normal storytelling.