this post was submitted on 31 Jul 2023
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Science Fiction

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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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[–] IonAddis@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

I generally need both good characters and an interesting idea that is explored with enough touches on real world stuff that when I'm asked to suspend disbelief, I can.

I struggle with dry writing/dry characters (Heinlein is the only "golden age" SFF author I can stand because his characters are at least colorful), but I also struggle when obvious fixes/problems with a plot or idea are not addressed or thought of. I'm not even all that hardcore with "real science"--I just want writers to fix the low hanging fruit sometimes.