One reason why fantasy and sci-fi is my favourite genre to read is because it connects me to a sense of wonder. These genres often explore expansive, unknown worlds, strange technologies or magic systems, and new ways to tell old stories.
Although the settings and ideas in sci-fi and fantasy might be too out there for some, the themes are often relevant and real: courage, corruption, the impact of technology on civilizations, and humanity’s place in the universe.
But sci-fi can go off the rails when it attempts to serve as a sermon. It took me a while to formulate my thoughts around this because you might ask, Well what’s the difference between a story that explores a difficult theme as opposed to a story that serves as a lecture?
In short, one comes from an integrated place, the other not.
If the story comes across as a statement or warning, intended to instill fear in the reader, it is likely that the writer wrote from a charged, angry place, marring the story with their own assumptions and biases. A story shouldn’t scold a reader into accepting its ideas because the writer feels that they have some sort of duty to change people’s minds.
Still, good sci-fi challenges the reader to think differently. It doesn’t shy away from difficult themes. It might make predictions about the future. Whether those predictions are accurate or not is less important than whether the writer asks interesting and relevant questions. A great sci-fi story might point out blatant blind spots in how we view the world currently. Or it could just open your mind to something mind-boggling. These are all things that can make sci-fi great. But a story should never attempt to save the world.