The Sword and Laser discussion

I mentioned this in another thread, but I decided to start separate one for this question.

Is this book Sci-Fi enough? There is really no time travel in the story and only 2 out of the 6 stories are in the future, with one of them taking place in the woods the whole time.

We have all seen the commercials. They really emphasize the sci-fi story line for the movie. I still feel a little miss-led, there was not enough sci-fi in the book in my opinion. I really liked the Somni-451 storyline. I could have used more of that in the middle story.

This is the first time I am actually reading a book club book at the same time as everyone else. Wanted to join in with the discussion. I am sorry if I am duplicating a discussion from another thread. This was a question I have been thinking about a lot while reading.

Only the last 2 stories are sci fi. But you could probably classify the whole book as fantasy - at a stretch - if you want to count the mysticism that's implied - even though its mainly sub text - maybe. Well, the movie trailer was definitely scifi - does that count?

But are their lives really connected? They don't exactly make the same mistakes as the trailer is suggesting ..

I finished the book and it really just feel like 6 short stories.

It pretty much is six short stories. Most of the connections are done with props. A journal, a piece of music, a book, a film. There's also a prophetic dream in the 2nd story of the 5th story, a wish in the third story to be reincarnated as part of a society in the 6th story, Ewing falls into a crypt or cemetery exactly the same as the one in the sixth story blah blah and quite a few more. Maybe these are all meant to cue us to look for deeper thematic connections between the stories like the rise and fall of civilisation, or the predatory nature of man or whatever else you want to read into it.

Or you could just read it as 6 short stories told in a roundabout way.

Sci-fi enough for what?

Sci-fi enough to be called Sci-fi? Some people would classify any book with the dystopian and post-apocalyptic elements that this one has as Sci-fi. Personally I'd describe it as a literary novel with Sci-fi and Fantasy elements.

Sci-fi enough to be the book of the month for an SF&F book club? I wouldn't think so, unless there was a movie coming out by a directorial pair most known for SF movies :)

I don't think it was AS sci-fi as a lot of the other books we've read, but there are all different grades of Sci-fi out there, just like there are different grades of fantasy. I think that the from the third story on one could argue that it was a fairly Sci-fi story if you include alternate history and dystopian novels as Sci fi (as stated above).

Jessica wrote: "I don't think it was AS sci-fi as a lot of the other books we've read, but there are all different grades of Sci-fi out there, just like there are different grades of fantasy. I think that the fro..."

Yes, there are definitely different grades and sub-genres withing Sci-fi and Fantasy and if every single pick was the hardest of hard sci-fi and every single fantasy was a Tolkien style epic, I would not have any interest in this group. Getting a variety and trying new styles within the larger genres is the whole fun, and I think, the point.