I've always wondered why people always lump sci-fi and fantasy together, given that they're totally different genres. It makes it really difficult to browse departments (online or off). And there aren't even that many crossover writers to justify the mix, in my opinion. I mean, I can understand it in a way (they're both stereotypically geeky boys' subjects) but to me it's like putting crime and horror together because, y'know, people die in both. Makes no sense. Does anyone know why - either logically or historically - they get thrown into the same box?

Both are speculative fiction. That's all i got.

To me they are very different. SciFi is just that, fiction based on science, usually set in the future. Fantasy is anything BUT scientific, it involves magic and the supernatural and is often set in the past. As a scifi fan, it always bothers me that the shelves in the library that are labelled SciFi are full of stories about wizards and mystics. And judging from some of the cover art, they seem to be aimed at women, not geeky boys.