The Battle Between Sci-Fi and Fantasy (p. 86)
“
Fantasy has been around since antiquity, and there’s been so much of it. The years have taken their toll and depleted some of its imaginative power. The rapid progress of science, on the other hand, constantly infuses fresh blood into the science-fictional imagination. The worlds described in today’s sci-fi are entirely different from those of a few decades ago, whereas today’s fantasy worlds aren’t so different from those of the Middle Ages.
— Liu Cixin
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Fantasy has been around since antiquity, and there’s been so much of it. The years have taken their toll and depleted some of its imaginative power. The rapid progress of science, on the other hand, constantly infuses fresh blood into the science-fictional imagination. The worlds described in today’s sci-fi are entirely different from those of a few decades ago, whereas today’s fantasy worlds aren’t so different from those of the Middle Ages." in the context of "The Battle Between Sci-Fi and Fantasy (p. 86)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Liu Cixin" (Quotes, Short fiction and essays, A View from the Stars (2024): Page numbers from the hardcover first American edition, published by Tor Books; , first printing
See Cixin Liu's Internet Science Fiction Database page for original publication details
Bold face added for emphasis )
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
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About Liu Cixin
Liu Cixin (born June 23, 1963) is a Chinese science fiction writer.
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