Please help: Is this science fiction or fantasy?

Please help me decide whether my story is sci-fi or fantasy.

A crippled boy comes of age in a tribe with stone-age technology. He battles an enormous scaled and feathered beast, which is the height of twenty tribesmen.

The world is earth-like but imaginary. The beast is pure fiction, like a cross between a non-existent dinosaur and a griffin. Unlike a griffin, the beast is not magical. The tribe's belief in spirits is an important part of the story, but again there is no magic.

The story is speculative, in a time and place that never existed on earth, but no magic. The lack of tech is integral to the story (as opposed to the presence of it.)

I'm reluctant to call it science fiction, because it isn't science or the real past at all. The only non-fantasy aspect is that magic has not been used.

It would also be easy for me to take this story and weave magic into the lives of the characters at a later point. But for this tale to work, the character has to rely solely on his own ingenuity.

(It's about 6,600 words. If anyone would like to look at it to help me decide, I could put a snippet up. I'm also keen to get beta readers, though that will go in another thread. I know its too long just to put it all here.)

Thanks for your reply, Yorkist.

Hmm. When I wrote it, I thought of it as fantasy, because of the fantastic creature and unreal world.

The lack of technology is important in that it establishes a Stone Age culture, but the story is about the character's journey and courage, rather than making any particular points about technology. (It's not a thought experiment, if that makes sense.) In a way, he just so happens to live in a Stone Age, rather than the story being about a Stone Age. But he faces certain challenges as a result of being in that context.

Does that help?

It only matters in that I have to categorise this story for a critique.

I haven't worried about the laws of physics or biology. (Though I haven't knowingly broken any.)

Low fantasy?

Yorkist - thanks for your further thoughts and your kind offer. It's not ready to post, but if I do, I will PM you. (But I will also understand if you just glance at it, to give a view, or if you don't have time to read.)

Once! Your thoughts do make me happier to label it fantasy. It's not as mythical in quality as Beowulf, but definitely a made up world.

Waylander and onesecondglance - great to have some concurring thoughts. That's a big help.

Thanks everyone for giving your opinions. The fact that sci-fi also often uses made up worlds is why I was not sure what genre to label it. It's interesting that the Clan of the Cave Bear books are viewed as fantasy, since I gather vast quantities of research went into that series, and it is set on Earth. I haven't read it, but its one of those series that I should read... my list is so long! And I read a lot!

Dune was set on another world in what felt like a futuristic setting. (Of course I've read all the original Dune series.) It was like Star Wars, not in its premise, but for me, in its feel, in the sense that there were huge technologies and cultures from all over the place, with a galactic import. When I think of galaxies, I think of sci fi, even if the cultures shown are primitive. I also think of sci fi when things are futuristic. When things are set in past eras, to me, they take on a more fantastic flavour. Even Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle, set on Earth a few centuries back, feels more fantastic than sci fi, and I guess its an historical fantasy (maybe someone has a better term) even though it has characters like Isaac Newton in there.

(Mind you, Neal Stephenson's latest that I've read, Anathem, is hard to categorise. It really blurs the line between sci fi and fantasy in some ways, though there is no magic, and explores philosophy as much as technology... but I'd have to call it sci fi in the end.)

So I'm feeling that I'll go for fantasy, and this has been thought provoking. I wonder if stories set in the past (that don't involve time travel, alien tech or futuristic tech, as opposed to mesolithic or neolithic tech) are usually designated fantasy, as opposed to sci fi for those set in the future.

I might still choose to put a piece up in SYW when its ready, to confirm.

dclary that's a great summary. I think I feel comfortable labelling it fantasy now, even though there's no magic. Your thoughts about how 'alternate' pasts could relate to sci fi or not really help. Thanks.

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7269389#post7269389

I've put the first two scenes up in the SYW area, in case anyone feels like having a peek just to confirm the fantasy diagnosis. I am now pretty confident that fantasy is the right label. Thanks everyone for your help.