User blog comment:4. 1. 22. 5. M97/Rivalries: Dave and Madman97 on C0DA./@comment-173.189.226.24-20140220162533/@comment-3524435-20140220203149

You are totally correct about the Dwemer.

Steam power is NOT sci-fi. Just because it's a technology that's more advanced than what we see in The Lord of the Rings doesn't make it science fiction.

As for the robots... I see how people can make this mistake. Generally speaking, robots = science fiction, right? This becomes problematic if you look at how the Dwemer Animunculi are constructed. They're basically just metal shells with gears, steam, and a magical power source. The "robots" are actually golems by Elder Scrolls definition. Now, are golems more fantasy or sci-fi?

There's no fusion power, or microcircuits, or anything technologically spectacular by our standards. The Dwemer wouldn't have been so advanced without MAGIC. Animunculi are powered by soul gems or another similar power source, but what are they without that magical power? Nothing that couldn't have been created by humans a few hundred years ago, when we were still building steamboats. They just wouldn't have been able to power the device.

Sorry for the rant, but I go NUTS when I see people claiming that TES has always had science fiction elements. Their examples either include more of Kirkbride's work (which is irrelevant when the canonicity of his work is in question) or the Dwemer.