Speculative Romance, or Where Does SFR Fit?

By On February 13, 2009 · 5 Comments

by multmatsherm @ flickr

by multmatsherm @ flickr

There’s a really fascinating discussion going on in my Paranormal Romance group on GoodReads. Linnea Sinclair asked a very interesting, provocative question: Should science fiction romance be part of the paranormal romance genre?

Wikipedia, that bastion of always-accurate information, says that paranormal romance “blends the real with the fantastic or science fictional. The fantastic elements may be woven into an alternate version of our own world in an urban fantasy involving vampires, demons, and/or werewolves, or they may be more ‘normal’ manifestations of the paranormal—humans with psychic abilities, witches, or ghosts. Time-travel, futuristic, and extraterrestrial romances also fall beneath the paranormal umbrella.”

In my opinion, paranormal is the wrong genre to act as such a blanket. The most common and recognizable characteristics of paranormal romances (PNR) are similar to those in urban fantasy: supernatural creatures, psychic or magic powers, witches, etc. While science fiction romance (SFR) may include psychic powers and strange creatures, I would argue that the futuristic and/or extraterrestrial setting places it outside the realm of PNR. Generally, PNR takes place either in a modern/close-to-modern realistic setting (realistic meaning set in our world or a fictional place either in or very similar to our world) or in a historically accurate setting. For example, Christine Warren’s Novels of the Others are set in modern New York. Teresa Medeiros writes vampire novels set in Regency England. Both of these are considered PNR.

But what about SFR? It can be set in the far future or in the present day, in a distant galaxy or even on Earth, but the defining factor is science. According to wikipedia, science fiction “often involves speculations based on current or future science or technology.” Science fiction romance, as a blended subgenre of SF and romance, therefore also deals with science and technology. While psychic powers are often used and there are strange creatures (aliens, for the most part, and not werewolves), SFR uses these elements in a setting that is distinctly different from most PNR. There is also a third genre that often gets lumped into PNR: fantasy romance, such as C.L. Wilson’s Novels of the Fading Lands. The setting and use of magic in these books are distinctively fantasy, and yet they’re often thought of as paranormals.

Of course, there are always exceptions to any genre rule, and PNR seems to be a very flexible genre. I’ve read PNR that is set in the far future, and even vampires in space. Genres are meant to be blended, right? But in the grand scheme of things, I think that PNR and SFR are different enough to warrant their own distinct subgenres.

So, what can we use as a blanket genre for PNR, SFR, and even fantasy romance? I’d argue for the creation of speculative romance. Speculative fiction, or spec fic, is used as a blanket genre for science fiction, fantasy, and supernatural fiction, so it would make perfect sense to group romances with these elements under a similar title.

What’s your take on the situation?

Tagged with: • • • •
 
About The Author

TDF Pamela

The Discriminating Fangirl, who is more likely to answer to Pamela if you shout it at her, is the proud owner of an MA in English, focusing on children's/young adult literature and popular culture. She's now not using that degree to work as a project manager for a mobile app company. She reads voraciously, loves geeky movies and tv shows, reads comic books as long as she's not pissed off at Marvel, and when she's procrastinating, she enjoys playing video games. She can be contacted at t.d.fangirl @ gmail.com and followed on Twitter @tdfangirl.

Visit Authors Website →
  • Nicole K

    Though I’m pretty new to the genre of Paranormal Romance, I’m not sure how I feel about that and SF Romance being grouped in together. I’m a werewolf/vampire/ghost/demon kinda girl–and that’s not saying that time travel doesn’t happen in those, but there’s a different feeling to Sci Fi, I think, and I’m not comfortable with SF…However, I wasn’t that into Paranormals until I actually read a few, so maybe my opinion would change if I read more of the Sci Fi Romance.
    I like Spec Fic as a title for Sci Fi stuff… and they go well together SF grouped in SF.

  • http://blog.phoenixfyre.net The Discriminating Fangirl

    Hi, Nicole K! If you’re interested in testing the SF Romance waters, I’d recommend Linnea Sinclair’s novels (particularly Down Home Zombie Blues as a starter) and Ann Aguirre’s Grimspace and Wanderlust. They’re very well-written and blend romance and science fiction in a very accessible way. :)

  • http://www.sarabrookes.net Sara

    I’m a fan of both sci-fi romance and paranormal romance, I think they should be totally separate. Paranormal romances, to me, are stories that deal with vamps/weres/demons/the like – things that are “otherworldly”. Sci-fi romances, again to me, are stories that deal with humans in space or extraterrestrials – things that are “outerworldy” (heh, for lack of a better term). I’ve always driven it down to the basics – if it’s taking place off the planet Earth in any way – it’s sci-fi. The whole label of “romance” doesn’t play into the equation at all, again – for me.

    It seems that this is a hot topic button up for discussion because perhaps “romance” is in the titles of the categories? I’ve read plenty of straight out fantasy and/of sci-fi that have just as much, if not more, romance in them as what’s now being called “sci-fi romance”. I know I’ve heard elsewhere at one point that it’s to draw in more women to the sci-fi genre, a category that’s predominately male readers. But that’s a whole other ball of wax. ;^)

    I think subcategories have to be flexible in some way but from a reader’s standpoint having too many subcategories with broad definitions can get really frustrating, really fast. Keep it simple and just give me books – I don’t care what the publishing houses decide are the buzz words of the moment. I know what I like, regardless of trends. :^D

  • http://blog.phoenixfyre.net The Discriminating Fangirl

    Hi, Sara! I think that romance comes into the picture when the story does follow the established pattern of a Happy Ever After. I do see a lot of SF and fantasy that have strong relationship subplots, but they don’t necessarily fall under the romance umbrella unless the romance occupies a major part of the story’s focus, and the main characters end up happily together at the end. By those standards, it’s kind of tough to classify Ann Aguirre’s Grimspace series as a SF romance.

    I go back and forth on categorizing. On one hand, just give me something that I like to read! On the other hand, it’s nice to be able to find exactly what I’m looking for in a bookstore without having to tromp all over searching. At my favorite used bookstore, I have to go to three different sections to check for Patricia Briggs or Karen Chance books: romance, SF/fantasy, and horror. Argh!

    And… well, I’ve got a mild case of OCD and I like things to be neat. ;)

  • http://www.sarabrookes.net Sara

    I think gone are the days of simply non-fiction, fiction, mystery, sci-fi/fantasy, romance, youth and reference. Which is both good & bad. <~ says the one with OCD herself and bookshelves at home categorized then alphabetized.

Set your Twitter account name in your settings to use the TwitterBar Section.