Comments on: Speculative Romance, or Where Does SFR Fit?

By: Sara

Sara — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 19:22:49 +0000

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.

By: The Discriminating Fangirl

The Discriminating Fangirl — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 18:49:07 +0000

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. ;)

By: Sara

Sara — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 18:32:04 +0000

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

By: The Discriminating Fangirl

The Discriminating Fangirl — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:17:03 +0000

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. :)

By: Nicole K

Nicole K — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:11:50 +0000

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.