Male fans of science fiction romance are out there, and some are quite vocal about how much they enjoy the sub-genre. But many (read: most) aren’t.
They're not vocal. And they're out there. Period.
Despite the ability to create an anonymous identity, guy fans don’t seem to comment very often about SFR in the online sites and forums. And I know it’s not because men don’t enjoy talking about books. Visit any SF/F forum on the block and you’ll see what I mean. They love it, often leaving no stone of minutiae unturned.
Then there are the men who would enjoy science fiction romance, but are as leery of it as Sam-I-Am's neighbors staring down at a fresh heaping plate of green eggs and ham.
Sure, loads of guys flock to theatres or their 50-inch plasma screens to enjoy SF films and TV shows that invariably involve some kind of romance, even if it’s just a token one. But all of these mediums are visual, and even the combined forces of Jessica Alba, Rebecca Romijn, and Tricia Helfer can be pretty paltry when it comes to feeding the voracious intellect and appetites of a gentleman SF fan.
So given this, why don’t more of these adventurous souls explore SFR, what I consider as part of speculative fiction's wild frontier? And if they already do, why the reluctance to participate in online discussions?
The reluctance to read SFR could be attributed to stereotypes about the romance genre, a few of which have a kernel of truth in them. Or it could be a reluctance to read stories wherein the prose is heavily steeped in romance traditions. Or maybe there’s a pervasive fear that any hint of romance will dilute the plot or speculative aspects, even if the book hails from an SF imprint.
Or, maybe it all just goes back to the third grade playground and the atavistic fear of catching the cooties if they go near anything slightly feminine.
Well, leave it to me to point you fellas in the right direction! Herewith are 7 reasons all of you sexy, progressive, strapping pillars of testosterone should delve into science fiction romance and talk about it:
1) You’ve just had a long day at work, the commute’s a pain in the ass, and you arrive home only to discover the rent/mortgage was due yesterday. Frankly, you could use the release. A great SFR book will happily provide that, 100% cootie free. Trust me.
2) The heroes of science fiction romance are handsome, magnetic, and possess a keen intelligence. They score at least half the credit for saving the world/universe/dimension. Often, they engage in hot nookie in outer space* and beyond. You could be one of those men by proxy.
3) Despite what society tells you, nature wired men with the capacity to feel. It’s perfectly okay to indulge in your emotions. But don’t just limit yourself to happy, sad, or angry. Embrace your inner Dr. Phil. Science fiction romance can feed not only your brain but also your capacity for luuuurrv....
4) Your favorite SF authors often include a romantic subplot. I know—not strictly a separate genre, but these days the lines are blurring. I consider books like that a gateway to science fiction romance. And truthfully, doesn’t the romance have an intrigue all of its own? (Correct answer: “Yes!” while pumping your fist high in the air).
5) There are plenty of science fiction romances with scientific amusements. Some don’t play the “romance” concerto at all. They read more like romance undercover. You like a little mystery in your life, right? That’s what I thought.
6) The online SFR community is nurturing and deeply supportive. If other guys try to invalidate your feelings about science fiction romance, we will promptly reconfigure their neural pathways so that they instantly agree with your preferences.
7) And the final reason? C'mon, you know you really want to. Search your feelings. You know this to be true! Give in...to the SFR side!
Okay, guys, now’s your chance: talk to me! Here at The Galaxy Express you can wax about SFR to your heart’s content and you’ll be all the stronger for it. Name a science fiction romance book you read. Add to my list and share what's great about SFR. Or, tell me how the SFR community can encourage more involvement from our Y-chromosome brethren.
By the way, no cricket chirping allowed (like I said, nurturing!).
Joyfully yours,
Heather
*© Kimber An of Enduring Romance
28 comments:
8. A fully developed relationship adds another layer of complexity and tension to resolving the story. It can also add another constraint or another source of strength, depending on the characters and relationship.
9. A number of definitions of modern science fiction (e.g. Heinlein's, here) emphasize that the central problem of the plot must be a human problem. A romance can add to that human dimension by upping the stakes and expanding the consequences of failure to include both the larger society and the central characters' happiness.
It's all very well and good to discuss why men should read SFR, but maybe it would also help to examine why they don't. According to Heroic Husband:
1) Men don't like to read what really goes on inside women's heads when they look at them or engage in romance with them.
2) Men are intimidated by Romance heroes, because they secretly feel they can't live up to that standard.
3) Most importantly, men enjoy romance, but as part of a big story. They generally do not like it to be the main or only story.
There's not much we can do about #1. For #2, we can reassure our men they're infinitely superior to those fakes because they actually stick around to help change the diapers of the resulting offspring. And for #3, I quite agree with them. Besides a couple of notable exceptions (Susan Grant and Linnea Sinclair), I gravitate towards Romantic Science Fiction.
Kimber An,
1) Indeed. Looking too closely has ruined many a relationship ;)
2) I have much the same feeling. Why the eye-rolling perfection? I don't find the "heroes are perfect" argument a terribly persuasive come-on to read romance.
3) I read a lot of romance-as-part-of-story. I have no problem defining that as romance. For that matter, additional elements are inevitable when books hit a certain length; I've wondered whether the short Harlequin format is what's fostered the expectation of "pure romance" plots.
As a male science fiction reader who has yet to read a science fiction romance novel, who could suggest a starting point? I'm interested in at least trying the genre, but want something that is entertaining enough to keep my interest throughout...
I don't think I'd have problem talking about the novels though, I'm secure enough to not let comments from other guys get to me!
Mark, try GAMES OF COMMAND or DOWN HOME ZOMBIE BLUES by Linnea Sinclair
GAMES is a lot of space opera fun and, as a woman, the Hero is my most favorite of any of Linnea's. However, I think the hero of ZOMBIE is more relatable to men. I like to describe ZOMBIE as Men In Black Meets Old Hollywood Horror. Loads of fun.
Pop over to linneasinclair.com to learn more.
Although the novels of Susan Grant are just as wonderful, it's my opinion they would be less appealing to men.
A really interesting topic. I have read literally hundreds of urban fantasy and paranormal romance novels over the past couple of years and quite enjoy the genre and romance in particular. Great characterization is a staple of the genre. One of the reasons I have been reading more from that genre then science fiction lately is that good science fiction with strong characterization, whether it includes romance or not is hard to find. If it existed in a meaningful way I would probably read it.
I believe SFR as an identifiable 'branded' SF subgenre is in its infancy and correct me if I am wrong, but I doubt there are even 100 titles that would truly qualify as SFR and the writing quality is uneven (at least to the degree I have been exposed to).
I have read most of Ms. Sinclair's books and quite like them. Good world building, great plots and wonderful characters. The Crimson City series might also be classified as SFR and is wonderfully done. I have also read most of the early SHOMI titles and the 2176 series and found them to be fairly superficial on the SF side of things - the romance is OK, the SF elements not so much.
Catherine Asaro's and Sandra McDoOnald's SF has also been recommended but I have not had the pleasure.
I agree with all 7 points. Point me in the right direction and I would be happy to be as vocal as hell about SFR. I would truly like to read SFR that rivals the best of urban fantasy and paranormal romance fiction.
Well said, rfp, well said. Thanks so much for commenting.
Kimber An, thanks again for stopping by! 1) I agree for the most part, but I also think it would depend on the character as well as the style of prose.
2) Interesting. I wonder if women feel intimidated by "perfect" heroines. At any rate, I was being mostly tongue-in-cheek on that point ;).
3) I agree, but that's why I think SFR would be a good fit, because some books definitely skew toward the SF side. It just goes to show we need some more dang books in this genre!
rfp, you must be psychic because your point in #3 is my thought as well. The scope of a story is a factor here, and larger scale stories demand more room to tell the story. They don't all have to be 500 pages, but to me, 350-450 pages makes for a well fleshed out SFR story.
Welcome, Mark! I appreciate your willingness to dip your toes. And bravo that you'd be willing to talk about them too!
Here are a few I recommend (roughly in the order I present them):
SUNRISE ALLEY by Catherine Asaro
THE OUTBACK STARS by Sandra McDonald
THE HIDDEN WORLDS by Kristin Landon (it's the start of a trilogy)
GRIMSPACE by Ann Aguirre (if you don't mind *really* getting inside the heroine's head--but she handles first person present beautifully)
DRIVEN by Eve Kenin
Hi, SciFiGuy! (btw, my post on LYB is ready to go--I just have to find a spot for it!) You are absolutely right that SFR is in its infancy, and there's the rub. There's quite a few excellent "strictly SFR" reads, but after that, the books either fall squarely into SF or Romance territory.
For the purpose of this blog, I decided to define SFR really broadly to include futuristic romances and romantic SF, because otherwise I'd be done blogging in like a week. Ok, just kidding there but yes, it's a niche genre.
My hope is that as this blog grows (along with the other great SFR-minded sites) this sub-genre will grow as well. It'll take the combined efforts of fans, published and aspiring authors, and risk-taking editors/agents who recognize the potential to be tapped. And I think that if all of the above people are willing to be flexible about the SF & romance aspects, we can all have some fun reading.
I think Ann Maxwell's Za'arain civilization books (Timeshadow Rider, Name of a Shadow, etc) were an early ('70s-80s) form of science fiction romance.
In general, though, I suppose you're right that sf romance as a true hybrid is fairly young. I recall the sci fi and fantasy I read in my teens being very male-centric, sometimes with a female character just along for the ride. I also remember some appallingly dated female roles, e.g. in Asimov. I liked the ideas in the books, but the character development... oy! Recently, though, I've found a few sci fi authors who aren't as "romantic" but have central female roles. Elizabeth Bear's Hammered, e.g.
I've just recently tried Aguirre and Sinclair. They reminded me strongly of the sci fi/space opera I'd read years ago, but with strong female roles and a central romance. I can't imagine they'd seem unfamiliar to anyone used to sci fi.
SciFiGuy, what do you mean by 'superficial science fiction?' Do you mean it wasn't plausable? Or do you mean there wasn't much techy stuff? No wrong or right answer! I'm just asking in the interest of self-education on guys and Science Fiction.
;)
I think that is a keen observation that men think about romance heroes differently than women do. I do think most men feel they can't live up to the Fabio thing.
While the physical is idealized, I think men would do better with it if they looked at it from a different perspective. The hero is only as attractive as the heroine "sees" him. Since we are writing about attraction, the guys are described attractively.
Here's a woman secret. That's how we see all the men we love. Including you. For some reason, the guys in my experience never seem to believe that.
As far as SF goes, I'd also like to know what turns a guy on, so to speak.
Thanks for the recommendations, I think I'll try and get hold of one or two of those, but the main problem I have is availability! Just searched the local library site and none came up, but I'll have a look at the online sites I use in the future to try and get a couple :)
I think cover art is a big problem for guys and having to walk down the Romance aisle to find a book too. I can't blame them. Most cover art these days is just aweful and the Romance aisle looks like the inside of a porn shop just for women. My advice is to order on-line and rip off the cover when it arrives. You could even glue a John Grisham cover on it, if you're going to be reading in public.
You might also try used bookstores and Independent bookstores. They seem to be more sensitive to readers than the national chains, at least where I live. They don't turn cover art out, for example, so I can take my children through the Romance aisle with me.
I'll keep my eyes out whenever I go into a store now, although I'll more than likely end up ordering online (I know my regular online supplier has some). The main problem is my location - a little town in North Wales, UK where it's usually damned near impossible to get decent sci-fi, never mind about all the sub genres!!!
Well, Mark, I live in Alaska, so I think you can imagine the Polar Bears I have to wrestle with to find decent books! Fortunately, as a blogging book reviewer I can almost always get them sent to me free.
Mmmmm, free books....
Speaking of which I did get a couple of paranormal romance type books through yesterday, they might be worth a try but I've never been one for the paranormal - complete alieness suits me fine :)
Just checked and found out that Sunrise Alley is available to read for free on the Baen website. Excellent!
Romance publishers are good about making e-books available, and many authors offer short freebies.
Ann Aguirre's Free reads
Linnea Sinclair's Free short stories (far down a rather hideous page)
Sinclair also has a table of sci fi/romance-type authors and their specialties.
Hi Heather,
Great Post! Also I love all the reader comments. About Guys and their comments - men never comment as much as women do. Doesn't mean that they aren't thinking or feeling, just that they aren't talking.
I got several guys who are dear to my heart talking one evening and what they had to say was enlightening. Men unequivocally like HEAs. Naturally, they want action. They do not like ambiguity - the good guys have to wear white hats, and the bad guys must wear black hats, and get what they deserve. These men also did not like the bedroom door to be open too wide because they didn't want to feel like voyeurs. So I guess that leaves out futuristic erotica, which a lot of men equate with SFR. Let the education begin. *G*
Frances Drake
Writing Science Fiction Romance
Real Love in a Real Future
http://frances-writes.blogspot.com/
rfp, geez, you read my mind again!
Hi, Jess! Thanks for commenting. I must admit I learned something new regarding male readers not feeling they can live up to romance heroes. I thought that because of all the buffed up comic book superheroes around they'd be used to that sort've thing, or identified with them.
But on the other hand, aren't many, many romance books from the POV of the heroine? I suppose a male reader might get fatigued reading so much description of the hero and his dashing good looks, book after book. I wonder if the response to the hero would be different if the romance were told from the hero's POV??
Thanks, rfp and Kimber for the suggestions. Mark, glad you can try SUNRISE ALLEY! Come back and let me know what you think.
Frances, those are awesome insights! Thanks so much for sharing. And of course, when more SFR books come out, that will increase the chance more guys will want to talk about them.
But sometimes it's enough just to know that they're around.
hey kimber_an - sorry I hadn't checked back in on the thread. By superficial I meant that it seemed only the minimum amount of world building was done to establish it as SF. It seemed it could as easily have been contemporary with the changing of a few words. The science doesn't really have that much to do with it. SF is often as much about culture, place or attitude as it is about science. I guess the standard I look to is no different then what I would expect of a good fantasy book. Romance or not - world building is important. Using a contemporary example, you wouldn't set a romance in Paris and not talk about the streets, the cafes or the Seine (I know cliches).
Hi Frances, I for one love ambiguity. Grey characters are so much more rewarding then black hats and white hats.
SciFiGuy, the guys that I know are easily confused... Bwahahah!
I don't read strict SFR, but I love romance elements in sci-fi. I just don't want erotica.
Still, how can you have sci-fi without romance? Come on people, you have to populate all those worlds you're settling... more nookie is good for genetics!
Been out of town, so playing catch up with the posts. Great topic. Glad to see some guys joining in the discussion.
I do wonder if one problems guys have with SFR is delivering on the action premise. While I've enjoyed a lot of authors' books I have noticed that if push comes to shove, many authors spend all their energy on the romance and not on the big, action finish.
Linnea is an obvious exception. She never flinches from the big finish and I like that a lot. I also like both hero and heroine to be actively involved in the big finish. (Though I realize not everyone will agree with me. LOL!)
Just_me, love the way you spun the nookie angle. Re: futuristic erotica, I consider it a separate genre although I'm betting the boundaries are fuzzy with some books. I salute that many erotica authors embrace SF elements.
However, there's a lot of SFR that is not erotica by any means. But with the proliferation of erotica--and the existence of some steamy futuristic romances--I can understand why that perception of SFR exists.
Pauline, hi! You raise a good point. I'm a lover of action scenes myself, so I can understand why guys would want more of those than passages of introspection or relationship dynamics. And Linnea definitely delivers in that respect. Ann Aguirre does, too. Oh yeah, and Sandra McDonald. Ok, I'll stop now or I'll be typing names for the next half hour, lol!
Have just discovered this post and site. Is China Mieville a writer that would fit with science fiction romance - Perdido Street Station and The Scar for example - understated enough for the guys but tantalizing enough to keep us girls going?
Hi, Back! Thanks so much for visiting. I haven't read Mieville (yet! yet!) but it's a possibility based on what I heard. You can believe I'll blog about those stories if the content swings toward romantic SF. I appreciate the suggestion.
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