Though the evolution of science fiction romance as a distinct subgenre has its roots in fan fiction stories about Spock in love, the futuristic romances that emerged in the 1980s represented a mainstream acceptance for tales blending SF and romance. (“Futuristic romance” being the predecessor of “science fiction romance”). While romantic SF was nothing new at the time, character driven SF stories with a heavy emphasis on the romance arc from traditional print publishers were.
As legend goes, the first official futuristic romance was SWEET STARFIRE (1986) by Jayne Ann Krentz. This trailblazing story presented readers with a tale of swashbuckling adventures among the stars, anchored by a tender romance. SWEET STARFIRE arrived at a time when single title books had become increasingly available, providing authors with more opportunities to stretch their creative wings.
SWEET STARFIRE kicked off a trend that stretched from the mid-1980s to approximately the late 1990s. Some classic reads include:
Jayne Ann Krentz’s SWEET STARFIRE & SHIELD’S LADY (writing as Amanda Glass)
Dara Joy’s “Matrix of Destiny” series: KNIGHT OF A TRILLION STARS, REJAR, & MINE TO TAKE
Johanna Lindsey’s WARRIOR’S WOMAN
Justine Davis’ LORD OF THE STORM & THE SKYPIRATE
Janice Tarantino’s THE CRYSTAL PROPHECY
Christine Michels’s IN DESTINY’S ARMS
For more information about these and other authors from the 80s and 90s, you can click on each author’s name in the list to your left and check out their Web sites.
There’s a lot to celebrate about these pioneering books. Mainstream acceptance of the subgenre, as mentioned above, is one. Stories blending SF and romance haven’t been big sellers the way historicals or contemporaries have been, but at least they had a seat or two at the table.
Also, readers who love science fictional settings but craved more access to the inner musings of the hero and heroine could have both in one convenient package. Romance readers who craved a sense of wonder in their stories suddenly had access to romances against the backdrop of exotic new worlds and technologies (think STAR WARS for the romance crowd).
Other folks may feel differently, but in addition to the unabashedly romantic appeal of futuristic romances from this time period, I enjoy them for another reason: the camp factor. Camp as in the Roger Corman films of the 1960s—fare like A BUCKET OF BLOOD, which are clearly low budget but strive to entertain despite those limitations and convey an endearing earnestness despite any flaws.
After all, every book shouldn't have its eye set on conquering the erudite heights of ULYSSES; a little literary comfort food is fine, too.
From wildly fantastical worlds and creatures to the telenovela style romances and hawt sex scenes, old school futuristic romances deliver a unique brand of entertainment that’s also an interesting time capsule of the decades in which they were written.
Plus, these books were packaged, in retrospect, in a decidedly retro way. It’s intriguing how so many covers from this era almost completely edge out the SF elements, as if to riotously assert the existence of love and romance in the future through bold, classic clinch covers, splashy colors, and overtly romanticized titles.I applaud the work of authors who first ventured into this subgenre for a mainstream readership. It ain’t easy gaining ground in science fiction’s turf (even for SF writers!), and it ain’t easy luring uninitiated romance readers into strange new worlds. Indeed, tales that celebrate romance front and center in science fiction are infinitely worthy of our speculation.
Later this week we’ll chug along deeper into the territory of these futuristic romance predecessors to explore their impact on the subgenre, but now it’s time to celebrate them with a giveaway!
Tell your friends! Tell your plants! Tell your friends' plants! Just by leaving a comment for this post, one lucky passenger will win all five of the following books:
THE WHITE SUN by Stobie Piel
STARLIGHT, STARBRIGHT by Saranne Dawson
SOMEWHERE MY LOVE by Karen Fox
THE DAWN STAR by Stobie Piel
STAR CRASH by Elysa Hendricks
2/3/09--Fab update!
HOPE'S FOLLY author Linnea Sinclair is contributing three futuristic romances for the giveaway (gently used) PLUS she will also give the winner one of her books! Here are the titles:
TO TOUCH THE STARS by Tess Mallory
NIGHTHAWK by Kristen Kyle
FIRESTARTER by Kathleen Morgan
So that's a total of 9 free books for your reading pleasure! Thanks, Linnea!
The deadline for entering is midnight on Friday, February 6, 2009 (contest limited to U.S. residents). The lucky winner will be announced on Saturday.
To get the ball rolling, do you have a favorite pioneer futuristic romance? If so, share the love! If you’re an author, is there a pioneering scribe who influenced your work?
Joyfully yours,
Heather
31 comments:
Actually, the first futuristic was MOONDUST AND MADNESS by Janelle Taylor. It beat SWEET STARFIRE to the bookstores by three months.
SWEET STARFIRE, however, was a much better representative of science fiction because of its worldbuilding and science.
Those of us who were writing during that period and communicating via the newsletter "SF Romance" considered the futuristic and sf romance to be two different types of books.
The FUTURISTIC had a science fiction element but was at heart a historical romance in the future. Substitute the spaceship captain for the pirate captain, etc.
A SCIENCE FICTION ROMANCE was similar to the futuristic, but the science fiction elements couldn't be removed because the book would be totally different.
My sf romance, STAR-CROSSED, is considered by many to be the first true sf romance because it blended both science fiction and romance in equal parts.
Marilynn, thanks so much for visiting! I appreciate the heads up about MOONDUST AND MADNESS. I missed that detail--or I looked in the wrong places--when I was compiling info for this post.
It was actually quite challenging finding links to info about these pioneering books online, so I'd be pleased as punch if folks cared to share any historical information available, as you just did.
How cool that there was an "SF Romance" newsletter. Talk about dedication!
Oh, I want to win this one! For the past few months, I've been digging into older release science fiction, mainly Young Adult. However, I've been wanting SFR too. And some of what I want isn't nearly that old.
I probably shouldn't admit this in a public blog, but those early futuristics I read (granted--very few) convinced me to write what I write because I found those early futuristics...not to my taste. I'm grateful to them for starting the genre and for alerting readers to a different kind of story. But I wrote my books in an attempt to do the science fiction + romance equation differently.
I was far more influenced by Star Wars and Star Trek, and by Cherryh, Weber, Hambly, Norman and Norton than by futuristics in print.
But I do recognize their import. ;-)
~Linnea
I loved Shield's Lady & Sweet Starfire, as well as Warrior's Woman. I'm not sure which I actually read first, but all three were so different from the norm because of the sf elements that they immediately hooked me.
I was and still am an avid sf/fantasy reader as well as a romance reader, so it was a *squee* moment for me to get to enjoy both aspects in one book.
I always think of Sue Krinard's Star-Crossed as being important to this list. It came out in 1995. It and the Krentz and the Davis were the standouts for me in the 80s and 90s, and were the first IMO to use sf decently as a strong part of the plot.
Hey Heather ... cool article, as usual. :D
Don't enter me for the draw of the 5-book giveaway (since I live so far away and the postage will cost the earth IF I got picked.) ;)
My very first futuristic romance read was TIMESHADOW RIDER by Ann Maxwell, which I read some 10+ years ago! I admit to not truly liking it at that time, but I'd never forgotten it. I think it's time I read it again and *try* to understand why I'm still remembering it after all these years.
Bugger I can't enter. Ah well. Growing up on Heinlein, Clarke, Bear, Anderson, and the list goes on, I loved the world building and the relationships between characters. I didn't differentiate between romances and pure military action saga's. Most writers had an element of both in them. So I was surprised as all get out to find that there was an actual Science Fiction Romance section/genre. The best of both worlds.
McCaffrey with her Acorna novels and the Crystal Singer series. Oh and the Ship Who Sang, whilst they're not SciFiRom purist I still loved the way she humanised the stories. Bringing it back to basic fundamental human needs of being accepted and loved.
Why do I like writing SciFiRom? Because I can set my story in a new world where there are no constraints.
Natalie - have your read Anne McCaffrey's Talent series? I really like the romantic thread in those stories as well.
p.s. please don't enter me the the draw - my tbr pile is already in danger of falling over on top of me *grin*
Nalini I have in deed read all of McCaffrey's books. Mum introduced me to these books when I was 12 and I've loved every one of them. Though I must admit I still like her Dragon series the most. I've got Susan Grant's 'My Favourite Earthling' in my TBR pile. But I haven't heard of Starfire or some of the others listed. Perhaps they were renamed here in Australia.
P.S. I didn't read any SFR before Susan Grant just a couple of years ago and she led me to Linnea Sinclair, so if I go back to the 1980's Futuristics it'll be pretty new to me.
The first ones I remember reading were Dara Joy's. I didn't think of them as Science Fiction. I thought of them as Fantasy, where the magic happened on another planet. But then I don't even think I processed them as "on another planet." I guess I considered them almost pure fantasy.
I didn't run across a book that I felt portrayed a plausible extraterrestrial society until Susan Grant's "Star King."
I fell in love with that one.
(You also don't need to enter me. While I'd love new books, I've got a tight writing schedule right now.)
Jess
The first futuristic romance I read was one by Catherine Spangler. It was about five or six years ago, when I'd decided I wanted to try writing romance and was reading every genre of romance I could find. I can't remember the title of the book now, but it did have one of those clinch covers.
Heather, if you need info or memories of that period, I'm your person.
Another good source of information is Jennifer Dunne who was the editor of the "SF Romance" newsletter for many years. Her successor turned the newsletter into a blog then let it and the Sapphire Awards die.
The Sapphire was THE reader award for these novels for many years, and I treasure winning it more than any other award.
SF romance and futuristics started out with problems including the first novel being a horrid joke of bad science, worldbuilding, and a "Mars Needs Women" plot that glorified sexual slavery and rape as sexy fun. Most readers who loved TREK novels or sf ran screaming away, and many probably didn't read another futuristic for years, if ever.
Most romance editors knew nothing about science fiction so they couldn't spot the problems, and they were absolutely certain that a romance reader wouldn't understand most of the tropes of sf or the concept that a romance could be about an idea in the same way as a sf novel can.
During its early period, one agent told me that NY publishers, with the exception of Love Spell, wouldn't touch a futuristic that wasn't written by someone who was a major name with a series of bestsellers to their name.
Love Spell kept the subgenre alive, but the money and sales were very poor so authors moved to more lucrative markets.
Unfortunately but not surprisingly, the futuristic/sf romance failed to survive. Until recently, the sf romance has made an appearance every seven years or so, lasted about a year in popularity then faded out of sight.
Jayne Ann Krentz/Amanda Quick/Jayne Castle used her status as a bestselling author to help keep the subgenre alive with her early Harmony novels, but sales of these books were much lower than her contemporary and historical romances, and even she wasn't allowed to publish these books until recently.
Small press and ebooks also kept the subgenre alive, and authors like me were finally able to add a true sf element. Then Catherine Asaro, Susan Grant, and Linnea Sinclair came along, and the rest is history.
Please do enter me. I'm having a lot of fun "discovering" this genre!
Fingers crossed for you, Kimber An!
Linnea, thanks for commenting! My goal here was definitely to acknowledge the intriguing direction romance and SF had taken. But you also anticipated a topic I'm covering in my next couple of posts, so stay tuned.
Nalini, thanks for visiting! Those books definitely broke some new ground.
Hi, Shelly! Thanks for the heads up about Sue Krinard's book.
Jace, that title alone is full of awesomeness. I will check it out and we can compare notes!
Natalie, thank goodness for McCaffrey--that's all I have to say, lol!
Hi, Jess! I agree Dara Joy's work definitely crosses over into the realms of fantasy, and that's part of the fun.
Susan, thanks for stopping by! Catherine Spangler's work is on my TBR list and I like the covers I've seen. I think it's because one of them has the hero in a uniform. Delish!
Marilynne, holy guacamole! Awesome, thank you, and please hold that thought because it's a nice lead in to my next post. Too bad about the newsletter/Sapphire awards. Well, never say never, right?
Alyclepal, your name is in the hat!
Heck, yeah - enter me for the drawing!
Enter Natalie, too. I'll pay the shipping if she wins. (I got a nice fat bonus from that Gor job I did *wink*)
Nalini Singh - squeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
All of the hundreds (thousands?) of category romances I've read, I have exactly three on my keeper shelf. You wrote two of 'em.
Excellent post, Heather!
Agent Z - thanks :) I loved writing those categories.
Natalie - I'm torn between the Pern series and the Talent series. Re Sweet Starfire - you can get it down here, but it's harder to find.
I think that there is another futuristic romance published in February 1979, "Yargo" by Jacqueline Susann. It was her first novel written in the 50's but published after her death.
http://www.amazon.com/Yargo-Jacqueline-Susann/dp/0553128558
I have a copy of it somewhere, and remember it fondly. I also read all three of Johanna Lindsay’s “Warrior” stories.
The main reason I got started in "Trek" fan fiction was the fact that I got a combination of romance and science fiction.
Please don't enter me in the drawing, I've got Rowena Cherry's three books, two more of Linnea Sinclair's and Susan Grants "The Warlord's Daughter" came out yesterday.
Elorie
Popping in this morning to announce that Linnea Sinclair (HOPE'S FOLLY) has added four books to the giveaway, including one of her own! Details have been added to the original post.
Thanks, Z!
Hi, Eloriealton! Thanks so much for the heads up about YARGO. Must check it out.
I grew up reading SF and the occational Georgette Heyer as as a home-sick-with-the-flu sort of guilty pleasure. I was in my 20's and out of college before I read my first real Romance novel and not much later I came across my first "Futureistic Romance". I don't remember what it was but from the cover blurb it looked like a perfect match for my reading taste. Boy was that cover blurb a bait and switch. It was a horrid book, seriously I found myself angry that trees had died so it could be printed.
I tried again and again, almost always with the same reaction. I just had to accept that I HATE Futurisitc Romance books. I have not read everyone out there, but I found the ones I have read to be an insult to my intelligence. For the most part they seemed to me they were second-rate bodice-ripperesqut historical romance plots with beyond horrid as SF tacked on in a last ditch attempt to make thems stand out in a crowd.
At the same time these books were being published I think there were people writing SF/Fantasy McCaffery, Bujold, Teresa Edgerton, Julian May, R A McAvoy, and even more "straight" SF witers like Brin, MZ Bradley, and Cherryh were adding some 'romance' to there work and that was much more important to creating a market for SF romance than the Futurisitic were. But that is just my opinion, and I may be wrong.
JAK also published Crystal Flame in 1986 but was forced to use a pen name. I heard her talk about it at RWA National a few years ago.
LORD OF THE STORM and SKYPIRATE by JD are also great favorites of mine. I still re-read them occasionally. :-)
Karin Shah
STARJACKED 2.10.09
Samhain Publishing
Heather,
Outstanding article on the history of Science Fiction Romance. It was a trip down memory lane. SWEET STARFIRE was the first Science Fiction Romance that I ever read. I still enjoy going back to it for a comfort read. It holds up quite well. To my knowledge, that was the first mention in popular fiction of e-readers, and chips. This was long before PCs were in common useage. JAK was clued into future technology even then.
I can't say that I enjoyed all of the older futuristics as well. Some seemed to only be excuses to stitch together erotic scenes with domination themes. Not my cupa! I like sensible alpha men and women who can learn to work as a team to save their... whatever needs saving.
And Jace, I love TIMESHADOW RIDER. For me it's like reading a beautiful poem, the imagery is so evocative. Admitedly, it takes some getting used to the language of the first chapter. However, make it past that first confusion and you are hooked.
I am just so thankful for the contributions of Ann McCaffrey, Lois McMaster Bujold, Susan Grant, Linnea Sinclair, Catherine Asaro, and Robin Owens.
Marilynn, I regret that I have never been privileged to read one of your books. I am so glad that you won the Sapphire. It breaks my heart that that is gone. The newsletter was a hoot. Thanks for your wealth of historical knowledge.
Heck, get a strong enough community together, and maybe another reader's choice award will spring up.
BTW, Kate Pearce who writes some futuristic erotic romance did an interview over on my blog if you'd like to check it out. (She's giving away a free book, not a futuristic, but a free book.)
http://jessgranger.blogspot.com
Jess
I think Francis hit on the head what bothered me most about the early Futuristic Romances,and said it in a much more politic way.(Must make not to self not to type posts after having big fight with co-worker.)
There was a strong 'forced seduction' element in many of Futuristic books
---Some feisty young beauty, who also happened to be Queen, President of the Senate, High Priestess, or Chief dog catcher of her people is kidnapped by warlord Zxork, because his people no longer can breed tiny blonds and that's the only gene type that can give him an heir. At first FYB is upset by Zxork's people's law that a woman must wear only body-paint, walk back-wards on her hands ten feet behind her man and wash his beer stein with their hair in public every night. But, soon she learns walking on her hands is a great way to stay in shape and washing glassware with her hair for someone as studly and virile as Zxork is the one thing she was missing in life, and learning to do it just right is the only hope she has for future happiness.---
Folks had already rejected that sort of plot in mainline Romance but somehow it seemed OK if it was in a SF setting. I think that was what I found so insulting.
I'm just now venturing into the world of SF Romance, so I haven't read many pioneering authors--yet; but definitely plan on sampling as much of the buffet as possible. From what I've read so far? I quite enjoy the world building of Catherine Spangler, Marianne Mancusi, Eve Kenin, and Liz Maverick--just to name a few. :)
Jayne Ann Krentz writes well, you should put her on your list too. Her work can be a little over the top with Alpha male meets his match in quirky eclectic woman stereotypes, but they are fun. Her work has a more fantasy/paranormal feel to it than SF, even in the books with more SF plots. Her Jayne Castle books are good reads if you like paranormal tale w/o the usual vamps or shape shifters.
Don't laugh too hard, but I think my first futuristic romance was ERB's SWORDS OF MARS. I'm streching the definition a bit, but if you go with the literary definition of romance, it works. ;) And my favorite romances do tend to have lots of drama and action, with the love story being underplayed. I want the couple to be together but I want something else going on in the story too - preferably with swords. (Yeah, I was overexposed to movies like THIEF OF BAGDAD, 3 MUSKETEERS, PRINCE VALIANT, etc. as a youngster. ;)) So, SWORDS OF MARS really works for me, with a good part of the story being about John Carter trying to save his beloved Dejah Thoris from assassins while jumping about the moons of Mars and slashing away. I would have preferred their roles to be reversed, but what can you do? It was written in 1934. ;)
Now my favorite SF romance is Bujold's A CIVIL CAMPAIGN, which is the perfect mix of romance, whimsy, and SF.
Helen Louise Caroll
Amber Quill Heat author since 2008
Helen, Very good point.
Most Futuristic Romances have more in comon with ERB than they do with modern SF or even modern fantasy for that matter.
i havnt read alot of futuristic romance, would love a shot to try it
Blackroze, thanks for visiting!
Eh, and that reminds me that I need to remember to add a comment indicating when a contest has ended, which this one has. Sorry!
Come back again because I have periodic giveaways.
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