Sometimes (or half of the time?) in romance, it’s all about the taming of the hero:
According to Berkley Books editor Cindy Hwang in We’re loving angels instead: Publishing craze goes celestial, "Angels appeal because they are larger than life, more beautiful, sexier and more sensual creations. Fallen angels have the same flaws that ordinary people have, which is attractive. If someone can tame such a powerful being and get them to fall in love with them, then that's very seductive." [Emphasis mine]
Upon reading that last sentence, I experienced a sinking feeling. Here’s why:
Is the lack of a “powerful being” holding SFR back from experiencing wider appeal? As a rule, and by its general nature, science fiction romance doesn’t have vampires, werewolves, angels, demons, or any other supernatural creature in need of a good taming by non-supernatural heroines. And “sensual” isn’t the first word that comes to mind regarding aliens. Especially if they have tentacles.
I’m assuming Ms. Hwang meant that a powerful being could refer to either a hero or a heroine. I certainly hope so, but I mostly get the feeling that she really prefers to consider stories in which the hero plays that juicy role.
And then it hit me—science fiction romance has exactly that type of powerful being who embodies that frequently sought after combination of vulnerability and danger in one sexy, sculpted package:
The cyborg hero.
Part man, part machine, a cyborg’s physical capabilities easily supersede those of ordinary men. Tinker with their brains in just the right way and you can have heroes with enhanced intelligence as well. Plus, manipulation of their bodies doesn’t come easily (or cheaply), and that’s a surefire recipe for brooding, tortured heroes. Cyborgs put the “flaw” in “flawed.”
They are quintessentially larger than life characters by nature of their superhuman abilities. Witness the popularity of Linnea Sinclair’s Admiral Branden Kel-Paten from her novel GAMES OF COMMAND. Kel-Paten is an example of a romance hero that’s familiar, yet also fresh and inventive. And check out this exchange between the cyborg hero and the heroine in Melisse Aires’ CYBOT AWAKENED:Kaistril pushed inside, just a little way. “You know you’ve uncaged the beast, don’t you?” he groaned.
Sabralia clutched him tight to her with legs and arms, and he slid deeper into her. “Maybe I’ll tame him,” she whispered….” (p. 70)
Does that not encapsulate the scenario Cindy Hwang described? I’m not alone, either. In Owoooo! Werewolf of…Vulcan?, Donna S. Frelick writes: Love transforms what has the potential to be a destructive force into a positive one. Because she loves him, the creature, be he werewolf or vampire or whatever, can reveal his true self. She will accept him and help him “control” the beast.
“Or whatever”—Cyborg, perhaps? Ms. Frelick notes that So maybe we are starting to pick up on something that our sisters in the paranormal world figured out a while ago: It’s kinda fun to bring the big bad wolf to heel. (In a mutually respectful, free and equal relationship, of course.) We just need to convince a few more readers that the beasts they love to read about also roam among the stars.
Perhaps the cyborg angle is something to consider when attempting to widen the appeal of SFR among paranormal romance lovers who gravitate toward stories of ordinary heroines taming powerful beings. Goodness knows we can use more cyborgs in the subgenre! There can be all sorts of variations of origin stories, and cyborg heroes (and heroines, of course!) easily lend themselves to the creation of leagues or brotherhoods or brigades. Or wounded loners.
You name it, cyborgs can deliver it.
Joyfully yours,
Heather
Postus Scriptus: Although I had written this post prior to reading Donna S. Frelick’s piece, I have concluded that the fact that we came up with a similar idea unbeknownst to each other represents the awesome synchronicity of spirit that is science fiction romance.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Taming The Cyborg
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17 comments:
And then it hit me—science fiction romance has exactly that type of powerful being who embodies that frequently sought after combination of vulnerability and danger in one sexy, sculpted package:
The cyborg hero.
But does science fiction/sfr have the opposite?
What I mean is that in fantasy/paranormal traditions there's a very good reason why vampires and werewolves end up together so much in storytelling - they play off each other because they are archetypal opposites. Vampires fill the role of the thinkers as beings that typically appear cold and driven-to-find emotion while the werewolves are usually almost pure instinct and emotion, i.e. the lovers. And, yet, they're both beasts to be tamed. Or not. But, hey, life is a risk. :-D
So, how do most science fiction universes typically "combat" cyborgs? Who naturally plays off them and still works in SF? Full robots? Psychics? Or simply normal humans?
See, I found it fascinating that Linnea tucked a very powerful psychic into Games of Command just to torment Kel-Paten. In many ways it's always about balance, especially when we're talking about romances. ;-)
Then there are those of us who DON'T want them to be 'tamed'. Consider at how boring Han Solo would be if his reply to Leia was "I wuv you too, my little Pookie." as he was lowered into the carbonite.
Ah, aren't about 1/4 of the vamps and weres and demons and such out there due to alien DNA anyway? Damn Atlanteans and their crash landings.
Bev, I'd disagree on the vamp/werewolf role. Seems to me that vampire is a metaphor for pure appetite, while werewolf anthropomorphizes (wolf-opomorphizes? LOL) animal instinct. On some days, I see the subgenres as having reduced men to either Appetite or Animal (and living with a 'tween boy in the house has worried me that they may be right, LOL!).
But angels? ::Shudder:: Classical divinity ed says run like hell from heaven's wrath. Angels are asexual and inhuman.
I love the idea of the cyborg, though. Although there could be troubling connotations to the robotic, emotionless aspects of such, but still...chicks dig robots. ;)
I wrote Kel-Paten because he combined the ultimte in power with the ultimate in vulnerability--but that could only work in a plot where biocybes weren't everywhere. If a writer were to posit a civilization where everyone was "enhanced" (and I've read those), then the super-strength what-have-you would have much less impact.
It's a "one of a kind" or "limited edition" aspect. Spock had it, as did Data. Not that ther weren't other Vulcans but they were far and few between enough to make Spock stand out, make him less understandable, more of "the other" (and we've had many blogs on Alien Romances on the lure of "the other" in fiction).
So with Kel-Paten, it's super strength/ intellect + vulnerability + uniqueness.
Could SFR have other combos like that (as you question)? Doesn't have to be cyborg. The wielding of power alone often creates "an other" situation, which may be why higher ranking military characters are often featured in SFR. Or the pirate-type--the opposite side of the coin to the fleet admiral, perhaps.
And there's no reason you can't have vampires or werewolves in SFR. Jacqueline Lichtenberg's DREAM SPY goes exactly that route (and I recommend it) with her alien race of Luren, and her telepathic female protagonist. As Writer and Cat noted, it can be about alien DNA and crash landings... ;-) ~Linnea
Bev, I'd disagree on the vamp/werewolf role. Seems to me that vampire is a metaphor for pure appetite, while werewolf anthropomorphizes (wolf-opomorphizes? LOL) animal instinct. On some days, I see the subgenres as having reduced men to either Appetite or Animal (and living with a 'tween boy in the house has worried me that they may be right, LOL!).
Yes, but let's take "pure appetite" to its logical conclusion for a moment. When we think about the vampire myth in all it's forms, from blood-drinking to soul-stealing, it's all about the cold, hard reality that they don't have these things and have to satisfy that pure appetite. Constantly. They imitate life that they don't have.
In many ways, that sure sounds like terms used to describe a cyborg or a tin man to me. Just without the blood-drinking or the soul-stealing, unless we count the lubricants and the jacking in. Or do we count those?
I'm kinda joking and I'm kinda not. What I am doing is comparing the similarity in the language used to describe both vampires and cyborgs many times in storytelling. Of course, then we have the ones like the Carpathians who are more psychics and shapeshifters than true vampires that bring a whole other dimension to things, which is where things get muddied all over the place. Not to mention the psychics who are seen as vampires for entirely other reasons. Oye.
But that was my entire point in asking what the typical adversary for cyborgs in SF was. Because I honestly don't know the answer to that question. I don't know how prevalent psychics and shapeshifters are in hardcore science fiction. So, what else could honestly compete with cyborgs one-on-one - without ending up in fantasy/paranormal territory?
Genetically enhanced races? o.O
@Bev: Hardcore SF is about as diverse as paranormal romance. There's military SF, space exploration SF, genetic manipulation SF, terraforming SF (could be part of space exploration). There's future Earth and Other Worlds. There are Humans Conquer and Humans Being Conquered. There are aliens with hive mentalities, so who's so separate hive-thought from telepathy?
Julie E Czerneda's TRADE PACT series (I highly recommend it and yes, it has a strong romance subplot) has LOTS of telepathy, demi-god aliens, hard sf, aliens that look like lizards (and own really neat pubs), space travel and "travel by thought" a la Q in Trek, and starships. The series starts with A THOUSAND WORDS FOR STRANGER and is found shelved in SF.
BTW if you want FEMALE cyborgs and a love story and kick butt action, I highly recommend Catherine Asaro's ALPHA.
~Linnea
Hardcore SF is about as diverse as paranormal romance.
Well, if that's the case, then I'm not sure I see the problem that Heather is asking about here:
Is the lack of a “powerful being” holding SFR back from experiencing wider appeal?
Unless the problem is the transistion/translation to the romance formula and not the characters themselves because apparently they already exist in both genres. Or can exist.
Maybe, it goes back to something Linnea said in an earlier comment about one being special and more being a problem. Let's face it, people probably wouldn't have all that big an issue with a million Batmen running around even though it might get a tad confusing at night. ;-)
A million Supermen, OTOH? That's a different matter entirely. Unless they were all back on Krypton.
One cyborg is unique and intriguing. A million and suddenly I'm seeing the Borg Queen in my head. Seductive on one level, true, but definitely in the realm of bad vampire metaphors. ;-)
And therein lies the bigger issue. What is meant by powerful being(s) here? Because not all romance characters are superhuman, even in paranormal romances. Many are larger than life, yeah. But powerful beings?
No, not really.
I guess in one sense I'm questioning the whole aspect of attempting to pattern science fiction romances on paranormal romances. When we're talking about building a fanbase in terms of a business model, sure, go for it. But when we're talking about storytelling styles, I'd say stick to the strengths of the genres you're trying to combine.
And if I'm looking for a science fiction romance as a reader, I'm not looking for a paranormal romance. So I'm not necessarily going to be looking at characters as "powerful beings" in the same way I might view a paranormal vampire or shapeshifter.
Prime example, to this day, when I think of Branden Kel-Paten, I don't think "powerful being" even though the cyborg aspect was a selling point. I think vulnerable, damaged cyborg Admiral even though he could've probably been able to snap most of their human necks with one hand. Why don't I see powerful being there?
'Cause they could shut him down on a whim and he knew it, I suppose. Kind of takes the power out of the equation when one adds science and technology into it. But isn't that kind of the point? ;-)
Personally, most paranormals don't appeal to me, vamps in particular. Now, if the vamp was more SF than traditional, okay. I did write a draft of a novel with psychic vampires of a sort.
It didn't occur to me to compare cyborgs with vampires but I can see how similar language could be used for some.
I do understand the idea of patterning some SFR after paranormals to lure crossover readers. But personally, I don't always like reading about the "superman", the really powerful being. I like mine more human-like emotionally or physically, but still alien and powerful. Think The Doctor, or Jack Harkness--the reluctant heroes.
I'm not really articulating my feelings on this well. I don't think SFR *needs* super people to succeed, but I think it *can* incorporate them...or not.
Btw, it's funny to me that Games of Command was brought up specifically because I'm actually reading the original ebook now. I'll try to be more aware of the ideas brougth up here while I finish the novel.
I’m assuming Ms. Hwang meant that a powerful being could refer to either a hero or a heroine. I certainly hope so, but I mostly get the feeling that she really prefers to consider stories in which the hero plays that juicy role.
Excellent blog, Heather. Personally, after reading the above, I think you should consider doing one on the double standard in SFR. Is it okay to have badass/flawed heroes but not badass/flawed heroines, and why? Or why do the nice guy heroes get trashed? Why can't the heroines have the flawed badass roles for a change?
Personally, after reading the above, I think you should consider doing one on the double standard in SFR. Is it okay to have badass/flawed heroes but not badass/flawed heroines, and why? Or why do the nice guy heroes get trashed? Why can't the heroines have the flawed badass roles for a change?
Oo, oo. Yeah, why don't ya tackle that last one, Heather? Batting my eyes and looking all innocently encouraging and hopeful. :-D
But personally, I don't always like reading about the "superman", the really powerful being. I like mine more human-like emotionally or physically, but still alien and powerful. Think The Doctor, or Jack Harkness--the reluctant heroes.
I had never watched any of the Doctor Who series until just before and around this last Christmas when they were having marathon after marathon on BBCA of the most recent one because he was leaving. Or regenerating. Whatever they call it. ;-) So, I quite literally binged myself into overdose on it and have to say I can finally see the attraction. Now it's going to be hard to adjust to someone new but we'll see. I mean they've been doing this for decades so I suppose they have some idea how to transition to a new actor for this character.
But to get back to the all-powerful being/superman reference in regards to The Doctor, I can see a connection. Of course my son and daughter claim I see Superman connections everywhere but that's just them. Honest. ;-)
Seriously, though, there's a lot of them in The Doctor. Sure he manifests vastly different powers, abilities and traits but the basic template is definitely there. The aloneness, the invulnerability (of a different type but still there), the last of his kind. Man out of time and space fixated and fascinated by one planet, namely Earth, always focused on one, maybe two individuals, usually females.
Does he raise the Companions to his level or simply tap into the greatness that was already within them in the first place? Do they focus his abilities or simply ground him in the here and now so that he can do the work he was meant to do? Is there ever a danger that he'll be tempted to use his abilities in a manner that's more godlike than simply tweaking things here and there?
Most definitely a Father Time (or Sky)/Mother Earth thing going on to create balance. I was extremely impressed. So far anyway.
Then there are those of us who DON'T want them to be 'tamed'
Which is why in part I was unsettled by Ms. Hwang’s perspective because I fear it reduces romances to merely stories about ordinary heroines taming extraordinary heroes. It’s so much more than that. But if that’s all they want to see, how can SFR authors work with that/work around that?
Ah, aren't about 1/4 of the vamps and weres and demons and such out there due to alien DNA anyway? Damn Atlanteans and their crash landings.
True, lol! But right now I’m reading an SFR with just such a concept and it’s not winning me over. It reads more like a publisher trying to shoehorn it in with paranormal. I’m sure it can be done well, but the bar is pretty high for me right now in terms of that premise. Other people’s mileage may vary.
Unless the problem is the transistion/translation to the romance formula
Yes, probably more that. I think that's what I picked up when I read Ms. Hwang's quote.
One cyborg is unique and intriguing.
Yes. I didn't necessarily mean having several cyborgs populating one story. "Limited edition" like Linnea said!
what else could honestly compete with cyborgs one-on-one - without ending up in fantasy/paranormal territory?
Big-ass military weapons, giant robots, alien monsters, stuff like that! A cyborg is a one man/woman army--*swoon*.
And if I'm looking for a science fiction romance as a reader, I'm not looking for a paranormal romance.
I sure hope editors start agreeing with you! I believe the diversity is a selling point, but I'm not a publisher. So I've been contemplating what will help translate SFR into concepts/terms publishers already understand. Linnea and other authors have been doing this for some time, so partly this is just me continuing the conversation because I'm not sure we've hit the "a-ha!" moment. Or maybe a level of super happy sales of SFR books will be that moment.
I don't think SFR *needs* super people to succeed, but I think it *can* incorporate them...or not.
Add in the fact that superhuman stories are just one subgenre of many in SF that SFR can utilize. To me, diversity is fresh. So many types of heroes and heroines to choose from.
chicks dig robots
Oh my, yes! And I don’t care if it’s the hero or heroine. Amen to ALPHA!!
Katherine, thanks for reading!
I think you should consider doing one on the double standard in SFR.
I thought I did that in my Romance Heroines of the Future post, but on reflection the double standard issue was a tad buried. You don’t have to ask me twice, though. I should include a list of some of the badass heroines already in existence, because they are out there. But I agree, it would be great to see more of them—as well as the nice guy/reluctant heroes.
SFR offers such diversity but it has the potential for even more.
I think one of the reason why SFR isn't paranormal-with-spaceships is that a key element of SFR is that the SETTING if often or almost a character in and of itself. Most SFRS are set on other planets or in space--not in New Orleans a la Sherrilyn Kenyon, or some contemporary but remote European mountain like Feehan. (Which is also IMHO why my THE DOWN HOME ZOMBIE BLUES got the most negative comments from bloggers of any of my books: what, set in FLORIDA? why do I want to read about FLORIDA?) From my fan mail and fan group, it seems to me that most SFR fans (there are always exceptions) want "Out There" as much as "The Other." That might be why the "superman" isn't as required as in regular PNR--the setting itself already starts the "other" process.
Am I making sense? I'm not fully caffinated yet... ~Linnea
I think one of the reason why SFR isn't paranormal-with-spaceships is that a key element of SFR is that the SETTING if often or almost a character in and of itself. Most SFRS are set on other planets or in space--not in New Orleans a la Sherrilyn Kenyon, or some contemporary but remote European mountain like Feehan. (Which is also IMHO why my THE DOWN HOME ZOMBIE BLUES got the most negative comments from bloggers of any of my books: what, set in FLORIDA? why do I want to read about FLORIDA?) From my fan mail and fan group, it seems to me that most SFR fans (there are always exceptions) want "Out There" as much as "The Other." That might be why the "superman" isn't as required as in regular PNR--the setting itself already starts the "other" process.
Am I making sense? I'm not fully caffinated yet... ~Linnea
It makes absolute and total sense. I say this as one of the biggest critics of the wrong-headed use of futuristics as a label in years gone by. So many times those books were called futuristics... and ended up being nothing more than 1)fantasies set on Earth, 2)aliens come to Earth to mate with/abduct Earth women (which wouldn't have been necessarily bad if they actually went anywhere else, mind you) or 3) and the true insult, basically Earth-type planets with no real technology or psuedo-technology.
I mean why not just write a medieval, change the names around and call it a futuristic?
I was quite serious in that Ten Nights of Love post (http://bevsbooks.com/notes/?cat=497) when I said that early futuristic romances:
were simply weird attempts at the early blendings of two extremely different genres that don’t necessarily like each other, if you get my drift. For some odd reason, mystery, suspense, adventure, heck even horror and to some extent fantasy have always had this symbiotic relationship with romance. It’s the emotional by-plays that work together and play off each other.
Science fiction, though? Not so much. It has some major issues to work out with romance. But they’re getting there. Finally. I think.
And, you're right, Linnea, one of the biggest issue is the settings. Romances are not real big on in-depth settings, except for the ones the readers are already sold on and that is completely a matter of perception and opinion. OTOH, that only means SFR authors have the freedom to capitalize on what the readers might be already sold on elsewhere--like in the visual SF media. There's a wealth of transferance capital waiting out there. In fact, I think that's what readers expect. Then once you have them, you can ease them into other areas and settings.
Does anyone remember one of the early futuristics that did work for a lot of romance readers who loved science fiction but in turn got panned by many within the community who didn't for being so derivative?
Nighthawk by Kristin Kyle
Pure Star Wars in tone and therefore familiar. To familiar some said. Thing is, familiarity is not a bad thing if it gets readers over the hump of trying something out. And it was an actual science fiction romance, not simply a "futuristic" masquerading as one. Of course, it helps if publishers know how to promote the daggone book, too.
Sigh.
Sorry to arrive late at the party, but I do want to say thanks for the shout out, Heather! And one small point here that is getting a bit lost is where I began with my post:one of the great appeals of the paranormal romance is its "beauty and the beast" factor. That is a dynamic that is found almost universally in all romance and is even found, for example, in TREK fanfic, with those heroines who strive to bring out the emotion in the ever-stoic Spock. If we hope to connect in a big way to romance fans, then it will be by connecting to familiar themes like this. Cyborgs, aliens with powers that could destroy their lovers or their lovers' planets, humans programmed to destroy or to serve as elite assasins and the results of genetic and psychosocial experimentation have all been the heros and heroines of best-selling SFR novels with "beauty and the beast" at the heart of the male/female dynamic. I don't think that's a bad thing.
I'm glad I found this article/discussion. As a guy under the age of 30 (barely), and as someone who's not read a single romance or paranormal romance novel, I'm probably not your target demographic. However, I do like sci-fi, and though I hate admitting it, I actually like seeing a romantic sub-plot in stories I read and things I watch.
Like I said, I haven't subscribed to the vampire-romance trend, but from reading the comments here, it seems the general allure is the idea of taking a being that is super-human and getting him to settle down with a relatable, regular woman character. a.k.a. "taming the beast." Applying that logic to a cyborg *could* work, but I think that it is fundamentally flawed. Reason being, cyborgs are not super-human (except possibly for their ability to bench press a Buick or figure out the 674th prime number). On the emotional side, they are usually sub-human. The challenge becomes getting the artificial intelligence to learn human emotion, experience love, etc.
I guess this all depends on what you consider to be a "cyborg." Is it a human body with a computer chip for a brain? Is it a robot body with a human brain? Is it living human tissue over a metal endoskeleton? (sorry... my inner Terminator-geek just surfaced). To me, an artificial intelligence with emergent emotional properties and his relationship with a woman is far more interesting than a cyber-hunk with an arm-cannon and a eyes that shoot lasers or something.
If you want more guys to read it, reverse the roles, and tell it from the human-male's POV. A regular guy soldier, engineer, or hapless bystander crossing paths with an intriguing female-cyborg/gynoid is something I would personally be interested in, but I'm having trouble finding such a story. Maybe I'm just not looking hard enough.
Scot, thanks for weighing in! And that story you're having trouble finding? That would be Catherine Asaro's ALPHA. It's about a female android with emerging sentience, and the story is narrated from the hero's POV. If you read it, I would love to hear what you think: sfrgalaxy "at" gmail.com
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