Sci-Fi Romance discussion

If you're new to SFR and not sure where to start here are some suggestions. Feel free to add other recommendations.

I think it depends.

If a reader is coming to SFR from Romance and just starting with SF, then they might be best off with books like Contact by Susan Grant, or CJ Barry's UnMasked.

If they're coming from SF and not used to Romance, they'd probably be better off starting with Primary Inversion by Catherine Asaro, or Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold. The latter is much more romantic than the former.

If they like both but haven't read any books with both combined then maybe start with Linnea Sinclair's Finder's Keepers or Gabriel's Ghost. Her books are pretty darned close to middle ground.

Just my opinion of course.

Anna C wrote: "I think it depends.

If a reader is coming to SFR from Romance and just starting with SF, then they might be best off with books like Contact by Susan Grant, or CJ Barry's UnMasked.

If they'r..."

That's a good point Anna :)

WOW
Those are great suggestions.
I have Linnea Sinclair. Both series so I think I'll start there.

I read both straight Sci Fi AND romance so I think all would do as long as they are good.

I am also reading Hell House right now. That one is well... horror with science mixed in. Not for the romance crowd but interesting theory based on science about hauntings. It's a fiction though.

Thank you very much for recommendations.

Good point, Anna. I agree that it depends on where you're coming from. If you're an urban fantasy reader, then you're very likely to enjoy Aguirre's Grimspace or Sinclair's Gabriel's Ghost (Dock 5, #1), almost guaranteed. They share a lot of elements.

If you're coming from strictly scifi, then I agree Bujold's Shards of Honour is a great entrée to the genre.

If you're coming from strictly contemporary or paranormal romance, then that's a little tougher. Possibly Deidre Knight's Midnight Warriors series?

Thank you for starting this thread, Mandy! It's a great idea. I think it will be very useful to readers just dipping their feet into the genre.

Any of Linnea Sinclair's novels are a great starting point, but I would recommend reading the Dock 5 series in sequence.

If you like military SFR, and a good dose of intrigue with your romantic conflict, don't miss Sandra McDonald's The Outback Stars.

A Catherine Asaro novel I really enjoyed was Alpha.

I adored the Outback Stars! I'm waiting on the third book to come out in paperback.

I just read one of Tanith Lee's book which was really good and am now reading my second by her. I keep hearing about how she's a really good Sci-Fi author, so I'm plannong on reading more of her books.

Re: The Outback Stars--I read it, and I loved it, but I'm wavering on picking up the second in the series because it looks a little light on the "R" portion. Can anyone who's read it let me know? Do Jodenny and Myell spend most of the book apart?

Yes, the Stars Down Under is not only very light on the R it has a sad spot that brought me to tears. I would NOT read it UNLESS you have the third book to go straight into. Like, immediately after the last page.

I have not read the third one yet but due to the shred of hope at the end of book 2 I believe the sad part is rectified somehow.

I've got the entire trilogy in hard cover, but I can only recommend The Outback Stars, which is my favorite SFR of all time.

The Stars Down Under wandered way too far into weird fantasy-esque landscapes for me, although the first few chapters were fabulous.

Book 3 -- The Stars Blue Yonder -- was better and yes, a good resolution to Terry and JoDenny's story...uh, sort of. It has some great twists, but JoDenny spends much of the book being a bitter old woman...or not. And there's an alien invasion...or not. You'd have to read it to understand what I mean and I'm trying to avoid any obvious spoilers.

I found Blue Yonder very imaginative, where Down Under was just plain weird. (Down Under did get very good reviews though, so maybe it's just me.) If you really enjoy reading The Outback Stars it's worth a look, at least for the first few chapters which build and develop the mystery established in the first book.

Did anyone know Sandra McDonald wrote a series of "alternate universe" drabbles for the characters and posted them online? They contain spoilers if you haven't at least read book 2, but if anyone wants the link I'll try to find it.

I'd like the link, Laurie.

OK, Anna. I'll go hunt the link down on my main computer when I get home.

Anna (and anyone interested), here's the link to the Stars Down Under Drabbles on Scribd.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/3678713/The...

Note: Heed Sandra McDonald's disclaimer at the start. Some of these venture into erotica situations (but not in graphic detail). These are, after all, alternate universes that are the result of some imaginative What If's...

I don't know if this is the right place or not but I read this book earlier this year....and really enjoyed reading it I was laughing quite a bit through the book

Thanks, Laurie!

This is a great thread. I was about to start a thread like this when I saw this one. Some great suggestions.

I'm a new author who just had a book published that a lot of people consider SFR, though I never set out to write one and haven't really read anything in this sub-genre. I was hoping for some good suggestions to start me off reading SFR.

I'm not into explicit stuff. I like intelligent SF with epic themes and that has romance but not as the main element.

So, Elizabeth, welcome! What's the name of your book? We're always looking for more SFR to read.

Intelligent, epic SF with R--Shards of Honor and Barraryar by Lois McMaster Bujold. The rest of the Vorkosigan series has romantic elements sprinkled throughout but it's definitely epic and, I think, intelligent since even the little things mean something in the bigger picture.

Catherine Asaro's Skolian Empire series, starting with Primary Inversion.

Sandra McDonald's Outback Stars series.

The Lost Fleet series is epic, intelligent and has a very subtle romantic theme that doesn't culminate until the last book. It reads like all six books should have been a single book. I read them all very quickly.

Good to have you here!

Thanks, Anne! Shards of Honor, Barraryar and The Lost Fleet series sound like a good place to start. Much appreciated.

My own book is called The Empire.

Thanks, Elizabeth!

Nichole wrote: "I don't know if this is the right place or not but I read this book earlier this year....and really enjoyed reading it I was laughing quite a bit through the book"


This looks fun!

Elizabeth, if you read Lost Fleet try to get all of the books before starting because they read a lot like one giant book. There's a bit of 'getting new readers up to speed' in each one but not too bad. They're also short. I think it took me two weeks to read the whole series.

Trying to bump this.

I'd like to suggest:

and .

I just wanted to say thanks for this thread. I read historical romance, paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and sci-fi/fantasy but hadn't come across a Sci-Fi Romance before. I appreciate the suggestions.

Glad the thread could help you, ChaosDuchess! :) If you have any suggestions yourself, feel free to add them.

Arg. I've been hunting for a good new sci-fi romance for a week. I'm a bit picky though.

What are you looking for, Kiersten?

Let us help!

Well, I'm looking for something that's more based around the romance.

F/M, I'm not really into menage books.
I don't really like military stuff.
A decent amount of is sex good, but heavy BDSM and the darker stuff gives me the willies.
And no TSTL girls.

What do you think?

I'm thinking Beyond the Rain by Jess Granger...

Ooh. That looks good. Lemme just put that in my TBR.

Any other ideas? I tend to go through books pretty quickly. ;)

TSTL = Too stupid to live. ;)

I know HEAs are pretty difficult to find when you also want some good steamy love scenes, sci-fi, and paranormal. Maybe I'm asking for too much. :/
I'm a sucker for happy endings.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Maybe Born of Ice, but I'm not a universal fan of that author (I do like that book though).

Okay, I'll try that one. I do like some of her stuff. Fantasy Lover was good.

If you try it, make sure you have the latest re-edited version (I think from 2006) instead of the older 90s edition, because there's some minor differences that play into the series.

I hate TSTL heroines.

Hmm. I tend toward the stories that are more SF than R, but here are a few that seem to fit your request that you might enjoy.

CJ Barry's UN- series. I haven't read them all but those I have tended to have just as much or more romance than SF. The heroines are brainy and pilots or scientists, etc.

Jodi Redford's Taking Liberty. The heroine is an agent, the hero a pilot. I love this story. It has only a couple of little speedbumps, but I love this story. It reminds me of the "voice" of Firefly.

Primary Inversion is one of my favorites, but it's not "typical romance"-heavy and she is military so I don't know if you'd like it.

You might like the 2176 series. The first book, The Legend of Banzai Maguire stars a military pilot, but it's not a military story. And the others feature women in different jobs. They're all romance heavy.

Oh, and JD Robb's In Death series.
Or maybe the heartmate series by Rowena Cherry.


I can't think of more off the top of my head and with a little one tapping my arm. You could try the group bookshelf for ideas. I recommend reading the blurbs and reviews though so you aren't surprised by any books.

Oh, and maybe Tsunami Blue.

Paperbackswap.com :-)

I get a lot of old books that way.

Good news about the Un- series. According to CJ's website Unearthed is supposed to be released as an ebook from Carina Press this October.

Awesome. I put a lot of those in my TBR list. But I couldn't find Rowena Cherry's heartmate series here on goodreads. I see a book called Forced Mate. Was that it?

I think that's one of them, yes. It's a long series.

The Heartmate Series is by Robin Owens, actually. :)

I like a HEA as well. The Heartmate Series will do you well. Heart Mate

I would suggest the series The Challenge

Oops. How'd I get that wrong? Sorry you all!

I was going to recommend my books until the steamy sex. LOL! No sex, but always an HEA. I like Linnea's books a lot. Not sure about the military angle, though. I'm also not into dark, though I love a great adventure story with a satisfying romance.

Sometimes finding the perfect read is a challenge. That's how I ended up writing books! LOL!

Pauline, It wouldn't hurt to recommend them anyway. If they're not for me they might be perfect for someone else. :)

Thanks for your suggestions everyone! I've decided what to read next. In order:


AnnaM, it was a happy surprise that you got the author of Heart Mate wrong because I found Forced Mate and it looked interesting too.

Rowena's books are a total hoot. You should enjoy them. :-)

My books are sort of centered around a military expedition, though the last one goes into a steampunk place. LOL! Here they are:

Pauline Baird Jones

The books in order are: The Key, Girl Gone Nova, Tangled in Time (steampunk/sfr), Steamrolled (steampunk/sfr) and a short story in Dreampspell steampunk called Steam Time (steampunk/sfr).

:-)

Sigh, I've begun The Lost Fleet series, starting with Dauntless.

Is it just me or does anyone find that it's slow to get going? I've read about ten pages and I still have no idea what the main character looks like, his 'voice' seems bland even though it shouldn't be and I'm starting to be lulled to sleep by the passive language and the repetitive word ticks. I hope this gets better.

Wow, Elizabeth, that does not sound appealing! I sure hope it gets better for you! Isn't that a long series? Hard to believe the writing could be so poor. :(

Kiersten, looking forward to hearing your thoughts on those, especially Beyond the Rain. I've been interested in that one for a while.