Romance in SFF

So, I was thinking about doing a post on my blog about romance in the spec fic genre (mostly to bitch about Robn Hobb ). But then I decided it might be more interesting to try and start a discussion here. A lot of sff, especially fantasy, gets a bad rap for its romances. Which, in many cases, it probably deserves. (Hello Mrs. al’Thor, and Mrs. al’Thor—and Mrs. al’Thor.) I’m not much of a Romance fanatic expert myself, so grain of salt and all that, but I think that SFF does pretty well with romance elements on the whole.

So, first, what do people think about romance in SFF? Is it cheesy, realistic, escapist? Which authors do you think handle romantic sub-plots well? Which handle them terribly? What’s your preference as regards romance in a story? Necessary? Inevitable with realistic characters? Okay, but where’s the BOOM!? Or could you not care less?

The problem I have with some fantasy romance, a la Robin Hobb, is that everybody gets paired up with a perfect match by the end of the series. Don't even get me started on her presentation of arranged marriages.

But it seems like some authors have this issue with any relationship side plot that is not a romantic one. Much more so when it's a boy and a girl, unless one of the boys involved is gay, or has another love interest. For instance, Jordan has Egwene and Rand end up just friends, but only after Elayne's brother comes into the picture.

It's also rare to see a relationship start and turn out badly in a lot of fantasy, unless you're GRRM playing with the feelings of eleven year old.

I suppose I'm nostly responding to Nivarion here, lol. I tend to agree with most of what's been said: Shouldn't be tacked on, focus of the story, etc. I haven't read many of the examples given, though I know a little about the Kushiel series. I'd be interested to hear of some other stories where people felt the romance might not have been handled well. Someone brought up WoT, for instance.

I also note that (the small number of comments aside), most of the responses seem to involve fantasy, and very few address science fiction. Do you all think there's less of an emphasis on romance in science fiction, and, if so, why?

IdiotsRUs said:

*cough* Cherryh has written science fiction with romance *cough*



Okay seriously? Maybe because science fiction is about different things. I've seen romantic side-plots in science fiction quite a lot but they are usually much less emphasised because the focus is usually on the science / wibbly green alien / supernova

As for they all end up with someone perfect ( if it's not actually Fantasy Romance where the HEA is a requirement, but fantasy with a romantic subplot yeah could be annoying) - depends what you read - I recently read a fantasy where no one ended up with anyone, or even particularly happy. I must say it was a frustrating ending. They could have done - they just didn't.

Again, all depends on how it's handled and teh focus of teh book.

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I did say "most" of the comments. I love Cherryh.


I feel like I should point out that in a great deal of fantasy the focus is on the magic/creature/quest. There’s no rule that says fantasy is more romancy than science fiction, nor do the tropes and conventions of either genre dictate this. Well, certain sub-genres maybe, like UF, but as genres, there’re no rules about how much romance is involved in either. Orson Scott Card has quite a bit of “romance” in some of his novels. John Scalzi sort of does. CJ Cherryh as mentioned. SM Sterling.

To use two similar examples, you could use magical gates just as much as FTL for a hypothetical.

I suppose a question is, do readers or authors have a part in the trend of seeing SF as non-romantic compared to fantasy?

mscelina said:

Well, when you're putting everything on the line to save the world/kingdom/species/galaxy/universe/pantheon/human race/leftover cabbages for stew/magic/system, emotions are already so hyper-charged that it's a logical step for romance to sneak into the situation. Personally, the fantasy romance genre has done a hell of a lot for many authors, me included, so I'm kind of partial to it. Is it necessary? No. Is it fun? Hell yes it is!

David Eddings had a funny bit in his first series about this, when Garion is forced by ancient treaty to marry the Princess Ce'Nedra. The high priest or whatever refers to Ce'Nedra (who's been having hissy fits at marrying a peasant) as Garion's "reward." At the time, Garion kind of wonders why anyone would consider Ce'Nedra a reward, which I thought was pretty damn funny. But, there's some truth to it too. Giving the hero or heroine a reward in the form of a HEA ending is a traditionally understood and acceptable conclusion for SFF epics.

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I'm sure the love interest appreciates their objectification, Celina.

More seriously, I personally don't go in for rewards. If a character earns something, fine, but when you can spot the RLI from a mile away (and on page one), “earning” takes a quick exit, stage left.