Romance Recommendations for Sci-Fi Readers
By Rebecca Hall
Edited by Carly Zimmerman
One of the things I find remarkable about the romance genre is its ability to transcend the boundaries society tries to place on it. We’re often told that romance is a frivolous genre only for women, but in reality it is a perfect framework for telling captivating stories that push boundaries. Plus, romance can provide a modality for telling stories that branch beyond one genre. As a regular reader of both sci fi and romance, I hope you pick up one of these books that sit so wonderfully at the intersection of two seemingly different genres.
The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston
Ashley Poston writes contemporary romances that each have a supernatural or magical twist. In The Seven Year Slip, Clementine has inherited a beautiful New York City apartment from her beloved aunt. She moves in and discovers that an attractive young man is already inhabiting the space . . . except he lives seven years in the past. As Clementine and Iwan get to know each other in the apartment, Clementine encounters a man named James through work who seems strangely familiar. This novel, like many of Poston’s works, layers questions about the universe on top of a story about relationships. What defines our lives? What will we leave behind for those we love? How do we maintain relationships as both we and our partners change? Many of my favorite works of sci fi touch on these big ideas, and I recommend this book especially to anyone who loves Doctor Who.
Rules for Ghosting by Shelly Jay Shore
In Rules for Ghosting, a man named Ezra is able to see ghosts. Which rather complicates his life, given that he grew up in a funeral home. As the title suggests, Ezra is able to cope with this jarring ability because there are set rules to how the ghosts can interact with him. All of this changes when he meets the ghost of his cute neighbor’s deceased husband. Like many sci-fi protagonists, Ezra is at the center of a precarious situation—his own mental health is thrown for a loop while he’s also trying to hold his family together. Ezra’s family is Jewish, which means the book is also about belief systems. It’s much more down-to-earth than Dune, but it’s still a story about how we conceive of the world around us. Plus, Ezra’s relationships are complex and interesting and often darkly amusing.
Make Room for Love by Darcy Liao
Some of the best sci fi is about scrappy people facing impossible odds. That’s why I recommend Make Room for Love to sci-fi readers. In this contemporary romance, Mira and Isabel are roommates who start a friendship over their passion for union organizing. Their story also touches on themes of the body and interdependence, which will be familiar to sci-fi readers. Isabel is an electrician and, before meeting Mira, overworks herself to the point of a knee injury in order to avoid spending time alone and to provide for her family. When she and Mira start dating, she wants Mira to be able to rely on her, but refuses to ask Mira for help. Isabel reminds me of plenty of stoic spacer characters, like Star Wars’ Han Solo. These two both let love change them for the better and both help to liberate their communities.
One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston
New York City seems to have a timelessness that writers in many genres embrace. Like The Seven Year Slip, this book also involves time travel, but the city is a character in and of itself. August is a loner originally from New Orleans who moves to Brooklyn to finish an undergrad degree. She stumbles into an incredible queer community in Flatbush, and as she’s adjusting to her new home, meets a woman named Jane who always seems to be on the Q train at the same time as her. Oddly, Jane is always wearing the same leather jacket and listens to a cassette player, but is unfamiliar with recent punk and rock music. August and her friends use their skills and knowledge to figure out that Jane is actually from 1977. McQuiston heavily researched the history of the queer community in New York in the 70s in order to write this story, which is a masterpiece of memory and emotion. One Last Stop is for anyone who has wondered what “home” really means—whether it be a planet, person, or address. I won’t say much more for fear of spoiling the plot, but this book is electric!
My goal in writing these companion articles (you can find my other in Readin’s Romance section) has been to show that sci fi has plenty of heart and that romance has plenty of imagination. Regardless of whether you usually read these genres, I hope these recommendations push you to try a new book.
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