A Tribute to Linnea Sinclair and Sci-Fi Romance
Once a year, I pick up Linnea Sinclair’s Finders Keepers and devour it. It’s the first science fiction romance I ever read, and what an eye-opener it was! SF-wise, I come from Star Wars and Star Trek, with some Ursula K. Le Guin thrown in. I adore Leia and Han, and I enjoyed the various romances in Star Trek – to the degree that I stopped watching Deep Space Nine after they killed off Dax, much to the deep disgust of my husband. As for Ursula K. Le Guin, I don’t necessarily expect strong romances when I read her novels, which I admire tremendously, but I clearly remember how thrilled I was to find a gem of a romance in Forgiveness Day, one of the novellas in Four Ways to Forgiveness. But all in all, I had taught myself never to expect a strong romance in a SF novel.
I discovered Finders Keepers due to AAR, and then Amazon: There was a review of An Accidental Goddess, another Linnea Sinclair novel, here at AAR, but when I wanted to buy it from Amazon, it was not immediately available, whereas Finders Keepers was, and so I ordered that one instead. And what a find it was! I read it in one go, reread it since, and have finally written the DIK review it so richly deserves.
While I own and love all of Linnea Sinclair’s novels, I am also grateful to her for opening my eyes to the possibility that SF stories and romance can actually be combined. I have since discovered Susan Grant, whose Moonstruck I especially enjoyed. Now I follow recommendations at review sites and blogs, glad that my romance reading has been enriched by the science fiction romance sub-genre.
What SF romance writers do you admire? Is there, for you, one single title that influenced your reading to such a degree that you remember it to this day as a literary turning point?
-Rike Horstmann
Great suggestions. I always carry out your strategies and apply them.
Goldpreise, would you mind telling me the name of your local newspaper? What kind of paper is it? Thanks!
Hi, thanks for the good “”A Tribute to Linnea Sinclair and Sci-Fi Romance”” post. Would it be possible, that i can write a story about this post in our local newspaper? I would be really happy if i can do this and i will give you a link from a german blog too. Please answer. Greetings Goldpreise
Yay, Linnea!
And I would love to finish one of my SF romance partials one of those days.
Rachel: You might want to give Finders Keepers a try. The romance is very strong, and the books is not as dark as the Firefly universe. There is humor in it, as well.
LinnieGayl: I hope you will enjoy FK! Please let me know once you have read it!
Jessa, PatW & SandyH: Thanks for the recommendations! I will check the books out.
MaryK: I am sorry your first brush with SF was so disagreeable. Isn’t it strange how many YA book tend to be written in this pedantic manner? It made me turn from YA towards romance very quickly when I was a teenager and it is only now that I have returned to reading YA fiction, although I am still very choosy about the tone it is written in. Anything too pedagogic is out immediately!
I am re-reading Games of Command right now! I love all of Ms. Sinclair’s sci-fi novels. If you are looking for another writer, I suggest S. L. Viehl (Lynn Viehl, Darklyn series). Her Stardoc series is great. Start with Stardoc and as a bonus she has a free novella from the point of view of the hero. This is a very complex series with a strong romantic component but it is more science fiction than romance. I love the series.
I read Games of Command a year ago and really enjoyed it, but haven’t read any other books by Linnea Sinclair. However, after reading this post and your review, I just downloaded Finders Keepers to my Kindle.
“”Is there, for you, one single title that influenced your reading to such a degree that you remember it to this day as a literary turning point?””
Yeah, but not in a good way! :|
In junior high, I was just starting to explore beyond YA SF when I read Juniper Time by Kate Wilhelm. Surprise, surprise – it was depressing social commentary masquerading as SF. That began my obsession with making sure that books end well before I commit to them!
It was only just recently that I started tentatively exploring SF again. I’ll never forget that book.
Local Custom and Scout’s Progress by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. These romances are set in the Liaden Universe – the authors have a multi book series (space opera adventure with some romance) in the same universe. These two were written to be romances, however. The first is a “”Secret Baby”” plotline and the second is a well know Regency romance plot with a wastrel brother and an under-appreciated heroine, although not set in the regency, of course (hehe).
Thanks for the recommendation. I love fantasy & sci-fi with equal fervor, and I’m always looking for my next read. I started with Ann Maxwell’s old Fire Dancer series and have forever mourned the fact she never finished it. But that doesn’t stop me from rereading them every few years.
Rike, you make this book sound very intriguing, even though I am not a SF enthusiast – more of a fantasy one. I much preferred Buffy to Firefly.