What would you like to see in SFR?

[new_user]

What would you like to see more of in SFR? Personally, I'd like to see more epic stuff, more space operas and politics. How about you all?

[Veronica]

I'm asking this question on my blog as part of a blog hop and so far commenters have said more aliens and weird worlds. I also got some really thoughtful comments on what people would like to see me do more with in my Sectors series.

[Kaycee]

new_user wrote: "What would you like to see more of in SFR? Personally, I'd like to see more epic stuff, more space operas and politics. How about you all?"

That actually! More epic things and space politics! I'm addicted to the video game series Mass Effect and they did that very well. I want more books to be like this! That the epic story is important but the romance is organic and not forced.

[KJ]

I can never get enough expansion/colonization, and finding ancient remains, and military or ops type of action...and bounty hunters. Think the tv show Killjoys mixed with Star Trek, lol!!!!

[Veronica]

The one I'm doing for Fall is my Special Forces guys of the future and a twist on the ancient remains situation! I love that theme too, ever since Andre Norton's Forerunners in her scifi.

[KJ]

Andre Norton and Ann McCaffrey are probably the biggest two influences on my reading life!! Throw in a bit of Bradbury and a bit of Asimov, then some epic fantasy Tolkien and Lewis, and that pretty much sums up 90% of my reading life!!! And shows the sort of things I like to read.

[Veronica]

Yes, Catseye by Andre Norton was my first ever science fiction book and then I read ALL of hers. Still have the old ACE paperbacks LOL, that were my Dad's. And Anne McCaffrey of course! Read a lot of hard scifi like Asimov and Heinlein... I kinda read everything. All influences my writing but Andre N the most. Just with more romance!

[Jess]

*coming out of long time lurk mode*
Hey guys, I'm always reading threads but am so slack about replying... anyway, if you're looking for something with a little more breadth, check out my book, Atrophy. Atrophy
its my book "baby" :)
Don't let the blurb fool you, there's a lot going on -- namely a race of sociopathic shape-shifting aliens who have infiltrated the military and government, and the only person standing between them and mankind is Rian Sherron, captain of the ship Imojenna. He's a bit on the deranged side after being captured and tortured by the aliens, doesn't believe he deserves redemption, and his desire for revenge is pretty much the only thing that keeps him going.
Anyhoo, just thought I'd mention it ;)

[KJ]

Thanks Jess, sounds good! I very much enjoyed the Valiant Knox books, do you plan to write more in that series?

[Lilly]

Most likely not what is asked, but I would really like to see some SFR that aren't only 200 pages long. I just start to warm up to characters around that book length. xD But yeah, more alien civilizations, more space, i would love some more survival, stranded on a planet trope kinda things too. Did I say more non-human aliens yet? :D

[KJ]

I would like to second the comment for more "SFR that aren't only 200 pages long". In fact I have a hard time finding more that even make it to 200! Up until recently, I wouldn't read anything under 200 pages because it's so hard to develop characters, plots, and a world enough for me to get sufficiency immersed in. I've realized that wasn't giving me much new SFR reading choices so I've lowered to about 150, less if it's an author I already know I like to read. And I won't read serials unless the story is complete and complied into a single volume, it's just too jarring to end a section, wait, read another, wait, etc., and if I read something else between I find that I don't always go back.

[Jess]

Glad you liked the Valiant Knox books, KJ! It hasn't been officially announced yet, but I have literally just signed a new contract for 2 more Valiant Knox books that will be coming out in 2017 -- one probably in January, and the other by mid-year.
As for my Atrophy books, they come in around the 400 page mark (400 pages print books, I think in e-books, that's a fair bit longer!). The second book, Quantum is coming out on August 15th -- though if anyone is really interested, I could organize ARCs :) -- and the 3rd book, Diffraction, will be out in November.
I totally agree about wanting SFR that's longer than novella length. I don't read anything novella length anymore unless its by an author I know and love, like Anna Hackett. I also want a long read to get really invested into, not only just get attached to the characters for it too end too quickly. Or worse, when the world isn't really set up so you spend half the time confused about what is going on.
Last year I read a couple of novellas that could have made really good full lengths books if they'd been fleshed out, leaving me wondering why the trend in SFR seemed to be more toward novellas. Or maybe it was just me and for some reason I kept finding novella length works and couldn't find wherever Amazon keeps the full length SFR, lol.

[KJ]

Great! I look forward to those releases next year, Jess! I started Atrophy, but I'm only a few chapters in. Story if off to a good start, I've liked what I've read so far. And while I mostly buy ebooks and audiobooks (that's where SFR, especially longer SFR is seriously lacking), I generally look at the print version to check length first. 400 pages is definitely longer than most of my SFR reading in a long time. Anna Hackett and Veronica Scott are really high on my "will read any length by these authors" list, lol.

[Pamela(AllHoney)]

I would love to see Sci-fi with less paranormal elements. There seem to be so many aliens with superpowers and stuff. I'd like to see the characters all on the same level of normal facing extraordinary circumstances.

[KJ]

Pamela(AllHoney) wrote: "I would love to see Sci-fi with less paranormal elements. There seem to be so many aliens with superpowers and stuff. I'd like to see the characters all on the same level of normal facing extraordi..."

Personally, I think paranormal should be its own separate subgenre under romance -- PR not SFR. It bugs me when I'm looking for SFR and I find a ton of books set in contemporary Earth with vampires, werewolves, other shifters, etc. Sure, if it's obviously on another planet, in space, or in the future -- alien shifters into cat-like creatures, etc. -- and the focus is on the SF, not the P elements, then ok, it can cross-category with SFR. (Like in Arak's Love or Ghost Planet). Geez, did I warn everyone that I'm opinionated? LOL!

[new_user]

Kaycee wrote: "That actually! More epic things and space politics! I'm addicted to the video game series Mass Effect and they did that very well. I want more books to be like this! That the epic story is important but the romance is organic and not forced. "

I love Mass Effect! And yeah, I'd love to see more organic romance that isn't instant and lusty, etc. although if the characters are already acquainted or "second chance," that makes a little more sense.

[Lee]

Add me to the Mass Effect fans.

I'd love to see more SFR with existential questions that addresses how humans change and interface with science, and how friendships, families, and romantic partnerships change because of those. Long-distance relationships used to mean you sent a letter and it would arrive weeks later. Now you can see your partner's face in realtime and hear their voice. Online matchmaking is a thing. That creates all sorts of conveniences and problems!

And of course, I want more cyberpunk (by now it'd be postcyberpunk I suppose) romance.

[KJ]

Jess, I just finished reading Atrophy about five minutes ago. Omg, this was a perfect example of what I like to read in SFR! More, please, and quickly! Great balance of adventure and character development, great setup for a series to come! I already enjoyed your other books, but with this one you shot up to my "follow this author and auto buy any SFR she writes" list! Thank you!

[Veronica]

I loved ATROPHY!

[Jess]

Thanks KJ and Veronica!
As I said, Atrophy is my "book baby" so it makes it extra special when people love it so much. And Rian isn't exactly easy to work with, but he's totally worth the trouble :D
And thanks for the review, KJ, I really appreciate it. Not necessary, but of course totally made my day!

[KJ]

Glad to make your day, I meant every word.

[Jen]

Hi. I'm responding to a few conversation in this post.
First of all, Jess, I have wanted to read Atrophy I just haven't gotten to it yet. I have a strange fascination with SFR involving prison, prisoners, etc. Did you know that there is a Goodreads list of Prison Romance? Don't worry I added Atrophy shortly after it came out.

As for what I would like to see more of in SFR, I love the idea of alien cultures and worlds. I think that alien world building can not be stressed enough. I really like it when the human (usually the woman) learns about and hopefully, to appreciate the alien culture. More and more I find the author's depiction of the heroines reactions to the alien and his world can make or break a story for me. The reactions and thought process of having a relationship with an alien needs to be believable. And I hate when the heroine is close-minded or earth-centric in her reaction. I imagine for an author its a very difficult scene or scenes to write.

I am also frustrated with the length of SFR books. I refuse to read ones that are less than 100 pages, knowing that the world and characters will probably not be developed enough for my tastes. However, a book more than 275 pages is hard for me to read all the way through unless it is exceptional. My limited attention span makes reading really long books difficult. I'm not ADHD but have a harder time than most maintaining focus. (which is why I always am reading anywhere from 3 to 8 books at any one time).

[Veronica]

I hear what you're saying about the world building in SFR books under 100 pages, but I'd maybe authors can do cumulative world building if it's a series, so the background would become more in depth and rich as the series went on, even with short books. Of course joining a series as a reader after a few books are out can be hard too, if you need to know the backstory to make sense of the plot! Mine tend to be all different lengths, but usually over 100 pages tho, so I'm speaking as a reader here, not an author.

[Gena]

I apologize if this has been discussed before. I see more lists / books with a space opera classification and I'm a little confused as to what this is ie is is a type of sci-fi?

[Veronica]

Here's the Wikipedia definition, which works pretty well: "Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes space warfare and melodramatic adventure, and often risk-taking, inter-planetary battles as well as chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space; it usually involves conflict between opponents possessing advanced abilities, futuristic weapons and other sophisticated technology. The term has no relation to music but is instead a play on the terms "soap opera" and "horse opera", the latter of which was coined during the heyday of silent movies to indicate clichéd and formulaic western movies. Space operas emerged in the 1930s and they continue to be produced in literature, film, comics and video games."

[Jess]

That's interesting, Veronica, I'd never thought about where the term "space opera" had come from!
Gena, though its not a book, I just usually use Star Wars as an example of space opera, as it is the most well known out of the genre :)

[Veronica]

I think Star Wars is a good example!

[Gena]

Thanks for the definition and I love the Star Wars example!

[new_user]

I usually think of it as action (or politics) + space. What comes to mind for me is Gundam. Not sure if anyone's familiar, but that's a Japanese animated show. Love the politics.

[KJ]

Oh, hadn't thought about Gundam in years! I used to watch that, along with Sailor Moon, in the afternoons when I was home with an infant/toddler. I tell my daughter this is why she likes anime so much now.

[new_user]

Lol, you conditioned her early. ;) I feel like a whole generation grew up on Sailor Moon. I used to watch that too. Remember the opening? There was some scifi in that one too, now that I think about it, at least the parts of it in the future.

[Jess]

oh wow, I hadn't thought about Sailor Moon for years! I loved that show SO MUCH when I was a teen. Makes me want to watch it all over again!!

[Veronica]

Tuxedo Mask - yes!

[Carolyn F.]

KJ wrote: "I can never get enough expansion/colonization, and finding ancient remains,"

I like that too KJ

[Gena]

I'm with KJ in wanting SFR without the paranormal / magic element. I like stories that are unusual, authors that introduce sci-fi elements without feeling the need to treat the reader to a quantum physics lesson (less detail is better), if there are politics introduce them slowly along with the plot lines and not with pages of description, and strong characters who balance each other (no whining, no talking/behaving like they are in high school, etc.). Lol, all that and a cherry on top makes for my 5* SFR book :)