Romantic Novels for a Sci-Fi Geek

[cheezewizz2000]

My girlfriend is trying to broaden her reading away from Jack McDevitt and Philip K. D1ck novels. She has asked me to come online and get some recomendations of good romance novels/novellas for her to try.

Any playgrounders know of anything good? I'm not sure what details you'd need to come up with a selection of romance novels, beyond that she's mostly read SciFi and non-fiction up to this point.

Edit: Changed **** so it was legible...

Edit 2: Oh! I should probaly make it clear that she's not so much of a fan of fantasy. It's more the futuristic stuff she goes for.

[Hida Reju]

Well here are a few

Wired by Liz Maverick (http://www.amazon.com/Wired-Shomi-Liz-Maverick/dp/0505527243) Its kinda a romance/quantum reality manipulation with a bit of a Cyberpunk feel

Keeping it real by Justina Robson (http://www.amazon.com/Keeping-Real-Quantum-Gravity-Book/dp/1591025397/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_c)
Its like RIFTS with a romance twist. It takes a while to resolve the romance part since its multi book.

[cheezewizz2000]

Ok, thanks. I've checked those out, are they manga? She's not really in to comics, despite my insistance that she read a couple...

[Serpentine]

Anne McCaffery has a bunch that at least have romantic elements. The Ship Who Sang is the main one that comes to mind, but I haven't read many full series outside of Pern.
Hrm... There's so many subgenres of Mills & Boones etc. type romances... Think there's a scifi version? I mean, there's "medical" and "single father"...

[Hida Reju]

Ok, thanks. I've checked those out, are they manga? She's not really in to comics, despite my insistance that she read a couple...

Nope both are novels The second one is a multi book series that is pretty good.

[Jorkens]

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. (http://www.amazon.com/Brief-Wondrous-Life-Oscar-Wao/dp/1594483299/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263734256&sr=8-1) Basically it's about the romantic failures of an overweight New York Dominican sci fi nerd and his family's troubled past under the Trujillo regime in the Dominican Republic. Very moving in places, very funny in places.

And not romance, but for someone trying to broaden their horizons beyond science fiction I'd recommend some John Le Carre - particularly the Smiley trilogy (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley's People) - on the one hand they're tightly plotted spy thrillers (albeit ones based on middle aged men poring over files rather than explosions, gadgets and fights), but on the other hand, they're full of realistic characterization, moral ambiguity, evocative writing - you could almost remove the spy elements and still have great novels.

[cheezewizz2000]

Wow, thanks guys. I checked out the Mills and Boon sub genre thing. I've told her about that and she'll start on one of the sci-fi romance ones, see how she gets on and go form there. I'm gonna bookmark this thread, just so I don't lose some of the other ideas. Presents etc will be needed later...

[Cyrion]

Assuming that you're looking for love stories as opposed to something in the romance genre-

The Fourth Hand by John Irving (Not Sci-Fi)

Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee (Sci-Fi)

The Alchemist- Paolo Coelho (Not Sci-Fi)

[Serpentine]

Wow, thanks guys. I checked out the Mills and Boon sub genre thing. I've told her about that and she'll start on one of the sci-fi romance ones, see how she gets on and go form there. I'm gonna bookmark this thread, just so I don't lose some of the other ideas. Presents etc will be needed later...Wait... There really is a Mills and Boone sci-fi subgenre?! :smalleek:
TO THE INTERNET!

wait...

[Hadessniper]

The Time Traveler's Wife is the book your looking for. If you're a geek and want a romantic book you can't find a better one then The Time Traveler's Wife, if you've seen the movie forget it completely the book is a thousand times better.

[JabberwockySupafly]

The Time Traveler's Wife is the book your looking for. If you're a geek and want a romantic book you can't find a better one then The Time Traveler's Wife, if you've seen the movie forget it completely the book is a thousand times better.

This. This so hard it breaks diamonds. Audrey Niffeneggar's The Time Traveler's Wife is quite possbily one of my favourite novels, and I tend to read stuff more along the lines of The Horuse Heresy or American Gods. Incredibly moving & brilliantly written story, characters you can relate to, and an ending that will make anyone cry like a kid with a skinned knee. When I saw the thread title, it was the first book that came to mind. I also highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a flat out good read. And this is coming from someone who tends to like a little grimdark with his grimdark.