Go ahead, you can tell...Who was your first SFR author? What was the title that introduced you to the magic of love at the speed of light?
For me it was CORDELIA's HONOR. I was a hardcore sci-fi reader and I loved the extra depth Cordelia and Aral's relationship added to the story. Suddenly there was more than just tactics and explosions, there were tactics, explosions, and emotional layers! I was hooked.
So, go on, tell us where you got hooked!
P.S. - If you have read CORDELIA's HONOR I need to know who the history books will list as the first female to hit a high military rank in the Barrayaran army is. KD Sarge and I were discussing and can't decide it was Dru or Elena. They both worked for Illyan at some point, but did Dru ever have rank?
Neither was ever in the Barrayaran Army. (Is there a Barrayaran Army?) Dru was a bodyguard but I don't recall any rank ever being mentioned which, for Barrayar, is rather odd. I don't think we will have a woman achieving rank in Imperial Service before the next generation. Miles' children or Gregor's could get there maybe. I think that the Old Guard has to die off.
ReplyDeleteHere's a name that will shock you. Robert Heinlein. He wrote more about relationships than any other writer of the period. He even took on the task of writing from a female point of view.
ReplyDeleteSome of his later books got a bit strange (a bit?), but the story of Michael Valentine Smith in "Stranger in a Strange Land" has lots of good romance and sex. Michael just happens to have relationships with several women simultaneously (okay, it's a cult), but not a single woman was treated with anything other than respect.
For me, it was Anne McAffrey and the Dragonriders series. Telepathic dragons and riders, on an alien planet, battling thread? What could be more cool? I was lost in her world.
ReplyDeleteBut I was also inspired by an obscure French author named Rene Barjavel who wrote a novel called The Ice People. Amazing story! Now long out of print, and it can't be considered a "true" romance, but it certainly had a timeless premise and a compelling hero as seen through the heroine's memories. (She discovers she's been put into suspended animation and is now separated from her true love by 900,000 years!)
Mine was Anne McCaffrey but it was The Crystal Singer. Like so many books at the time I bought it for the cover and the blurb. :)
ReplyDeleteI came to SFR (books) late, so my first author was Linnea Sinclair. Loved her mix of high octane action adventure and romance.
ReplyDeleteI was also introduced to SFR by Anne McCaffery's Dragonriders. But I also found romance in Robert Heinlein, Murray Leinster, Zenna Henderson and Marion Zimmerman Bradley's Darkover books.
ReplyDeleteKathy - Both worked for ImpSec, which is a military branch (otherwise Miles wouldn't have been assigned there) and Elena had rank. At the time I don't think either were recognized, but I wonder who a historian would tag as the first high ranking female...
ReplyDeleteLaurie - ! I forgot! I read THE ROWAN series when I was little. The romance went straight over my head, but I guess I'd have to call Anne McCaffery my first since I read those.
Oh, I enjoyed The Rowan too, but not as much as the Dragonriders series.
ReplyDeleteI thought the hero in The Rowan edged into ego-maniac, but I guess if I had that sort of control with my mind, it would go to my head too.
I also enjoyed the subtle romance in Dune, and Linnea's books absolutely captivated me, but I was already a solid SFR fan by that time.