Five Unusual Love Stories for Valentine's Day

(Disclaimer: English is my second language, so I want to apologize in advance for there may be mistakes in the text below. If you find any, please let me know so that I can correct it. I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.)

Article Soundtrack: I suggest reading this article while listening to Love Is All Around by Wet Wet Wet (Spotify, Youtube).   

Love may not be the most prominent topic in science fiction. But when a talented author mixes a love story with the tropes of the genre you can be sure that the result is going to be much more interesting than your average romantic comedy starring Jennifer Aniston. To celebrate Valentine's Day, I have compiled a list of my top five unusual love stories. Let's all share our love... for science fiction!

5.- "Power Armor: A Love Story" by David Barr Kirtley

This is a love story with power armors and time travel. Or, maybe, a time travel story with romance elements and power armors. Or... well, I think you get idea. Anyway, "Power Armor: A Love Story" is a wonderful tale and one that has been sadly overlooked. It was the best story among those included in the Armored anthology (which I reviewed some months ago) and one of my favorites from 2012. I really recommend it even in you're not that much into love stories. Or power armors. 

Update: You can listen to this story for free on today's episode of The Drabblecast.

 

 

4.- Those of my Blood by Jacqueline Lichtenberg

Yes, this is a novel about vampires on the Moon. But don't get it wrong: it approaches vampirism in an original and purely science-fictional way (in fact, the vampires are an alien race). And, above all, this a beautiful and surprising story of love and sacrifice. 

I know that you are thinking of sagas such as Twilight, but believe me: Those of my Blood is much, much better than that. Give it a chance and you won't regret it.   

 

 

 

3.- "Six Months, Three Days" by Charlie Jane Anders

This could be a typical boy-meets-girl story if not for the fact that both the boy and the girl can see the future and they know what will happen to their relationship in exactly six months and three days. An amazing tale about love and fate, with that wonderful twist that you can only get from science fiction stories. It deservedly won the Hugo Award and was nominated for the Nebula and the Theodore Sturgeon. You can read it online (and you should, if you haven't) on Tor.com.

 

 

 

2.- "Impossible Dreams" by Tim Pratt

A short story about a girl and a boy that fall in love with each other because they both are already in love with cinema. Oh, and they live in different, parallel universes, which proves to be a bit of an obstacle for their love story. One my favorite stories ever, written by one my favorite authors, it won the Hugo Award in 2007. It was recently included in Other Worlds Than These (an anthology that I highly recommend) and it can also be read for free online. You can also watch an awesome short film adaptation by Shir Comay. 

 

1.- The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

 
This novel has one of the coolest premises ever: a disease that causes, Henry, one of the protagonists, to randomly travel in time and meet his wife Clare in different moments of their lives. I love this idea and the way the author made it work, with so many beautiful scenes between Henry and Clare. Because this book is also the sweetest love story I've ever read. Oh, and it was made into a film (it was produced, oddly enough, by Plan B Entertainment, a company founded by Brad Pitt... and Jennifer Aniston). 

All in all, an excellent novel about timeless love and my favorite unusual love story ever.  

(You can also read this post in Spanish/También puedes leer esta entrada en español)