As a cerebral sci-fi romance author, I aim at bridging the existential psychology with romantic fiction to examine why speculative settings exposes human societal struggles. Despite our progressive mindset and advancements in the technological space.
Contrary to what many traditional romance readers think, speculative and futuristic settings are often the ultimate in examining emotional conflicts and vulnerability. Also, physical needs. If you know what I mean! Because with AI progressing to SI, the day is not far when we would give up physicality to get some respite from human problems.
In traditional romance, conflict mostly stems from social conventions, misunderstandings, or routine life pressures. In science fiction, characters are placed in high-stakes, existential extremes, like deep-space isolation, dystopian collapse, or post-human environments. Stripping away superficial facades, such as office politics, financial disparities, societal norms etc. That leaves a sci-fi romance author to play with fundamental human needs. That which is going extinct with our lives moving completely online.
How ironic is that?
Galactic distances and absolute tech spaces give rise to psychological solitude in science fiction. Even today, astronauts posted on Space Station experience this. Loving someone in these settings isn't just about affection. It becomes an existential anchor against the void, raising the stakes of trust, betrayal, and emotional dependency. Take Contact, starring Jodie Foster or Interstellar, starring Mathew McConaughey. They experienced most basic human connections when endeavoring most sought-after scientific feat - blackholes and wormholes.
I mainly dabble in the trope 'Love Triangle,' signifying our fight between right and wrong while manifesting situations that hones on two basic tenets of life - survival and procreation.
Sci-fi authors speculate biological capabilities like 'Neural links', translating them as telepathic abilities. The desire for complete understanding versus the terror of having no emotional privacy is best represented in a futuristic setting. How will we express love, make love, or do away with love when constantly being watched? These tough, but basic to humanity, questions are tackled in sci-fi romance stories.
Focusing on the brewing panic about being replaced by SI Androids or falling into a synthetic life unknowingly. These fears in us validate the authenticity of emotions, and whether love is a product of human imperfections. These are craftily explored in sci-fi books where no matter the technological advancements, human problems still run in the forefront. Sometimes, plaguing the aliens even!
Sci-fi authors play with altered memories and cloning. Which is no different than what goes on in the human society. We safeguard our identity as our prized possession. But we fall prey to tactics like conditioning, psyops, targeted social media feeds, secondhand accounts of news that's infused with drama and is more like a retelling than a witness account. Not many of us question them. Even the ones that do, can't do much about it because ultimately, they have to live in this world. I mean, you can't go to Mars yet. Or Moon.
(Elon Musk, hurry f*** up, please!)