Since my first novel for Orbit Books deals with how the technology of the future has changed our most basic human relationships, I thought I’d pay homage to some of the great love stories in science fiction, be they in books, on film, or on TV.  Needless to say, these are my top five choices.  Your mileage may vary.

1. Desmond and Penny in Lost

There’s something about waiting for your true love that is especially poignant, that feels like undeniable proof of the power and purity of that love.  When Desmond tells Penny he’ll call her–in eight years–and eight years later Penny answers the phone, and they shout “I love you” into the phone, back and forth, back and forth, until the tenuous telephone connection fails, they had me.

2. Winston Smith and Julia in 1984 by George Orwell.

In the darkest future imaginable, a woman Winston Smith barely knows slips him a note that says, simply, I love you.  In the lingo of the rom com, this is their meet, and it’s a beautiful one.  Their love is what ultimately leads to their downfall; they betray each other, and when they meet on the other side of re-education, their lack of feeling for each other is so incredibly devastating because their love was so convincing.

3. Joel and Clementine in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Joel and Clementine’s love is tumultuous, to say the least.  Clementine is a force of nature, wild and unpredictable.  She probably suffers from bipolar disorder.  Joel is tight, introverted, and private; yet when they fight, Joel’s words are, if anything, more cutting than Clementine’s.  They fight often, but somehow the passion in their arguments convinces us of the intensity of their love as much as their tender moments do.  They erase their memories of each other, yet meet and fall in love all over again.  These are two people who were meant to be together. (more…)