Before AI Fiction and After

Before AI Fiction and After

With a few exceptions, the good sci fi romance seems to be published before 2021. Coincidentally, it’s about the time AI generated text (fiction) came on stream and everybody started using it. Most books written with AI are bland and lacking in style; that is, the style is universal, a ‘one size fits all’ style, so to speak, but there are a few good ones. This is a follow on to my previous post, Crossing genres

I daresay the AI onslaught will settle down and common sense will lessen the chasm that separates before AI fiction and after. There are a few companies taking action already about the amount of junk produced by AI, and readers will become pickier when choosing which book to read, or trust their favourite authors. Amazon has battened down the hatches by setting a limit of 3 uploads a day. Authors will divide into camps: those that write with AI, those that stick to the traditional methods, and those that use a mixture of the two. Those are my predictions.

Clean & Wholesome

Sci Fi Romance is known for its intimate scenes, but there seems to be a revival in the clean and wholesome trope, which forgoes intimate scenes in favour of closed door. This has happened to other sub-genres of romance as well. I’ve noticed it in historical romance, which I read too.

A Rant

I might as well get this over with. I can’t put a header image on the blog summary list. You have to pay for it. I won’t pay, not only because this blog doesn’t make any money but I refuse to endorse a society where everything is money. Good things are being lost (for society and individuals) because money is not only king, but is elevated into a tyrant. Robots taking away art, music and writing from humans, for example — oh wait! They’ve already done it. End of rant.

More Sci Fi Romance

These writers don’t seem to use generative AI in their fiction or ideas. Some of them state they don’t use it.

Honey Philips

Treasured by the Alien series, 16 books, Theme: family

A Baby for the Alien Warrior I don’t like all of HP’s books; some are a bit yukky for me, but this story is sweet, the characters endearing and the world the story is set in, dreamy.

Ruby Lionsdrake

Frost Station Alpha is a fast paced romance adventure that lives up to its genre description. Lieutenant Tamryn Pavlenko wants to make a name for herself but she’s a rookie officer. She volunteers for Frost Station Alpha knowing that pirate attacks are frequent and she finds she must defend the station. No surprise there, but the pirates aren’t ordinary pirates. They’re special and the co-leader of the group, Makkon, decides he wants her, along with the station.

The station and weapons details are incredible as are the descriptions of each blow-by-blow battle. I like the slow release the MMC* and FMC*’s characters and experience and their backgrounds, as well as the slow build-up of their reluctant relationship. I’m almost halfway through the book and I still don’t have more than a hint of why the Glacians are doing what they’re doing.

The world is stark: the space station all tech, metal and bare, uncomfortable rooms and Glaciem, the moon the invaders originate from, is even worse. Still, it’s good for forced proximity, a popular trope.

In summary, the plot rocks along at a brisk pace, the characters are believable, charismatic and well-motivated, an altogether satisfying read.

Ruby Dixon

Ice Planet Barbarians series (21 books)

This series was phenomenally successful for Ruby Dixon. It ran for 6 years from 2015-2021; that’s 4 books a year, on average. An impressive output. A bunch of human women (not Our Heroes, I hasten to add) are abducted by aliens who crash on the Ice Planet. They’re found by the blue, horned alien inhabitants, all male of course.

The link is to Book 1, Ice Planet Barbarians, with over 50,000 ratings on Amazon. Just to be clear, though, there should be a trigger warning for Chapter 1 content, but there isn’t. Maybe it’s why the book got over 50 one star reviews, but the 4 and 5 star positive reviews outweigh them. Maybe nobody cared about trigger warnings back in 2015 but who am I to judge?

Sybur Phyre

Alien Bride Race series (8 books)

The concept is intriguing and original and the world is clearly drawn. I’ll give you a taster. In the bride race on an alien moon, Cylene must not get caught by any of the alien warriors chasing her and she’ll win a million dollars when she gets back to Earth. But she hasn’t reckoned on one warrior’s determination. The link is to Book 1, Escape.

Hope Hart

Arcav Alien Invasion series (7 books)

The Arcav King’s Mate Book 1. I didn’t like Harlow, the FMC. She was too brash for me, but I suppose it’s because I’m a Brit and the USA readership like their heroines to be like that. It all goes back to women fighting for their lives on the great American frontier, I reckon. We never had that in the UK.

Brief Mentions:

The One John Marrs I couldn’t get on with; too wide in scope for me. There’s no build of tension. It’s almost serialized. It keeps hopping from one character to a new one almost every chapter. None of the characters are likeable or even relatable. Yet it got over 69,000 reviews and is described as ‘a million-copy International Bestseller’. Another example of marketing triumph over bad plot design. I paid six pounds for the kindle book and I resent every penny of it. Another author to cross off my list.

The Wildborn Terri Peroni (The Wildborn series, Book 1) It’s marked as an Amazon bestseller and the author’s acknowledgments… well, it seems she had a huge team behind her. It’s 84 chapters long! I haven’t got very far with it and I’m undecided on this one.

Sci Fi Romance by Ember Hunter

Harmonious Mates Agency series (4 books ongoing)

Check out Book 1, Darren. (Pub. 2026) The link is to the paperback, annoying, but that’s because I’m accessing Amazon from the UK and I haven’t made the ebook available there. The reason is subject of a separate post. The ebook’s probably available in the US, India, Canada and Australia.

Pre-order Book 2, Lero, released on December 1, 2026.

End of post. Here’s the pretty picture for you, again.

Glossary

FMC female main character

MMC male main characters

Sources

Header Image by Picjumbo.com

Mostly the books themselves, the Kindle version downloaded directly or borrowed through Kindle Unlimited.

A Note From Me: This post is about before AI and after it. I don’t mention whether a book is steamy or not, or how steamy it is. I skim read the parts I don’t want to read. If you’re interested in a book, check out the author’s content or trigger warning then you can avoid books you don’t like. All my links are to Amazon, because that’s the platform I use, but there are alternatives. I can’t speak for the header image.

No AI was used the planning or writing of this post. I can’t speak for the header image.