Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

Whether you are a fan of Tris & Four, want to get to know Peeta/Gale and Katniss or love to love Eve & Roarke, have fun with a romance set in the future.

Even though romances set in the future are not my typical genre, this is actually the prompt I am the most excited about! My friend Sara Elizabeth Santana's first book The Awakened comes out TOMORROW!!! And it just happens to be a romance that takes place in the future! I'm super psyched for it to be my first book of 2016!!!

I read a lot of romance, and a lot of books set in the future, but I DON'T read a lot of romances set in the future! So this will be tough!! Here are some ideas I've come up with. A bunch of these authors are new to me. I think I might read Shards of Honour, because I've heard a lot of good things about Bujold:
Amaryllis (Castle)
Shards of Honour (Bujold)
Caught in Amber (Pegau)
The Host (Meyer)
Grimspace (Aguirre)
Song of Scarabaeus (Creasy)
Freedom's Landing (McCaffrey)
Fortune's Pawn (Bach)
Valor's Choice (Huff)
Naked in Death (JD Robb)
Heart Mate (Owens)

For last year's challenge I read Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, and thought they were excellent. Both have romances that take place in the future, and that are central to the plot, but are used to illustrate the persistence of humanity in a dystopian landscape and other interesting themes as opposed to being a typical romance that happens to take place in some kind of future. The Dream of Perpetual Motion by Dexter Palmer and Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut would also qualify in a similar way as above.

1984 isn't really a romance (and technically isn't set in the future anymore, but was when written) but the affair is pretty central to the plot too.

I can not recommend Eve & Roarke in the In Death series enough! I especially love the audiobooks. Susan Ericksen is wonderful!

Melody, I read Slaughterhouse Five this year. But I would hardly qualify it as a romance.

Which book is the Death series? Is that JD Robb? I'm happy to read a traditional straight-up romance for this category, I just want to find a good one! (I read one by Ann Aguirre and hated it, so I'm leery of reading more by her.)

If you count any romantic entanglement in a future story, that does open up the field quite a bit. Divergent or even Hunger Games would work. Or something from William Gibson, most of his books have a relationship (The Peripheral did, for sure). Just about any YA dystopian would work, like The Fifth Wave, Legend, Diana Peterfreund's two books, etc)

The In Death series by JD Robb starts with Naked in Death. It is hard to categorize. It is romantic suspense set in the 22nd century as well as detective, science fiction, and police procedural. The most recent book is Wonderment in Death (#41.5).

That one is not easy for me. It seems like I can't find something I like ou would like.

Same Here..... Someone Recommended me Legend Any Idea how is that?

I loved Legend - one of my favorite recent YA series

The Legend-Triology was my favourite read in 2014 (waaay back, I know). I would totally agree with the recommendation. A very smartly developed lot with strong characters and an intricate (political) setting! Loved, loved, loved it!

I have seen some recommendations for the In Death Series by JD Robb. Warm bodies, Delirium and Shatter Me are some others I have seen in this category.

I'm planning to read the first In Death book. I read Delirium and I really loved it, but it has a certain YA-angsty quality that may not appeal to everyone (but it appeals to me!)

I've read Legend, Delirium and Shatter Me (I read a lot of YA :) ) I really liked the Shatter Me trilogy, but a lot of people are put off by her writing style. I enjoyed Delirium a lot, but I tend to forget that I read it, and it's the only one of the three that I haven't felt compelled to complete the series. Just finished the Legend trilogy earlier last year...both my daughters (11 and 14), and my husband all loved it, so I think it has the broadest appeal, if you don't typically read romance. Also read the Under the Never Sky trilogy and liked that a lot too.

I'd advise that you not bother completing the Delirium trilogy - I LOVED the first book, big love, but the other two books were sub-par and you're not missing anything (they ruined the first book for me)

I was recommended Matched by someone who I just met. So I'm going to look into reading it and knock out two categories. :)

Nicole wrote: "I was recommended Matched by someone who I just met. So I'm going to look into reading it and knock out two categories. :)"

Matched is a trilogy so be aware what you are getting yourself into. I liked the first, the second was OK, the third I haven't been able to finish. /mytwocents

I think two cents should be adjusted for inflation. It'd probably be 2 buck by now.

I might need some helpful suggestion's for this one.
I was thinking of reading Dearly, Departed but I heard the author doesn't want to write the third book which is a shame and I don't want to put my heart out there for a book that might never be finished.

sooo....if anyone can lend me a hand for this one I really appreciate it.

Soo what do all of you consider "romance," because a lot of you are including YA, and I had never thought about YA being romantic. I know that this is an individual challenge, but still... What do you you have that's not YA?

Katherine wrote: "Soo what do all of you consider "romance," because a lot of you are including YA, and I had never thought about YA being romantic. I know that this is an individual challenge, but still... What do ..."

For this challenge, I'm counting any book where a romance between two or more characters is important to the main plot, or is one of the main subplots of the books. Someone asked for non-YA books earlier in the thread (though it looks like they deleted their comment), and I responded with a few of my suggestions. I'm sure other members will have a lot of great recommendations as well!

Melody wrote: "For last year's challenge I read Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, and thought they were excellent. Both have romances that take place in the future, and that are central to the plot, but are used to illustrate the persistence of humanity in a dystopian landscape and other interesting themes as opposed to being a typical romance that happens to take place in some kind of future. The Dream of Perpetual Motion by Dexter Palmer and Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut would also qualify in a similar way as above."

Good call. Thanks, Melody!

I read Shades of Earth by Beth Revis for this prompt.

Another one for this Illuminae

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

When is Delirium set? I was hoping to read it for this prompt because I'm really struggling to find something, but when I looked it up, it said "alternate present" as the setting.

I read "Delirium" as a future book, a dystopian. It's not the FAR future, but it's in the future, because the wreckage of present day cities and infrastructure is referenced (in the third book they walk across the Tappan Zee bridge, I think)

Nadine wrote: "I read "Delirium" as a future book, a dystopian. It's not the FAR future, but it's in the future, because the wreckage of present day cities and infrastructure is referenced (in the third book they..."

Fair enough. That seems to be the consensus on most of the sites that I've looked at, so I'll probably pick this since it is the only one that has even remotely interested me.

I'm going to read Atlantia by Ally Condie. It's set in a futuristic world where people have had to make homes under the ocean because it's too toxic on land. I'm not entirely sure how much romance there is in this book but I've been wanting to read it for some time now so we'll see.

I read Dawn by Octavia Butler. The romance is not central to the novel either, but I can't eek out another futuristic book! The romance IS central to the series in a way. It is a good book and not very long. Again, just not my genre of choice.

I decided to go with Delirium in the end, since it seemed futuristic enough. They say in the beginning it's been about 60 years since the new law was passed, so we can assume that the law either happens sometime in our future or happens in the present and the book takes place 60 years after that.

I am going with Oryx and Crake.
I just read Cinder, which would probably also qualify for this category.

Can anyone suggest me a really good pleasing romance that's set in the future??

I'm reading All the Birds in the Sky

So I had decided to read Never Let Go since it was recommend here, but I opened it and it said on one of the first pages England, late 1990's. Has anyone read it and can confirm for me it's set in the future, because now I'm worried it's not.

*Never Let Me Go

I wasn't sure when it was supposed to be. It's not like our world so I guess I assumed future but it could be more parallel. Like 1984 is not like our world but it's not set in the future (at least not anymore)

True! Thanks for the help. I might switch it over to the dystopian novel category just to be safe. I still really would like to read the book.

I finished "Naked in Death" by J.D.Robb., thank you for the suggestion. I never would have read this book. It was actually pretty good. Not sure if I will read any of the other books in the series but I got through it and did enjoy it more than I thought I would.

I'm reading The Next Together... Although technically it takes place over a bunch of different times (some past, some future). I decided i didn't care, because I have it/want to read it.. and it fits well enough.

After reading this thread I've also gone for Naked In Death - definitely not something I would read otherwise - about a quarter of the way through and it's alright so far

Angie wrote: "I'm reading The Next Together... Although technically it takes place over a bunch of different times (some past, some future). I decided i didn't care, because I have it/want to rea..."

I really strongly considered that book also. In the end, I decided against it because it seemed like it was mostly in the past and very little in the future, but I would still love to try it.

Marta wrote: "I am going with Oryx and Crake.
I just read Cinder, which would probably also qualify for this category."

You just help me find the book I will read.

Oryx and crake might be a stretch for romance but it's a fantastic series!

I have read Ten Thousand Skies Above You the second in the Firebird series. It is sci-fi about inter dimensional travel. Which, as far as I am aware, is futuristic technology!! There is a boy/girl (triangle-groan!) story line running through, but the sci-fi dominates more, which is how I like the romance, at a minimum!!!

I think most of these would work (Books that Prove Love Can Transcend Space & Time): http://www.epicreads.com/blog/books-t...

I loved Scarlet so much for the fairy tale prompt that I had to fit Cress into the challenge so I swapped it in for Atlantia. I might have to find another spot for that if I can. Any of the Lunar Chronicles would fit in this category.

I read Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde.
Two of my least favorite genres combined! LOL

I think I'm going to try Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafia for this category.