Imaginary planets seem like the perfect settings for the grandest adventures. There is wonder in exploring new worlds with their own unique organisms, locations, and conditions.
This was pretty much what science fiction was at one point. Back then, stories abounded with neighboring planets that could not only support life, but were inhabited. Mars and Venus, in particular, were home to ancient civilizations, advanced societies, and dusty mysteries. These kinds of stories are called planetary romance.
What Is Planetary Romance?
Planetary romance is a sci-fi story where the bulk of the action unfolds in one or more alien planets. It’s not enough that the stories just happen in such a setting, though: these planets, and what’s within, must be described in lush detail through evocative worldbuilding. The settings must have distinctive cultures and societies, flora and fauna, weather and terrain.
A lot of these stories follow the same premise. A heroic adventurer travels to a foreign planet, encounters exotic creatures and characters, and finds a quest they get to pursue (which is often saving a damsel in distress). How they traveled to the planet isn’t important, as long as it is by scientific means and not magic.
And when it comes to science, planetary romance doesn’t get specific. Much of how it operates is usually handwaved as “stuff happens because science.” Lost and futuristic technology regularly appear, but they’re mostly there to enhance the setting rather than affect the main story.
This results in stories with hard-to-reach locations despite the existence of futuristic transportation, or the use of swords regardless of advanced weaponry. Society is feudal and the concept of chivalry is often explored (hence the “romance” in the name).
Considering all of the above, planetary romance reads like low fantasy, but with science replacing magic’s function in the story. As such, some also call it “sword and planet” (mimicking fantasy’s sword and sorcery), though others might consider this another subgenre of science fiction.
Examples of Planetary Romance
Here are a few examples of planetary romance. Some of these are the classics that started it all, while others are more recent works that harken back to this older style of science fiction.
1. Barsoom by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Confederate veteran John Carter prospects for gold but soon runs afoul of the locals. While trying to escape, he is suddenly transported to Mars, where he finds his physical abilities greatly enhanced.
Soon, he is embroiled in a war much like the one he left behind, but the conflict moves away from petty fights and threatens the entirety of the planet. To save it, he must travel through a foreign landscape full of the unknown while battling legions of giant green warriors.
This work pretty much what codified the planetary romance subgenre and provided the template for many of the stories that followed.
2. Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey
Once, people would give tithes and supplies to the dragonweyrs. In turn, the dragonweyrs were tasked with protecting humanity from the constant danger of the Thread, an organism that devoured any organic matter it found.
But it has been centuries since the last Threadfall and only one weyr remains, struggling to survive. Despite the neglect, the dragons and their riders stay vigilant. Thread will fall soon, and they’re the only ones who can fight back.
3. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
A lone human ambassador is sent to the planet of Winter to encourage its membership in a growing alliance of planets. He experiences culture shock, especially with the inhabitants’ views on gender.
To complete his mission, he must first understand the culture of those he’s trying to win over. But change is always difficult, and in some situations, dangerous.
4. Almuric by Robert E. Howard
Esau Cairn is a bad fit for modern America—a man suited for a much simpler age. So when he’s transported to Almuric, a savage planet in another universe, he embraces his new life.
Almuric is inhabited by terrible monsters and near humans. Soon, Cairn finds himself leading a primitive society against the terrors that enslave them.
5. Callisto by Lin Carter
Jonathan Dark, a helicopter pilot, is transporting medical supplies in Southeast Asia when he suddenly finds himself in another world. There, he is held prisoner by the insectoid Yathoon, only to be freed and enslaved by a harsher master.
An unlikely love sees him freed and set on the path of rebellion. But though he has the heart, having the skills to win is a different matter.
6. Helliconia by Brian Aldiss
Humanity has reached the stars and finds them largely disappointing. Faster-than-light is impossible and only a handful of planets are found to have life beyond the microbial stage.
The one exception is Helliconia, an Earthlike planet with centuries-long seasons. The story follows the rise and fall of a civilization through over a thousand years of history as it struggles with the planet’s unique conditions.
7. The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis
Elwin Ransom, an academic, is abducted and taken to the planet of Malacandra, or as he knows it, Mars. His abductors plan to offer him as a sacrifice to the planet’s inhabitants in exchange for treasure.
In trying to thwart his abductors’ plans, Ransom makes friends with the locals who eventually lead him to the ruler of the planet. And in meeting the ruler, he learns a secret about Earth—a tragedy known to the entire universe.
8. Embassytown by China Miéville
In the distant future, humanity has colonized the planet Arieka at the edge of the known universe. There, people exist in a careful balance alongside the planet’s indigenous inhabitants, the Ariekei.
Avice Benner Cho returns home and is immediately caught in political schemes. With the planet’s equilibrium disrupted, she must choose between competing loyalties and circumvent a language that permits no lies.
9. Coyote by Allen Steele
It is the year 2070 and United States has turned into an oppressive, dystopian nation. Its leaders build the country’s first-ever starship, intent on sending colonists into space.
But just before launch, a group of renegades hijack the ship and launch into space, bent on starting a new life on a planet far away from oppression. But just three months into the centuries-long journey, a lone crew member wakes up to something going terribly wrong.
10. Old Mars by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois
This collection of stories is a throwback to planetary romance’s fascination with Mars. Here, a variety of sci-fi’s current top authors imagine the red planet as it was imagined by their predecessors.
The stories within portray Mars as either a decaying planet full of ancient tombs, or a lush paradise destined to be humanity’s next home.
Martin and Dozois have edited another similar collection titled Old Venus, this time focusing on another planet frequently explored during planetary romance’s heyday.
11. Foreigner by C.J. Cherryh
A system failure leaves the spaceship Phoenix stranded in space. A desperate attempt sees it crashlanding on a planet home to a hostile, sentient race. The crew are relegated to second-class-citizen status, and their technology seized.
Fast forward 200 years and the two races have reached a strained equilibrium—but then the sole human allowed out of their refuge is targeted by an assassin. With war about to erupt, he must seek out the cause of the disturbance.
12. Dune by Frank Herbert
Arrakis is a desert wasteland with nothing of value save for spice “melange,” a drug that can extend life and enhance mental abilities. Ruling over Arrakis is House Atreides, whose control of the spice leads them to glory.
But spice is worth killing for. And when House Atreides is betrayed, its destruction catapults a young heir into a journey that transcends anything humanity has ever dreamed of.
A Vanishing Genre
Planetary romance was popular during the first half of the 20th century, but faded away sometime in the latter half. While elements of it persist through modern science fiction, the subgenre as a whole is rarely visited in its full capacity. As a result, stories like these are frequently categorized into other subgenres, which has led to planetary romance’s increasing obscurity.
A big part of its fall from grace is its failure to evolve. As other subgenres improved with their writers’ and readers’ tastes, planetary romance mostly remained the same. Soon it was being overshadowed by hard science fiction, space opera, and dystopian fiction.
Its authors, too, were either gone or getting old. The lack of new blood likely meant that the subgenre was being left behind in sci-fi’s generational shift in authors.
And lastly, a lot of its stories are set in a version of the solar system that doesn’t exist. Back then, writers didn’t know that Mars was a cold, dusty planet. They were able to pretend it was not only habitable, but actually inhabited. New knowledge about these planets has led to more realistic settings, which were the domain of other science fiction subgenres.
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Cole is a blog writer and aspiring novelist. He has a degree in Communications and is an advocate of media and information literacy and responsible media practices. Aside from his interest in technology, crafts, and food, he’s also your typical science fiction and fantasy junkie, spending most of his free time reading through an ever-growing to-be-read list. It’s either that or procrastinating over actually writing his book. Wish him luck!
