The best books that combine love, action, and speculative elements

This amazing story is one that belongs in multiple sections of any bookstore. Where would you shelve a historical fiction, action-adventure, time-travel, romance? Anywhere you want. This is the quintessential genre combination series, perhaps the best of all time.

I discovered Outlander in 1998 when the fourth book in the series was published. I bought it on a whim, liking the sound of historical fiction/time travel. The book immediately transported me along with Claire into the 1700s, where I rooted for her to fall in love with Jamie Fraser and stay with him.

There is so much love, lust, heartbreak, and action in this story I have to read it again every few years. 

This was the fifth time I have read this book, and I swear I love it just as much every time I read it.

The book is about a writer who has a story come to her in waking dreams and flashes of vivid insight. The story of the past is one of her ancestors who lived near this place.

As a writer, this idea appeals to me. Some of my favorite ideas have come to me in the space between waking and sleeping. The dual timeline of present and historical mesh seamlessly so that the two pieces complement each other, and I love rediscovering all the ways the pieces connect.

Having met the author and taken a dozen workshops with her, I appreciate the craft that went into the writing. Plus, she’s a fellow Canadian.

Tigana might be my favorite book of all time, any genre, which says a lot.

Every time I read it, I am blown away by the perfection of the story and characters and the intricate story of love, hate, rebellion, magic, and politics. I have read it at least a dozen times since I first discovered it, and every time, I find something new or rediscover something I’d forgotten that makes this book wonderful.

It has the structure of a fantasy story and quest for redemption but is also a story of family, friendship, trust, loyalty, and love. It could be any empire and conquest in history. Imagine how devastating it would be to have the name of your country erased from time and memory. 

I love Katniss Everdeen and the simplicity of her wish. She just wants to save her little sister. Her life has been one of hardship and tragedy, and she will do anything to keep her sister alive.

I love her tenacity and how she grows and survives in the face of overwhelming odds, all while living in a constant state of terror.

This is a brilliant story about growing up and surviving in a harsh world. The world-building is excellent, doled out in small pieces as needed without over-explaining. We enter the world of Panem, District 12, and the Reaping and leave changed. It changed how I look at reality TV. 

I love an awesome end-of-the-world story, including this one about lab-made, escaped vampires that end civilization as we know it. Apocalyptic science fiction and vampire horror make a terrific combination.

I’ve read the series three times and this first book at least one extra time. The sense of doom as the apocalypse unfolds is suspense-filled and pulls the reader along at breakneck speed. I also love the complex and flawed characters.