datanguay@watdaisy.UUCP (David Tanguay) (01/08/86)
"The Silver Metal Lover" by Tanith Lee A robot manufacturing company produces an experimental line of humanoid robots. The protagonist is a 16 year old girl (Jane) who falls in love with one of the male robots (Silver). Jane is the shy, introverted daughter of a very wealthy, dynamic woman, and Jane's life has always been dominated by her mother. They live sometime in the 21st (or 22nd - I can't remember) century in a very believable and well developed world. Jane runs away with the robot and in their time together Jane develops into a woman and Silver develops into a human, going from an intelligent machine to a being with very real emotions and desires. The conflict in the story is provided by the hatred of humanoid robots by the public at large: people are afraid of becoming obsolete (not only are the new robots physically superior, they are also great in bed). The story is written by Jane as a chronicle of her life (similar to a diary, but not with daily entries - there's probably a word for it but I don't know it). A plot summary would look bare and boring because the real action is the development of the characters (Jane, Silver, Jane's mother, and some of Jane's friends) and the response of humanity to a superior life form. This is the first Tanith Lee book that I've read, and I found it highly impressive. On the [-4, 4] scale I'ld give it a +3.14159. (Since this is my first review, I'll mention some of my favourite books so you can attach some meaning to my opinions: anything by Le Guin, The Lord of the Rings, Dune, Tarzan (mosly the first 4 books), Startide Rising, that's enough. I didn't care for Conan, Solomon Kane (The Moon of Skulls), The Stainless Steel Rat, Riverworld ...). David Tanguay @ University of Waterloo