Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

So, this is my first Tanith Lee, and it was suggested as a robot book when I was asking for them.   And I really, really loved this one.   It's about so much more than robots, or even robotic love - although, damn, there is a lot of human/robot lovin' going on in here.   No, there's so much detailed introspection, about family, about friendship, about love and loss, and even the social balance between the rich and the poor.   

Beautiful prose.   Just delicious.  

And I was drawn in, right until the end.   Which made me gasp and cry, by the way.   Because as much as the gorgeous language makes you want to linger over the descriptions of people and places, the characters and their stories propel you along right until the end.  

Jane is rich, and while not as spoiled as her friends, she is undoubtedly spoiled.   When she meets S.I.L.V.E.R - referred to simply as Silver - she is, at first, horrified.   An android who can sing as well, with as much tone and range, and emotion, as a human.   And who can  come up with his own lyrics as well.   However, she is compelled to see him again, at least after  her friend hires Silver for a party.   

And there is a love story that slowly builds up, nothing erotic - or I should say, you're not given the juicy erotic details.   The truth is that they don't really matter.   Jane feels a pure love for Silver, so much so that she literally gives up everything for him.    

I'm going to be even vaguer when I say that circumstances, and even people, work against Jane and Silver.   To give away too much would be to spoil that lovely, slow build up of love, and the way it can both build and be unraveled by another's hand.   It's truly touching, and all told from Jane's point-of-view.  

I'm very much looking forward to reading Metallic Love, the sequel.    I'd highly recommend this book.   There are mentions of underage sex - although, again, no details - but this is a society that seems to accept teens having sex.   At fifteen or sixteen, the upperclass teens are living alone, and if not, their parents talk to them about sex quite openly.   (Or at least, Jane's does, and she's not presented as odd in that respect, especially given the kids living alone!)   That is really one of the only things that kind of squicked me out, and it was presented in such a matter of fact matter that I'd accepted it as part of the world by the novel's end.   (I'd also argue the kids act more like adults by sixteen or so than they do in our current society, so it also felt a little more like they were adults by the end of the novel.)