The Silver Metal Lover
Reviewed date: 2025 Feb 19
Rating: 3
240 pages
Tanith Lee can write. The main character is an emotional teenage girl falling in love (with a robot) and taking her first real steps toward independence, and we see all the ups and downs, lows and highs, and despite the emotional chaos and unreliable narration we see the gradual move toward maturity and self-confidence. Jane (because that is her name) matures to the point that by the end of the book she is able to re-establish relationships with those she'd cut off earlier (like her mother and several of her friends) when she'd been too immature to interact with them. Nobody else grows or changes (well, except her friend Clovis, a little); they are all the same flawed people they always were. It's Jane that has matured.
Setting
The world Jane lives in has come through some catastrophic times, mostly linked to a near-impact by an asteroid. Jane's mother is one of the fabulously wealthy, and she lives in a house in the sky outside the city. The wealthy have every material need taken care of, and are waited on by robot servants. Jane is a spoiled rich girl whose only problem is an overbearing but also chronically absent mother. Well that, and she has fallen in love with a robot.
S.I.L.V.E.R.
The robot is a Sophisticated Format developed by Electronic Metals (E.M.) He is a musician and a lover, his skin is silver, and he captivates Jane instantly. Jane is ashamed at falling in love with a robot instead of a man, and she knows her mother will never approve. With help from her friend Clovis, Jane buys Silver from E.M. and runs away from home. She and Silver live together in a small flat in the slums, busking for rent money when Jane's mother cuts off her charge card. It's artistic and lovely; Jane vacillates between feeling deeply safe and grounded with Silver, and being emotionally insecure because she knows Silver is a robot and cannot really feel love for her. As Jane matures and becomes more emotionally resilient, Silver behaves more and more like a real human.
Tragedy
But this is a tragedy, not a comedy. Under pressure from a public that is terrified robots will steal their jobs, E.M. recalls all their Sophisticated model robots. Jane tries to escape with Silver, but they're caught. Silver is disassembled and melted down, Jane attempts suicide. Her friends save her, and she gradually recovers, now more mature and fully adult.
Lagniappe
Silver had a soul! The ghost of Silver speaks to Jane through a Ouija board, telling her to live her life for him, and that he awaits her eventual arrival on the other side. The book might have been better without this final chapter, but it's hard to say.