Rachael Eyre's Blog - Posts Tagged "influences"
Writing Love and Robotics: Inspirations and Influences
(Incidentally this was written in the middle of the Lancaster blackout. We were using tea lights in our Georgian attic room and the air ambulance kept zipping overhead - talk about post apocalyptic).
As previously discussed, it took a while for the main elements of Love and Robotics to fall into place. Even once I'd decided upon characters, plot and intentions, there was a significant hurdle: I wasn't familiar with the genre. At all.
There are two main strands of robot fiction. There's the notion that robots possess a cold, infinitely superior intellect, and understandably wish to conquer their human overlords. The second, more fruitful strand is that whatever their beginnings, robots can break their programming and experience emotions. Although Love and Robotics clearly belongs to the second category, I drew upon the ideas of the first, such as Asimov's oft quoted Laws. In the world of the story, artificials have to obey the Robotics Code. Every time Josh breaks one it's a conscious effort, and he awaits punishment.
I'm ashamed to say that when I started writing I hadn't seen either of the Terminator films, and reasoned this was as valid an excuse as any. Though you're unlikely to find a more pessimistic view of robotic capabilities, the first film is a fantastic blend of genres: sci fi meets thriller meets action. The obligatory romance doesn't feel as shoehorned as usual as it serves a crucial purpose: Kyle Reese needs to go back in time to father John Connor. The second film introduces the concept of a "good" Terminator and achieves moments of real pathos.
During my research I learned that Karel Capek had coined the word 'robot', or mechanical slave, for his play RUR (Rossum's Universal Robots); where better to look? Though stilted and undeniably dated, the play has several points of interest. The characters aren't robots as you or I know them, but organic, highly convincing humanoids. A maniacal robot with a vision overthrows the humans - trope 1. Two of the robots fall in love, fostering hope for the future - trope 2.
My next goal was to find a story with a proper romance between a human and a robot. A novel with great ideas but squandered potential is The Stone Gods by Jeanette Winterson, one of my main inspirations. The first section - cranky lesbian Billie falls for gorgeous robot Spike - is funny, insightful and moving. Unfortunately the rest fails to live up to this promise.
A certain sci fi award winner, which shall remain nameless, had been touted as a triumph, a relationship between a human and a robot being one of its components. Unfortunately it was an unpalatable mix of rape fantasy and racism, and I abandoned it in disgust. I tried again, with a recently published YA offering, but found I couldn't believe in the central romance or the dystopia it depicted. The protagonist was a whiny, passive dead weight and I didn't care what happened to her.
I was beginning to grow disillusioned. Had I chosen the wrong genre? If the book focused too much on science, the love story was lost; if I disregarded the science and flung myself into the romance, it'd read like chick lit. Did I even have the credentials to write this book? My more technically minded friends were adamant that whatever a deluded human might project, no robot could form a genuine emotional attachment. I was ready to jack it in when I encountered Tanith Lee's The Silver Metal Lover.
I shan't claim it's a work of genius, because it's not. The tale of a shy young debutante who risks everything to run away with a robot, it had two vital ingredients: in Silver, the eponymous robot, a hero you could conceivably fall in love with, and a relationship you rooted for. It made me see that believable human/robot romance was possible and what I might achieve with my more ambitious project.
Next time I'll look at taboo busting and what everyone imagines when you use the phrase "a love story with robots".
As previously discussed, it took a while for the main elements of Love and Robotics to fall into place. Even once I'd decided upon characters, plot and intentions, there was a significant hurdle: I wasn't familiar with the genre. At all.
There are two main strands of robot fiction. There's the notion that robots possess a cold, infinitely superior intellect, and understandably wish to conquer their human overlords. The second, more fruitful strand is that whatever their beginnings, robots can break their programming and experience emotions. Although Love and Robotics clearly belongs to the second category, I drew upon the ideas of the first, such as Asimov's oft quoted Laws. In the world of the story, artificials have to obey the Robotics Code. Every time Josh breaks one it's a conscious effort, and he awaits punishment.
I'm ashamed to say that when I started writing I hadn't seen either of the Terminator films, and reasoned this was as valid an excuse as any. Though you're unlikely to find a more pessimistic view of robotic capabilities, the first film is a fantastic blend of genres: sci fi meets thriller meets action. The obligatory romance doesn't feel as shoehorned as usual as it serves a crucial purpose: Kyle Reese needs to go back in time to father John Connor. The second film introduces the concept of a "good" Terminator and achieves moments of real pathos.
During my research I learned that Karel Capek had coined the word 'robot', or mechanical slave, for his play RUR (Rossum's Universal Robots); where better to look? Though stilted and undeniably dated, the play has several points of interest. The characters aren't robots as you or I know them, but organic, highly convincing humanoids. A maniacal robot with a vision overthrows the humans - trope 1. Two of the robots fall in love, fostering hope for the future - trope 2.
My next goal was to find a story with a proper romance between a human and a robot. A novel with great ideas but squandered potential is The Stone Gods by Jeanette Winterson, one of my main inspirations. The first section - cranky lesbian Billie falls for gorgeous robot Spike - is funny, insightful and moving. Unfortunately the rest fails to live up to this promise.
A certain sci fi award winner, which shall remain nameless, had been touted as a triumph, a relationship between a human and a robot being one of its components. Unfortunately it was an unpalatable mix of rape fantasy and racism, and I abandoned it in disgust. I tried again, with a recently published YA offering, but found I couldn't believe in the central romance or the dystopia it depicted. The protagonist was a whiny, passive dead weight and I didn't care what happened to her.
I was beginning to grow disillusioned. Had I chosen the wrong genre? If the book focused too much on science, the love story was lost; if I disregarded the science and flung myself into the romance, it'd read like chick lit. Did I even have the credentials to write this book? My more technically minded friends were adamant that whatever a deluded human might project, no robot could form a genuine emotional attachment. I was ready to jack it in when I encountered Tanith Lee's The Silver Metal Lover.
I shan't claim it's a work of genius, because it's not. The tale of a shy young debutante who risks everything to run away with a robot, it had two vital ingredients: in Silver, the eponymous robot, a hero you could conceivably fall in love with, and a relationship you rooted for. It made me see that believable human/robot romance was possible and what I might achieve with my more ambitious project.
Next time I'll look at taboo busting and what everyone imagines when you use the phrase "a love story with robots".
