Metallic Love

Silver Metal Lover #2

by Tanith Lee

In her now-classic tale The Silver Metal Lover, award-winning author Tanith Lee told the spellbinding story of Jane and her forbidden love for a robot named Silver. In this stunning follow-up, the legend of their tragic romance lives on. But nothing is as it was–or as it seems.…

As an orphan growing up in the slums, Loren read her clandestine copy of Jane’s Story over and over, relishing every word. But Loren is no Jane. Savvy and street-smart, Loren could never be stirred by a man of metal, her passion never ignited by an almost-human–even one designed for pleasure.

Still, when the META corporation does the unthinkable and brings back updated versions of robots past–Loren knows she must see Silver. And just like Jane, it is love at first sight. But Silver is now Verlis. If he was perfection before, he is now like a god. Yet he is more human than his creators think–or fear. While Loren doesn’t quite trust him, she will follow her twice-born lover into a battle to control his own destiny–one that
will reveal to her the most astonishing illusion of all.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Fiction, Young Adult, Robots, Dystopia

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Tanith Lee was a British writer of science fiction, horror, and fantasy. She was the author of 77 novels, 14 collections, and almost 300 short stories. She also wrote four radio plays broadcast by the BBC and two scripts for the UK, science fiction, cult television series "Blake's 7."
Before becoming a full time writer, Lee worked as a file clerk, an assistant librarian, a shop assistant, and a waitress.

Her first short story, "Eustace," was published in 1968, and her first novel (for children) The Dragon Hoard was published in 1971.

Her career took off in 1975 with the acceptance by Daw Books USA of her adult fantasy epic The Birthgrave for publication as a mass-market paperback, and Lee has since maintained a prolific output in popular genre writing.

Lee twice won the World Fantasy Award: once in 1983 for best short fiction for “The Gorgon” and again in 1984 for best short fiction for “Elle Est Trois (La Mort).” She has been a Guest of Honour at numerous science fiction and fantasy conventions including the Boskone XVIII in Boston, USA in 1981, the 1984 World Fantasy Convention in Ottawa, Canada, and Orbital 2008 the British National Science Fiction convention (Eastercon) held in London, England in March 2008. In 2009 she was awarded the prestigious title of Grand Master of Horror.

Lee was the daughter of two ballroom dancers, Bernard and Hylda Lee. Despite a persistent rumour, she was not the daughter of the actor Bernard Lee who played "M" in the James Bond series of films of the 1960s.

Tanith Lee married author and artist John Kaiine in 1992.

Reviews

[Karlyflower *The Vampire Ninja, Luminescent Monster & Wendigo Nerd Goddess of Canada (according to The Hulk)* · Rating 5 out of 5]

FULL REVIEW!! Thank you so much for the buddy-read, my beauties ♥

Will sparks fly in this metallic sequel? Future-gurl and I shall find out (with Heatherdoll joining in for a re-read) on July 4th!!



If The Silver Metal Lover was, as it was to me, a candle flame; this is an inferno ♥

This is yet ANOTHER sequel which I loved when I did not love the first in the series.... who even am I this year??

5 Elovy-ee Stars

I feel like Metallic Love was almost designed by Lee to be the polar opposite to The Silver Metal Lover. The love interest in this sequel differs from Silver in every conceivable way except one, his outward appearance. You see Verlis is “Silver” but he also isn’t. Or perhaps it would be fairer to say that the narrator in this sees Verlis for what he is without the romanticized naïveté that is such a large part of Jane’s narrative in the previous story?! I’m not exactly sure.

And some love - burns. It hurts, even when you have it. It rips the scales off your eyes and makes you see too much. It never lets go.



Silver’s love for Jane (through her eyes, anyways) was ripe with innocence and sweetness; whereas Verlis’ is almost coldly sinister at times. Militant. Uncompromising. How much of that is in the hardwiring of his personality, or whatever the robotic equivalent is, and how much is filtered by Loren’s view is really anyone’s guess. However, facts speak. Silver was a lover, Verlis is a King.

Did I hate him? Yes, I hate him. Love and hate all mixed together, a new emotion. Shall I call it Have or Lote?

There is some interesting social commentary between the lines of this story. Humanity played god, essentially, and created a species of sentient “beings” and then hated them for being exactly that which they created. They gave machines consciousness without worrying about what the lack of empathy or compassion might mean when paired with such unknowable intelligence. Is it any surprise that some have what I can only describe as psychopathic tendencies?! I would say that there is a glaringly obvious comparability to ‘Terminator’ here, except Metallic Love is told through the eyes of a sympathizer rather than an enemy.

This story fascinated me.

Loren – if I have a soul at all, it’s you

[Dino-Jess ✮ The Book Eating Dinosaur ✮ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Think of your favorite thing.

Now imagine that thing being disassembled before your eyes and not knowing if you are ever going to be able to see, feel or experience your favorite thing ever again.

But then, think about what would happen if your favorite thing was demolished, then put back together to form something even better than it was before. Is it still your favorite thing? Or is it something more? Is your love for the original thing still true if you now like this newer, fresher thing better? How do you even know if your feelings for this new thing are true? Is it just the remnant of the original thing clouding your experience with this new thing?

That was my experience with this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I felt bad enjoying it more than the first book, because I thought my love for the first book was strong and pure and unbreakable. But it looks like I was wrong.

This is less of a romance than the first book, and Verlis is less of a night in shining silver and more of a domineering dictator. The way that the story highlights the differences between man and machine, the way humans are subjugated as an inferior species and the possibilities that are opened up towards the end, was excellent.

I'm not going to say anything more, as I don't want to spoil this for anyone. I will end this by saying that I thought this was wonderful and I look forward to being able to read more Tanith Lee in the future.

4.5 silver-metal-lover Stars

Thanks for the buddy read Karly and Heather! :)

[Heather *sad DNF queen* · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buddy read with Karly and Future-girl scheduled for the first week of July!

A REVIEW, OR: HOW TO ALIENATE YOURSELF AT PARTIES

Me: *standing next to people who are talking about a book* *jumps in* I'm reading a book about a robot.
Them: *interested noises*
Me: He's a robot built for pleasure.
Them: *polite awkward noises*
Me, reassuringly: He's a robot shaped like a man.
Them: *walk quietly away*

To make matters worse, the book they were discussing was a church group read on how to keep your marriage strong or something like that. Whoopsie! People should really know better than to invite me to things where I'm expected to socialize. I'M NOT GOOD AT IT.

That happened the first time I was reading this book. The following (much less awkward) conversation happened with my husband this, the second, time.

S, spotting the cover: Oooh, Metallic Lo-ove. What's he, like a sex robot?
Me: He's a robot built for pleasure (my standard explanation for this book apparently).
S: So he's a sex robot.
Me. He can do… whatever you want. *unable to resist* Plot stuff, plot stuff, awesomeness, mountain.
S: So he's a lumberjack sex robot.
Me, with outrage: He's like a GOD.

This book is the sequel to The Silver Metal Lover, which I also buddy read with my fellow fearless robot lovers, Karly and Jess. I've read both books twice now, but I actually read Metallic Love first because I happened to find it while thrifting. My library didn't have either book, and I couldn't wait. So I convinced myself the sequel could stand on its own and just went ahead and read it.

He is a god who refers to God. He's a king who is in exile.

It does stand on its own, but I had two different experiences each time I read it. The first time I was a little confused, and not just because I had no idea what happened in TSML. I just didn't know what I was supposed to think, exactly. I knew it was good, though, and kept it on my shelves.

Now, having read TSML, I have a much greater appreciation for Metallic Love. It was richer this time. While TSML was very good, this book was greater in scope. We get to see a bit more of the corporation that created the robots, more of this futuristic world, and, most importantly, more of the other robots. Here, they were their own characters rather than part of the backdrop. The writing is gorgeous, making for lots of quotable passages.

In many ways, this book is the complete opposite of its predecessor. Loren is frank and streetwise, whereas Jane is naive. Verlis is powerful and dissatisfied, whereas Silver is easygoing and unable to fight against the corporation that created him. The two love stories are different—one doomed, one hopeful. One sweet, one uncertain. Both perilous.

"You—wish you were—Silver."
"No. I just wish I had his faith."

This book has romance, but it's very much sci-fi. I think that's part of why I like it so much. The romance is a strange one, straightforward but full of doubt on Loren's part. Verlis is an unnerving but loyal and oddly supportive lover. The world they live in is unsympathetic and cold, but they have each other.

I found this short little essay by Tanith Lee. In it, she talks about not only TSML but also Metallic Love. There's a brief mention of the third book she had planned, The Tin Man, which would return to the story of Jane and Silver. And let me tell you, I am crushed—utterly crushed—that I will never be able to read that.

"Fearless," I said. "Omnipotent. Perfect."
"And eager," he said, "to please."

[Lisa (Harmonybites) · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book this is a sequel to, Silver Metal Lover, is a favorite, and I'm afraid Metallic Love suffered from the comparison, especially having reread Silver Metal Lover just before this one, and falling in love with it all over again. Tanith Lee is a favorite writer of mine--she tends to write lyrically and lushly, and several books, including this one, are written first person, usually from a very fresh, distinctive individual voice--the protagonist of Don't Bite the Sun, for instance, sounding nothing like Jane of Sliver Metal Lover, and I'm usually immediately sucked into the book.

That wasn't the case with Metallic Love. It's protagonist, Loren, didn't engage me the way Jane did, and I kept reading only because of the connection with the other book. Among other things, I wanted to see if Jane showed up. This is set only twelve years after the events of the first book, which has been published underground as Jane's Book and made a huge impression on Loren as a child. She's constantly quoting from that first book, and it's jarring and intrusive, as if what I'm reading is not very good fan fiction. Fan fiction from someone not really a fan, who is trying to subvert and belittle the original. Indeed at first it seemed to be trying to completely invalidate the original, blot it out, and I hated the book for it. And being constantly reminded of that first book wasn't to the advantage of this one, which might have stood up better on its own as a completely independent narrative.

Eventually I found that wasn't really so. Nevertheless, I don't think this book has the magic of the first. It's a very, very different story. Silver Metal Lover is the story of a vulnerable teenage girl in the throes of first love. It's about her coming into her own identity through love, and though the book leaves open how much Jane is reading into her lover what she wants, it's still basically a lovely, touching romance. A Romeo and Juliet. This book, on the other hand, is Frankenstein. Verlis, the robot lover, is far, far less likeable and approachable than Silver of the first book--rather sinister in fact.

Metallic Love is imaginative and well-written, which is why I'm giving it as high as two stars, even though I'd feel, at the very least, ambivalent about recommending it to those who loved Sliver Metal Lover. (Although by and by, this book, though set in North America, is riddled with such Briticisms as "lift," "fancies" and "shags" I didn't notice in the first book--possibly an editing issue). With Tanith Lee you can take beautiful prose and strong world-building for granted, and this book did feature a neat twist at the end. After having finished the novel, I don't wish, as I had a third way through, that Lee had never wrote it nor I had never read it. It doesn't take away in the end my love for the first book, but neither does it add to it. And this will be the first Tanith Lee book I've owned that won't be staying much longer on my bookshelf, but will find itself purged the next time I have to winnow my collection. While Silver Metal Lover will have to be pried out of my cold, dead hands.

[Treece · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where do I start?

I start by saying that Tanith Lee will always be my favorite author. I discovered her as child of nine or ten (I was a very advanced reader) when my dear long-departed aunt gave me a copy of The Silver Metal Lover. In hindsight, this novel was one of the early YA novels but had yet to be placed into that category. Censorship would not have allowed it either. There is sex, drugs, and alternative lifestyles abounding in this book, along with cross-species mating. Not sure if cross-species applies to robots and humans but since vibrators are still illegal in some states (and countries) perhaps there is a law out there for that too. All of this aside, this novel was simply a sci-fi tale of a teenager in the near future who falls for a robot who may or may not be human where it counts most. Consciousness. A machine with a soul. Since then there are movies based on this concept but I believe Ms. Lee got it right in these novels.

The sequel, Metallic Love was released in 2005, and I saw it on the shelf of a B & N that is still thankfully around. I have re-read this novel many times and have never gone back to the prequel because for me, it surpasses it. Despite the fact that Loren says in her intro that the reader will not like her, I beg to differ. I liked her far, far more than Jane, the h from the prequel. And I like this incarnation of Silver who is now Verlis.

You don't have to read the first book--unless you just want to--because Ms. Lee makes it so easy for you as a new reader or a reader who forgot most of the first book.

Loren is cunning, cynical and has no illusions about life. Within the Damocles-setting--there is an asteroid halted in its collision course, suspended above Earth and quite visible-- who cares about tomorrow really. Live for the moment, the now, for today. When you are young, mortality is not an issue. Or is it? Death has no favorites. But humans have created a superior race of gods, robots who possess the key to immortality. But how can these metal gods connect to us in anyway without souls or true feeling?

Yet somehow from the moment Loren reads Jane's Story she is sucked into every possibility, bordering on obsession. Once she meets Verlis/Silver the connection is instant. But why? Ahh, there are so many secrets to unravel, lies, and half-truths. Revelations. Divine beings seduced by maidens. Readers who are seeking answers while the H/h uncover the parent company, META corporation. META who in their hubris made superior beings and sought to enslave them and treat them as objects for entertainment. Sounds familiar? It should. Does this make humans worse because we have souls and are not machines? So many questions so little time.

You'll have to read the story. No spoilers here.

I can't say enough about this novel except it is timeless. Sadly, Ms. Lee's work has never received the same level of recognition and accolades as her fellow authors. But those of us who have appreciated her work over the years will continue to sing her praises and spread the word. We lost this dear lady in 2015 at a rather early age. She was still creating and I never realized my dream to meet her. Thankfully her work will forever live on, and I will continue to re-read everything she has ever written.

Happy reading to all of her fans and all of those who are new to her legacy of literature/television/radio and more.

[Ash H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, where 'Silver Metal Lover' is a penchant cry of a love denied, almost otherworldly in it's purity, then 'Metallic Love' is a poignant, more modern, more cynical followup. A lot of sci-fi is involved here which I found distracting at times.
However, it is a fun read but the way the book begins, I think Tanith has nailed the feelings involved (for anyone) who has already read the Silver Metal Lover.....


"You're not going to like me.
I apologize for that.....
It was Jane; she was the one you liked. I liked her too.
And I--am not Jane. Not in any single way. But one.
And that one single way is perhaps the only thing you
and I have in common.
Because if we liked Jane, we loved Silver.
Didn't we."

Need I say more.

[Bert Z · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I call myself Verlis, that's silver backwards, but not quite"

This quote is the perfect way to sum up Metallic Love...it's a lot like The Silver Metal Lover, yet not quite the same, there's something missing, I'm not sure what it is but there's definitely a missing ingredient in this sequel.

I read The Silver Metal Lover and absolutely fell head over heels in love with S.I.L.V.E.R and Jane and the wacky and wonderful world they lived in, I'd never read anything like it and was just in awe of the amazing writing and imaginative plot line, not to mention the charm of the characters. With this book I found that it started out quite similar, it painted the bizarre world full of insane and eccentric characters so well however about halfway through I started to lose track of what was happening, I lost track of characters and found myself saying "where the f**k is Verlis (SILVER)? He seemed to be a lost character in this book, Tanith Lee wrote this sequel many years after The Silver Metal Lover and it shows, obviously the characters, world and plot are the same but it really lacks the be all end all romance of the first book.

I know it probably sounds like I'm being a little negative, I actually did like this book, Tanith Lee has the most amazing way of writing a sentence, it's almost poetic how she writes... One of the things I loved most about TSML was the cast of crazy and extremely eccentric characters, they seemed to have gotten even madder and more insane in this book, they made me laugh though so I really loved that about the book, I also love the beautiful cover art, it's a bit of a play on Adam & Eve I think and it suits the story quite well.

Whilst nowhere near as classic or amazing as TSML this book is a nice follow up that super fans like me will enjoy, I wanted to love it more than I did but I guess you can't win em all...

[Clare Snow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, not quite what I expected.

RTC

[Branwen Sedai *of the Brown Ajah* · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book almost as much as the first one! In a lot of the reviews I've read I have found that many readers didn't like the character of Loren, in comparison to Jane, the heroine from 'Silver Metal Lover'. Not so, in my case. I happen to like her MUCH MORE than I liked Jane. Loren is street savy and hardened to a certain extent, which I feel makes her more relatable than fluffy Jane. The romance in this story is more dark and feral, and there are lots of twists and turns that I didn't expect. I would reccomend this book to anyone who enjoyed 'Silver Metal Lover', any other of Tanith Lee's work, or just good romance stories involving robots. :)

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written and thoughtful discussions on what it means to be human or mechanical, alive or resurrected, with or without a soul. In that way, the book reminded me a lot of the movie Blade Runner. I agree with others who say one must enjoy Metallic Love as its own book and not as a sequel to The Silver Metal Lover. Characters reappear, but Metallic Love is really a story about Loren's coming of age. Loren is less sheltered and naive than Jane was at her age. She shows more initiative. If anything, I probably enjoyed this book more because more happens. It's less fairy tale romance and more science fiction thriller.

[CRO · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

My only other experience with Tanith Lee is a superb book of sci fi/ fantasy short stories based on fairy tales that she wrote back in the 80's – Red as Blood. I absolutely adore this collection and have read it many times over the years - it sits in a place of honor on my "read over and over again" shelf. My husband found this book for me in the book swap station of our local library. In the foyer, just before you go in, the library has set up these 2 carousels for paperback books. People can leave or drop off books at their discretion - it is kind of an elephant's graveyard for 15 year old best sellers that have dropped into obscurity and other kinds of genre and series fiction. Knowing how much I like Lee's book of short stories - he saw this and picked it up for me. My book initiative has been very low as of late. Because my trips to the library are always in the company of rambunctious children who whine incessantly and loudly if I linger too long in the adult section - my excursions have to be very well planned, strategic, recon missions. I know what I'm going in there for before we even get into the car to head over - most times I have had the presence of mind to put something on reserve so that it is waiting for me at the circulation desk - but my book lust has been waning in these winter months. I have lacked the focus and energy to properly research reading material for myself - as you can see by the ramblings of my review - February really is the "I can't get my shit together month b/c it's too cold and too dark and will winter ever end month." Anyhow, my lovely husband brought it home and I, thankfully, devoured it...

I think my February apathy and my love for my very thoughtful hubby is the only reason I am giving this book 3 stars instead of 2. Because this is a very silly book.

First of all this is the second in the series. The first book was Silver Metallic Lover. Ugh, what an awful title – Metallic Love is not much better. Silver Metallic Lover is told in first person by Jane. It is her journal - her account of robot love with the all perfect, better than human - God-like Silver - taking place in some slightly dreamy, slightly post apocalyptic near future. In this, the second book, it is 12 years later and Loren is the first person narrator - the lover of the robot Verlis - the rebooted/ re-incarnation of Silver. Lee so often quotes her first book (in Loren's world Jane's journal has become sort of underground memoir bestseller) that you would think she that she had written the OED or the Bible with that first book. And sometimes it seemed like she was just using passages of her first book to fill up pages - like a badly written student research paper. I really just fond this construct way too precious.

Some of the themes and treatments that Lee takes on in her short stories - love, sensuality, sexuality, the life of the soul - wow they worked well in a short story format. Somehow - when they get stretched out into a novel they just become silly - or maybe I've just read too much paranormal romance. The whole set up of the lover who is better than the heroine - more evolved, more skilled, smarter, stronger, better looking - god like in comparison to our heroine - oh how could he ever love poor pathetic, human me. Oh yuck - what is so wrong with falling in love with another lovable if slightly flawed human being. But there has always been this bent or vein of romance - hasn't there? The super special guy picks the ordinary girl who is special in hiding or somehow becomes special b/c of intimate contact with the special, special guy. I get it - humans are always looking to earn approval from parents, approval and love from God. We need proof that we are worth our existence - so - at least in fiction - we have to go after and fuck the divine - angels, vegetarian vampires with souls, god-like robots . And the worst of it is, that I didn't even find Loren and Verlis' chemistry very appealing or intense. It was a luke warm attraction, at best. Why exactly were they attracted to one another?

But of course there is always that last act reveal - the heroine discovers she has always been super special all along or the guy initiates her into his super special "super special" club - through his intervention she is granted her own special hood - she is made into a vampire or discovers that she has been a god-like robot all along and didn't even know. And oops - sorry for the spoiler but I'm pretty sure even the slowest among us would pick up on this plot twist on the first page - it is very obvious - like a truck barreling down on you going 80 miles an hour kind of obvious.

OK - but why 3 stars - gratitude - and seasonal affective disorder kind of apathy set aside - Tannith Lee can really write like a mother fucker - very, very sexy prose (sexy - sultry, sensual and intelligent writing - not sexy - porno fest sexy). And there are some other really intelligent themes going on here besides the - oh ick - Romance. There are some really nice literary tips of the hat. She has created this reverse Olympiad of Gods. Robot gods that have been created by lesser humans instead of the traditional Greek/ Roman mythology where god-like perfection has created the lesser mortals. Also, with the 2 books - and I'm really only just guessing because I haven't read the first book - Lee seems to be paying homage to and encapsulating the two very different and polarizing literary styles of Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte - the 2 super hero, women authors who would be the juxtaposing forces leading up any Justice League of female writers - like Batman and Superman. Upper class, likable, slightly snooty Jane from the first book (The Silver Metal Lover) seems to represent the Jane Austen point of view while Loren in the second book is more of a Charlotte Bronte - Jane Eyre type of character - impoverished background, can be mouthy and scrappy, orphan brought up in a dire and zealously religious group home.

This experience hasn't made me loose any of my affection for Lee's short stories - but it has made me very cautious about taking on any of her novels - and I don't think I will be looking for the first book in this series anytime soon. My recommendation is to go read Red as Blood and skip this series all together.

[Mike Nemeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

On May 24, 2015, Tanith Lee died after a long illness. NPR said she had undergone treatment for breast cancer twice. She was 67. She was also a prolific writer with about 90 novels, hundreds of short stories and film and television work. I'd seen her name on books in the fantasy section over the years but never purchased one. My plan back then was to read an entire selection by one author and move on. The obsessive behavior strikes again. So after hearing about Lee's departure from the real world, I looked her up. This blog post I read said "The Silver Metal Lover" changed the post author's life. So, since I consume most of my books electronically, I looked up her books on Amazon. I read the summaries. Bunch of horror stuff. Ugh. No Silver Metal. But there was "Metallic Love" the sequel. I like to start at the beginning. My obsession thing. Collect them all. Like I had to have all the Fantastic Four comics (still working on that.) But it appeared as if this was OK to consume without reading the original. Indeed, I was correct. Lee has a superb writing style. It's as if she's just jotting notes. Each word is succinct. Nothing is waste. Her pacing is like Bradbury or Asimov or Burroughs (either one). There's little pondering. What does happen is quite a bit of self reflection. But it's sturdy stuff. The story is about Loren, a street urchin who gets by living with a religious cult. Her mother gave her up when she was young. Loren is tough. She has to be to survive. At 12, she finds a book, the story written by Jane of her love affair with a robot, one who was more human and perfect than any other human. Loren is transfixed. She is so captivated and empowered, she leaves the cult and forges out on her own. As she grows older in this future society of haves and super-poor have nots, she still thinks of Jane and the robot Silver. She eventually tries to find out more of them. Who they were and where they are now. And then they find her. There are twists and turns. Lee is a masterful yarn spinner. I won't say what happens but I will say it's a love story. Totally unconventional.

[Carolyn F. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the first book The Silver Metal Lover yesterday and just bawled my eyes out at the end of the book. I see there's Silver on the front of Metallic Love and think, "Yeah, it's about Silver and Jane!" Well, it's Silver but not really. And Jane's in the story but she can tell this isn't really Silver. He or his inventor anagrams his name to Verlis. Now there's Loren in the story who I'm not sure I like that much. Then about 3/4 of the way through I start understanding everything that's going on and the ending is much more of a HEA. I loved how Tanitha Lee twisted everything around and left me guessing through practically the whole book. Does Verlis really love Loren or not? Is he just acting it out? Really fantastic book. I plan on reading a lot more of Ms. Lee's books.

[Velvetink · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a bit like Christmas here with my friend clearing out his bookshelves. So this is another one to add to my fantasy/scifi TBR pile.

It's the follow up to Lee's "Silver Metal Lover". I was easily lost in this sequel and enjoyed it but it was NOT Jane and Silver, but Loren and Verlis entirely different characters. Giving it 3 and half stars even though there seemed to be something missing towards the end - a trifle rushed perhaps in the conclusion.

[Jewel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fascinating read, but nowhere near as emotionally impactful as the The Silver Metal Lover. Usually Tanith Lee can develop a romance in under fifty pages and still have it be believable somehow, but the romance in this novel, while intriguing, just never got developed properly.

I loved the main character Loren, I loved the worldbuilding, and I loved Tanith Lee's subtle jokes poking fun at her beautiful but sometimes over the top purple prose. However, the main character's love story never really touched my heart, and the exploration of the themes the author presented never really went in depth enough for me. Loren was trying to deal with the loss of her humanity and trying to figure out if her love interest even had any, and it was all quickly brushed over near the end of the novel as if none of the questions the novel wanted us to ask were important enough to be answered.

I'd still recommend reading this novel, though. It's not a bad book by any means, and it's worth it just to catch a glimpse of Jane and Silver from the previous novel. The end of the The Silver Metal Lover seriously destroyed me, so the ending of Metallic Love was just hopeful enough to make me feel a bit better.

[Vilya · Rating 3 out of 5]

24 years later, the sequel to The Silver Metal Lover was released, and here I am, reading them both for the first time, 12 years after that. You could say I'm a bit behind (honestly, I did not really know of their existence - or I did, but it never occurred to me that I could actually read them), but it's been interesting to get to them now, finally, one after another.

And what a difference those 24 years made. Metallic Love is, in ways, much like its predecessor, and at the same time they couldn't be more different.

Where The Silver Metal Lover is philosophical, down to earth, following the destiny of a single girl and her robot lover, Metallic Love brings in more sci-fi and a much grander scale. The robots are more advanced, now featuring epic superpowers, and the company that makes them is more evil - the world as a whole more dangerous. And suddenly, the fate of that world is at stake, not just the future of one love-struck girl and the robot she loves.

I preferred the original book. I do have a thing for downscaled fantasy and sci-fi, where the small people matter. I feel the save-the-world cliché gets tired easily, overused. I guess I care more about the characters and their petty problems, than the fate of their world. But there's still a lot of that intimate feeling and the personality that made the previous book so interesting, don't get me wrong - it's just the philosophical aspects and deeper thoughts that have been replaced by a standard sci-fi plotline of robots vs humans.

Or maybe I just didn't read as much into this one.

[Fantasy Literature · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars from Rebecca, read the full review at FANTASY LITERATURE

Disclaimer: just so you know, some of the books we review are received free from publishers

Metallic Love (2005) is technically a sequel to The Silver Metal Lover, but (despite the same premise and a few reappearing characters) is so drastically different in tone and content that it barely counts as a continuation of Tanith Lee‘s earlier unorthodox love story between a young woman and a silver android.

That said, it is preferable if you read The Silver Metal Lover before Metallic Love, as it is a story that exists within this one: Jane’s manuscript is found by new protagonist Lr4eoren and constantly referred to over the course of her experiences. Growing up in a strict religious cult, her discovery of Jane’s Story under the floorboards changes the course of Loren’s life, inspiring her to abandon her fanatical guardians and forge her own destiny.

A few years later, her attention is caught by an advertisement from the META corporation; one announcing that they’ve re-engineered the robots that were destroyed in the previous book — including Silver. Having grown up with the story of the beautiful, silver-skinned robot with a soul, Loren is desperate to get close to him; to see if Jane’s story is true or just the work of an overactive imagination....3.5 stars from Rebecca, read the full review at FANTASY LITERATURE

[Salma · Rating 4 out of 5]

RIP Tanith Lee.

I was saddened to hear that Ms. Lee died a couple of months ago. Her prose was gorgeous and her stories in an orbit of their own. So I decided to pick up Metallic Love- the sequel to The Silver Metal Lover, which I read and reviewed a couple of years ago.

Silver is reborn twelve years after Jane's story ends, as Verlis. But he's not Silver, because he doesn't have Silver's soul. Loren has replaced this story as Jane as narrator. I found Loren more interesting than Jane. She has a no-bullshit way of talking, and she's street-smart where Jane was naive. But they have completely different backgrounds, so that's probably to be expected. Verlis, however, is not quite as likable as Silver. The loving things he says to Loren don't sound authentic, and we soon realize that Verlis even may have a murderous streak...

I have to be honest, I didn't feel emotionally as involved with this story as I did with Silver Metal Lover. BUT, I'm still glad I read it because Lee has some sentences here that bring to mind images of Irish poets and mystical lands and old gods. The story itself is actually a lot more complex than Silver Metal Lover, and I thought there were some pretty amazing plot twists. So, as far as actual writing and plot, I would say this one is the superior novel. But, I doubt that it will stay in your mind as long as the other one.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

More disturbing, and in my mind much more interesting, than the original Silver Metal Lover. Jane's book was in many ways a simple, innocent love story set in a bizarre world; this novel presents a re-visioning of that love story by examining it through the lense of a second set of circumstances, a second love, and a new narrator.

The first half was terrific, and definitely merits five stars, but the second half let me down a little. As I read the original Silver Metal Lover, I felt distanced from Jane's feelings and her choices. Although I liked her, there wasn't much for me to identify with in the character. I feel more connection with Loren for the first half of this book - in fact, she reminds me very much of someone I've been writing recently - but somehow I lost it once the setup started to pay off and events sped up. It was still a terrific read, and I'm quite satisfied with where it all ended up, but something in the delivery was not quite as good as I'd hoped from the beginning.

Well worth the read, though, and it even made me like the original book a bit more.

[Pandora Lapin · Rating 2 out of 5]

'The Silver Metal Lover' was apex of the very small teenage-girlcentric SF genre. Lee's description of Jane's world - her reality so fantastic, and her mental state so familiar - is everything her readers could have asked for. Lee's writing quality varies wildly from book to book and unfortunately 'Metallic Love' is one that comes into her 'don't bother' catergory. This wouldn't be so dissapointing if it weren't for the fact that so many readers passionately love the orginal story. Loren comes across as cold and we can never relate to her the way we related to Jane. (Lee tries to pre-empt this by telling us it will be this way but it doesn't really wash - if you can't relate to a character you won't enjoy the book.) 'Metallic Love' lacks the warmth and frailty that made TSML a classic and it simply comes across as an afterthought. Turning Jane's manipulative mother into a sort-of super-villian, for example, just seems forced. If you couldn't get enough of TSML I would suggest seeking out Lee's earlier and far superior novel 'Biting The Sun.;

[Phair · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a bit confusing and not as romantic as Silver Metal Lover. Was not overly impressed.

[Mariepazmd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think anyone who reads this book ought to read Silver Metal Lover first. The first book is a gem. I can't remember how I came about picking it up and reading it in the first place. The title Silver Metal Love is so trite--- you might just all well have slapped a big "this is a romantic novel" sticker on it-- it didn't do the book any justice and may have turned potential readers away from it. (Spoilers from here on)

Silver Metal Lover was less about romance and more about the evolution from adolescence to adulthood and what it means to love. It's a beautiful book and Silver and Jane are compelling characters, both beautiful and flawed. The theme of AI self awareness was still new new back then. Most AI themes had been more sinister in nature--- ie a computer becomes self aware and destroys everything around it as a threat. Silver instead became self aware and learns enough about himself and has enough situational awareness to sacrifice his own existence for Jane's safety. He is aware that Jane struggles as much about his "existence" as he does himself, and in more poignant parts of the book, despite his physical perfection, clearly feels his AI imperfection of not being as human as she is.

Now onto this book. I give it 5 stars for being created. Thank you Tanith, I loved that you added more to this world. This universe deserves to be expanded. I give it 5 stars for expanding on themes that I'd wondered about since reading the first book. What happens when AI is created and becomes its own species? Is it a threat? Can you make AI people "feel" with every new lot creation. Clearly in this world, the gold, silver, copper, and black alloy AI feel love, anger, loyalty, and resentment. But, unlike humans, they are born mature, including their emotions. We humans have rudimentary feelings of love and need and pain at birth and it takes years of thousands of person to person interactions and situations and struggles to makes us who we are: lovers, caregivers, deviants and murderers. With AI, does this occur only after 4-5 interactions? Do the META robots judge humanity from the perversions they witness as "hires" for companionship? Would we, as humans, born to that respond the same? Then, what about if someone grew up in an environment where humans and robots are indistinguishable physically. Could one grow up thinking "I am human" only to find out that this is completely wrong and, when opened up, found that what made "me" were gears and electronics. What an earth shattering discovery that would be. Cognito ergo sum. That discovery would result in a fractal universe and truly change the perception of soul and being. This is what this book explores for me.

I give it a 2 star rating for the development of characters. Loren evolves into a likeable character through her growth as a person, taking risks and enjoying life away from the confines of her childhood existence. Even her obsession with Jane and Silver's story has an authentic fan girl ring to it. But that personal growth ends with meeting Verlis. Her emotions regarding Verlis lack substance and depth beyond her attraction to his looks. Their relationship is disturbing in that they what they have seems based solely on the physical and less on the person underneath the skin. Verlis has few redeeming qualities. Loren as Verlis's lover has less. Most of her emotions after meeting Verlis can be summarized in a few words: awe, desire, resentment, and self loathing. I give the characters development 2 stars because I almost feel that in creating the Verlis character's name as an anagram of Silver, the author attempts to create an anti-Silver, and in parallel, Loren is an anti-Jane.

Verlis is calculating, manipulative, and domineering with his own subtle self loathing mixed in with his overwhelming arrogance based on his physical perfection. For all intents and purposes he is indistinguishable from an alpha male adolescent bully with his loyal gang members and the plain girlfriend who isn't exactly in love with him as much as she is in love with the idea of being with the hottest, strongest guy in school who resembles her pop star idol. This anti-jane and anti-silver subvert the concept of a new AI species developing the complexities of what we understand as humanity. Whereas Jane and Silver were both beautiful and flawed in both the physical and spiritual senses of the word, neither Loren or Verlis had the depth of character for us to love them on their own or as a couple. They are perpetually stuck in Plato's allegory of the cave and in the shadows of what their potential truly is. If you switched out their characters for HUMANS and drawn parallels about their romance, it brings to mind the cult classic 9 1/2 weeks. Their relationship is bewildering because you keep asking yourself---why do they think they're in love? What is that bit of soul in each that the other reaches for and yearns for? Is there something in Verlis or Loren that would make you consider giving up the self to keep the other whole. Sadly, I think the answers are no, nothing, no.

So, in reflection, this is a book I would not read again but which has provoked a lot of thought and rumination----enough to commend it with 4 stars. I hope that Tanith Lee writes a sequal and continues to develop a world where AI lives and breathes and give both Loren and Verlis a true soul that we can learn to love. Her next book title could be "I think therefore I am"

[Julie Bozza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. Well... I will have to ponder a while before I really know what to make of this follow-up novel. I loved the first novel so very much that it's hard to take a lot of this on board. The first one was beautiful... This one was harsh. Yet both are true to the world that Tanith Lee created, and perhaps ultimately they're about much the same thing.

... {ponders}

Anyway! Kudos to Lee for throwing the whole damned pack of cards up in the air and not being afraid to let them fall where they may.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delightful surprise Metallic Love turned out to be! In truth, it is quite a divergence from SML; however, a refreshing and much needed one. To follow a tragic love story with a second tragic love story would have been overkill. Instead, Lee offers us a delightful, alternative look at the robot/human love scenario.

Loren is a breath of fresh air in the wake of Jane, "the wailing woman". She is sensible, strong, independent, but vulnerable enough to admit the irrepressible pull that Verlis has on her. Verlis is Silver with a backbone. He is intelligent, savvy, and while not as romantic as his former self, is nevertheless enigmatic enough to carry the novel; the reader is captivated by Verlis when he appears on the page and spends every other in anticipation of his return.

I applaud Lee for her capture of the theme of aching, jealous love that dominated SML and carried over into Metallic Love. I also loved how she toys with the reader by reuniting Verlis with Jane. Those moments spent agonizing for Loren and hating Jane were quite profound, quite paradoxical. Yes, we all want Jane to have her Silver, but to have Verlis as well??

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Metallic Love, as much as SML if not more, due to its happier ending. I recommend it for readers who couldn't get enough of the "concept" behind the story (the perfect robotic specimen in love with a human) but not necessarily for those who just want to relive SML. If that's what you're expecting, you'll be disappointed.

[Jai · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the sequel to Silver Metal Lover, but you do not need to have read that book to enjoy this one. This is set 12 years after the first book and centers around entirely different characters - Loren and Verlis, and only lightly touches on previous characters. Tanith Lee explains things well enough that someone who hasn't read the first book understands who they are because the story of Silver and Jane is actually an underground book that Loren has read. In this book Loren is a young woman in a futuristic society who has lived on the streets most of her life. She is a tough character. She meets a robot much like Silver in the previous book named Verlis, but he is not Silver. He has greater powers and seems to be the leader of the other robots. Throughout the book it is a mystery what his agenda is and why he is so often drawn to Loren. Likewise with the company who makes the robots which also wants Jane to work for them. The reader learns as Loren does what is going on. Very intruiging. Highly recommended.

[Angel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a difficult book to review. I loved the first book, which was sweet and romantic and told from the point of view of a sensitive, sheltered girl still coming of age. I hoped the sequel would be a similar love story, but it was quite different. The characters were not likeable this time, but I cannot blame the author because this was intentional. The main character is cold and hard, and she admits from the beginning that you will not like her because she is different from Jane, the character in the first book. Neither was this a sweet love story. So despite the familiar characters and setting, it was like reading a book that had no relation to the first. Lee took everything I loved from the first book and expected to find in the second and dumped it.

Thus, I did not enjoy the book because my expectations were dashed, but if you harbor no such expectations you may enjoy it yet.

[Cari · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book: self-referential, good-paced and romantic. It is a sequel to "Silver Metal Lover". Although it has different main characters, it takes place in the same universe, explores similar themes and shares some characters with the previous one. At first, I liked the constant referring to Jane's book but after a while, I wanted everyone to get over it. I liked Verlis and the fact that his love story with Loren was different than Silver and Jane's. I have read elsewhere that people find Verlis manipulative and I really didn't see that. The way he explains things at the end makes perfect sense. I was very surprised and impressed with the way he handles the final plan. For some reason, I was expecting him to go all crazy-villain and it was pretty much the opposite. I guess that is why I love Tannith Lee: there is always something unexpected. :)

[Karky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up several of the books listed as an inspiration for an (imperfect) fanfiction I really enjoyed some number of years ago. Lee's The Silver Metal Lover was included on that list, and I enjoyed it enough to give the sequel here a try. Loren is nothing like Jane was, and she goes out of her way to make that clear. What I liked about this book was that Loren was so skeptical and distrusting, so the ending was unsatisfying because it didn't truly address her concerns. There was one bright moment of Loren breaking free to do her own thing, and the rest of the book is about stuff happening to her and being resigned to her fate.

[Rin Hoshigumo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A worthy sequel to The Silver Metal Lover. I can tell from this that Terminator 2 made an impression on Lee. The heroine is very different from the privileged, controlled Jane, and there are twists that I never saw coming, but in light of which earlier anomalies are explained.

[Bronwyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was lovely re-visiting the characters from The Silver Metal Lover, but this just didn't carry the same magic as the original.