http://fantasycafe.blogspot.com/2009/... ( )

I was seriously disappointed in this book and Tanith Lee, despite the fact that this is one of her earlier efforts. Had I read it when published, I would not be reading her works today. The story is banal--rich (emphasized often!) teenaged girl under mother's thumb with small circle of friends, some of whom are not friendly, sees a sophisticated robot and falls in love. When robot is threatened with destruction, she wheedles true friend into buying it, and robot and girl run away to become street musicians. They are found out and girl must go on, knowing she had her true love.

The heroine weeps copiously, at every opportunity (it's her main character flaw in the story). She also whines incessently, which, while typical of a 16YO, is also very annoying. The robot is handsome, true, faithful, has a great sense of humor, and is doomed. True friends are true friends.

This is a book for fans. ( )

One of my favorite books ever--the perfect combination of science fiction, masterful writing, and romance. It's too bad Tanith Lee penned a sequel to this, as this is one book that should have been left alone. In fact, I would recommend you not read the sequel, as it rather spoils the effect of this book. ( )

Perhaps there are others like me, who missed reading this lovely classic, first published a quarter century ago. Then this review is for them.

The heroine, sixteen-year-old Jane, comes of age in the book, so I suppose it would be classified as a teen or young adult novel in the Science Fiction genre. It is also a funny and moving romance, a commentary on what it means to be human, and a satire on political expediency.

In some future world, where the rich have escaped to mansions in the clouds, and the poor live like New York City poor in the depression years, two unlikely people find love and fulfillment in the slums. Although the plot is about love between a girl and a robot, the novel is not erotic. The crux of the novel is about a young woman asserting her identity. Tanith Lee uses a light but deft touch to show Jane's overbearing mother, and Jane's shallow friends. Lee creates a convincing world, one where Jane's choices make so much sense, that they seem normal and not bizarre at all.

I read the novel a month ago, but Lee's poetic descriptions are vivid to me now as I write this. Lee understands how to build empathy for her characters and tension in her scenes. She keeps her part of the writer-reader bargain: she delivers the magnificent climax, the fulfilling ending.

Tanith Lee is a prolific writer, and this book, although one of her earliest, is still a favorite among her fans. It reads like a dream, one that I didn't want to end. Don't miss it.

(My original review was first published at Forward Motion and on my blog, Pandababy.) ( )

This story takes place on a reconstructed Earth of the future, following the devastations of a meteor hit. People are either ridiculously rich or unemployed impoverished fringe folk who have been displaced by a multitude of robotic workers. I'm not sure how the rich got richer but this is a sort of not too brave new world where babies selected by type are created in test tubes and delivered from artificial wombs to parents kept eternally young by Rejuvinex. Police keep everyone who's rich safe from everyone who's poor by monitoring them electronically. Kind of like the jail bracelet concept in reverse. The 16 year old protagonist, Jane, is a totally sheltered, spoiled rich girl whose growth is stunted by living in the shadow of her rich, arrogant and self-absorbed globe-trotting mother. Their relationship is more like that of French Poodle owner and pup than it is like mother and daughter. Jane's friends, aren't really friends at all since they are also self-absorbed, spoiled, jaded rich kids who use each other as backdrops to their dramas. One of the things I detested the most about this book is the long pages of descriptions about Jane's friends and their vapid, perverse lifestyles. In a word, BORING. The plot is good though it's been done before a gazillion times with the likes of Star Trek's Data and in D.A.R.Y.L. and in Robin Williams' portryal of Milennium Man and many other AI contributions to the sci-fi literary grab-bag. Jane meets this sophisticated robot model that is capable of pretty much any kind of work including the arts and love-making. He looks and feels like a human except for the faint silver tinge to his skin. No problem, lots of human in this world like to paint their skin silver, too. No one can really tell that he's a robot. Jane falls in love with him and has to give up every bit of her rich girl world if she wants to be with him. They discover and uncover each other's humanity but it ends bad for Robo-honey. Never fear, the trite ending is a surprise. Why wasn't I surprised? Jane is 16 years old and maybe this book will appeal to YA readers because it delves into the areas of first love, and finding one's self, personal discovery, loss and independence and all that jazz in a way that is at least, imaginative. I didn't enjoy it. I thought the talented Tanith Lee dropped the ball here with characters, dialogue, credibility...pretty much everything. It should be disassembled like an annoying robot. ( )