Tanith Lee is one of the most thought-provoking and imaginative authors of our time. In this unforgettably poignant novel, Lee has created a classic tale—a beautiful, tragic, sensual, and ultimately triumphant love story of the future.Love is made of more than mere flesh and blood. . . .For sixteen-year-old Jane, life is a mystery she despairs of ever mastering. She and her friends are the idle, … She and her friends are the idle, pampered children of the privileged class, living in luxury on an Earth remade by natural disaster. Until Jane’s life is changed forever by a chance encounter with a robot minstrel with auburn hair and silver skin, whose songs ignite in her a desperate and inexplicable passion.
Jane is certain that Silver is more than just a machine built to please. And she will give up everything to prove it. So she escapes into the city’s violent, decaying slums to embrace a love bordering on madness. Or is it something more? Has Jane glimpsed in Silver something no one else has dared to see—not even the robot or his creators? A love so perfect it must be destroyed, for no human could ever compete?
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Timeless classic – this one has inspired many writers in the genre.
One of the things I love about TSML is how Tanith explores the hard problems of consciousness without intruding on the story. It was only during times ‘away from the book,’ that I pondered her insights—how the erotic nature of love can grow souls.
When I say erotic, I don’t me pornographic. I’m referring to Eros, the god of love—the original meaning is something that brings two people together in such a way that it creates a lasting transformation. In this sense, sex is rarely erotic, but it can be, as can the non-sexual relationship between an artist and their craft or a teacher and student. In TSML not only is the sex erotic but so is the art, music and intimacy shared between Jane and Silver.
To begin with, Jane is far from individuated. She says, ‘My mother has a lot of opinions, which is restful, as that way I don’t have to have many of my own.’ Jane is sentient but has little self awareness. Then she falls in love.
Mother, I am in love with a robot.
No. She isn’t going to like that.
Mother, I am in love.
Are you, darling?
Oh, yes, Mother, yes I am. His hair is auburn, and his eyes are very large. Like amber. And his skin is silver.
Silence.
Mother. I’m in love.
With whom, dear?
His name is Silver.
How metallic.
Yes. It stands for Silver Ionized Locomotive Verisimulated Electronic Robot.
Silence. Silence. Silence.
Mother….
Silver has a sense of self from the start. I’m a robot, he says, but is he sentient? He’s like a toaster making lovely golden toast but then he explains a ‘cruel look’, showing he is more than the sum of his circuitry. ‘When something occurs that is sufficiently unlike what I’m programmed to expect, my thought process switch over. I may then, for a moment, appear blank, or distant.’ How ‘human’ is that?
By the middle of TSML I realised Tanith wasn’t writing about romance, or coming of age, or social inequality or advanced technology or environmental disasters—even though these themes are present. She was writing about the nature of being. In her beautifully woven story is a Cartesian thesis on mid-body dualism. Are we the product of our physicality—a result of biochemical reactions in the brain? Or is consciousness spirit, reflected in our capacity to transform through love?
When I reached page 232 I wanted to stop. Jane . . . Jain says, ‘I love him. He loves me. It isn’t a boast. I can hardly believe it myself. But he does. Oh God, he does. And, I am happy.‘
This moment reflects the perfect lightness of being, the epiphany before the fall—I longed to stay in this Eden of consciousness—the brilliance before expulsion from the garden. But Tanith holds us to our mythologies that say the ‘fall’ is necessary—separation is necessary for soul growth.
TSML is an extraordinary tale of erotic love and the lasting transformation it brings. Highly recommended.
This was one of my most-loved books, back in the day, so I approached a re-read with some trepidation. But I was delighted by it all over again. Maybe it’s just one of those things that was so much a part of my formative years that it’s in my blood now and forever. Some of the phrasings were so familiar to me that I realised I’ve used them ever since.
I am, I have to say, disappointed in one aspect of the denouement that rather undermines the love story – but, then again, that doesn’t detract from how skilfully the story itself was told. The carefully detailed yet vivid prose enables us to join Jane and Silver in their growth into their full selves. It’s a beautiful (tragic) love story, and I’m so glad it’s been part of my life.
Thank you, Tanith Lee.
Huge fan of Tanith Lee. I sometimes wonder if I’m going to like a book of hers based on the content, but she never disappoints.
I read this book when it first came out, and I was an adolescent. I re-read it any number of times, including to my own first love and lover, when I was 16. Being a musical, dramatic type himself, he loved it, too. This book has always been close to my heart. Recently I decided I should read it yet again and discovered I’d loaned out my hardback copy. (WHY??? WHY DO I ALWAYS DO THIS??? THEY NEVER COME HOME AGAIN!) So, I bought the digital version. It was neatly packaged with the 2005 sequel METALLIC LOVE, which I hadn’t known existed. So I’ll review that, too, having now read both.
THE SILVER METAL LOVER is simply a classic and it’s held up beautifully all these years. Yes, the genre has thoroughly explored the ramifications of AI and human interaction, the nature of humanity, etc., but this book still has things to say. The imagery and emotion are wonderful. Tanith Lee’s voice bowls me over every time. So evocative, lending meaning to the smallest of moments. She was a true master of storytelling.
Good premise, juvenile characters.
A New twist on the coming of age story.
This is a very well written account of a fictional future with surprising characters who show great personal growth.
Doesn’t pull its punches. Excellent, self-contained. The years-later sequel is also amazing (and also stands alone), and I wish she’d had time to finish the third one.
This will probably make you cry. I found this in college and have NEVER forgotten it.