It is a coming of age story but there is no real challenges we see cause this coming of age in the main character. From my point of view the characters are good but the plot never seems to test or challenge the characters. My fault for not reading a more thorough summary before buying the book. I am a middle age male and it was clearly written for a female young adult. I am not the writer's audience for this novel. In defense of the author I think that is as much my fault as the author's. You love some, hate others, and indifferent to a few more as a good novel should have. Not much of a plot, not what I expected or hope.įirst the good, the writing itself is good and the characters are interesting. The narration is quite good with decent character distinction. While the main emphasis is on love and empathy arising to-wards and within artificial intelligence, the lack of detail in societal structure (which seemed culturally stuck in the 19th century) marred what is overall a satisfying tale. The protagonist rejects both and, in the process, manages to actually grow up. Elite live a sheltered, hedonistic life or else focus exclusively on power and influence. Lee envisions a future society further splitting into distinct have and have nots. Societal backlash due to fear of robots taking away human jobs forces them on the run, but societal imperatives win out. Her robot lover’s skillset involves music, and they get by busking.

The daughter of a rich and powerful elite becomes fascinated with this development and eventually obsessed to the point of giving up her wealthy lifestyle to be with her robot ‘lover’ and live a more bohemian lifestyle. Tanith Lee’s The Silver Metal Lover is a world set in the not too distant future where ‘robots’ along with a degree of artificial intelligence make possible robots that appear as humans wearing metallic body paint.

The silver metal lover