Robot Love

[trinityofone]

'Cause I've clearly not been making the best reading material decisions lately, two book-related questions for y'all:

1. Do you know of any books that feature human-robot/android/cyborg/whatever romances? The only thing I can think of is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? but I know there must be others. Robot/robot love would also be interesting, I think.

2. Stealing an idea from siegeofangels, rec me a book or books that starts with the same letter as your username. No serial killers, plz. Or, okay, no serial killer books unless they're really good. I'll rec one back, too, if you like. :)

Comments

[serialkarma.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I second the He, She, and It rec. It's definitely worth checking out. The only other one I can think of is The Naked Sun, by Asimov, although that relationship is portrayed as seriously problematic in the story for a number of reasons and isn't the main point of the novel.

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

Ha, I have that, too. I've read The Caves of Steel and thought Baley and Olivaw were so slashy, though I assume that's not the relationship you're talking about in Sun.

[serialkarma.livejournal.com]

Ha, no, sadly. Two secondary characters. Although I think one of them does get the hots for Daneel. Much to Bailey's *deep, deep discomfort*.

Also, a rec that starts with the same letter as my username: Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson, which you may have read already. In which case I'd recommend Spook Country by William Gibson, who these days is writing contemporary lit that *feels* like sci-fi. I'm kind of fascinated with how he does this.

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

I haven't read any Stephenson or Gibson. *fails* I'm a bit intimidated by cyberpunk. I should try to get over that, I think. ;-)

[serialkarma.livejournal.com]

Gibson IS intimidating! It took me three reads to really *get* Neuromancer. But Snow Crash is much more accessible, and really fun, and has a great female protagonist. And a male protagonist whose name is, in fact, Hiro Protagonist. You might enjoy The Diamond Age, as well.

[wychwood]

I agree, they can be scary - but Gibson's more recent books aren't so bad (you may remember my mad love for Pattern Recognition, and Spook County wasn't bad). They're basically mainstream, not too cyberpunky. And as serialkarma says, Snow Crash is really not that intimidating, either; it's definitely worth reading.

[cincodemaygirl.livejournal.com]

Snow Crash is the only one I've made it through, and it was no hardship. I love it more every time I reread it.

I keep starting The Diamond Age over again, and I get a few more chapters in each time, but I'm not even gonna try Cryptonomicon. That thing is huge.

William Gibson is good times but not very clearly written; I'd recommend Neuromancer and then see if you feel like reading any more. I can't speak to any of his recent stuff, though, as I stopped with Mona Lisa Overdrive.