drcpunk: (Default)
([personal profile] drcpunk Sep. 8th, 2005 12:53 am)
I'm reading Metallic Love, the sequel to Tanith Lee's Silver Metal Lover. I'm about 2/3 of the way through the book.

Sequels are tricky things, and it's rare that one finds a sequel that succeeds in not rehashing the original or contradiction what has been established in some way. It's especially true when the sequel is written years after the original. But, this one goes in a completely different direction, avoiding repetition, playing the original off itself in ways that make sense, and not, so far, at least, violating the spirit of the earlier work or what had been established in it.

There's some interesting gender stuff going on here, especially when one compares the novel with works that have a vaguely similar plot. Now, I've never seen the movie I, Robot, but, if the trailer was an accurate enough representation of the plot, then one strand of Lee's work could be seen as a female version of that plot. I do not think that this was something she planned, although I could, of course, be wrong. Either way, it's interesting. And, I like Metallic Love more than I've liked a lot of Lee's recent works.

Joy Chant never wrote a sequel per se to Red Moon and Black Mountain. She did write two books set in the secondary world of the novel, both quite different from Red Moon and from each other. She's written far too little, and seems to be one of the rare few who only write when they have something new to say.
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