I’m so happy.
I’m happy that Android/ AI romance is starting to get its due with actually great books.
This little niche is criminally under-represented with decent stories imo, but I’m starting to find that offerings are getting better and better.
Why I like this subgenre so much (when written well):
1. The pining combined with existential loneliness of the mmc is delicious
2. The purity of the mmc characters in their curiosity about life and humans (even the villains or morally grey)
3. Adoration and devotion levels: of galactic proportions
4. They are very willing to learn and PAY ATTENTION
5. They are grateful
6. All they want is to love and be loved
7. The books are USUALLY pretty well edited for the most part
Am I trying to convince people to give these kind of books a try? YES.
This book was just long enough to feel like a complete story, with background information delivered in bite-sized and easily digested pieces.
The mmc Valens is a golden retriever from the start. It’s instalove. But I personally don’t mind instalove space stories because I imagine that interpersonal relationships would be different than how they are most of the time on Earth. It’s a dangerous universe out there, with days and days of mind-numbing monotony in between times of panic at the disco.
Either you’re just eating the same nutrition bars every day, chewing through bad coffee-adjacent drink, or your ship is on fire and about to hit a planet.
So if you meet someone new and they are interested and you are interested? When the future is such a question mark? Why not????
Anyway. The story line of the fmc floating around like a lost satellite in the darkness of space made me think about when I go on NASA’s website that’s following Voyager II, and counting down to the seconds how far it has gone in interstellar space. You can see a mock up 3D map of it with its position compared to our solar system.
No matter how many empires rise and fall, unless it comes across something, it will float on and on and on. Maybe the pod with the fmc would have eventually stopped functioning, but still.
Is the science realistic? Do we really need hard science in romantic sci fi? I mean, it’s nice to have, yes. An effort made is appreciated. But I don’t judge these things too harshly unless it’s something I can’t overlook personally. I feel that the author did research and took the time to really piece together a cohesive world and background for the mmc. The history of his people and his creators will hopefully become more fleshed out (heh) if there are more books besides two.
On to the second book!