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Chrome
Enter the world of Chrome, where nothing is as it seems. In the 22nd century, a forbidden love between a man and a machine spins the Earth toward one final war.
375 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
September 11, 2014
Half of this book is a very sweet and very erotic love story between two men that delighted me. I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned yet that a little more than halfway through, this book becomes the most misogynistic, fascist piece of science fiction I've ever read.
I have no real problems with the book's first half, which deftly uses the metaphor of the forbidden relations between a human and an android to leave its characters free of guilt about the eroticism of male bodies. At its best, it dwells more on the effortless joy and beauty of two people coming to desire each other, and it does it well, with a mild science fiction background and some slight romance-novel cheesiness. Nader's writing is fairly fanciful in tone, perhaps a touch overwrought at times, but this is a book about strong emotions and powerful men, so it seems fair. It's truly erotic at times, often lighthearted but never vapid, and has a delightful touch of the surreal to it- you feel that the Cabin and Chrome and Vortex's relationship is so dreamlike, it's bound to end.
And end it does, in the worst possible way. I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned yet that a little more than halfway through, this book becomes the most misogynistic, fascist piece of science fiction I've ever read short of Spinrad's masterful satire "The Iron Dream", and this book isn't satirical. My enjoyment of this book turned to disgust within the space of a single page when the curtain was pulled up on the love story of Chrome and Vortex, and Nader gave vent to a bit of exposition worthy of a Tom Metzger: The tyrannical society that rules the Earth came about through government-enforced equality. In particular, women's equality, and this led to the lowering of standards and improper uncontrolled breeding, creating a "Garbage World" of degenerates. Rond H'Lokk talks about how S.O.R.A.'s encouragement of women to struggle for the place of men leads only the "lower brain levels" to mate. "First came the S.O.R.A.'s lowering of all standards, its insistence that all were equal in everything. Next, it's vast propaganda campaign urging indiscriminate mating..."
The S.O.R.A. is, of course, a technocratic bureaucracy seemingly staffed mostly by spiritually-hideous females bent on destroying the bond between pure, noble, chiseled, bronzed men. All that's lacking is an explicit shot at miscegenation, but even that is implied by Jamison's talk of "indiscriminate mating".
Lucky for the suffering citizens of planet ZOG, the "avenging angels" are here to stand between them and all-powerful future-commies. The Warriors are like a Nazi brotherhood of truth-speaking swordwielding beefcakes, their society seems to be sort of like an Evolan "neo-traditionalist" brotherhood or a Germanic sworn warrior guard. This sort of misogynistic "warrior brothers" ethos is something that echoes through the fascist worldview as well as the underworld of the old-school gay imagination: finally, a world without women, where petty female minds can be swept aside so that men can get to the business of GLORY.
With his conservative-paranoid setting architecture fully in view, I found the rest of Nader's book really quite impossible to enjoy. Perhaps it's just me, since I have strong political opposition to it, but I found the rest of the book to be flat, dull, and totally tiresome.
Really disappointing. The book gets two stars only for its beautiful first half.
I have no real problems with the book's first half, which deftly uses the metaphor of the forbidden relations between a human and an android to leave its characters free of guilt about the eroticism of male bodies. At its best, it dwells more on the effortless joy and beauty of two people coming to desire each other, and it does it well, with a mild science fiction background and some slight romance-novel cheesiness. Nader's writing is fairly fanciful in tone, perhaps a touch overwrought at times, but this is a book about strong emotions and powerful men, so it seems fair. It's truly erotic at times, often lighthearted but never vapid, and has a delightful touch of the surreal to it- you feel that the Cabin and Chrome and Vortex's relationship is so dreamlike, it's bound to end.
And end it does, in the worst possible way. I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned yet that a little more than halfway through, this book becomes the most misogynistic, fascist piece of science fiction I've ever read short of Spinrad's masterful satire "The Iron Dream", and this book isn't satirical. My enjoyment of this book turned to disgust within the space of a single page when the curtain was pulled up on the love story of Chrome and Vortex, and Nader gave vent to a bit of exposition worthy of a Tom Metzger: The tyrannical society that rules the Earth came about through government-enforced equality. In particular, women's equality, and this led to the lowering of standards and improper uncontrolled breeding, creating a "Garbage World" of degenerates. Rond H'Lokk talks about how S.O.R.A.'s encouragement of women to struggle for the place of men leads only the "lower brain levels" to mate. "First came the S.O.R.A.'s lowering of all standards, its insistence that all were equal in everything. Next, it's vast propaganda campaign urging indiscriminate mating..."
The S.O.R.A. is, of course, a technocratic bureaucracy seemingly staffed mostly by spiritually-hideous females bent on destroying the bond between pure, noble, chiseled, bronzed men. All that's lacking is an explicit shot at miscegenation, but even that is implied by Jamison's talk of "indiscriminate mating".
Lucky for the suffering citizens of planet ZOG, the "avenging angels" are here to stand between them and all-powerful future-commies. The Warriors are like a Nazi brotherhood of truth-speaking swordwielding beefcakes, their society seems to be sort of like an Evolan "neo-traditionalist" brotherhood or a Germanic sworn warrior guard. This sort of misogynistic "warrior brothers" ethos is something that echoes through the fascist worldview as well as the underworld of the old-school gay imagination: finally, a world without women, where petty female minds can be swept aside so that men can get to the business of GLORY.
With his conservative-paranoid setting architecture fully in view, I found the rest of Nader's book really quite impossible to enjoy. Perhaps it's just me, since I have strong political opposition to it, but I found the rest of the book to be flat, dull, and totally tiresome.
Really disappointing. The book gets two stars only for its beautiful first half.
February 18, 2011
M/M before such a thing even existed! I remember this with great fondness from my teen years.
A sweet gay Sci-fi romance that got itself into print at the most unlikely time. Tightly plotted and frankly erotic, this book by fallen star Nader was a bold, me-generation exploration of manloving, android-style. For once gay romantic fiction without tragic closet-cases or public shame. By situating this story in an imagined future, Nader manages to absolve his characters of lingering guilt about their desire for other impossibly hunky men in their vicinity, although he leave plenty of room for other angsty goodness.
Terrific characters and an honest-to-god action-suspense plot wrapped around the doomed romance of man and mandroid. Dig it!
A sweet gay Sci-fi romance that got itself into print at the most unlikely time. Tightly plotted and frankly erotic, this book by fallen star Nader was a bold, me-generation exploration of manloving, android-style. For once gay romantic fiction without tragic closet-cases or public shame. By situating this story in an imagined future, Nader manages to absolve his characters of lingering guilt about their desire for other impossibly hunky men in their vicinity, although he leave plenty of room for other angsty goodness.
Terrific characters and an honest-to-god action-suspense plot wrapped around the doomed romance of man and mandroid. Dig it!
たぶん読まないだろう
August 11, 2022giving my dear friend Rebecca full credit for sharing this treasure with me:
the fact that this isn't the actual cover, however, is one of the world's greatest travesties 😔
*credits to vintage covers publications for this parody cover: https://vintage-covers.com/post/17844...
the fact that this isn't the actual cover, however, is one of the world's greatest travesties 😔
*credits to vintage covers publications for this parody cover: https://vintage-covers.com/post/17844...
December 24, 2020
Did I buy it because of the dildo hands meme? Yes. Do i regret reading it? Yes.
Read
May 14, 2018DO NOT READ THIS BOOK!
Or do, go ahead, but if you want to get incredibly invested in a beautifully detailed budding romance just to get hit over the head with nazi propaganda halfway through, knock yourself out. Maybe nazis don't bother you.
The first half of this book is a very sweet and very sexy gay love story that follows the weirdly irresistible hurt/comfort format. It is well written, the world building is satisfying, and I got very involved in the two characters, so much so that I found myself anxious to get home from work and continue their stories. WELL, LEMME TELL YA, THIS TAKES A DARK TURN.
After enough book has passed that the first half could have served as a nice stand-alone novella, it's revealed that the narrator's love interest is essentially a space Hitler come to save Earth, a "garbage planet" , from the evil and idiocy of women (utterly useless!) and careless breeding with the wrong people (it's not explicitly stated, but it is very obvious that Nader is talking about mixed race couples). There is so much barely coded proselytizing about racial purity, which should have been less shocking, considering the robots in this book aren't actually mechanical men but biologically engineered super-men. However, these super-men are ostracized and some hunted and killed; in fact, the first half of the book concerns the taboo of loving a "robot," so Chrome at first read as a compassionate examination of the marginalized, but NOPE, apparently that compassion only extends to white gay men. I had hoped that Chrome, the titular narrator and Space Hitler's beloved, would convince him and his hottie space youth followers the folly of their ways, but again, no. I confess I couldn't finish reading this, but 3/4 of Chrome behind me and another goodreads reviewer convinced me that Nader means business. Yes, "robots" were made loveless pariahs, but Chrome, a shining and especially advanced example, gets the eugenics ball rolling again.
And I really want to emphasize that I am aware that gay people can be evil hatemongers, too. I mean, we have Milo Yiannopoulous and, lamentably, Douglas P. (of the band Death in June), as glaring examples of homo nazis! However, it is very easy to look at these people as cartoonish, albeit evil, villains, incapable of love and compassion (for the right people). Would it were true! The first half of this book is beautifully human, and that's why I felt so violated by the second half. Whether we like it or not, nazis are people, too, and along with their disgusting worldview comes the capacity to love and feel. Problematic thinking is far more insidious in literature than in film or tv-reading puts the material straight into your brain. You can't look away, you can't leave the room. You develop a relationship with the author, whether or not you are conscious of this. I was very disturbed to have shared a brain space with George Nader after his worldview made itself abundantly clear. In fact, I was disgusted to be in the same apartment as the physical copy of Chrome, and if it wasn't a friend's copy I had been borrowing, I would have thrown it in the recycling bin.
Anyway, save yourself the heartache and don't bother with this, unless you hate women and people of color. I can read and watch sci-fi of another era that is problematic, but holy moly, mild misogyny, racial stereotypes, and casual homophobia are not the same thing as a document that espouses eugenics, the suppression of women, and the maintenance of racial "purity."
Or do, go ahead, but if you want to get incredibly invested in a beautifully detailed budding romance just to get hit over the head with nazi propaganda halfway through, knock yourself out. Maybe nazis don't bother you.
The first half of this book is a very sweet and very sexy gay love story that follows the weirdly irresistible hurt/comfort format. It is well written, the world building is satisfying, and I got very involved in the two characters, so much so that I found myself anxious to get home from work and continue their stories. WELL, LEMME TELL YA, THIS TAKES A DARK TURN.
After enough book has passed that the first half could have served as a nice stand-alone novella, it's revealed that the narrator's love interest is essentially a space Hitler come to save Earth, a "garbage planet" , from the evil and idiocy of women (utterly useless!) and careless breeding with the wrong people (it's not explicitly stated, but it is very obvious that Nader is talking about mixed race couples). There is so much barely coded proselytizing about racial purity, which should have been less shocking, considering the robots in this book aren't actually mechanical men but biologically engineered super-men. However, these super-men are ostracized and some hunted and killed; in fact, the first half of the book concerns the taboo of loving a "robot," so Chrome at first read as a compassionate examination of the marginalized, but NOPE, apparently that compassion only extends to white gay men. I had hoped that Chrome, the titular narrator and Space Hitler's beloved, would convince him and his hottie space youth followers the folly of their ways, but again, no. I confess I couldn't finish reading this, but 3/4 of Chrome behind me and another goodreads reviewer convinced me that Nader means business. Yes, "robots" were made loveless pariahs, but Chrome, a shining and especially advanced example, gets the eugenics ball rolling again.
And I really want to emphasize that I am aware that gay people can be evil hatemongers, too. I mean, we have Milo Yiannopoulous and, lamentably, Douglas P. (of the band Death in June), as glaring examples of homo nazis! However, it is very easy to look at these people as cartoonish, albeit evil, villains, incapable of love and compassion (for the right people). Would it were true! The first half of this book is beautifully human, and that's why I felt so violated by the second half. Whether we like it or not, nazis are people, too, and along with their disgusting worldview comes the capacity to love and feel. Problematic thinking is far more insidious in literature than in film or tv-reading puts the material straight into your brain. You can't look away, you can't leave the room. You develop a relationship with the author, whether or not you are conscious of this. I was very disturbed to have shared a brain space with George Nader after his worldview made itself abundantly clear. In fact, I was disgusted to be in the same apartment as the physical copy of Chrome, and if it wasn't a friend's copy I had been borrowing, I would have thrown it in the recycling bin.
Anyway, save yourself the heartache and don't bother with this, unless you hate women and people of color. I can read and watch sci-fi of another era that is problematic, but holy moly, mild misogyny, racial stereotypes, and casual homophobia are not the same thing as a document that espouses eugenics, the suppression of women, and the maintenance of racial "purity."
July 9, 2016
The 1st gay SF novel I read in 1978. It's about a human who falls in love with a robot (android actually) . The book is packed away somewhere and I only have a few fond images. Unfortunately the sequel was never published.
"First novel by the late beefcake actor George Nader, a close friend of Rock Hudson. One of the few gay science fiction novels. "George Nader's interesting Chrome (Putnam, 1978) is a full bore gay love story, a passionate, sexual romance between strongly written men. . The treatment of the sexual taboos held against Robots and their social exile suggest Nader is employing a metaphor about the place of gay men in society, and this is no doubt part of what is going on in the book"
"First novel by the late beefcake actor George Nader, a close friend of Rock Hudson. One of the few gay science fiction novels. "George Nader's interesting Chrome (Putnam, 1978) is a full bore gay love story, a passionate, sexual romance between strongly written men. . The treatment of the sexual taboos held against Robots and their social exile suggest Nader is employing a metaphor about the place of gay men in society, and this is no doubt part of what is going on in the book"
December 11, 2020
Gay Robot Nazis. Gay robot nazis fall in love, do misogyny, eugenics, and white supremacy, then they go to space and have really basic sex.
Look, I came for the cover, obviously, but once I realized that A. Dildo Hands was just for show, and B. this is some classic old school nazi sci-fi a la Heinlein and Lovecraft (but without the speculative innovation)... I forced myself to finish it anyway.
I did this for you, literally just so I could write this review in good conscience and spare you from reading this book.
Don't do it.
It's not worth it. Just print out the cover.
I could go into detail about the deep, deep hatred of women, use of racial slurs, discussion of "genetic hash" brought about by "indiscriminate mating", the underlying desperate wish for heterosexuality, the complete and utter lack of plot, and the atrocious off-purple prose, but honestly, we came here for Dildo Hands and there were none. That should be enough to warn everyone off these gay robot nazis and their boring-ass sex (there is no ass-sex, boring or otherwise).
So yeah, you're welcome. Do not read this book.
Look, I came for the cover, obviously, but once I realized that A. Dildo Hands was just for show, and B. this is some classic old school nazi sci-fi a la Heinlein and Lovecraft (but without the speculative innovation)... I forced myself to finish it anyway.
I did this for you, literally just so I could write this review in good conscience and spare you from reading this book.
Don't do it.
It's not worth it. Just print out the cover.
I could go into detail about the deep, deep hatred of women, use of racial slurs, discussion of "genetic hash" brought about by "indiscriminate mating", the underlying desperate wish for heterosexuality, the complete and utter lack of plot, and the atrocious off-purple prose, but honestly, we came here for Dildo Hands and there were none. That should be enough to warn everyone off these gay robot nazis and their boring-ass sex (there is no ass-sex, boring or otherwise).
So yeah, you're welcome. Do not read this book.
September 10, 2014
*sigh*
I really wanted to like this book. And for reals, the first like 160 pages were interesting, fairly compelling, slightly erotic without being lascivious, and good-spirited.
But then in Part II: Limbo, things went from dumb to dumber. Throw in so many useless unbelievable characters, and subplots, and everyone has like magic powers or whatever, and I totally lose interest. Then, in Part III: The Suckening, the book went from dumber to actually insulting. Everyone has the hots for Chrome, even those "not for men"? Robots are just test-tube babies? Chrome's character is now a total *ss-hat? Plus the sex scenes were way more tawdry and stupid.
*sigh*
The middle & end of the book read like they're written by a different author, and i really didn't like it.
--later--
Oh yeah! I forgot how sexist it was in the middle section! Society was brought down by the ERA? *gawd*
I really wanted to like this book. And for reals, the first like 160 pages were interesting, fairly compelling, slightly erotic without being lascivious, and good-spirited.
But then in Part II: Limbo, things went from dumb to dumber. Throw in so many useless unbelievable characters, and subplots, and everyone has like magic powers or whatever, and I totally lose interest. Then, in Part III: The Suckening, the book went from dumber to actually insulting. Everyone has the hots for Chrome, even those "not for men"? Robots are just test-tube babies? Chrome's character is now a total *ss-hat? Plus the sex scenes were way more tawdry and stupid.
*sigh*
The middle & end of the book read like they're written by a different author, and i really didn't like it.
--later--
Oh yeah! I forgot how sexist it was in the middle section! Society was brought down by the ERA? *gawd*
not-going-there
March 26, 2015Can I just say, this is the most amazing book cover I've ever seen.
December 23, 2021
Two stars because the first half is quite enjoyable, but the whole book is fucking ridiculous. Seriously.
May 22, 2017
Rating 2.5* of five
I rounded up because the book was groundbreaking in its time, but it wasn't particularly good at being SF.
I rounded up because the book was groundbreaking in its time, but it wasn't particularly good at being SF.
June 9, 2016
I wanted to look passed the cover given I'd seen it as part of a post on tumblr making fun of the oddly shaped arms on the robot. SO I purchased a copy and was highly disappointed. I could only make it about half way because the writing was clunky, non engaging, boring to be frank. The world is not clearly defined where it needs to be, the chemistry between the characters feels lackluster at best, and if there were meant to be parts later on to clarify the basic functioning of the world...well too little too late. The style alone is overly descriptive to the point of juvenile efforts to impress rather than tell the story. The eroticism is barely there, the first chunk of the book has Chrome giving countless messages in an effort to paint things in a temptation and ultimate lust, yet it is repetitious and how, may I ask, by giving messages, is Chrome going to help his government run country?
They try to say that SORA (the government in this world that shaped up after cataclysmic Earthy wars and supposedly runs things with an iron fist) is evil with subtly and then more clearly with the death penalty for those who love a robot, yet you see very, very little in the first 1/2 that would even SUGGEST that Chrome, or any other citizen, is being oppressed outside of not being able to love a robot, which most citizens don't even want to do because they are afraid of them.
One of the erotic scenes has our main character EXPLICITLY say no that he does not want oral sex and when he bites his captor, he is hit in the face and asked why he did that, and told because he is aroused he 'must' want it. And after, Chrome (the main character) agrees that he 'must've' wanted it because he was aroused and it felt good so he's sorry for biting the other. I get it, fantasy, even dark fantasy, has a place naturally, but that ^ paints unwanted sexual contact as something that can be overcome with forcing the other into submission and admitting they want it as "romantic" or at the least "friendly". Amazed no one has mentioned this scene.
In any case, I suggest skipping this book. It is messy to say the least.
They try to say that SORA (the government in this world that shaped up after cataclysmic Earthy wars and supposedly runs things with an iron fist) is evil with subtly and then more clearly with the death penalty for those who love a robot, yet you see very, very little in the first 1/2 that would even SUGGEST that Chrome, or any other citizen, is being oppressed outside of not being able to love a robot, which most citizens don't even want to do because they are afraid of them.
One of the erotic scenes has our main character EXPLICITLY say no that he does not want oral sex and when he bites his captor, he is hit in the face and asked why he did that, and told because he is aroused he 'must' want it. And after, Chrome (the main character) agrees that he 'must've' wanted it because he was aroused and it felt good so he's sorry for biting the other. I get it, fantasy, even dark fantasy, has a place naturally, but that ^ paints unwanted sexual contact as something that can be overcome with forcing the other into submission and admitting they want it as "romantic" or at the least "friendly". Amazed no one has mentioned this scene.
In any case, I suggest skipping this book. It is messy to say the least.
March 10, 2013
The story is narrated by Chrome, a young space cadet, who arrives at the remote facility – “cabin”, though the term couldn’t really be applied to this construction, for his final test. Space Cadets are chosen and trained by the government, S.O.R.A., the Society of Restructured Americas, which is the most powerful organization on Earth. For a comparatively short period of time all about-to-be-graduated cadets were required to be attendants, aides, or helpers – to serve a particular individual.
In the cabin Chrome is met by a man. He is the most handsome man Chrome has ever seen, and he is well aware of that. Chrome is told that he is out of the same mold as the last Cadet, the one who failed. “So you’d make the same mistake he made, of loving me. Understandable, perhaps, but fatal. And I mean that literally. Fatal."
It is death to love a Robot.
That marks the beginning of the events that would change Chrome’s life forever. The time Chrome spends in the cabin, tending to the man – Vortex, healing his damaged hands, is only a fraction of what’s to come.
The Warriors, The Immortals, the Greater Council of the Confederated Galaxies – this world is massive, and so is S.O.R.A.’s conspiracy involving genetic experiments and impairing its own society.
As for the romance part, Vortex and Chrome’s love story made me ache for the sequel, which was never published. I really enjoyed the way they’d both tried to ignore their feelings in the beginning, believing that it could never be. But resistance was futile.
All in all, it was a magnificent, well-written story with a complex world and strong characters. It's a very emotional read, and Chrome and Vortex are going to stay with me for a while.
In the cabin Chrome is met by a man. He is the most handsome man Chrome has ever seen, and he is well aware of that. Chrome is told that he is out of the same mold as the last Cadet, the one who failed. “So you’d make the same mistake he made, of loving me. Understandable, perhaps, but fatal. And I mean that literally. Fatal."
It is death to love a Robot.
That marks the beginning of the events that would change Chrome’s life forever. The time Chrome spends in the cabin, tending to the man – Vortex, healing his damaged hands, is only a fraction of what’s to come.
The Warriors, The Immortals, the Greater Council of the Confederated Galaxies – this world is massive, and so is S.O.R.A.’s conspiracy involving genetic experiments and impairing its own society.
As for the romance part, Vortex and Chrome’s love story made me ache for the sequel, which was never published. I really enjoyed the way they’d both tried to ignore their feelings in the beginning, believing that it could never be. But resistance was futile.
All in all, it was a magnificent, well-written story with a complex world and strong characters. It's a very emotional read, and Chrome and Vortex are going to stay with me for a while.
May 27, 2015
Part 1 of this story was a quirky dream-like world in which a young cadet falls in love with a Robot/Warrior King guy in a lovely oasis with sci-fi elements like robotic birds and an emotional exotic cat.
I seriously have no idea what Nader was going for in Parts 2 and 3.
Bleh.
I seriously have no idea what Nader was going for in Parts 2 and 3.
Bleh.
September 21, 2008
This is a great gay science fiction title from 1978! I got so into the nature of the two main characters' relationship that I began to wish I were a skinny twink with a big, tough warrior from outer space as a boyfriend and protector!
May 26, 2014
wow! erm... Maybe you had to read this at the right time or age, but for 2014? Don't bother. badly written and clunky.
June 3, 2023
Cadet Chrome's personal reality unravels after he's sent to the desert to aid with the healing of a mysterious man.
The character who's naked on the cover is that same way when introduced, with a focus on his well-formed genitals; the other character earned the name 'Chrome' through his impressive sexual lasting abilities. It's quickly apparent what you're getting into. Set your mind to smut, dropkick your disbelief and reason across a football field, and get ready to eat entire blocks of cheese.
The sexual tension is constant until first fufilled 1/3 through, and then the higher stakes arrive. I was totally onboard with that first part (of 3). For a Hollywood actor writing his only [published] novel, the prose itself is surprisingly decent. The dialogue is over-the-top and some plot points are downright absurd, but it lacks the passive, wishy washy language you often see in unseasoned writers. Shown instead of told, the descriptive stuff is nice, and the introspection is believable. The world is fuzzy, taking too long to develop. The consequent lack of footing makes the impact of various revelations soft at times.
But I really let myself tumble into the melodrama. The two leads have never been interested in men before falling for one another. This sexual fluidity is no big deal, remarkable for the 70s, where anything deviating from hetronormative behavior was often used as a sign of a decayed society. But then part 2 splashed cold water on my enjoyment, because society has decayed for a different reason: equality for women.
There truly was no better time to openly hate women than the 70s, and it's always amazing how oppressed groups will heap more garbage on one another instead of facing hurdles together. What mental gymnastics a gay writer living in a time of hatred must go through to think equality would cause the destruction of intelligent civilization.
Population-conspiracy-esque ideas about a government that chooses who mates in order to breed stupid, controllable citizens was also wacky. This world-building infodump delivered 2/3 of the way through might have been unforgivable if I hadn't enjoyed the ride up until then. Aside from being gross, it's confusing, convulated, and is heavily dropped on you through two chapters of explaining.
Part 3 settled into a kind of soft misery. A couple of decent female characters turn up and the scope shrunk again, which was nice, and I forgave the second part's flaws. Very much a recovery, which bumped my enjoyment back up.
What really surprised me was the lack of erotica. I expected a lot of sex strung over a thin story, but the sex is relatively brief and ends after part 1. There's a lot of thinking and looking and some distant actions, but no real sex scenes. I'm happier with that outcome, but still, surprised.
3.5, rounded up, because I had some fun.
The character who's naked on the cover is that same way when introduced, with a focus on his well-formed genitals; the other character earned the name 'Chrome' through his impressive sexual lasting abilities. It's quickly apparent what you're getting into. Set your mind to smut, dropkick your disbelief and reason across a football field, and get ready to eat entire blocks of cheese.
The sexual tension is constant until first fufilled 1/3 through, and then the higher stakes arrive. I was totally onboard with that first part (of 3). For a Hollywood actor writing his only [published] novel, the prose itself is surprisingly decent. The dialogue is over-the-top and some plot points are downright absurd, but it lacks the passive, wishy washy language you often see in unseasoned writers. Shown instead of told, the descriptive stuff is nice, and the introspection is believable. The world is fuzzy, taking too long to develop. The consequent lack of footing makes the impact of various revelations soft at times.
But I really let myself tumble into the melodrama. The two leads have never been interested in men before falling for one another. This sexual fluidity is no big deal, remarkable for the 70s, where anything deviating from hetronormative behavior was often used as a sign of a decayed society. But then part 2 splashed cold water on my enjoyment, because society has decayed for a different reason: equality for women.
There truly was no better time to openly hate women than the 70s, and it's always amazing how oppressed groups will heap more garbage on one another instead of facing hurdles together. What mental gymnastics a gay writer living in a time of hatred must go through to think equality would cause the destruction of intelligent civilization.
Population-conspiracy-esque ideas about a government that chooses who mates in order to breed stupid, controllable citizens was also wacky. This world-building infodump delivered 2/3 of the way through might have been unforgivable if I hadn't enjoyed the ride up until then. Aside from being gross, it's confusing, convulated, and is heavily dropped on you through two chapters of explaining.
Part 3 settled into a kind of soft misery. A couple of decent female characters turn up and the scope shrunk again, which was nice, and I forgave the second part's flaws. Very much a recovery, which bumped my enjoyment back up.
What really surprised me was the lack of erotica. I expected a lot of sex strung over a thin story, but the sex is relatively brief and ends after part 1. There's a lot of thinking and looking and some distant actions, but no real sex scenes. I'm happier with that outcome, but still, surprised.
3.5, rounded up, because I had some fun.
October 27, 2023
This is not a great book but it is an important book. I read this book because of the author and my interest in what he had to say. George Nader was a closeted actor during the golden age of Hollywood. He was a close friend of Rock Hudson. In this book he created a positive representation of a gay romance in a scientific fiction novel that was not easily found at the time this book was published. The story starts off strong but drags a bit towards the end but overall I enjoyed the book. I wish I had found this book during my teen years as I struggled to find myself. It would have been nice to have found this source of light in the darkness of my life at the time.
October 11, 2014
Review as posted on blog: http://www.blakrayneblog.com/2014/10/...
I finished Chrome late last night. George Nader’s gay interstellar classic about a young cadet, Chrome, and the warrior King Vortex, who create a bond that defies all odds, and the rules.
In order to understand this novel, I read the author’s biography. George Nader was a gay American actor, who was active from 1950 to 1974 with approximately sixty film and television credits to his name. After his career in Hollywood ended, he and his life partner, Mark Miller, moved to Europe, where he continued to find steady work; his most notable was his role as “Jerry Cotton”, an FBI agent in a German film series. After an accident during a shoot, which injured his eye, he began a career writing science fiction.
Having said that, I give the man kudos for writing this story, considering the time period in which Chrome was published (1978); society still has issues with alternate life styles today, I can’t image what the attitude was like back then. It was probably a death sentence, especially in the entertainment industry.
I absolutely love the tagline for this book. It’s priceless. ‘In the future, there will be only one taboo: to love a robot.’ Sex with a robot is naughty enough, but sex between a male robot and a man…. Well, it made me giggle. Chrome is eloquently written. The characters are truly wonderful. Chrome, the main character, is sensitive, thoughtful and a little naïve, particularly in the beginning, but that’s understandable because he is so young. Vortex, on the other hand, is rough, aloof, and an extremely powerful individual in mind, body and spirit; after all he’s a warrior of the most ruthless kind, according to Chrome, the narrator.
Chrome is truly of a delightful nature, and I became attached to him and drawn into his world almost immediately. But, as for Vortex, it took time before I could really appreciate him. I read the first one hundred and some odd pages in a couple hours, enthralled, and needing to absorb more. But, by a third of the way through, the story seemed to go haywire, and it steadily went down hill until last night, when the last chapter left me feeling, and the only way I can describe it, disenchanted and robbed. After the emotional roller coaster that consumed nearly two thirds of this book, that drove me, the reader, as well as the character Chrome, insane, I wound up seriously disappointed in the end. I’ve always been reluctant to judge any author’s work based solely on storyline, because as an author myself, the plot is somewhat of a personal journey. No two are alike, and can be messy just like real life. But in this instance two thirds of this book could’ve been condensed to one chapter or less, and there are so many better directions the story could’ve gone.
The romance and love that blossomed between robot and man, in the beginning, was nothing short of erotic and passionate, and thoroughly enjoyable to experience from Chrome’s perspective. Loved it! As for the rest…. I felt cheated. Cadet Chrome deserved a grandiose ending. I, the reader, deserved a grandiose ending! He should've been saved by his lover, not hang by a thread until he was mentally beaten into a pulp.
This was a difficult one to judge. 3.5 Stars.
I finished Chrome late last night. George Nader’s gay interstellar classic about a young cadet, Chrome, and the warrior King Vortex, who create a bond that defies all odds, and the rules.
In order to understand this novel, I read the author’s biography. George Nader was a gay American actor, who was active from 1950 to 1974 with approximately sixty film and television credits to his name. After his career in Hollywood ended, he and his life partner, Mark Miller, moved to Europe, where he continued to find steady work; his most notable was his role as “Jerry Cotton”, an FBI agent in a German film series. After an accident during a shoot, which injured his eye, he began a career writing science fiction.
Having said that, I give the man kudos for writing this story, considering the time period in which Chrome was published (1978); society still has issues with alternate life styles today, I can’t image what the attitude was like back then. It was probably a death sentence, especially in the entertainment industry.
I absolutely love the tagline for this book. It’s priceless. ‘In the future, there will be only one taboo: to love a robot.’ Sex with a robot is naughty enough, but sex between a male robot and a man…. Well, it made me giggle. Chrome is eloquently written. The characters are truly wonderful. Chrome, the main character, is sensitive, thoughtful and a little naïve, particularly in the beginning, but that’s understandable because he is so young. Vortex, on the other hand, is rough, aloof, and an extremely powerful individual in mind, body and spirit; after all he’s a warrior of the most ruthless kind, according to Chrome, the narrator.
Chrome is truly of a delightful nature, and I became attached to him and drawn into his world almost immediately. But, as for Vortex, it took time before I could really appreciate him. I read the first one hundred and some odd pages in a couple hours, enthralled, and needing to absorb more. But, by a third of the way through, the story seemed to go haywire, and it steadily went down hill until last night, when the last chapter left me feeling, and the only way I can describe it, disenchanted and robbed. After the emotional roller coaster that consumed nearly two thirds of this book, that drove me, the reader, as well as the character Chrome, insane, I wound up seriously disappointed in the end. I’ve always been reluctant to judge any author’s work based solely on storyline, because as an author myself, the plot is somewhat of a personal journey. No two are alike, and can be messy just like real life. But in this instance two thirds of this book could’ve been condensed to one chapter or less, and there are so many better directions the story could’ve gone.
The romance and love that blossomed between robot and man, in the beginning, was nothing short of erotic and passionate, and thoroughly enjoyable to experience from Chrome’s perspective. Loved it! As for the rest…. I felt cheated. Cadet Chrome deserved a grandiose ending. I, the reader, deserved a grandiose ending! He should've been saved by his lover, not hang by a thread until he was mentally beaten into a pulp.
This was a difficult one to judge. 3.5 Stars.
October 7, 2025
I read this book back in the early 2000's and I do remember that it left a nasty taste in my mouth - which had nothing to do with the rather silly eroticism of the early part with hot guys romping about in lots of skimpy outfits - a sort of male version of the way women dressed in the original Star Trek - but some really very misogynistic and Fascist type stuff later on - anyway I don't remember the details but I recommend anyone interested to read the review by Left Sr on goodreads. So I can't recommend this book - honestly I don't know if books like this are still published - it came out in the great rush of gay liberation writing - and while the Violet Quill authors may be the public face books like this were the distaff side - though not all such books carried the unpleasant shocks this one provides but, to be fair reading early erotic gay writing from the likes of Phil Andros (aka Samuel Steward) it is surprising how often the tales of hard bodied ordinary men in futuristic settings take on uncomfortable overtones and use settings and plots that are really morally reprehensible. The 'State' or 'Authority' has absolute mastery and control and there is no sense of individual rights to think or do what you want or believe anything different and those who are different are often singled out for what would now be seen as sexual assault or rape.
Even as I wrote some of the above I couldn't help thinking that I was overthinking and taking out of context writers like Andros. Nader's book, while similar, is different. It has the erotic elements but is aiming for more. His novel attempts to be a proper SF novel, not simply a background for various sexual activities. That is why it is more distasteful - it is attempting to say things that are very dubious.
Even as I wrote some of the above I couldn't help thinking that I was overthinking and taking out of context writers like Andros. Nader's book, while similar, is different. It has the erotic elements but is aiming for more. His novel attempts to be a proper SF novel, not simply a background for various sexual activities. That is why it is more distasteful - it is attempting to say things that are very dubious.
January 2, 2023
cara. com certeza um dos livros ja escritos. (sim eu li ele por causa da capa com dildohands)
começa como uma fanfic meio dificil de crer mas vc se apega um pouco. depois de alguma forma vira quase um manifesto eugenista "disfarçado" de ficção científica (não tava disfarçado at all) e meio que só. continua assim com uma politicagem MUITO muito estranha MESMO é tudo muito estranho cara que livro estranho.
tem algumas partes mt romanticas nao vou mentir o final inclusive é bem fofinho da pra incluir em gay happy ending se voce ignorar que os gays em questao sao robôs nazistas.
eu daria 1 e meio pela MONTANHA RUSSA que foi ler isso sem saber onde eu tava me metendo mas n tem nota quebrada aqui. e tbh ele nao merece tb ne kkkkkkkkkkk enfim. digno de virar um estudo da psique humana
preciso deixar uma nota tb sobre o quão frustrante é a parte da ficção científica pq eu realmente esperava algo mais interessante vindo de um homem gay nos anos 70 mas é tudo muito confuso e fraco. quando chegou a parte nazi eu pensei que PELO MENOS teria umas tecnologia interessante. não tinha.
começa como uma fanfic meio dificil de crer mas vc se apega um pouco. depois de alguma forma vira quase um manifesto eugenista "disfarçado" de ficção científica (não tava disfarçado at all) e meio que só. continua assim com uma politicagem MUITO muito estranha MESMO é tudo muito estranho cara que livro estranho.
tem algumas partes mt romanticas nao vou mentir o final inclusive é bem fofinho da pra incluir em gay happy ending se voce ignorar que os gays em questao sao robôs nazistas.
eu daria 1 e meio pela MONTANHA RUSSA que foi ler isso sem saber onde eu tava me metendo mas n tem nota quebrada aqui. e tbh ele nao merece tb ne kkkkkkkkkkk enfim. digno de virar um estudo da psique humana
preciso deixar uma nota tb sobre o quão frustrante é a parte da ficção científica pq eu realmente esperava algo mais interessante vindo de um homem gay nos anos 70 mas é tudo muito confuso e fraco. quando chegou a parte nazi eu pensei que PELO MENOS teria umas tecnologia interessante. não tinha.
October 20, 2019
4.5 stars rounded to 5
I really, really enjoyed this story, yet it's been a bit tricky to start it because everything is from the protagonist's view and facts are explained after they happened to him, but once understood the trick it's been really easy to follow.
The first part has been a smooth going with "raw touches" and lot of romance and frustration, the second part has been slower and in rare parts a bit boring because of the reclusion of the protagonist.
Interesting story and surroundings within, with a nice sudden plot twist halfway through, memorables characters and a satisfying ending.
I'm very proud of owning a copy of this book and if the author would have written more, I'd be probably reading them.
I really, really enjoyed this story, yet it's been a bit tricky to start it because everything is from the protagonist's view and facts are explained after they happened to him, but once understood the trick it's been really easy to follow.
The first part has been a smooth going with "raw touches" and lot of romance and frustration, the second part has been slower and in rare parts a bit boring because of the reclusion of the protagonist.
Interesting story and surroundings within, with a nice sudden plot twist halfway through, memorables characters and a satisfying ending.
I'm very proud of owning a copy of this book and if the author would have written more, I'd be probably reading them.
did-not-finish
March 9, 2021DNF at page 232
This is the paragraph that did it for me: 'First came S.O.R.A's lowering of all standards, its insistence that all were equal in everything. Next, its vast propaganda campaign urging indiscriminate mating. Finally, the enforced mixing, the deliberate, carefully programmed couplings demanded by its new laws. Then it was over.'
I have no interest in reading a thinly-veiled Nazi-propaganda piece, least of all one with an erotic romance that I have no interest in, characters that I couldn't care less about, and a plot that is all over the place like in this one.
Add to that the absolutely hideous cover, and you have a book that will quickly be going into the unhaul pile. Do not bother with this awful book.
This is the paragraph that did it for me: 'First came S.O.R.A's lowering of all standards, its insistence that all were equal in everything. Next, its vast propaganda campaign urging indiscriminate mating. Finally, the enforced mixing, the deliberate, carefully programmed couplings demanded by its new laws. Then it was over.'
I have no interest in reading a thinly-veiled Nazi-propaganda piece, least of all one with an erotic romance that I have no interest in, characters that I couldn't care less about, and a plot that is all over the place like in this one.
Add to that the absolutely hideous cover, and you have a book that will quickly be going into the unhaul pile. Do not bother with this awful book.
November 26, 2014
Very disjointed science fiction, and didn't seem all that erotic, either (though as I'm not gay, I'm not the best judge of that. I mainly wanted to read this because I'm a fan of George Nader's acting in low budget movies (notably Robot Monster). He's borderline as a writer - he's got the mechanics down, but his storyline was drawn out and rather confusing. There were definitely glimmers of proper SF here, but a reader has to dig to get at them.
August 1, 2016
I read this years ago, I don't remember when. I found it at a garage sale for a quarter. I have the one where the two characters on the front of the book are massively muscular but apparently less "romantically inclined." This is a strange book, I can't fathom how it found a publisher, but maybe it road the wave started by "The Front Runner" a few years earlier. Anyway, if you're looking for strange syfy, this ones for you.
November 18, 2012
This is an odd but wonderful book published back in the 70'ies... yes the 70'ies, imagine!
I love Sci-Fi and especially Sci-Fi with a gay/MM subplot. Unfortunately there are not many of those around in which the science part is creditable and well described, but this is one of them.
Great and moving Sci-Fi romance.
I love Sci-Fi and especially Sci-Fi with a gay/MM subplot. Unfortunately there are not many of those around in which the science part is creditable and well described, but this is one of them.
Great and moving Sci-Fi romance.
April 1, 2022
Got about halfway through, couldn't finish it. The book is this weird gay scifi novel from a nontraditional author. But Samuel Delaney it ain't. Sort of a rolicking scifi adventure, with some fun erotic moments, but a whole lot of terrible writing. The whole plot took a left turn and left me behind. Not interesting, even as a novelty.
Read
March 4, 2015A must-read for anyone who enjoys their science fiction a little (or a lot) homoerotic. From the endless perfect men being paraded before Chrome to his place in the universe and obsession with malted milk and peanut butter, this is a great retrofuturistic, gay romp.
February 13, 2017
This was a milestone in the M/M genre, and in the robot/man romance genre. My paper back version fell. apart long ago. I'm trying to find an electronic version for my devices but haven't he my luck.
Read
April 7, 2021Haven’t read it, but I found a photoshopped cover: https://static.boredpanda.com/blog/wp...
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