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Quantum Gravity #1
Keeping It Real
The Quantum Bomb of 2015 changed everything. The fabric that kept the universe's different dimensions apart was torn and now, six years later, the people of earth exist in uneasy company with the inhabitants of, amongst others, the elfin, elemental, and demonic realms. Magic is real and can be even more dangerous than technology. Elves are exotic, erotic, dangerous, and really bored with the constant Lord of the Rings references. Elementals are a law unto themselves and demons are best left well to themselves.
Special agent Lila Black used to be pretty, but now she's not so sure. Her body is more than half restless carbon and metal alloy machinery, a machine she's barely in control of. It goes into combat mode, enough weapons for a small army springing from within itself, at the merest provocation. As for her heart, well, ever since being drawn into a game by the elfin rockstar Zal (lead singer of The No Shows), who she's been assigned to protect, she's not even sure she can trust that any more either.
Special agent Lila Black used to be pretty, but now she's not so sure. Her body is more than half restless carbon and metal alloy machinery, a machine she's barely in control of. It goes into combat mode, enough weapons for a small army springing from within itself, at the merest provocation. As for her heart, well, ever since being drawn into a game by the elfin rockstar Zal (lead singer of The No Shows), who she's been assigned to protect, she's not even sure she can trust that any more either.
333 pages, Paperback
First published May 18, 2006
76 people are currently reading
2,120 people want to read
About the author
Justina Robson
66books286followersJustina is from Leeds, a city in Yorkshire in the north of England. She always wanted to write and always did. Other things sometimes got in the way and sometimes still do...but not too much.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 283 reviews
September 19, 2015
� Friendly warning: You might suffer from gif overload while reading this review �
Actual rating: 2.5 � Or 2? Or should it be 2.75? Damn. It's been almost ten days and I still don't know how to rate this.
►► The first half of this book made me feel like this:
And like this:
And a little bit like this, too:
►► But then this happened:
I've been trying to figure out what the hell went wrong since I finished reading the book but I still can't put my finger on it. I guess it's just a combination of things that turned what could have been a BLOODY FANTASTIC book into a you-kind-of-ruined-it-all-but-I-don't-really-know-how-or-why-and-I-don't-know-what-to-make-of-it-what-a-mess experience. Sigh.
►► Okay, let me try and explain (try being the key word here). First I'll start with the AWESOME:
� Lila Black. Wow. Part human, part cyborg. One-woman army. The Mighty Metal Maiden. I'm in love. WOW.
� Games. Not plain old games but Games. It's a cool concept. Very cool. And I'm not about to explain what it is to you, mainly because I didn't get half of it hahaha (see Confusion Section below).
� The most improbable mix ever: cyborgs + quantum bombs + elves + rockstars + demons + the NSA + elementals + faeries + parallel realms. Believe me when I tell you that improbable doesn't begin to cover it. But you know what? It works. And it's cool. Very cool.
►► Well it's all very cool until Lila leaves Otopia (aka good old Earth) and goes to Alfheim (aka the Elven realm). That's when the Confusion Bomb hit. Double sigh.
� Games. Not plain old games but Games. The problem with these Games is that the concept is pretty fantastic but poorly explained. It sometimes felt like the author herself didn't have a well-defined idea of what it was, which made it difficult for her to get it across to the reader. Sigh again? You bet.
� The sometimes boring, confusing mess: all of a sudden nothing made sense anymore and the story became one big blur. The author lost me with poor descriptions of places and occurrences. I didn't understand what was going on half of the time. I didn't get where the plot was going. And I certainly didn't get what the characters' motivations were or what the fish was going on between them all. Zal and Dar? Dar and Tath? Zal and Tath? Arië and Dar and Thal and Zal� And WHAT THE HELL happened between Lila and Dar?! And WHY? Argh!!! I don't get it!!! Please someone explain!!
This is were I began questioning my sanity. Well, if not my sanity, the obvious decaying state of the two grey cells I have left. We have three options here:
� I was too tired when I read this book and my aforementioned grey cells were momentarily on strike. Which might explain my absolute and utter confusion.
� The author did make a mess of things. Which might explain my absolute and utter confusion.
� This was all an elaborate (and very clever) plan on the author's part. No no no, I'm not being sarcastic for once. I'm actually beginning to wonder whether this Confusion Bomb was intentionally thrown by the author. I mean, the (very corny) title for this book is Keeping it Real. As in real vs magical? As in, are the characters being real, honest and truthful or manipulative and calculating magic users? Damn. I'm getting confused all over again. And I'm probably getting as confusing as the story, too. Which might explain my absolute and utter confusion � yeah, I know this last sentence doesn't make any sense in this particular context but it was supposed to be my little gimmick for this section so there you have it. Ha.
►► Now. You didn't think I'd let you go before mentioning the silly lovey-dovey stuff, now did you? Naive little you.
So. A lot of reviewers say this is romance in disguise. And guess what? I didn't think it was that aggressive. Shock! Dismay! Fainting all around! Well, to be honest, I didn't think it was that aggressive at first. Well no, it's not that I didn't think it was that aggressive, it's just that I didn't initially think romance was such a big part of the plot. Now I'm not so sure anymore. Especially after reading the last chapters. Now I think I see what the author was getting at. I think. Maybe. Probably? BOOM! And the Confusion Bomb hits once more! Because I am now beginning to think the book actually is a romance novel in disguise. It's very well hidden under layers of layers of layers of confusing layers but it's there. Lurking. Stalking. Waiting quietly in the dark to assault the unsuspecting, romance-allergy-prone reader. Arrrgggggghhhhhh!!!!!!! Someone please save me from this trap!!!!!!! Then again maybe I don't need saving. Then again maybe this is just yet another symptom of my absolute and utter confusion. Then again maybe this is just me throwing a Confusion Bomb at you. Then again maybe I've finally lost it.
Sigh. So where does that leave us? No freaking idea. Actually yes, freaking idea. Because I think I need to reread this. No no no, I'm not joking. I need to figure out whether the author actually ruined a story with amazing potential or if I was just too exhausted to grasp the absolute greatness of it all. So. Anyone in for a BR?
� Pre-review nonsense:
Actual rating: 2? 2.5? 3? No freaking idea. Confusion is me.
►► Crappy review to come.
P.S. the first half of the book was too good to be true, I should have known it wouldn't last.
� Pre-read nonsense:
� Corny title.
� Mixed reviews.
� Some people say it's a romance novel in disguise *shudders*
� Mix of science fiction and UF.
� Intriguing blurb (despite the elfin rockstar bit, which sounds pretty ridiculous).
� Cyborg-type heroine.
� Pippa DaCosta loved it.
I like to live dangerously, I think I'll give this one a try.
July 20, 2007
This is a romance novel in disguise. Suckered in by the cyborg on the cover, seduced by the concept of a universe formed by the juxtaposition of elves n fairy's n humans I foolishly continued reading past the introduction into the angst ridden world of the bionic woman with appearence issues (granted of course she is now a meld of machinary and woman, so she is fairly justified in this regard).
The redeeming feature of cool wiz-bang sci-fi goodness coupled with a magic should have made this a winner for me but, well, not. Oh well.
Damn those stealth romance authors!
The redeeming feature of cool wiz-bang sci-fi goodness coupled with a magic should have made this a winner for me but, well, not. Oh well.
Damn those stealth romance authors!
January 5, 2011
Surprising, unusual world and heroine. The heroine is a cyborg blend, transformed by the government after nearly fatal injuries, and is now unable to contact people from her old life. Reasons for that still remain unclear to me, but it's used to as a device for emotional isolation. For those who like the romantic push-and-pull relationship, one develops between the lead character and the elf she is bodyguarding. It is definitely an immersion story, requiring attention and concentration; this is not a book to pick up and read one chapter a week if you want to follow the worldview.
November 23, 2009
I'd like to review this in the style of an internet meme:
At first I was like :D
But then I was like D:
And then I was like :-\
And finally I was like :-|
The very premise of the book—a sci-fi magitech near future with a cyborg bodyguard for a rock star elf—is relevant to my interests and I wish to subscribe to the newsletter. Too bad that it rapidly devolved into some kind of schlocky romance with the awesomesauce cyborg chick wangsting over her existance and mooning over her charge. There's only so much "I hate elves/he's hot" that I can take before feeling the urge to discreetly vomit.
The plot takes an upswing after Mr. Moodypants Rockstar gets himself captured, but then the awful characterization of Lila kicks into high gear as she plays ill-timed games of Boff-an-Elf. It's as if the author realized she was at least halfway through a book and hadn't squeezed in a sex scene.
The resolution was distinctly lacking in resolve and, while I know this is the first of a series, there's no excuse for so many loose ends still dangling about, unused. was not employed in this one.
At first I was like :D
But then I was like D:
And then I was like :-\
And finally I was like :-|
The very premise of the book—a sci-fi magitech near future with a cyborg bodyguard for a rock star elf—is relevant to my interests and I wish to subscribe to the newsletter. Too bad that it rapidly devolved into some kind of schlocky romance with the awesomesauce cyborg chick wangsting over her existance and mooning over her charge. There's only so much "I hate elves/he's hot" that I can take before feeling the urge to discreetly vomit.
The plot takes an upswing after Mr. Moodypants Rockstar gets himself captured, but then the awful characterization of Lila kicks into high gear as she plays ill-timed games of Boff-an-Elf. It's as if the author realized she was at least halfway through a book and hadn't squeezed in a sex scene.
The resolution was distinctly lacking in resolve and, while I know this is the first of a series, there's no excuse for so many loose ends still dangling about, unused. was not employed in this one.
May 20, 2009
(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)
So once again, it's time for me to pen a single essay concerning an entire series of genre books; because once again I'm tackling a combination of back-titles and a new title from our good friends at genre publisher Pyr, who earlier this year sent me an entire giant box full of cool-looking books merely because I asked them to. And in this case it's the latest three books by our old friend Justina Robson, whose classic artificial-intelligence primer Silver Screen really blew me away when I read it earlier this year (yep, it was yet another book in this big box from Pyr), and made me realize why she's considered by many to be one of the real shining lights of the so-called "British New Wave" of science-fiction authors in the early 2000s. But this time, though, she delivers something completely different: not a serious mindbending drama about "hard science" conceits, but rather a racy, darkly humorous grand fantasy saga, with not exactly a lot of actual sex thrown in but certainly a lot of sexiness. The name of the entire storyline is the "Quantum Gravity" series (consisting so far of 2006's Keeping It Real, 2007's Selling Out and 2008's Going Under*, with more maybe to come); and I have to admit that they quite literally charmed the socks right off me, despite me having barely any tolerance whatsoever for the fantasy genre in general.
Ah, but this isn't any ol' fantasy series, see; it's written in the style of a newish subgenre called "urban fantasy," a type of story that barely existed at all before the mid-1980s or so, but has suddenly exploded in recent years in a way rarely seen in the world of the speculative arts. And to understand what urban fantasy is, one needs simply to recall its two most popular examples, the Harry Potter series and Buffy the Vampire Slayer; they are stories where for one reason or another, tropes from the world of traditional fantasy (wizards, magic, trolls, ogres, etc etc etc) somehow exist within a contemporary, science-based society. And it's this and this alone that makes urban fantasy even tolerable to me at all; because to tell the truth, the thing about traditional Tolkien-style fantasy that drives me the craziest is all the flowery Medieval crap that comes along with it, all the endless stilted dialogue and pre-tech warfare and traipsing around the woods by candlelight and the rest. (And in an attempt to pre-emptively stop a rash of angry letters from coming in, let me make it perfectly clear that I don't think there's anything wrong with liking traditional fantasy, simply that it's not my particular cup of tea, just as there are lots of people who can't stand the silly neo-Victorian finery of the "steampunk" genre that I so adore.)
But this being Robson, of course, she's come up with her own jarringly unique twist on things, which in good "world-building" style starts with a seemingly simple conceit behind it all, which then gets more and more complex the further you examine it: namely, that throughout the entire course of human history, there have actually been half a dozen inhabited planets scattered across the universe, each of the others filled with the kinds of creatures we've only known before in fairytales (a world full of elves, a world full of demons, a world full of fairies, etc), and that a recent mysterious cataclysmic event (known as the "quantum bomb") ripped open an interdimensional gateway between the worlds for the first time. And right away, in fact, Robson does with this concept one of the most brilliant things I've ever seen a genre author do, which is to answer all the immediate questions one would have concerning such a quantum bomb with a simple, "Nobody knows;" that in fact one of the many side-effects of this bomb was to collectively wipe humanity's memories of life before the bomb (much less what caused the bomb itself), to such a profound extent that Earth isn't even called 'Earth' anymore but rather 'Otopia,' to signify The World That Is from The World That Was.
What these books mostly concern themselves with, then, are the ways these various races deal with each other, now that they can all travel freely between the worlds, as well as humanity's efforts to learn as much about these other planets as possible; and Robson does this in a way that harkens all the way back to Silver Screen, by presenting us with the delightfully neurotic main protagonist Lila Black, who is half big-hipped indie-rock nerd queen and half mechanized warrior robot, the result of a freak one-time bionics experiment by what is now Otopia's interdimensional spy agency, after a previous assignment that went bad and left her nearly dead. This is actually one of the things Robson is known for, in fact, addressing female body-image issues through the filter of some pretty astounding hard-science concepts; and just like the self-conscious big-hipped female heroine of Silver Screen, so too is Lila's preoccupation with her looks a running theme to the Quantum Gravity series, and so too does Lila spend quite a bit of time pondering how her semi-hideous half-mecha body** comes across to others, and how it does and does not affect her love life among all the various creatures out there in the interdimensional universe.
Because did I not mention that the whole thing is a raunchy sex comedy too? The whole thing is a raunchy sex comedy too; although please be aware that in the best tradition of erotic tales written by women for women, there are precious few actual graphic sex scenes in the series (only one or two per book), with Robson otherwise pulling off the Austenesque feat of filling the books with sexual tension and grown-up humor instead. And again, she does this in these sometimes infinitely clever ways, that rely heavily on the fantastical elements of the universe she's created; take for example her entire concept of 'aether,' which in the world of "Quantum Gravity" is supposed to be a sort of form of naturally existing energy that humans simply never knew about before the bomb, a sorta free form of electricity and an internet-style wireless communications network all at once, or perhaps it's better thought of like "The Force" from the original Star Wars trilogy, a kind of living energy that binds together all living creatures and affects their actions in subtle ways. It's a substance that can be detected and manipulated by the elves, who turn out to be the second most talked-about race in these books after humans -- creatures who look almost exactly like the elves from Lord of the Rings, only much more pissy if you can believe it -- and in fact the elves of Robson's universe actually have two different bodies, a physical one and then an aetheric one that sorta hangs around and inside and outside the corporeal one, and which actually feeds off this mysterious aether and can do things with it that seem to humans like old-skool magic (and by 'old-skool' I mean King Arthur).
So, to cite one of Robson's ribald examples of what can be done with such a conceit, consider this: that if you've ever in the past felt a sorta strange thing in the air whenever you've partaken in an intense flirtation with someone, something that feels almost like a kind of charged electricity between the two of you that moment, according to Robson you're not just making things up -- this really is the aether of the universe affecting the two of you, working in these incomprehensible ways to make that repartee a much more passionate, dangerous thing than it would otherwise be. And this is just one example I'm talking about, with Robson actually throwing in dozens of them throughout this plainly-written, easy-to-follow series -- from the demon etiquette of attending cocktail parties bathed in the blood of your enemies, to the druglike high humans get while having sex on one of the aether-heavy non-Otopian planets, and a whole lot more smart and kinda dirty stuff to boot. And this of course is to say nothing of the hundreds of nonsexual details about this universe that Robson layers in throughout, which in classic Tolkienian style exists not just of a series of exotic mythologies but even numerous mythologies within these mythologies; there is not just one race of elves but two, for example, with a complicated Indian-style caste system that defines both their relationship and their society in general, plus with an extinct third race whose genocide is a closely-guarded elvish secret, which may or may not have something to do with the quantum bomb that humans can no longer remember anything about. Now multiply this by a hundred, and you're starting to get an idea of the myriad of levels Robson builds into this mesmerizing, addictive universe.
It's hard for me to overstate just how great I found this series, and how like Silver Screen I found it an almost perfect example of its particular genre done right; or in other words, if you're the type of person who only reads one fantasy book a year, you could do a lot worse than to make it Keeping It Real (book 1 of this series) for 2009. An endlessly inventive hybrid of technology and magic, tied together with an internal logic as rock-solid as genre fiction gets, this is sure to be a much-loved treat to any speculative fan out there. The entire series gets a big recommendation from me today.
Out of 10: 9.3, or 10 for existing fantasy fans
*All that said, let me confess that I did not read book 3 of the series, Going Under; because no matter how well-written of fantasy books these are, they're still fantasy books, and I found my natural distaste for fantasy simply rearing its ugly head again by the time I was halfway through book 2. This however still does not change my opinion expressed above, that even non-fans of the genre should tackle at least the first book in the series, and that those who like fantasy in general even a little would be wise to gobble up the entire thing.
**And speaking of body-image issues, please be aware that the Lila described in the books looks profoundly different than the admittedly kickass illustrations by Larry Rostant gracing the covers of all these titles, and that this is a big part of where her neurosis comes in; how ironic, in fact, that one of her ongoing anxieties is over not looking like one of those Neil-Gaiman-reading pixie hipster cosplay hotties she's exactly depicted as on the books' covers.
So once again, it's time for me to pen a single essay concerning an entire series of genre books; because once again I'm tackling a combination of back-titles and a new title from our good friends at genre publisher Pyr, who earlier this year sent me an entire giant box full of cool-looking books merely because I asked them to. And in this case it's the latest three books by our old friend Justina Robson, whose classic artificial-intelligence primer Silver Screen really blew me away when I read it earlier this year (yep, it was yet another book in this big box from Pyr), and made me realize why she's considered by many to be one of the real shining lights of the so-called "British New Wave" of science-fiction authors in the early 2000s. But this time, though, she delivers something completely different: not a serious mindbending drama about "hard science" conceits, but rather a racy, darkly humorous grand fantasy saga, with not exactly a lot of actual sex thrown in but certainly a lot of sexiness. The name of the entire storyline is the "Quantum Gravity" series (consisting so far of 2006's Keeping It Real, 2007's Selling Out and 2008's Going Under*, with more maybe to come); and I have to admit that they quite literally charmed the socks right off me, despite me having barely any tolerance whatsoever for the fantasy genre in general.
Ah, but this isn't any ol' fantasy series, see; it's written in the style of a newish subgenre called "urban fantasy," a type of story that barely existed at all before the mid-1980s or so, but has suddenly exploded in recent years in a way rarely seen in the world of the speculative arts. And to understand what urban fantasy is, one needs simply to recall its two most popular examples, the Harry Potter series and Buffy the Vampire Slayer; they are stories where for one reason or another, tropes from the world of traditional fantasy (wizards, magic, trolls, ogres, etc etc etc) somehow exist within a contemporary, science-based society. And it's this and this alone that makes urban fantasy even tolerable to me at all; because to tell the truth, the thing about traditional Tolkien-style fantasy that drives me the craziest is all the flowery Medieval crap that comes along with it, all the endless stilted dialogue and pre-tech warfare and traipsing around the woods by candlelight and the rest. (And in an attempt to pre-emptively stop a rash of angry letters from coming in, let me make it perfectly clear that I don't think there's anything wrong with liking traditional fantasy, simply that it's not my particular cup of tea, just as there are lots of people who can't stand the silly neo-Victorian finery of the "steampunk" genre that I so adore.)
But this being Robson, of course, she's come up with her own jarringly unique twist on things, which in good "world-building" style starts with a seemingly simple conceit behind it all, which then gets more and more complex the further you examine it: namely, that throughout the entire course of human history, there have actually been half a dozen inhabited planets scattered across the universe, each of the others filled with the kinds of creatures we've only known before in fairytales (a world full of elves, a world full of demons, a world full of fairies, etc), and that a recent mysterious cataclysmic event (known as the "quantum bomb") ripped open an interdimensional gateway between the worlds for the first time. And right away, in fact, Robson does with this concept one of the most brilliant things I've ever seen a genre author do, which is to answer all the immediate questions one would have concerning such a quantum bomb with a simple, "Nobody knows;" that in fact one of the many side-effects of this bomb was to collectively wipe humanity's memories of life before the bomb (much less what caused the bomb itself), to such a profound extent that Earth isn't even called 'Earth' anymore but rather 'Otopia,' to signify The World That Is from The World That Was.
What these books mostly concern themselves with, then, are the ways these various races deal with each other, now that they can all travel freely between the worlds, as well as humanity's efforts to learn as much about these other planets as possible; and Robson does this in a way that harkens all the way back to Silver Screen, by presenting us with the delightfully neurotic main protagonist Lila Black, who is half big-hipped indie-rock nerd queen and half mechanized warrior robot, the result of a freak one-time bionics experiment by what is now Otopia's interdimensional spy agency, after a previous assignment that went bad and left her nearly dead. This is actually one of the things Robson is known for, in fact, addressing female body-image issues through the filter of some pretty astounding hard-science concepts; and just like the self-conscious big-hipped female heroine of Silver Screen, so too is Lila's preoccupation with her looks a running theme to the Quantum Gravity series, and so too does Lila spend quite a bit of time pondering how her semi-hideous half-mecha body** comes across to others, and how it does and does not affect her love life among all the various creatures out there in the interdimensional universe.
Because did I not mention that the whole thing is a raunchy sex comedy too? The whole thing is a raunchy sex comedy too; although please be aware that in the best tradition of erotic tales written by women for women, there are precious few actual graphic sex scenes in the series (only one or two per book), with Robson otherwise pulling off the Austenesque feat of filling the books with sexual tension and grown-up humor instead. And again, she does this in these sometimes infinitely clever ways, that rely heavily on the fantastical elements of the universe she's created; take for example her entire concept of 'aether,' which in the world of "Quantum Gravity" is supposed to be a sort of form of naturally existing energy that humans simply never knew about before the bomb, a sorta free form of electricity and an internet-style wireless communications network all at once, or perhaps it's better thought of like "The Force" from the original Star Wars trilogy, a kind of living energy that binds together all living creatures and affects their actions in subtle ways. It's a substance that can be detected and manipulated by the elves, who turn out to be the second most talked-about race in these books after humans -- creatures who look almost exactly like the elves from Lord of the Rings, only much more pissy if you can believe it -- and in fact the elves of Robson's universe actually have two different bodies, a physical one and then an aetheric one that sorta hangs around and inside and outside the corporeal one, and which actually feeds off this mysterious aether and can do things with it that seem to humans like old-skool magic (and by 'old-skool' I mean King Arthur).
So, to cite one of Robson's ribald examples of what can be done with such a conceit, consider this: that if you've ever in the past felt a sorta strange thing in the air whenever you've partaken in an intense flirtation with someone, something that feels almost like a kind of charged electricity between the two of you that moment, according to Robson you're not just making things up -- this really is the aether of the universe affecting the two of you, working in these incomprehensible ways to make that repartee a much more passionate, dangerous thing than it would otherwise be. And this is just one example I'm talking about, with Robson actually throwing in dozens of them throughout this plainly-written, easy-to-follow series -- from the demon etiquette of attending cocktail parties bathed in the blood of your enemies, to the druglike high humans get while having sex on one of the aether-heavy non-Otopian planets, and a whole lot more smart and kinda dirty stuff to boot. And this of course is to say nothing of the hundreds of nonsexual details about this universe that Robson layers in throughout, which in classic Tolkienian style exists not just of a series of exotic mythologies but even numerous mythologies within these mythologies; there is not just one race of elves but two, for example, with a complicated Indian-style caste system that defines both their relationship and their society in general, plus with an extinct third race whose genocide is a closely-guarded elvish secret, which may or may not have something to do with the quantum bomb that humans can no longer remember anything about. Now multiply this by a hundred, and you're starting to get an idea of the myriad of levels Robson builds into this mesmerizing, addictive universe.
It's hard for me to overstate just how great I found this series, and how like Silver Screen I found it an almost perfect example of its particular genre done right; or in other words, if you're the type of person who only reads one fantasy book a year, you could do a lot worse than to make it Keeping It Real (book 1 of this series) for 2009. An endlessly inventive hybrid of technology and magic, tied together with an internal logic as rock-solid as genre fiction gets, this is sure to be a much-loved treat to any speculative fan out there. The entire series gets a big recommendation from me today.
Out of 10: 9.3, or 10 for existing fantasy fans
*All that said, let me confess that I did not read book 3 of the series, Going Under; because no matter how well-written of fantasy books these are, they're still fantasy books, and I found my natural distaste for fantasy simply rearing its ugly head again by the time I was halfway through book 2. This however still does not change my opinion expressed above, that even non-fans of the genre should tackle at least the first book in the series, and that those who like fantasy in general even a little would be wise to gobble up the entire thing.
**And speaking of body-image issues, please be aware that the Lila described in the books looks profoundly different than the admittedly kickass illustrations by Larry Rostant gracing the covers of all these titles, and that this is a big part of where her neurosis comes in; how ironic, in fact, that one of her ongoing anxieties is over not looking like one of those Neil-Gaiman-reading pixie hipster cosplay hotties she's exactly depicted as on the books' covers.
November 27, 2007
The one where half-robotic Lila is hired as a bodyguard for an elf rock star.
OK, mega-points for originality here; this book is chock-full of interesting stuff. I'm especially intrigued by the idea that elves have a sort of a sense organ made of magic. Very clever. Wish I'd thought of it. And as romantic conflicts go, "I've been alienated from my body since I became bionic" beats the hell out of "My parents had a rough divorce."
In the end, though, I was driven away from it by:
- Science, quality of. First, the fact that it's tossed at you in great chunks; second, I don't know from quantum physics, so it could be legitimate, but it sounds like plot-generated science, technobabble created to provide support for what the author wants to happen.
- Science, existence of. If I'm being forced to accept rebellious, angst-filled elf rock stars, I don't think I ought to have to put up with infodumps on interstitial reality seepage in the same damned book.
- Characters, plot-generated dumbness of. There are lots of action scenes here, and in order to get the characters involved in them, the author has made them do things that are either sci-fi television dumb or just kind of random and inexplicable.
- And, worst of all: Writing, badness of. The sentences are awkward; things happen like a character being offered a drink and two paragraphs later being offered a drink; punctuation is random.
A good editor could have made this into a readable book, and if it had been readable I'd probably have finished it despite its other flaws, just to see what happened, but the clumsiness of it just got too annoying for me to take.
(2007 Locus poll: #18 SF)
OK, mega-points for originality here; this book is chock-full of interesting stuff. I'm especially intrigued by the idea that elves have a sort of a sense organ made of magic. Very clever. Wish I'd thought of it. And as romantic conflicts go, "I've been alienated from my body since I became bionic" beats the hell out of "My parents had a rough divorce."
In the end, though, I was driven away from it by:
- Science, quality of. First, the fact that it's tossed at you in great chunks; second, I don't know from quantum physics, so it could be legitimate, but it sounds like plot-generated science, technobabble created to provide support for what the author wants to happen.
- Science, existence of. If I'm being forced to accept rebellious, angst-filled elf rock stars, I don't think I ought to have to put up with infodumps on interstitial reality seepage in the same damned book.
- Characters, plot-generated dumbness of. There are lots of action scenes here, and in order to get the characters involved in them, the author has made them do things that are either sci-fi television dumb or just kind of random and inexplicable.
- And, worst of all: Writing, badness of. The sentences are awkward; things happen like a character being offered a drink and two paragraphs later being offered a drink; punctuation is random.
A good editor could have made this into a readable book, and if it had been readable I'd probably have finished it despite its other flaws, just to see what happened, but the clumsiness of it just got too annoying for me to take.
(2007 Locus poll: #18 SF)
March 21, 2009
If you like to read an action-filled book with a strange heroine in a strange world pick this one up and start reading immediately.
After a fatal explosion at a research center in Texas nothing on earth (or Otopia as earth is called now) is as it has been before. The explosion opened spheres to other realities - magical spheres where elves, demons and other strange creatures dwell. Some years after this incident Lila Black, a special agent, receives the order to protect an elvish rock star who gets letters with death threats.
Lila isn´t your average bodyguard � she´s a cyborg, half a beautiful young woman, half a Terminator (sorry, I couldn´t resist..g). After almost tortured to death Lila was rebuilt as a cyborg and in her mind she struggles with her condition, she´s worried how far she´s still human and not only a killing machine powered by her own nuclear reactor inside. Of course her first mission doesn´t go as planned and Lila has to go to Alfheim, the realm of the elves to save Zal (the elvish rock star) and to face her past because in this realm she was nearly killed...
This book is an interesting blend of science fiction and fantasy, magic and technology coexist in bizarre worlds with all kind of strange creatures you can imagine. I liked Lila although I couldn´t comprehend some of her decisions I admit. She has not only to live with her human worries and her cyborg body but to make things even worse - when an elven necromancer is killed during her resuce mission he slips into Lila´s mind to her annoyance and discomfort and builds up his home inside her. There´s also snappy humor, even romance (and sex) isn´t missed out and references to LOTR (but in this book the elves are really snobs) made me smile. I liked Zal who is an unusual elf and who doesn´t mind that Lila is umpteen times stronger than he and who doesn´t bother about her half-machine self.
I´m sure the exceptional mix this book offers will not be everyone´s cup of tea but for me the book worked very well and I will certainly read the second volume in this series "Selling Out".
Website of the author:
After a fatal explosion at a research center in Texas nothing on earth (or Otopia as earth is called now) is as it has been before. The explosion opened spheres to other realities - magical spheres where elves, demons and other strange creatures dwell. Some years after this incident Lila Black, a special agent, receives the order to protect an elvish rock star who gets letters with death threats.
Lila isn´t your average bodyguard � she´s a cyborg, half a beautiful young woman, half a Terminator (sorry, I couldn´t resist..g). After almost tortured to death Lila was rebuilt as a cyborg and in her mind she struggles with her condition, she´s worried how far she´s still human and not only a killing machine powered by her own nuclear reactor inside. Of course her first mission doesn´t go as planned and Lila has to go to Alfheim, the realm of the elves to save Zal (the elvish rock star) and to face her past because in this realm she was nearly killed...
This book is an interesting blend of science fiction and fantasy, magic and technology coexist in bizarre worlds with all kind of strange creatures you can imagine. I liked Lila although I couldn´t comprehend some of her decisions I admit. She has not only to live with her human worries and her cyborg body but to make things even worse - when an elven necromancer is killed during her resuce mission he slips into Lila´s mind to her annoyance and discomfort and builds up his home inside her. There´s also snappy humor, even romance (and sex) isn´t missed out and references to LOTR (but in this book the elves are really snobs) made me smile. I liked Zal who is an unusual elf and who doesn´t mind that Lila is umpteen times stronger than he and who doesn´t bother about her half-machine self.
I´m sure the exceptional mix this book offers will not be everyone´s cup of tea but for me the book worked very well and I will certainly read the second volume in this series "Selling Out".
Website of the author:
February 21, 2013
This book was kind of a mess. I don't know if it was listening to it instead of reading it that made it also seem very slow, but I think that was an effect of the author changing her mind in midstream. The setting is fascinating--a "quantum event" breaks reality into seven (?) realms, all of them based on some part of Earth mythology (elemental realm, demonic realm, etc.) and makes Earth history fuzzy so people aren't even sure what parts of it are real. The main character is a woman who was made a cyborg after being horrifically tortured, and Robson has also given this a lot of thought, what with Lila's difficulties in adjusting to her new body, how it feels to carry so much weight, even how the joins between her flesh and metal aren't fully integrated yet.
It's the story I couldn't take. It starts as a typical bodyguard scenario, with Lila assigned to guard a famous musician who happens to be an elf. This section feels like a bunch of incidents strung together instead of an actual plot, and Lila ends up unconscious way too often. Zal the elf has had death threats, hence the bodyguard, but instead he's kidnapped and taken to the head of this sort of terrorist group (I apologize for the oversimplification), and Lila has to go into one of the elven realms to get him.
Which is where the science fiction story turns into a kind of fantasy quest. Suddenly there's a lot of care and attention lavished on a side character who turns out to be a main character, and then *another* character is introduced and given more care and attention. The first side character, Dar, is a double agent with the terrorists and happens to be the guy who tortured Lila; the second guy whose name I've forgotten is actually a dead elf from the opposition whose "spirit body" (thanks to the audiobook I can't spell what it actually is) latches on to Lila like a parasite. Lila has very little trouble getting over both of these things, which I find improbable, though I admit Robson does a good job rehabilitating Dar--I just don't think it would be that easy for anyone to be able to trust their torturer. Also, Dar's excuse for why he did it is lame and selfish (he wanted to keep her alive but also establish his cred with the bad guys. Way to be compassionate).
This was the point where I decided I didn't care very much about any of the characters, and stopped reading.
Abandoned 2/20/13.
It's the story I couldn't take. It starts as a typical bodyguard scenario, with Lila assigned to guard a famous musician who happens to be an elf. This section feels like a bunch of incidents strung together instead of an actual plot, and Lila ends up unconscious way too often. Zal the elf has had death threats, hence the bodyguard, but instead he's kidnapped and taken to the head of this sort of terrorist group (I apologize for the oversimplification), and Lila has to go into one of the elven realms to get him.
Which is where the science fiction story turns into a kind of fantasy quest. Suddenly there's a lot of care and attention lavished on a side character who turns out to be a main character, and then *another* character is introduced and given more care and attention. The first side character, Dar, is a double agent with the terrorists and happens to be the guy who tortured Lila; the second guy whose name I've forgotten is actually a dead elf from the opposition whose "spirit body" (thanks to the audiobook I can't spell what it actually is) latches on to Lila like a parasite. Lila has very little trouble getting over both of these things, which I find improbable, though I admit Robson does a good job rehabilitating Dar--I just don't think it would be that easy for anyone to be able to trust their torturer. Also, Dar's excuse for why he did it is lame and selfish (he wanted to keep her alive but also establish his cred with the bad guys. Way to be compassionate).
This was the point where I decided I didn't care very much about any of the characters, and stopped reading.
Abandoned 2/20/13.
July 28, 2013
*Worth 5 stars* I often flick through the shelves at my local library to see what covers catch my attention - yes... I also freely admit that I judge books by their covers.
It's easy to understand, then, why I was drawn to this one. “What's this? A sexy Lycra clad vixen with enough metal weaponry in her arms and legs to start a war?�. I read the back cover and was even more enticed: Agent Lila Black, half human-half robot, all attitude!
This was a cross between between Lord of the Rings, Buffy & Firefly.
Yes, it's worth putting down the Wii controller for this one folks!!!
Even if your not a big Sci-fi fan this one is worth giving a try because it's on the light side with the twist of other mythical creatures such as elves, demons, ghosts, and elementals mixing due to a Quantum bomb in 2015 that opened a connection to these dimensions.
Lila, a once-beautiful Spy who after nearly dying at the hands of a Elf torturer and had over half her body replaced by machine is assigned to protect an sinful sexy Elf rock-star Zal who has a few hidden surprises of his own (where can I get one of these horny little demons I say - lol!). The sexual tension between Elf rocker Zal and his "robot girl" Lila will guarantee to raise your pulse rate too. Their "game" of love was one of my favorite elements to this book.
There are some great one-liners references to current sayings / books / tv shows and music which give this a contemporary feel as well.
I do recommend you read the books in order (there are now 4 in the series).
It was that good, I've dashed to the kitchen for a long tall drink and rushed back to the chair with the second in the series "Selling out"...it's gonna be another late night! Off on a mission to hell now. You go girl!!!!
It's easy to understand, then, why I was drawn to this one. “What's this? A sexy Lycra clad vixen with enough metal weaponry in her arms and legs to start a war?�. I read the back cover and was even more enticed: Agent Lila Black, half human-half robot, all attitude!
This was a cross between between Lord of the Rings, Buffy & Firefly.
Yes, it's worth putting down the Wii controller for this one folks!!!
Even if your not a big Sci-fi fan this one is worth giving a try because it's on the light side with the twist of other mythical creatures such as elves, demons, ghosts, and elementals mixing due to a Quantum bomb in 2015 that opened a connection to these dimensions.
Lila, a once-beautiful Spy who after nearly dying at the hands of a Elf torturer and had over half her body replaced by machine is assigned to protect an sinful sexy Elf rock-star Zal who has a few hidden surprises of his own (where can I get one of these horny little demons I say - lol!). The sexual tension between Elf rocker Zal and his "robot girl" Lila will guarantee to raise your pulse rate too. Their "game" of love was one of my favorite elements to this book.
There are some great one-liners references to current sayings / books / tv shows and music which give this a contemporary feel as well.
I do recommend you read the books in order (there are now 4 in the series).
It was that good, I've dashed to the kitchen for a long tall drink and rushed back to the chair with the second in the series "Selling out"...it's gonna be another late night! Off on a mission to hell now. You go girl!!!!
November 14, 2011
KEEPING IT REAL was reminiscent of The Lord of the Rings, ON THE ROAD, and DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? all rolled into one, though the way these elements came together is unlike anything I’ve ever read before. Magical and lyric and lovely, this book sweeps from page to page like breathing, wrapping you in the world building so completely it is both foreign and utterly encompassing. Like learning a language through immersion, the music of what you read carries you along until the meaning emerges, and even now I’m still trying to put together the pieces into a greater whole.
This immersion style affects both world building and characters. Both Lila and Zal are presented as inscrutable and larger than life, but as events unfold their secrets start to dribble out on to the page. Not that this makes them any more predictable, nor their happily-ever-after even remotely certain, but the romance aspects of KEEPING IT REAL were the raft that kept me afloat in this complex story. There were definitely parts of the story where losing sight of Lila and Zal had my attention wandering from the book, but never to the point where I lost the thread of the plot. The world building in KEEPING IT REAL is fascinating, and despite an opening primer called “Common Knowledge�, much of what Robson teaches readers comes on the fly, woven into the action of the story. I particularly enjoyed how drastically Lila’s perception of elves changes over the course of the novel, either her growing understanding of elves� formal, stilted speech or her complicated relationship with the elf who’s torture was the reason Lila had lost so much of herself.
Like classic fantasy and science fiction, KEEPING IT REAL is not light reading in and of itself, and it’s the start of a series that promises to be a serious (if rewarding) time investment. Despite my five bats, I still recommend readers check out the excerpt linked above before buying, the style of KEEPING IT REAL is very different from the usual Urban Fantasy fare (to the point where I don’t think that genre label really applies). Dole this book out to yourself when you’re willing to be immersed and swept away and you won’t be disappointed.
Sexual Content: Sex scenes and references to sex.
This immersion style affects both world building and characters. Both Lila and Zal are presented as inscrutable and larger than life, but as events unfold their secrets start to dribble out on to the page. Not that this makes them any more predictable, nor their happily-ever-after even remotely certain, but the romance aspects of KEEPING IT REAL were the raft that kept me afloat in this complex story. There were definitely parts of the story where losing sight of Lila and Zal had my attention wandering from the book, but never to the point where I lost the thread of the plot. The world building in KEEPING IT REAL is fascinating, and despite an opening primer called “Common Knowledge�, much of what Robson teaches readers comes on the fly, woven into the action of the story. I particularly enjoyed how drastically Lila’s perception of elves changes over the course of the novel, either her growing understanding of elves� formal, stilted speech or her complicated relationship with the elf who’s torture was the reason Lila had lost so much of herself.
Like classic fantasy and science fiction, KEEPING IT REAL is not light reading in and of itself, and it’s the start of a series that promises to be a serious (if rewarding) time investment. Despite my five bats, I still recommend readers check out the excerpt linked above before buying, the style of KEEPING IT REAL is very different from the usual Urban Fantasy fare (to the point where I don’t think that genre label really applies). Dole this book out to yourself when you’re willing to be immersed and swept away and you won’t be disappointed.
Sexual Content: Sex scenes and references to sex.
January 11, 2017
A bit of fantasy, a bit of sci-fi, a bit of mystery and a bit of romance. It's got it all.
It's maybe got a bit too much going on though, if I'm honest. I did really like it, but sometimes it felt like it wasn't sure what it wanted to be. It's got science and tech stuff which is good for the sci-fi fan but is a minus for me because in truth I can do without knowing the 'why' and 'how'. Then it's got the fantasy stuff (elves, demons, fae...otherworldly types), but the parallel otherworld thing was a bit confusing because I never really worked out who belonged where and/or why. Then there was the mystery part which kept the story moving and I enjoyed that part but at times even that failed to deliver and I was left wondering the significance. More than all of that though, it was the romance which seemed out of place and incomplete. There was a bit of the 'will they/won't they?' going on and more could have been made of that to keep tying things together but every time it looked like it was going somewhere and had a point....it fizzled out and went flat.
I think that side of things will take off in further books and I do plan on reading them, I'm looking forward to them actually, but I just wish there had been more of a connection for the two main characters in this one.
I never really felt like I got to know the full story here, all the way through I kept thinking there was something I was missing or something I wasn't being told. It's quirky and unusual and you'll have to open your mind and just accept it for what it is but sometimes that isn't made that clear.
However, for all my misgivings it's still a good story and I'm hopeful it will flesh out over the rest of the series.
It's maybe got a bit too much going on though, if I'm honest. I did really like it, but sometimes it felt like it wasn't sure what it wanted to be. It's got science and tech stuff which is good for the sci-fi fan but is a minus for me because in truth I can do without knowing the 'why' and 'how'. Then it's got the fantasy stuff (elves, demons, fae...otherworldly types), but the parallel otherworld thing was a bit confusing because I never really worked out who belonged where and/or why. Then there was the mystery part which kept the story moving and I enjoyed that part but at times even that failed to deliver and I was left wondering the significance. More than all of that though, it was the romance which seemed out of place and incomplete. There was a bit of the 'will they/won't they?' going on and more could have been made of that to keep tying things together but every time it looked like it was going somewhere and had a point....it fizzled out and went flat.
I think that side of things will take off in further books and I do plan on reading them, I'm looking forward to them actually, but I just wish there had been more of a connection for the two main characters in this one.
I never really felt like I got to know the full story here, all the way through I kept thinking there was something I was missing or something I wasn't being told. It's quirky and unusual and you'll have to open your mind and just accept it for what it is but sometimes that isn't made that clear.
However, for all my misgivings it's still a good story and I'm hopeful it will flesh out over the rest of the series.
February 27, 2025
"Kirja on koukuttava yhdistelmä fantasiaa, scifiä, chick litiä ja agenttiromaania." sanoi takakansi.
...noh... Olihan se. Ihan tosi kiinnostavasta alkuasetelmasta, jossa haltiat näyttävät keskaria Tolkienille, saatiin kuitenkin minusta aikaan todella tyypillinen fantasiaseikkailu irvokkaalla "vittuilit minulle kerran, joten rakastan sinua elämäni loppuun saakka"-romanssilla. Tuli tunne, että kirjailijalla oli valmis romaani, jonka alkupään kustannustoimittaja käski ajaa silppurin läpi, ettei sivumäärä olisi ihan läkähdyttävä. Maailma rakennettiin vauhdilla kummallisia aikamuotovaihteluja käyttäen, mutta sitten himmailtiin hyvän aikaa haltiametsissä ihmettelemässä. Ei ollut minun kirja, mutta sehän ei tarkoita, etteikö joku muu tähän syttyisi. Niin valtavasti potentiaalia maailmassa, että mietin silti toisen osan lukemista.
...noh... Olihan se. Ihan tosi kiinnostavasta alkuasetelmasta, jossa haltiat näyttävät keskaria Tolkienille, saatiin kuitenkin minusta aikaan todella tyypillinen fantasiaseikkailu irvokkaalla "vittuilit minulle kerran, joten rakastan sinua elämäni loppuun saakka"-romanssilla. Tuli tunne, että kirjailijalla oli valmis romaani, jonka alkupään kustannustoimittaja käski ajaa silppurin läpi, ettei sivumäärä olisi ihan läkähdyttävä. Maailma rakennettiin vauhdilla kummallisia aikamuotovaihteluja käyttäen, mutta sitten himmailtiin hyvän aikaa haltiametsissä ihmettelemässä. Ei ollut minun kirja, mutta sehän ei tarkoita, etteikö joku muu tähän syttyisi. Niin valtavasti potentiaalia maailmassa, että mietin silti toisen osan lukemista.
December 6, 2008
Keeping It Real...
just didn't keep it real for me. In a nutshell: I couldn't put the book down, but I really didn't like it. I have a hatred of Danielle Steel books and this book rang of DS only with elves, faeries, and an altered universe.
I had a few “jump the shark� moments here. The idea of Lila falling in love with Zal so quickly was foreign to me. This was a woman who had suffered a major trauma at the hand of elves, who went in to the mission dreading being near an elf and yet, she is in love with him in minutes. It may be the effects of the Game, maybe not. That was never clearly defined.
I do not understand why Lila was made field operational when her parts weren't fully fused together. Simply running after Zal tore her apart.
Zal seemed weak for a main character, although maybe that is because there is so much mystery surrounding who he is. His abilities and importance seemed to blur each time they had just come into focus. His reason for being hunted, his importance to the balance between realms was unclear to me for the majority of the book. At the beginning, I thought it was something blood or magically related. I left the book feeling like it was discrimination against his choices which seems rather unimportant in the grand scheme of the adventure.
My favorite character was Dar. He seemed to have the most believable character depth. But they killed him off so unless he pulls a Daniel Jackson, this first book is the last we'll see of him.
I found Arie annoying and, as a leader, unbelievable.
Up until the time of the final escape, I kept thinking, “Oh just come on and blast your way out of this!� The dragon seemed needless and the faeries attacking was a pointless twist although maybe both aspects will be built upon in future books.
The sex. The sex was nicely written and interesting. It just was thrown in at really odd times. I've never understood stories where the main characters are running for their lives but they have more than enough time to stop and shag (as Lila puts it). And the bad guys never catch up � except in a horror flick.
All in all, I couldn't put it down, it was a fast read. But I left it just going, “huh?�
just didn't keep it real for me. In a nutshell: I couldn't put the book down, but I really didn't like it. I have a hatred of Danielle Steel books and this book rang of DS only with elves, faeries, and an altered universe.
I had a few “jump the shark� moments here. The idea of Lila falling in love with Zal so quickly was foreign to me. This was a woman who had suffered a major trauma at the hand of elves, who went in to the mission dreading being near an elf and yet, she is in love with him in minutes. It may be the effects of the Game, maybe not. That was never clearly defined.
I do not understand why Lila was made field operational when her parts weren't fully fused together. Simply running after Zal tore her apart.
Zal seemed weak for a main character, although maybe that is because there is so much mystery surrounding who he is. His abilities and importance seemed to blur each time they had just come into focus. His reason for being hunted, his importance to the balance between realms was unclear to me for the majority of the book. At the beginning, I thought it was something blood or magically related. I left the book feeling like it was discrimination against his choices which seems rather unimportant in the grand scheme of the adventure.
My favorite character was Dar. He seemed to have the most believable character depth. But they killed him off so unless he pulls a Daniel Jackson, this first book is the last we'll see of him.
I found Arie annoying and, as a leader, unbelievable.
Up until the time of the final escape, I kept thinking, “Oh just come on and blast your way out of this!� The dragon seemed needless and the faeries attacking was a pointless twist although maybe both aspects will be built upon in future books.
The sex. The sex was nicely written and interesting. It just was thrown in at really odd times. I've never understood stories where the main characters are running for their lives but they have more than enough time to stop and shag (as Lila puts it). And the bad guys never catch up � except in a horror flick.
All in all, I couldn't put it down, it was a fast read. But I left it just going, “huh?�
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 9, 2008
New series that looked intriguing from the blurb on the back. NOT your typical fantasy at all! Very fun! This book/series breaks all the fantasy stereotypes. Humerous writing, clever, and unique.
Lila Black is a survivor of a magickal attack, saved only by technology that makes her body more machine than human, except for her heart. Her first job out of recovery is to protect Zal, rockstar and somewhat renegade elf, from a death threat from his own people. What seems like a simple bodyguard job turns into so much more when Zal is kidnapped and she has to find him before his enemies decide to sacrifice him in a misguided attempt to seal the rift that formed when the Quantum bomb exploded on the world formerly known as Earth and opened the gates to six other worlds. And in the middle of it all, she has to deal with her feelings about what she's become, and whether or not her attraction to Zal is real, or just part of the game.
Loved this book enough to buy books two and three of the series. Can't emphasize enough that this isn't your typical fantasy or alternate universe series. Its raw, edgy, and darkly humerous.
Lila Black is a survivor of a magickal attack, saved only by technology that makes her body more machine than human, except for her heart. Her first job out of recovery is to protect Zal, rockstar and somewhat renegade elf, from a death threat from his own people. What seems like a simple bodyguard job turns into so much more when Zal is kidnapped and she has to find him before his enemies decide to sacrifice him in a misguided attempt to seal the rift that formed when the Quantum bomb exploded on the world formerly known as Earth and opened the gates to six other worlds. And in the middle of it all, she has to deal with her feelings about what she's become, and whether or not her attraction to Zal is real, or just part of the game.
Loved this book enough to buy books two and three of the series. Can't emphasize enough that this isn't your typical fantasy or alternate universe series. Its raw, edgy, and darkly humerous.
January 3, 2009
I really enjoyed reading this book. I was a little skeptical at first because I thought the title was kind of stupid. (I'm still not really certain what the title has to do with the story, eh well) But I was intrigued by the book cover and the plot that included both fantasy and sci-fi. Being a huge fan of authors Wen Spencer, Eve Kenin and Linnea Sinclair, so this seemed like a perfect book for me. And it was! I admired the author's ability to create a such a well rounded central character-being able to play up her tough image is easy enough since she's part cyborg, but also knowing of her as a young woman filled with sorrow was interesting. The author also does not pull any punches when it comes to keeping the story moving along. She is not afraid to make big changes to locations, characters and takes the assumptions you make and tosses them right out the door. I found myself many times thinking that I'd put the book down and (bam!) something new and shocking would happen and I'd have to keep reading. I read the whole book in one sitting and I can't wait to read the next two. I can only hope that they're as good as the first.
October 19, 2020
We start off with an interesting premise. A 2015 Quantum Bomb has opened up the world to other dimensions including those populated by Elves and Fairies. “Our� world has changed too, with much history lost and emerging with a new name (Otopia) and relationships with those on the other side of the dimensional doorways.
Agent Lila Black is assigned to protect an Elf from death threats and she just happens to be a cyborg with an AI interface.
Ok, so far not bad. Interesting world building and potentially interesting character. But, it was painful to read. 270 pages that felt like 1000, uninteresting characters and an incomprehensible plot. A bit of inter-species romance is thrown in, just for the icing on the cake.
Really painful to read, utterly delighted to turn the final page and to be able to start the process of wiping this from my memory.
Agent Lila Black is assigned to protect an Elf from death threats and she just happens to be a cyborg with an AI interface.
Ok, so far not bad. Interesting world building and potentially interesting character. But, it was painful to read. 270 pages that felt like 1000, uninteresting characters and an incomprehensible plot. A bit of inter-species romance is thrown in, just for the icing on the cake.
Really painful to read, utterly delighted to turn the final page and to be able to start the process of wiping this from my memory.
March 23, 2008
Now this one is really fun. It postulates a surprisingly believable universe of us, demons, faeries, elementals and elves (and all sorts) with a hard science (of sorts) back story.
The heroine is a tough girly fantasy figure but not stupidly so. She's a bit of a lonely ladette and I suppose she's been written up for the modern twenty something rather than old salts like this reviewer. But she seems real enough and characterisation is good.
Be prepared for some genuinely raunchy sex scenes (find out how elves make out with humans) and a bit of violence so this is not for the kids - but worth a try. I'll certainly be reading the next in the series. Recommended.
The heroine is a tough girly fantasy figure but not stupidly so. She's a bit of a lonely ladette and I suppose she's been written up for the modern twenty something rather than old salts like this reviewer. But she seems real enough and characterisation is good.
Be prepared for some genuinely raunchy sex scenes (find out how elves make out with humans) and a bit of violence so this is not for the kids - but worth a try. I'll certainly be reading the next in the series. Recommended.
March 9, 2017
Gave up after about 70 pages. I found the story dull and confusing, and the writing clumsy. It starts with some massive information dumps, and just nothing makes sense!
June 13, 2022
4,5 sterren - Nederlandse paperback
Een cyborg en Elfen. Sci-fi en Fantasy. Een combinatie die vaker is gemaakt, soms geslaagd, soms niet. Lila Black vormt zeker een interessant personage.
De QuantumBom van 2015 veranderen alles. Die was er de oorzaak van dat de fundamentele elementen waaruit alles op de wereld is opgebouwd ingrijpend veranderden: nu, zes jaar later, verkeert de mens in gezelschap van allerlei bijzondere wezens � geheimzinnige Elementaren, vijandige Elfen, Demonen en lieflijke Feeën, met wie het soms moeizaam omgaan is.
Special agent Lila Black zag er ooit uit als een topmodel, maar nu is ze daar niet meer zo zeker van. Na een ernstig ongeluk bestaat ze voor een groot gedeelte uit metaal en kunstmatige onderdelen. Af en toe heeft ze nauwelijks controle over zichzelf: als ze zich bedreigd voelt, verandert ze, soms volstrekt tegen haar zin, in een vechtmachine die moeilijk is tegen te houden. Lila wil helemaal niet in dat half vreemde lichaam zitten. Ze vindt zichzelf lelijk, zelfs onaantrekkelijk en dreigt een minderwaardigheidscomplex op te lopen.
Haar persoonlijke problemen zullen echter nog even moeten wachten nu ze, als dekmantel voor haar activiteiten als special agent, bodyguard wordt van een popmuzikant, een Elf nota bene. Ze raakt betrokken bij een machtsspel dat door Elfen is opgezet. Wie ze dan wel en niet kan vertrouwen, is dan niet duidelijk meer�
Een cyborg en Elfen. Sci-fi en Fantasy. Een combinatie die vaker is gemaakt, soms geslaagd, soms niet. Lila Black vormt zeker een interessant personage. De implementatie van alle mechanische onderdelen in haar lijf, hebben invloed op haar zelfbeeld en op haar gehele dagelijkse leven. In een aantal situaties is Lila er blij mee, bepaalde klussen zijn nou eenmaal beter te klaren als je vol zit met moderne snufjes. Op andere momenten jaagt het haar angst aan, met name als ze in ‘combat-mode� gaat. Ze veranderd dan in een ander persoon die puur gericht is op overleven.
Pluspuntdat ze ook het psychologische kant van cyborgs beschrijft, vaak wordt dit over het hoofd gezien door auteurs. Het sci-fi gedeelte van het boek zat dan ook wel goed naar mijn gevoel.
Donkere magie in een apocalyptische wereld. Wauw.
Een cyborg en Elfen. Sci-fi en Fantasy. Een combinatie die vaker is gemaakt, soms geslaagd, soms niet. Lila Black vormt zeker een interessant personage.
De QuantumBom van 2015 veranderen alles. Die was er de oorzaak van dat de fundamentele elementen waaruit alles op de wereld is opgebouwd ingrijpend veranderden: nu, zes jaar later, verkeert de mens in gezelschap van allerlei bijzondere wezens � geheimzinnige Elementaren, vijandige Elfen, Demonen en lieflijke Feeën, met wie het soms moeizaam omgaan is.
Special agent Lila Black zag er ooit uit als een topmodel, maar nu is ze daar niet meer zo zeker van. Na een ernstig ongeluk bestaat ze voor een groot gedeelte uit metaal en kunstmatige onderdelen. Af en toe heeft ze nauwelijks controle over zichzelf: als ze zich bedreigd voelt, verandert ze, soms volstrekt tegen haar zin, in een vechtmachine die moeilijk is tegen te houden. Lila wil helemaal niet in dat half vreemde lichaam zitten. Ze vindt zichzelf lelijk, zelfs onaantrekkelijk en dreigt een minderwaardigheidscomplex op te lopen.
Haar persoonlijke problemen zullen echter nog even moeten wachten nu ze, als dekmantel voor haar activiteiten als special agent, bodyguard wordt van een popmuzikant, een Elf nota bene. Ze raakt betrokken bij een machtsspel dat door Elfen is opgezet. Wie ze dan wel en niet kan vertrouwen, is dan niet duidelijk meer�
Een cyborg en Elfen. Sci-fi en Fantasy. Een combinatie die vaker is gemaakt, soms geslaagd, soms niet. Lila Black vormt zeker een interessant personage. De implementatie van alle mechanische onderdelen in haar lijf, hebben invloed op haar zelfbeeld en op haar gehele dagelijkse leven. In een aantal situaties is Lila er blij mee, bepaalde klussen zijn nou eenmaal beter te klaren als je vol zit met moderne snufjes. Op andere momenten jaagt het haar angst aan, met name als ze in ‘combat-mode� gaat. Ze veranderd dan in een ander persoon die puur gericht is op overleven.
Pluspuntdat ze ook het psychologische kant van cyborgs beschrijft, vaak wordt dit over het hoofd gezien door auteurs. Het sci-fi gedeelte van het boek zat dan ook wel goed naar mijn gevoel.
Donkere magie in een apocalyptische wereld. Wauw.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 17, 2020
This one started out well: cyborg chick who's a secret agent is hired as personal bodyguard for an elf-rock star. Which sounds cool, but the book ran aground (for me) at around 130/330. It sat on the shelf for a couple of weeks and I kinda forgot about it (seldom a good sign). I just went back and read the last 20 pp. or so to see if I should jump back in. Hmm. Hot elf sex! Except it wasn't, for me anyway. So I read some of the other 2-star reviews such as Ian's, /review/show... "This is a romance novel in disguise. . . . Damn those stealth romance authors!" Heh. Indeed. Oh, well.
August 23, 2008
The basic premise is that Lila Black, a special agent with a body that is mostly machine, has been tasked to protect the lead singer of The No Shows - an elf named Zal. Zal is unusual amongst his kind and has made a strange choice to be "slumming" down on Earth. Someone from Alfheim, who disapproves of Zal's lifestyle is sending him death threats. Half of the book takes place on Earth and the other on Alfheim, but I don't think I can even begin to start describing it. It was so much fun to read! How do I explain why!? First of all - this was not done in a fluffy silly way - when I tried to explain it to someone: "There were elves, and one of them is a rock star-", I got a face. It's not like that at all. The characters are compelling. Lila is a woman who has guns popping out of her body and rides a black motorbike, but she's very confused about how she feels about elves - they almost killed her and that's what made her this way. She has difficulties with accepting what she looks like now. And Zal is a bit of a mystery at first, an elf who has chosen to defy his people and "go native" in another world, exiled because of his choices. His character is rather complex and undefinable. There were a couple of other very interesting characters I wish I could get into but I can't without giving away big chunks of plot. Speaking of the the plot, it unlike anything else I've read, unpredicable, full of action and thrills. There are a lot of pop culture references and jokes (other reviews say many funny LoTR references, which totally went past me, I haven't read those books since I was 14), but you don't need to get them to enjoy the story. The only thing I'd complain about is that there were times in the story where, especially dealing with elves, I felt like they understood something about what was going on that I did not (why did they do that now?). Maybe this lends itself to the whole clash of cultures between human and elf, or maybe I just need to reread those parts. I felt like Robson was an intellectual writing something fun instead of something with a serious agenda. And I'm glad, because I loved it. This was a keeper!
More at my book blog - and
More at my book blog - and
April 16, 2009
Uniquely envisioned story, another satisfying combination of Sci-Fi and Fantasy genres. I have to admit I enjoyed the first half (sci-fi) a little more than the second half (fantasy); can't really pinpoint exactly why. It felt... faster-paced, and more engrossing. Harder to put down. (I really just enjoy a good chase scene on a motorcycle.)
I am waffling as to whether or not to put it on my lesson-in-feminism shelf or not, but I think I won't. Yes, it's a revisionary female character... she's strong, and though it's an artificial strength of metal and self-medication, at least it doesn't feel like that fake I'm-just-going-to-write-a-man-in-a-woman's-body kind of 'strong'. And her sexuality felt less "acted upon" and more of an active kind than most sex scenes I've had the misfortune to read. And different is good--but they aren't a solution, to be sure. So I'll give kudos where due to the author, but can't endorse it as a lesson in feminism.
Specifically, kudos are due for how the female character Lila had to develop the mental and emotional strength to support the drastic new life she was forced to lead, to make something of it she could live with and even be proud of. She didn't spend a lot of time thinking about it, or breaking it down or conscious-raising; she just was. Which is fine. "Hard-a**" isn't the same as being emotionally strong, it's fronting. Good to see a writer who understands this and appreciates the process without throwing pacing, plot and suspense out the window.
I am waffling as to whether or not to put it on my lesson-in-feminism shelf or not, but I think I won't. Yes, it's a revisionary female character... she's strong, and though it's an artificial strength of metal and self-medication, at least it doesn't feel like that fake I'm-just-going-to-write-a-man-in-a-woman's-body kind of 'strong'. And her sexuality felt less "acted upon" and more of an active kind than most sex scenes I've had the misfortune to read. And different is good--but they aren't a solution, to be sure. So I'll give kudos where due to the author, but can't endorse it as a lesson in feminism.
Specifically, kudos are due for how the female character Lila had to develop the mental and emotional strength to support the drastic new life she was forced to lead, to make something of it she could live with and even be proud of. She didn't spend a lot of time thinking about it, or breaking it down or conscious-raising; she just was. Which is fine. "Hard-a**" isn't the same as being emotionally strong, it's fronting. Good to see a writer who understands this and appreciates the process without throwing pacing, plot and suspense out the window.
April 4, 2010
I would have given this book 4 stars in a minute because it has great action, a super heroine, more shooting things than you can shake a stick at and seems to be a kind of urban fantasy all set in a really cool and imaginative tableau plus it has elves and motorcycles and a lot of action, oh yeah did I mention a lot of action, this book runs away with you, but I really did not like the ending all that much, so I docked it a star.
But if you like fun reads and um action, you should give it a try.
But if you like fun reads and um action, you should give it a try.
July 13, 2016
Vispār mani fascinē un ļoti saista elfi. Tāpēc pārsteidza šīs grāmatas nespēja mani sajūsmināt un aizraut tik ļoti kā būtu gaidāms. Drusku par daudz psihadēlijas. Beigas pārāk saldas un seksīgas, kas ekstraordināru stāstu pārvērš lubenē. Plašāk
September 12, 2021
A badass female cyborg guarding the body of an elf rock star. Need I say more?
December 20, 2016
Působivý příběh o kyborgini nesoucí v sobě prvky sci-fi a fantasy v jednom balení.
March 4, 2016
This is a ranty review originally posted on It's too long for ŷ; to read it in its entirety (and see full-size versions of the pictures), !
Spoiler Rating:High
Hello again, Katie!
As you're aware, I'm not reallya science fiction reader (unless it's young adult sci fi, obviously), and my sci fi preferences lean strongly toward cyborgs and mecha-centric stories. (I blame the latter on watching Aliens as an impressionable young thing, and being smitten with Ripley's Caterpillar Powerloader.)
So imagine my delight when a friend let me borrow Keeping It Real, which features a cyborg woman defending an elf man (who's a rock star, FYI) against politically-motivated assassination attempts.
There's not much plot in its synopsis; it's presented as more of a romance than anything else—which I probably should have taken into consideration when I first started reading. Let me tell you why.
Well, I guessI should explain the plot a tiny bit more. And by that I mean "spoil practically the entire novel."
As the synopsis stated, the human, demon, elf, and faerie realms (among others) are accessible to to each other for the first time, with some pretty interesting results. The elves are especially horrified by this development; they're isolationists, staunchly anti-technology, and prefer peace and calm and communing with nature to, well, anything else.
So when one if their own, the highborn Zal, moves to the human realm and starts eating meat (horror!) and singing high-intensity rock songs (horror!) and generally making a very non-elvish spectacle of himself, some unknown elves—presumably an extremist group thatwants to return the elf realm to complete isolation—sends letters to Zal's music producer, threatening to kill Zal.
The humans are ruled by a unified government now, and its National Security Agency is so concerned about the safety of this rock star that they sendtheir single cyborg operative, Lila,on an undercover mission to keep him safe. She's posing as a bodyguard from some random bodyguard agency, and let me tell you, she is really bad at being an undercover operative.
Anyway, Zal is kidnapped by the evil(?) elf queen/whatever, who plans to kill Zal because maybe his blood will repair the "fabric" that used to separate all the various realms, thereby returning the elves to their much-desired isolation. Lila quests through the elvish countryside to rescue Zal, and ultimately the queenfails, because happy endings.
There are some double-crossings and some uncertain loyalties and whatnot, which I approved of. There's some neat elf magic stuff, which I also approved of. There's a deus ex machina dragon at the very end, and you know how I adore dragons (regardless of their deus ex machina status). So why do I only give this book two stars?
Well.
Don'tPut a Super Collider in Texas
I don't know where in Texas this super collider is supposed to have been, but there's a reason why houses in Texas don't have basements; the ground just isn't suited to them. At all. It's either too rocky to dig, the clay is too unstable, or the water table is too high. Unfortunately, this is the very first sentence in the book, and immediately set my eyes a-narrowing.
It's definitely a minor detail, and as a Texan I am perhaps picky about Texas-related details (). However, this is the kind of detail that I would expect an editor to pick up on—and it's only the first in a series of should-have-been-edited errors of the factual, stylistic, and continuity variety.
Don't Skimp on the Logic Aspect of Worldbuilding
I was definitely fascinated by the elves' realm (which I'll describe a bit more later), but was pretty confused about the human one.
First, as a result of the realization that, hey, there are other realms out there, humans apparently (a) adopted a unified government, (b) adopted a singlelanguage, and (c) changed the name of the planet from Earth to Otopia. The story takes place in 2021—five years after the explosion that made inter-realm travel possible—which makes it kind of hilarious to read:
Somewhere in the last sixyears, people forgot that Earth was once Earth. Also during those sixyears, all that One World Government and One World Language stuff happened. Because if there's one thing humans are good at, it's unifying efficiently and without conflict.
Also odd is this:
So demons and elves have both been intimately aware of the existence of extradimensional regions, and both called this type of reality the Aetherstream—but upon meeting the humans, they both adopted the human phrase for it: Interstitial, or I-space. Even though humans weren't aware of I-space until the demons showed them that it existed. Sigh.
Don't Think Readers Won't Notice the Story's Illogical Premise
A premise is a fairly important aspect of a story, being, you know, what the story is built upon. An illogical premise makes for an illogical story. And boy does this story have some premise problems.
A year (couple of years?) before the story opens, Lila was apparently attached to the human diplomatic corps sent to the elves' realm, where she wasto do some spying. Things went, shall we say, badly. She was tortured by elves and returned to the humans in such a condition that her only chance of survival was to undergo a fancy new experimentalprocedure that made her a cyborg.
Now, I love her cyborgness, and I'll describe that in more detail in a little while. What I don't love iswhat comes next.
Specifically, thatLila ischosen to be the 24/7 bodyguard of the elf rock star. Whom she'll have to be within arm's reach of, oh, 24/7.
Why is this a problem?
That's right. Lila is terrified of elves as a result of the whole tortured-nigh-unto-death experience. Oh, and deeply prejudiced against them, might I add.
I don't remember if it was explained why Lila is the operative chosen for this mission, though this tidbit does come up during a mild argument between Lila and Zal about whether or not he should do what she tells him to:
So not only is she terrified of elves, she doesn't even have to be on this mission because there are plenty of others who would happily accept it.
Fortunately (and I say that with finger quotes), Lila gets over her terror within approximatelya page ofmeeting Zal. Now, I'm not a psychologist, but it seems a tad bit unlikely that Lila would work through such deep-rooted psychological issues within, say, fifteen minutes. As a reader, I'd want to see this sort of emotional progress take, oh, the majority of the book, at least.But as the synopsis suggests, the romance is more important than any realistic character development or arc, and almost as soon as Lila is over her fear of elves, she's telling herself not to be so attracted to Zal.
Oh, and since I mentioned psychologists: there is one on staff for the National Security Agency, a Dr. Williams. This poor woman quite desperately wants Lila to open up about being tortured and the transition from human to cyborg, but apparently Lila has other ideas.
Let me restate that to accurately express my astonishment:
Lila was tortured to the brink of death while on a mission in the elves' realm (Alfheim), and saved only by being transformed into a cyborg. She's essentially a one-woman army now. She's been physically rehabilitated and sent back out into the field, working as a lone operative on solo missions. The latest of which is to be the personal bodyguard of an elf.
And the Agency never once made her sit down and talk with a psychologist.
Only after Lila has begun her mission to protect Zal does this happen:
You read that correctly. Lila has never told anyone (at the Agency or otherwise) what actually happened to her leading up to/during the torture. She was just patched up (to be flippant about it) and sent back out in the field. Specifically, into a mission working for an elf.
I just. I can't.
What kind of Agency is this? How could thorough psychological rehabilitation not be included in Lila's post-operative treatment?
Katie, I'm despairing over here.
Don't Claim Your Heroine is an Elite Operative When She Clearly Can't Perform Her Job Correctly
Lila is just constantly failing at her job, starting from the moment she meets Zal:
It doesn't get better from there. Lilaleaves him alone in crowded public places to go chit-chat in a bathroom, for one. She also is apparently completely unprepared for the mission, judging from how she needs to leave her charge alone to go back to her operations headquarters and stock up on necessary weapons/suppliesafter being on the job for less than a day. I'll repeat that for emphasis: she leaves her charge alone. To stock up on weapons and supplies. After being on the job for less than a day.
This is their top operative, really?
While stocking upat her operation's headquarters, this little interaction happens:
I'm not sure why she thinks she needs backup for a potential kidnapping situation, but doesn't need backup for potential assassination attempts. (Also, she doesn't actually get backup.)
During the time Lila spends as Zal's bodyguard, her skills are tested three times. She basically fails the first two, and definitely fails the third.
1. She fights two small assailants (presumably an assassination attempt) and gets poisoned and then knocked out.
2. She fights two adult assailants and is so badly outmatched that she goes into Battle Standard mode (which is awesome!) and almostkills herself and Zal in the process of trying to protect him.
3. She faces off with two adult assailants, and although she holds her own much better this time, Zal is still kidnapped. Whoops?
After the first time, surely someone—Lila or her superiors—should have thought, "You know, maybe having a single bodyguard on this mission isn't enough. Maybe two would be better."
Now, I know the book wouldn't have worked quite the same if Lila had backup, or if Lila was good at her job. But if the story requires Lila to (a) be an elite operative with the National Security Agency, and (b) suck at her job, I want to know why she is elite if she sucks as much as she does. This would've been a great time for her fear of elves to make itself known, for example—except, of course, that would accentuate how dumb the premise is. (Also, she's able to shut down her fear responses through the use of her Artificial-Intelligence-self, which is cool. This isn't the explanation for how she got over her fear of elves so quickly, alas.)
It's obviously necessary to have a flawed protagonist, one who makes mistakes and messes things up. No one enjoys reading about , because there's no tension or stakes involved when she's obviously going to win every battle.
The problem is when the character's mistakes and limitations should receive a certain type of response (say, from her superiors) but don't. If an operative is struggling with her mission, her superiors would send assistance. They wouldn't allowher to just continue messing up.
So there's another logic flaw for you: her superiors are idiots who clearly don't know how to run their Agency.
Cyborgs
As I mentioned, I'm into cyborgs. Pretty seriously. Like, everything about cyborgs fascinates me. I think it started young (watching Star Trek was a family affair when I was growing up, and man those Borg were scary), but didn't really become an obsession until I read Donna Haraway's halfway through my master's program. That one article changed the whole course of my master's degree, and has greatly impacted both what I look for in a book and what I write, myself.
But suffice to say that I'm thrilled with Lila's cyborgness. She looks pretty neat:
Do I wish it had been more carefully and thoroughly explored? Definitely. But there are some acceptable nods toward the issues inherent in cyborgness, and I appreciated those. Such as, of course, her sense of self:
I've already referenced two of my favorite things about Lila's cyborg self: her Artificial Intelligence (aka AI-self) and Battle Standard mode.
Her AI-self is almost exactly what it sounds like: a secondary "brain" that can control her body, overrule her emotions, and is pretty constantly connected to the National Security Agency's, uh, internal servers, as well as the Internet and stuff. It's not intelligent in the sense that she has conversations with it, though. Her control over it is pretty thorough, and it allows her to do some neat stuff. Surgery, for example:
The only complication with her AI-self so far is that its Battle Standard mode is a tad bit...glitchy. Battle Standard is that super hardcore mode she can turn on when she's in a really bad spot, and...well, you can read it:
Cool, huh? I love both the AI-self and the glitchy Battle Standard, and all the cool things Lila can do with her cyborg body.
Interesting Elf-Related Concepts
Elves have kind of been done to death across all media, but (a) I still love them, and (b) I get quite excited when I come across a new or not-often-seen twist on the traditional elf. Keeping It Real offered some of that!
First is the andalune, which is something like an elf's...well, I'll just show you it in action.
In the elves' realm, however, it extends further than just a short distance from the elf's body, actually becoming one with the energy field of nature. The andalune does a great job of providing some additional explanation for why the elves are so nature-centric; they are literally connected to and dependent on nature at every level of their being. This is neat, particularly when so many elvish societies out there are nature-loving because that's just what elves are.
The other neat thing is the Game—a sort of trap that ensnares an elf and a human (or two elves, or an elf and a demon...you get the idea), created and sprung by free-floating wild magic without either party's consent. The wild magic loves secrets, and seeing them manifest in the real world—so if an elf and a human are at odds, and one or both has desires that they are denying, wild magic is likely to initiate a Game to see that those desires are forced into the open.
Of course, there's a science-fictiony sort of explanation offered:
Needless to say, Lila and Zal almost immediately get sucked into a Game revolving around (it's assumed) Lila's repressed attraction to Zal. Each Game has a Victory condition (in their case, the loser begs the winner to end the Game—and by "end the Game" I do mean "sate the loser's lust") and a Forfeit punishment (here, the one who forfeits will never be able to love anyone but the winner).
Honestly, I think this is super neat. The magic of the Game compels both participants to play,whether they want to or not. Humans are generally acknowledged as the predetermined losers, because elves and demons are such more more adept at them. Games between faeries and powerful human businessmen almost led to an economic collapse on earth, and everyone knows that if you commit a homicide as a result of a Game, you can easily get that charge downgraded to manslaughter.
Yes, the Game is an excuse to up the sexual tension between Lila and Zal, but I love the concept of the Game for its own sake.
A Reversal of Stereotypical Gender Roles
You are of course shocked to hear that I'm keenly interested in gender issues (identity, representation, roles, etc.). Ahem.
Keeping It Real offered a fewreally neat gender role reversals that had me smiling. Not terribly surprising, I guess, since this story is about a female protecting a male, but it goes beyond that basic premise. After all, Lila fails to adequately protect Zal, at which point the book turns into a Rescue the Princessquest.
First, there are the physical differences. Lila and Zal are the same height (unless Lila artificially alters her height by manipulating her cyborg legs), but where Lila is all metal and muscle, Zal is willowy grace, big eyes, and long hair.
(Not surprising, I guess, because he's an elf, and the stereotypical elf male these days is super androgynous—but nonetheless, I enjoyed it.)
Zal's personality is cocky and playful, which leads him to tease and test the businesslike Lila when they first meet. Her first official duty as his bodyguard is to transport him from his home to his recording studio, and she has her fancy motorcycle all ready to go for just that. Naturally, this becomes an opportunity for him to try to push her buttons:
(Lizzy would've loved all the motorcycle stuff.)
I'll give Keeping It Real a solid two stars for effort. Its ending (which I won't spoil, unlike apparently everything else about this book—wow, this is a long letter) was much too deus ex machina, its premise too flimsy, and its character arcs too flat/nonexistent for more than two stars. But it did have its neat points (including one in particular that I didn't mention because I want there to be at least one good surprise in there if you read it yourself). I might consider reading the next in the series, Selling Out, but it'd be low on my to-read list.
Love,
Liam
Spoiler Rating:High
Hello again, Katie!
As you're aware, I'm not reallya science fiction reader (unless it's young adult sci fi, obviously), and my sci fi preferences lean strongly toward cyborgs and mecha-centric stories. (I blame the latter on watching Aliens as an impressionable young thing, and being smitten with Ripley's Caterpillar Powerloader.)
So imagine my delight when a friend let me borrow Keeping It Real, which features a cyborg woman defending an elf man (who's a rock star, FYI) against politically-motivated assassination attempts.
There's not much plot in its synopsis; it's presented as more of a romance than anything else—which I probably should have taken into consideration when I first started reading. Let me tell you why.
Well, I guessI should explain the plot a tiny bit more. And by that I mean "spoil practically the entire novel."
As the synopsis stated, the human, demon, elf, and faerie realms (among others) are accessible to to each other for the first time, with some pretty interesting results. The elves are especially horrified by this development; they're isolationists, staunchly anti-technology, and prefer peace and calm and communing with nature to, well, anything else.
So when one if their own, the highborn Zal, moves to the human realm and starts eating meat (horror!) and singing high-intensity rock songs (horror!) and generally making a very non-elvish spectacle of himself, some unknown elves—presumably an extremist group thatwants to return the elf realm to complete isolation—sends letters to Zal's music producer, threatening to kill Zal.
The humans are ruled by a unified government now, and its National Security Agency is so concerned about the safety of this rock star that they sendtheir single cyborg operative, Lila,on an undercover mission to keep him safe. She's posing as a bodyguard from some random bodyguard agency, and let me tell you, she is really bad at being an undercover operative.
Anyway, Zal is kidnapped by the evil(?) elf queen/whatever, who plans to kill Zal because maybe his blood will repair the "fabric" that used to separate all the various realms, thereby returning the elves to their much-desired isolation. Lila quests through the elvish countryside to rescue Zal, and ultimately the queenfails, because happy endings.
There are some double-crossings and some uncertain loyalties and whatnot, which I approved of. There's some neat elf magic stuff, which I also approved of. There's a deus ex machina dragon at the very end, and you know how I adore dragons (regardless of their deus ex machina status). So why do I only give this book two stars?
Well.
Don'tPut a Super Collider in Texas
I don't know where in Texas this super collider is supposed to have been, but there's a reason why houses in Texas don't have basements; the ground just isn't suited to them. At all. It's either too rocky to dig, the clay is too unstable, or the water table is too high. Unfortunately, this is the very first sentence in the book, and immediately set my eyes a-narrowing.
It's definitely a minor detail, and as a Texan I am perhaps picky about Texas-related details (). However, this is the kind of detail that I would expect an editor to pick up on—and it's only the first in a series of should-have-been-edited errors of the factual, stylistic, and continuity variety.
Don't Skimp on the Logic Aspect of Worldbuilding
I was definitely fascinated by the elves' realm (which I'll describe a bit more later), but was pretty confused about the human one.
First, as a result of the realization that, hey, there are other realms out there, humans apparently (a) adopted a unified government, (b) adopted a singlelanguage, and (c) changed the name of the planet from Earth to Otopia. The story takes place in 2021—five years after the explosion that made inter-realm travel possible—which makes it kind of hilarious to read:
Somewhere in the last sixyears, people forgot that Earth was once Earth. Also during those sixyears, all that One World Government and One World Language stuff happened. Because if there's one thing humans are good at, it's unifying efficiently and without conflict.
Also odd is this:
So demons and elves have both been intimately aware of the existence of extradimensional regions, and both called this type of reality the Aetherstream—but upon meeting the humans, they both adopted the human phrase for it: Interstitial, or I-space. Even though humans weren't aware of I-space until the demons showed them that it existed. Sigh.
Don't Think Readers Won't Notice the Story's Illogical Premise
A premise is a fairly important aspect of a story, being, you know, what the story is built upon. An illogical premise makes for an illogical story. And boy does this story have some premise problems.
A year (couple of years?) before the story opens, Lila was apparently attached to the human diplomatic corps sent to the elves' realm, where she wasto do some spying. Things went, shall we say, badly. She was tortured by elves and returned to the humans in such a condition that her only chance of survival was to undergo a fancy new experimentalprocedure that made her a cyborg.
Now, I love her cyborgness, and I'll describe that in more detail in a little while. What I don't love iswhat comes next.
Specifically, thatLila ischosen to be the 24/7 bodyguard of the elf rock star. Whom she'll have to be within arm's reach of, oh, 24/7.
Why is this a problem?
That's right. Lila is terrified of elves as a result of the whole tortured-nigh-unto-death experience. Oh, and deeply prejudiced against them, might I add.
I don't remember if it was explained why Lila is the operative chosen for this mission, though this tidbit does come up during a mild argument between Lila and Zal about whether or not he should do what she tells him to:
So not only is she terrified of elves, she doesn't even have to be on this mission because there are plenty of others who would happily accept it.
Fortunately (and I say that with finger quotes), Lila gets over her terror within approximatelya page ofmeeting Zal. Now, I'm not a psychologist, but it seems a tad bit unlikely that Lila would work through such deep-rooted psychological issues within, say, fifteen minutes. As a reader, I'd want to see this sort of emotional progress take, oh, the majority of the book, at least.But as the synopsis suggests, the romance is more important than any realistic character development or arc, and almost as soon as Lila is over her fear of elves, she's telling herself not to be so attracted to Zal.
Oh, and since I mentioned psychologists: there is one on staff for the National Security Agency, a Dr. Williams. This poor woman quite desperately wants Lila to open up about being tortured and the transition from human to cyborg, but apparently Lila has other ideas.
Let me restate that to accurately express my astonishment:
Lila was tortured to the brink of death while on a mission in the elves' realm (Alfheim), and saved only by being transformed into a cyborg. She's essentially a one-woman army now. She's been physically rehabilitated and sent back out into the field, working as a lone operative on solo missions. The latest of which is to be the personal bodyguard of an elf.
And the Agency never once made her sit down and talk with a psychologist.
Only after Lila has begun her mission to protect Zal does this happen:
You read that correctly. Lila has never told anyone (at the Agency or otherwise) what actually happened to her leading up to/during the torture. She was just patched up (to be flippant about it) and sent back out in the field. Specifically, into a mission working for an elf.
I just. I can't.
What kind of Agency is this? How could thorough psychological rehabilitation not be included in Lila's post-operative treatment?
Katie, I'm despairing over here.
Don't Claim Your Heroine is an Elite Operative When She Clearly Can't Perform Her Job Correctly
Lila is just constantly failing at her job, starting from the moment she meets Zal:
It doesn't get better from there. Lilaleaves him alone in crowded public places to go chit-chat in a bathroom, for one. She also is apparently completely unprepared for the mission, judging from how she needs to leave her charge alone to go back to her operations headquarters and stock up on necessary weapons/suppliesafter being on the job for less than a day. I'll repeat that for emphasis: she leaves her charge alone. To stock up on weapons and supplies. After being on the job for less than a day.
This is their top operative, really?
While stocking upat her operation's headquarters, this little interaction happens:
I'm not sure why she thinks she needs backup for a potential kidnapping situation, but doesn't need backup for potential assassination attempts. (Also, she doesn't actually get backup.)
During the time Lila spends as Zal's bodyguard, her skills are tested three times. She basically fails the first two, and definitely fails the third.
1. She fights two small assailants (presumably an assassination attempt) and gets poisoned and then knocked out.
2. She fights two adult assailants and is so badly outmatched that she goes into Battle Standard mode (which is awesome!) and almostkills herself and Zal in the process of trying to protect him.
3. She faces off with two adult assailants, and although she holds her own much better this time, Zal is still kidnapped. Whoops?
After the first time, surely someone—Lila or her superiors—should have thought, "You know, maybe having a single bodyguard on this mission isn't enough. Maybe two would be better."
Now, I know the book wouldn't have worked quite the same if Lila had backup, or if Lila was good at her job. But if the story requires Lila to (a) be an elite operative with the National Security Agency, and (b) suck at her job, I want to know why she is elite if she sucks as much as she does. This would've been a great time for her fear of elves to make itself known, for example—except, of course, that would accentuate how dumb the premise is. (Also, she's able to shut down her fear responses through the use of her Artificial-Intelligence-self, which is cool. This isn't the explanation for how she got over her fear of elves so quickly, alas.)
It's obviously necessary to have a flawed protagonist, one who makes mistakes and messes things up. No one enjoys reading about , because there's no tension or stakes involved when she's obviously going to win every battle.
The problem is when the character's mistakes and limitations should receive a certain type of response (say, from her superiors) but don't. If an operative is struggling with her mission, her superiors would send assistance. They wouldn't allowher to just continue messing up.
So there's another logic flaw for you: her superiors are idiots who clearly don't know how to run their Agency.
Cyborgs
As I mentioned, I'm into cyborgs. Pretty seriously. Like, everything about cyborgs fascinates me. I think it started young (watching Star Trek was a family affair when I was growing up, and man those Borg were scary), but didn't really become an obsession until I read Donna Haraway's halfway through my master's program. That one article changed the whole course of my master's degree, and has greatly impacted both what I look for in a book and what I write, myself.
But suffice to say that I'm thrilled with Lila's cyborgness. She looks pretty neat:
Do I wish it had been more carefully and thoroughly explored? Definitely. But there are some acceptable nods toward the issues inherent in cyborgness, and I appreciated those. Such as, of course, her sense of self:
I've already referenced two of my favorite things about Lila's cyborg self: her Artificial Intelligence (aka AI-self) and Battle Standard mode.
Her AI-self is almost exactly what it sounds like: a secondary "brain" that can control her body, overrule her emotions, and is pretty constantly connected to the National Security Agency's, uh, internal servers, as well as the Internet and stuff. It's not intelligent in the sense that she has conversations with it, though. Her control over it is pretty thorough, and it allows her to do some neat stuff. Surgery, for example:
The only complication with her AI-self so far is that its Battle Standard mode is a tad bit...glitchy. Battle Standard is that super hardcore mode she can turn on when she's in a really bad spot, and...well, you can read it:
Cool, huh? I love both the AI-self and the glitchy Battle Standard, and all the cool things Lila can do with her cyborg body.
Interesting Elf-Related Concepts
Elves have kind of been done to death across all media, but (a) I still love them, and (b) I get quite excited when I come across a new or not-often-seen twist on the traditional elf. Keeping It Real offered some of that!
First is the andalune, which is something like an elf's...well, I'll just show you it in action.
In the elves' realm, however, it extends further than just a short distance from the elf's body, actually becoming one with the energy field of nature. The andalune does a great job of providing some additional explanation for why the elves are so nature-centric; they are literally connected to and dependent on nature at every level of their being. This is neat, particularly when so many elvish societies out there are nature-loving because that's just what elves are.
The other neat thing is the Game—a sort of trap that ensnares an elf and a human (or two elves, or an elf and a demon...you get the idea), created and sprung by free-floating wild magic without either party's consent. The wild magic loves secrets, and seeing them manifest in the real world—so if an elf and a human are at odds, and one or both has desires that they are denying, wild magic is likely to initiate a Game to see that those desires are forced into the open.
Of course, there's a science-fictiony sort of explanation offered:
Needless to say, Lila and Zal almost immediately get sucked into a Game revolving around (it's assumed) Lila's repressed attraction to Zal. Each Game has a Victory condition (in their case, the loser begs the winner to end the Game—and by "end the Game" I do mean "sate the loser's lust") and a Forfeit punishment (here, the one who forfeits will never be able to love anyone but the winner).
Honestly, I think this is super neat. The magic of the Game compels both participants to play,whether they want to or not. Humans are generally acknowledged as the predetermined losers, because elves and demons are such more more adept at them. Games between faeries and powerful human businessmen almost led to an economic collapse on earth, and everyone knows that if you commit a homicide as a result of a Game, you can easily get that charge downgraded to manslaughter.
Yes, the Game is an excuse to up the sexual tension between Lila and Zal, but I love the concept of the Game for its own sake.
A Reversal of Stereotypical Gender Roles
You are of course shocked to hear that I'm keenly interested in gender issues (identity, representation, roles, etc.). Ahem.
Keeping It Real offered a fewreally neat gender role reversals that had me smiling. Not terribly surprising, I guess, since this story is about a female protecting a male, but it goes beyond that basic premise. After all, Lila fails to adequately protect Zal, at which point the book turns into a Rescue the Prince
First, there are the physical differences. Lila and Zal are the same height (unless Lila artificially alters her height by manipulating her cyborg legs), but where Lila is all metal and muscle, Zal is willowy grace, big eyes, and long hair.
(Not surprising, I guess, because he's an elf, and the stereotypical elf male these days is super androgynous—but nonetheless, I enjoyed it.)
Zal's personality is cocky and playful, which leads him to tease and test the businesslike Lila when they first meet. Her first official duty as his bodyguard is to transport him from his home to his recording studio, and she has her fancy motorcycle all ready to go for just that. Naturally, this becomes an opportunity for him to try to push her buttons:
(Lizzy would've loved all the motorcycle stuff.)
I'll give Keeping It Real a solid two stars for effort. Its ending (which I won't spoil, unlike apparently everything else about this book—wow, this is a long letter) was much too deus ex machina, its premise too flimsy, and its character arcs too flat/nonexistent for more than two stars. But it did have its neat points (including one in particular that I didn't mention because I want there to be at least one good surprise in there if you read it yourself). I might consider reading the next in the series, Selling Out, but it'd be low on my to-read list.
Love,
Liam
March 16, 2021
I liked it a lot, but it's not for everyone. There are many dualities in the book. The main one is that on one hand, it's a high fantasy adventure with sci-fi elements and a lot of interesting world building, and on the other hand it's a complex romance story with some explicit scenes.
The world is a unique take on modern fantasy with a lot of cool reimagining of things like elves and demons. A lot of cool new fantasy elements combined with interesting politics. I will definitely let myself be inspired by the book for things like D&D.
The romance is closer to the typical 'insecure woman falls for the edgy pretty boy' trope. The interplay with the world makes the romance a bit more unique and interesting to read. I can't deny that I like some trope-y romance from time to time.
I think the story is a decent 6.5/10, but my enjoyment was an 8/10.
The world is a unique take on modern fantasy with a lot of cool reimagining of things like elves and demons. A lot of cool new fantasy elements combined with interesting politics. I will definitely let myself be inspired by the book for things like D&D.
The romance is closer to the typical 'insecure woman falls for the edgy pretty boy' trope. The interplay with the world makes the romance a bit more unique and interesting to read. I can't deny that I like some trope-y romance from time to time.
I think the story is a decent 6.5/10, but my enjoyment was an 8/10.
July 17, 2023
This was a re read for me, but it had been such a long time that I didn't remember anything about it when I started and during the reading only the vague idea of "yes I did read this, it is somewhat familiar" came up.
That said, I liked it. It's not a 5 star read, but I was entertained. The world concept is interesting; a mix of sci-fi and fantasy it has the human world, the realm of elves, demons and elementals as well as the undead one. Some of the characters are interesting too (some are just one dimensial add ons). Whilst I wasn't specifically looking to read a romance, I didn't mind it being part of the story. It was integral yes, because of the "games" and the ability of the elves to use their aetherial body as some kind of sensory organ, but it wasn't the main plot point. Or was it?
I will get the myself a used copy of the 2nd book in the series and see how that goes.
That said, I liked it. It's not a 5 star read, but I was entertained. The world concept is interesting; a mix of sci-fi and fantasy it has the human world, the realm of elves, demons and elementals as well as the undead one. Some of the characters are interesting too (some are just one dimensial add ons). Whilst I wasn't specifically looking to read a romance, I didn't mind it being part of the story. It was integral yes, because of the "games" and the ability of the elves to use their aetherial body as some kind of sensory organ, but it wasn't the main plot point. Or was it?
I will get the myself a used copy of the 2nd book in the series and see how that goes.
April 30, 2014
This is probably not a book for die-hard fantasy or sci fi fans, but it's amusing and entertaining enough for the rest of us, and if you enjoy the sort of 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' episode which concentrates on relationships or holodeck fun, you'll probably enjoy this. Outwardly fantasy, featuring elves, demons, faeries and elementals, with a series title which hints at sci fi (Quantum Gravity) and a cyborg for a heroine, I was a bit puzzled by the lack of science in this book, and I'm at a loss to explain the title. I wasn't entirely sure if I was going to enjoy 'Keeping It Real', billed on the back cover as "full of sex and elves and motorbikes". Nevertheless, it really was an extremely enjoyable tale with sexual tension between the main characters, a journey of discovery into the unfamiliar world of the elves with the promise of more to come in the other books in the series.
Taking away the fantasy background, this story is about trying to break down barriers between races, breaking cultural taboos and proving that mixing races will not lead to the breakdown of society. It is also about identity: “I was born elf, and I need to be in Alfheim sometimes�, says Zal, the rockstar elf whose identity is confused by his time spent in Demonia and his artistic life in the human world. Our heroine, Lila is prejudiced against elves, mostly because one did a pretty good job of trying to kill her. Now she’s been repaired as a cyborg, and her first job since her recovery is to act as bodyguard to Zal, a rebellious elf who has scandalised elven society by performing hard rock music to humans, who are despised by high elves. What's more, he is consorting with demons (strangely reminiscent of heavy metal fans), faeries and elementals. Lila has a big chip on her shoulder about elves but is drawn into a magical Game with Zal, ensnared by wild magic; they share an irresistible chemistry. As the plot thickens and everyone is under suspicion of threatening Zal, the couple finds itself being pursued by members of the elf secret service, one of whom turns out to be Dar, the elf who nearly destroyed Lila. As in the best fantasy, a magical journey ensues with many dangers along the way with twists and turns, surprises and revelations and mutual suspicion between the characters. Nobody can be trusted to tell the whole truth. It turns out that Zal is not the only elf attracted to Lila, against all the odds. There’s an evil queen, strange creatures in the mountains, forbidden magic. There is action in the lake which couldn't help but remind me of the scene in the lake in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Just when you think the plot is dragging and you don’t know how they’re going to get out of a situation, up pops something completely unexpected to save the day or complicate the issue.
Justina Robson has fun mentioning various cultural references, some of them exceptionally British, so they might be lost on other nationalities; this doesn't detract from the plot but does mean you could miss some of the humour. Sometimes that goes a little awry. “Oh dear, how sad, never mind�, for example sounds like a catchphrase from English comedy, but the correct phrase was “Oh dear, what a pity, never mind�. I wonder how deliberate that was.
Things I’ve learned about elves (according to Justina Robson):
- “The first rule of engagement with elves, like dragons, is that you never play Games with them.�
Andalune is a sort of magical aura which elves use as an extra sense but also to communicate and share feelings � of all sorts.
- The elf kingdom itself has powers of healing for humans as well as elves.
- There are different elf castes. Attitudes are very inflexible.
- Metal can weaken elves. They are disgusted by it.
- Words and music have a far deeper emotional impact on elves who are therefore very careful about the words they use. A full name has a deep magic allowing one elf to control another; elves guard their full names jealously and try to keep them out of their enemies' hands.
This is a very feminine take on fantasy, so if you are looking for Bladerunner-style hard-edged sci fi, this isn't the book for you. If you like your elves sexy, your heroines intelligent and strong and don't mind some magic in the mix, I'd recommend 'Keeping It Real' (whatever that means). Also recommended for fans of Jasper Fforde's 'Thursday Next' series.
Taking away the fantasy background, this story is about trying to break down barriers between races, breaking cultural taboos and proving that mixing races will not lead to the breakdown of society. It is also about identity: “I was born elf, and I need to be in Alfheim sometimes�, says Zal, the rockstar elf whose identity is confused by his time spent in Demonia and his artistic life in the human world. Our heroine, Lila is prejudiced against elves, mostly because one did a pretty good job of trying to kill her. Now she’s been repaired as a cyborg, and her first job since her recovery is to act as bodyguard to Zal, a rebellious elf who has scandalised elven society by performing hard rock music to humans, who are despised by high elves. What's more, he is consorting with demons (strangely reminiscent of heavy metal fans), faeries and elementals. Lila has a big chip on her shoulder about elves but is drawn into a magical Game with Zal, ensnared by wild magic; they share an irresistible chemistry. As the plot thickens and everyone is under suspicion of threatening Zal, the couple finds itself being pursued by members of the elf secret service, one of whom turns out to be Dar, the elf who nearly destroyed Lila. As in the best fantasy, a magical journey ensues with many dangers along the way with twists and turns, surprises and revelations and mutual suspicion between the characters. Nobody can be trusted to tell the whole truth. It turns out that Zal is not the only elf attracted to Lila, against all the odds. There’s an evil queen, strange creatures in the mountains, forbidden magic. There is action in the lake which couldn't help but remind me of the scene in the lake in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Just when you think the plot is dragging and you don’t know how they’re going to get out of a situation, up pops something completely unexpected to save the day or complicate the issue.
Justina Robson has fun mentioning various cultural references, some of them exceptionally British, so they might be lost on other nationalities; this doesn't detract from the plot but does mean you could miss some of the humour. Sometimes that goes a little awry. “Oh dear, how sad, never mind�, for example sounds like a catchphrase from English comedy, but the correct phrase was “Oh dear, what a pity, never mind�. I wonder how deliberate that was.
Things I’ve learned about elves (according to Justina Robson):
- “The first rule of engagement with elves, like dragons, is that you never play Games with them.�
Andalune is a sort of magical aura which elves use as an extra sense but also to communicate and share feelings � of all sorts.
- The elf kingdom itself has powers of healing for humans as well as elves.
- There are different elf castes. Attitudes are very inflexible.
- Metal can weaken elves. They are disgusted by it.
- Words and music have a far deeper emotional impact on elves who are therefore very careful about the words they use. A full name has a deep magic allowing one elf to control another; elves guard their full names jealously and try to keep them out of their enemies' hands.
This is a very feminine take on fantasy, so if you are looking for Bladerunner-style hard-edged sci fi, this isn't the book for you. If you like your elves sexy, your heroines intelligent and strong and don't mind some magic in the mix, I'd recommend 'Keeping It Real' (whatever that means). Also recommended for fans of Jasper Fforde's 'Thursday Next' series.
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