Tanith Lee (1947–2015)

This the 19th novel/collection I've read from Tanith Lee. After reading The Lords of Darkness trilogy, I decided I had to collect and read everything she wrote. Unfortunately, out of that 19 I've got 4 1-star and 4 2-star books (vs only 3 5-star and 4 4-star). This one barely made it to 3-stars. It got better in the last 3rd, but was kind of a slog for the first two thirds.

The idea was definitely original, she paints a stark dystopian landscape, and the final "reveal" wasn't what I thought it would be, but it still often felt dated and not very exciting.… (altro)

Electric Forest (1979) by Tanith Lee reworks the myths of Narcissus and Pygmalion into a dark speculative fiction. In a society where most people are rich, healthy, and handsome, Magdala, a disabled, impoverished child of a sex worker, has none of those advantages. A Svengali-like scientist transfers her consciousness into a beautiful android body and introduces her to high society and its complex machinations. There is, of course, a catch or two. She has to stay near her old body in its high-tech casket, and her controller can always reduce her to a “mindless stupor with alcohol or dope.”
Lee’s style gives her realistic world-building a gothic frisson.
These days, the novel would come with trigger warnings for rape, torture, and body horror.… (altro)