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Notes for my con panel, take two
I was on the panel described above at Swancon 40 and is often the case, I wasn't satisfied with my presentation. Since I so rarely talk in public, especially with other people, no surprise I'm not terribly polished about it. I was also fairly depressed, which is a situation that comes and goes with me and for which I take stuff. So I apparently came over as being negative about these books, which I'm extremely attached to, enough to own most of them and to borrow the rest.
This series is by J.D. Robb, otherwise known as Nora Roberts, who otherwise writes historical and present day romance. She was commissioned to write the first three, Naked in Death, Glory in Death and Immortal in Death. Henceforth I'll just use the first word of the title when naming one of them. The series proved so overwhelmingly successful that they have continued from 1995 to the present.
I asked myself why they are set in the future when they could be present day "policewoman meets billionaire" romance. Many of the storylines could be transplanted to now. I think the answer – and this is one of the things I didn't get a chance to explain – is that Robb wanted these books to have a historical backstory, one that we haven't yet experienced, which makes the lead characters and their ensemble of friends and enemies unique. This backstory is the Urban Wars, a deliberately vague description of worldwide civil disorder, mostly in the major cities, which apparently came close to destroying civilisation. In its wake, guns were banned, new technology arose and humans discovered new ways of murdering one another. That meant that whatever else changed, there had to be police officers in the world of the late 2050s/early 2060s.
Eve Dallas is a homicide detective in New York City who meets her match and the love of her life in the form of Roarke, a billionaire businessman. He has a shady past and she a tortured one, but both of them now work together in the service of their city. Roarke indeed seems constantly amused by the fact that he's now on the side of "the good guys." He's as handy with futuristic and archaic lockpicks as he is with buying up as much of the planet (and off the planet) as he can manage.
There are many fun props in the books, such as flying cars – and 3D New York traffic jams – droids which are mostly used as servants, babysitters and pets, in the form of dogs and cats. There are Auto Chefs which cook meals for you and phone links, which featured before the invention of actual smartphones.
Fantasy elements also exist, though some people may question my defining psionics as fantasy. Witches (or Wiccans) and tarot readers and so on have real power, though there are as many con artists and fakes as there are in our reality. Psychics are on retainer by the police and their work helps in investigations, though is not accepted in court without on-the-ground evidence.
The science fiction props are entertaining but not meant to be realistic. Robb deliberately is vague about the dates of the Urban Wars since giving precise dates would mean locking herself in for future books. Going by the backstories of various characters, however, the civil disorder cannot have begun any later than the 2020s. So we'll be there in five years.
The Urban Wars backstory was used extensively in the book Origins in Death and here I am going to give some spoilers for that story. I got stopped on the panel when I wanted to do that. I had the idea that I was talking about the books for how they fit in with the scenario of sf/detective crossovers, rather than doing reviews, but so be it. Origins tells the story of two doctors, a father and son very successful modern day plastic surgeons, and the history of the father as a battlefield surgeon in the Wars. These experiences start him on the path of wanting to create better humans, not just improvements in existing people. Cloning, eugenics and lifetime brainwashing all feature and it's definitely one of my favourite books.
These books are marketed as romance and there is at least one obligatory and very steamy sex scene in each book, usually between Eve and Roarke, though sometimes the backup characters also have a go, though I find the love life of Peabody, Eve's partner, and her "cohab" McNab more comic than anything. If that's not your thing; all you have to do is turn the page and the plot will resume. They are good plots.
I was on the panel described above at Swancon 40 and is often the case, I wasn't satisfied with my presentation. Since I so rarely talk in public, especially with other people, no surprise I'm not terribly polished about it. I was also fairly depressed, which is a situation that comes and goes with me and for which I take stuff. So I apparently came over as being negative about these books, which I'm extremely attached to, enough to own most of them and to borrow the rest.
This series is by J.D. Robb, otherwise known as Nora Roberts, who otherwise writes historical and present day romance. She was commissioned to write the first three, Naked in Death, Glory in Death and Immortal in Death. Henceforth I'll just use the first word of the title when naming one of them. The series proved so overwhelmingly successful that they have continued from 1995 to the present.
I asked myself why they are set in the future when they could be present day "policewoman meets billionaire" romance. Many of the storylines could be transplanted to now. I think the answer – and this is one of the things I didn't get a chance to explain – is that Robb wanted these books to have a historical backstory, one that we haven't yet experienced, which makes the lead characters and their ensemble of friends and enemies unique. This backstory is the Urban Wars, a deliberately vague description of worldwide civil disorder, mostly in the major cities, which apparently came close to destroying civilisation. In its wake, guns were banned, new technology arose and humans discovered new ways of murdering one another. That meant that whatever else changed, there had to be police officers in the world of the late 2050s/early 2060s.
Eve Dallas is a homicide detective in New York City who meets her match and the love of her life in the form of Roarke, a billionaire businessman. He has a shady past and she a tortured one, but both of them now work together in the service of their city. Roarke indeed seems constantly amused by the fact that he's now on the side of "the good guys." He's as handy with futuristic and archaic lockpicks as he is with buying up as much of the planet (and off the planet) as he can manage.
There are many fun props in the books, such as flying cars – and 3D New York traffic jams – droids which are mostly used as servants, babysitters and pets, in the form of dogs and cats. There are Auto Chefs which cook meals for you and phone links, which featured before the invention of actual smartphones.
Fantasy elements also exist, though some people may question my defining psionics as fantasy. Witches (or Wiccans) and tarot readers and so on have real power, though there are as many con artists and fakes as there are in our reality. Psychics are on retainer by the police and their work helps in investigations, though is not accepted in court without on-the-ground evidence.
The science fiction props are entertaining but not meant to be realistic. Robb deliberately is vague about the dates of the Urban Wars since giving precise dates would mean locking herself in for future books. Going by the backstories of various characters, however, the civil disorder cannot have begun any later than the 2020s. So we'll be there in five years.
The Urban Wars backstory was used extensively in the book Origins in Death and here I am going to give some spoilers for that story. I got stopped on the panel when I wanted to do that. I had the idea that I was talking about the books for how they fit in with the scenario of sf/detective crossovers, rather than doing reviews, but so be it. Origins tells the story of two doctors, a father and son very successful modern day plastic surgeons, and the history of the father as a battlefield surgeon in the Wars. These experiences start him on the path of wanting to create better humans, not just improvements in existing people. Cloning, eugenics and lifetime brainwashing all feature and it's definitely one of my favourite books.
These books are marketed as romance and there is at least one obligatory and very steamy sex scene in each book, usually between Eve and Roarke, though sometimes the backup characters also have a go, though I find the love life of Peabody, Eve's partner, and her "cohab" McNab more comic than anything. If that's not your thing; all you have to do is turn the page and the plot will resume. They are good plots.