The Jetsons Future of J.D. Robb

I’ve been slowly reading the Eve Dallas mysteries by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts), a few at a time, and recently passed number 25 in the series. Even while reading the first in the series, Naked in Death, I’ve thought the future New York City Robb presented was a “Jetsons Future.” By the way, this is not a critique. It’s more me musing about a concept, and how Robb put it into practice; how she used science fictional trappings within the context of a noir detective series, while keeping the science fictional elements accessible to readers who are not afficionados of sf.

To me, a “Jetsons Future” means several things. First, that there’s a retro-futurist feel – in the Eve Dallas series, the future technology depicted feels, to me, very like the future as it was depicted in the 1960s. Exhibit A, flying cars. Exhibit B, very advanced household robots (called droids, but they don’t seem self-aware). Exhibit C, the autochef (similar to a device shown in Star Trek). These signifiers of the future don’t change much over the course of the series; however, Robb adds a smear of noir to the worldbuilding, for example, a rundown droid as the clerk in a pay-by-the-hour flop, or flying cars that don’t run properly.

I feel that in this series, the retro-futuristic elements–the droids, the autochefs, the flying cars–are stage dressing, there for visual interest or sometimes for humor, as when something malfunctions. The future technology constantly appears in the stories, but it isn’t the reason for the stories.

A common definition of science fiction is exploring the results of a hypothetical change, whether that change be technological, environmental, or social. The Robb series, however, is primarily mystery, sub-genre detective fiction, sub-genre noir. Its plots thus follow the conventions of mystery, not science fiction. The science fictional elements are there only in service of the setting and mystery plot.

For example, there are in-series references to “The Urban Wars,” a time of major social upheaval; the older generations alive in the time of the series would have experienced these wars in their youth. However, the cause and direct effects of the Urban Wars are never explained or explored. For example, a character sees a building, which is cheap and ugly because it was quickly erected after the Urban Wars, or a character’s wife was killed in the Urban Wars. It’s implied these wars were worldwide, but never confirmed. To me, the main purpose of the Urban Wars in the series is to add noir. The series is set in the future, and the future isn’t shiny. Why? Perhaps the Urban Wars wiped out all possibility of such a future. But that’s not explored in the series – the point is how that event in the past affected the mystery plot.

Another aspect of the worldbuilding is the mixture of future tech of different levels. In Eve Dallas’ world, there are fabulous satellite resorts with fabulous technology; these are contrasted with decaying neighborhoods of New York City, whose tech is either broken, out of date, or nonexistent. The implications of an economy that can support such satellites is not deeply explored, even though one of the early novels uses such a resort as a setting. Again, the resorts are there in service of the mystery plot.

The police work in the series is made much easier by future tech: spray sealant so police can work directly with crime scenes; advanced laboratory techniques for uncovering trace evidence (mostly not described); voice-activated computers that run complex potential scenarios. The latter, especially, is useful for the mystery plot because it saves story-time. The reader can be offered possible solutions to the murder without having to read all the steps leading to those conclusions; having those computer probabilities can make the mystery more complex and enjoyable.

Other future tech in the series seems purely recreational, and again is used as background, such as a holographic projector that creates a realistic beach scene that, apparently, is real to the touch as well. As a science fiction reader, I’m sometimes thrown out of the story a little when I wonder, “is that possible with this society’s technological level?” Even though it’s clear from the text that this type of tech is meant to be a throwaway, merely an interesting setting for a sex scene or background for relevant dialogue.

I enjoy these books, but I think I would enjoy them even more if the science fictional aspects were more firmly integrated with the mystery plots.

If you’re interested in reading for yourself, first in the series is Naked in Death, followed by Glory in Death and Immortal in Death.

About Victoria Janssen

Victoria Janssen [she, her] currently writes cozy space opera for Kalikoi. The novella series A Place of Refuge begins with Finding Refuge: Telepathic warrior Talia Avi, genius engineer Miki Boudreaux, and augmented soldier Faigin Balfour fought the fascist Federated Colonies for ten years, following the charismatic dissenter Jon Churchill. Then Jon disappeared, Talia was thought dead, and Miki and Faigin struggled to take Jon’s place and stay alive. When the FC is unexpectedly upended, Talia is reunited with her friends and they are given sanctuary on the enigmatic planet Refuge. The trio of former guerillas strive to recover from lifetimes of trauma, build new lives on a planet with endless horizons, and forge tender new connections with each other.
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4 Responses to The Jetsons Future of J.D. Robb

  1. zanrosin says:

    I happen to agree with you about her stories about the mixture of SF and mystery. To me that mix along with the character development makes the stories interesting and fun to read. She leaves the Urban Wars and the mixed decay with the futuristic stuff unanswered as it is today. Why do we have wars? What is the real point behind them? Why cannot the wealthy place some of their finances and resources to fix what is broke. Why cannot the main character’s work computer and car not always do what they are supposed to do?
    Yet, at the same time, you see the characters going to charity dinners to help the homeless, raise money for hospitals, etc…
    I enjoy reading the mystery parts and the SF part makes the stories fun. She makes the main characters human with their fears, hurts, worries and determination to solve the issues at hand. These are definitely fun stories to read and I recommend them all the time to my friends who do not mind reading a SF murder mystery with romance thrown in.

  2. Yes, and it’s clear a lot of readers love them! My favorite parts are the ongoing secondary characters.

  3. LOL about the Jetson’s Future. I just said the same thing at a party two weeks ago. When Robb started writing these books way back in, I think, 1995? 2058 seemed along way away. Now we’re up to 2011, and most of what she’s written about as future technology seems rather quaint. I mean, back in 1995, I had never heard of soy dogs, now I eat them all the time.

  4. Yes – and she can’t make too many changes because the world is already established. However, in the later books it feels like she’s de-emphasized or changed the focus of some of the more outdated futuretech, when she can do so subtly.

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