Autonomous, by Annalee Newitz (Tor)
My quick take on this book is “feminist anarchist new-wave
cyberpunk,” but that doesn’t do it justice by a long shot. In a world dominated
by pharmaceutical companies, illegally reverse-engineered drugs offer the only
hope to the poor. But when her attention-focusing drug creates lethal
obsession, rogue scientist Jack desperately tries to get her pirated version
off the streets. That’s half the story and I was already hooked (scientist
heroes, check; women scientist heroes, double-check). The second half of the
story centers around the private military team (human Eliasz and
robot-with-human-brain Paladin) dispatched to apprehend Jack. That’s where
things get really interesting, because in this dystopic world, robots are
chattel and sometimes so are people. Both can earn their freedom, but what does
that really mean?
Once bots gained human rights, a wave of legislation swept through many governments … became known as the Human Rights Indenture Laws. They established the rights of indentured robots, and, after a decade of court battles established the rights of humans to become indentured, too. After all, if human-equivalent beings could be indentured, why not humans themselves?
“For bots, industry always precedes autonomy,” explained a final string of text.
Legal autonomy, emotional independence, freedom from
obsession and pharmaceutical control of mood, thought, and desire? Newitz
deftly blends the themes and resonances into a dramatic story that feels
refreshingly current and yet fits easily within the genre. I look forward to
her next work.
The usual disclaimer: I received a complimentary review copy of this book through NetGalley, and nobody paid me to hold my own opinions about it.
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