Autonomous by Annalee Newitz

Autonomous

by Annalee Newitz

'Autonomous is to biotech and AI what Neuromancer was to the internet' NEAL STEPHENSON

'Something genuinely and thrillingly new' WILLIAM GIBSON

'Holy hell. Autonomous is remarkable' LAUREN BEUKES

WINNER OF THE 2018 LAMBDA AWARD FOR SFF
SHORTLISTED FOR THE NEBULA AWARD 2018
SHORTLISTED FOR THE LOCUS AWARD FOR BEST DEBUT 2018

Earth, 2144. Jack is an anti-patent scientist turned drug pirate, traversing the world in a submarine as a pharmaceutical Robin Hood, fabricating cheap medicines for those who can't otherwise afford them. But her latest drug hack has left a trail of lethal overdoses as people become addicted to their work, doing repetitive tasks until they become unsafe or insane.
Hot on her trail is an unlikely pair: Eliasz, a brooding military agent, and his indentured robotic partner, Paladin. As they race to stop information about the sinister origins of Jack's drug from getting out, they begin to form an uncommonly close bond that neither of them fully understands.
And underlying it all is one fundamental question: is freedom possible in a culture where everything, even people, can be owned?

Reviewed by sarahjay on

2 of 5 stars

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I can't even write a review because I'm so tired from slogging through this. I liked the robots. I wish the whole story was about them and their history. This world was interesting enough and is the reason I finished reading it, but just... the characters were all so irritating, and every time someone did something that almost made me care about them, they would turn around and ruin it somehow. Except the robots, who were always great. Just give me a book about robots.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 5 April, 2018: Finished reading
  • 5 April, 2018: Reviewed
  • Started reading
  • Finished reading
  • 5 April, 2018: Reviewed