Annalee Newitz, Annalee Newitz: Autonomous: A Novel (2017, Tor Books)
298 pages
Published Sept. 19, 2017 by Tor Books.
When anything can be owned, how can we be free
Earth, 2144. Jack is an anti-patent scientist turned drug pirate, traversing the world in a submarine as a pharmaceutical Robin Hood, fabricating cheap scrips for poor people 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, an unlikely pair: Eliasz, a brooding military agent, and his 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 understand.
And underlying it all is one fundamental question: Is freedom possible in a culture where everything, even people, can be owned?
pharma pirate roaming the Arctic. Bots having orgasms. Meditations on love, freedom, consciousness, and agency. Great story, great characters. I'm glad Newitz is delving more into the Terraformers world, but I want more stories about Med, Jack, Threezed, Elias, Paladin. Any or all.
