Saturn's Children

Plot

Product DescriptionSometime in the twenty-third century, humanity went extinct, leaving only androids behind to fulfill humanity’s dreams. And, having learned well from their long-dead masters, they’ve established a hierarchical society—one with humanoid aristo rulers at the top and slave-chipped workers at the bottom, performing the lowly tasks all androids were originally created to do.               Designed as a concubine for a species that hasn’t existed for two hundred years, femmebot Freya Nakamichi-47—one of the last of her kind still functioning—accepts a job from a stranger to deliver a package from mercury to Mars. Unfortunately, she’s just made herself a moving target for some very powerful, very determined humanoids desperate to retrieve the package’s contents…From Publishers WeeklySex oozes from every page of this erotic futuristic thriller. In a far-future class-driven android society, most of the populace are slave-chipped and owned by wealthy aristos. When low-caste but unenslaved android Freya offends an aristo and needs to get off-world, she takes a courier position with the mysterious Jeeves Corporation, but the job turns out to have dangers of its own. Designed as a pleasure-module, Freya isn't quite as obsolete as she could be, as androids have sex with each other incessantly. Hugo-winner Stross (Halting State) has a deep message of how android slavery recapitulates humanity's past mistakes, but he struggles to make it heard over the moans and gunshots. Readers nostalgic for the SF of the '60s will find much that's familiar (including Freya's jumpsuit-clad form on the cover), but that doesn't quite compensate for the flaws.(July)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Review"Good fun... Heinlein himself would've liked this."-San Diego Union Tribune"Sex oozes from every page of this erotic futuristic thriller."-Publishers Weekly "One of the most stylishly imaginative robot tales ever penned." -Booklist "A smart and playful romp." -Times (London)“A tightly plotted, Maltese Falcon-esque thriller with reversals and surprises galore…This is a fabulous book, a witty and deep critique of the field’s shibboleths.” – Cory Doctorow, author ofLittle BrotherAbout the AuthorCharles Stross was born in Leeds, England in 1964. He holds degrees in pharmacy and computer science, and has worked in a variety of jobs including pharmacist, technical author, software engineer, and freelance journalist. He is now a full-time writer.From BooklistIn the preamble to his latest far-reaching novel, Stross invokes Asimov’s famous three laws of robotics, including the one that says robots are forbidden to harm their human masters. The problem here is that there are no more humans left to harm; they became extinct sometime in the twenty-third century. Hundreds of years on, the civilization that spans the solar system and beyond consists entirely of sophisticated androids, one of whom (the narrator) is struggling to make ends meet. With her usual patrons long dead, femmebot Freya Nakamichi must pick up work wherever she finds it. When a run-in with a vengeful android aristocrat forces her to flee a Venus resort, she grabs the first gig available: ferrying a mysterious package between Mercury and Mars. Unfortunately, many dangerous and powerful androids are also eager to pilfer the package, and the price of securing it may be Freya’s own identity. Stross takes a plot device common to mystery novels and turns it into one of the most stylishly imaginative robot tales ever penned. --Carl HaysFrom Bookmarks MagazineCharles Stross is a unique voice among today’s wave of “New British SF” writers, but he also knows his history.Saturn’s Children is dedicated to old lions Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov, and the ghosts of both (especially Heinlein) can be felt in the latest effort. Reviews of the novel vary wildly, which may suggest as much abo