Autonomous: A Novel

298 pages

Published Sept. 19, 2017 by Tor Books.

ISBN:
978-0-7653-9209-1
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4 stars (4 reviews)

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?

4 editions

Eher enttäuschend als cyberpunk Meilenstein

2 stars

Content warning Spoiler für die Sex-mit-Abhängigen Storyline

A review from Goodreads

5 stars

Fascinating sci-fi that discusses Artificial Intelligence, bio-hacking, patents, human-bot relationships, and piracy. It had that Asimov’s feel making me wonder about robots programming and how they could develop consciousness and feelings. I felt empathy for all the characters even the evil ones! Although there’s no good versus evil. It’s more like everybody’s doing what they believe is right and the arguments are all valid.

Strange and enjoyable

4 stars

Fun action packed story, lots happening, but also a very dark dystopia. The way tech is woven into the story is really interesting, well researched and full of accurate little details. The structure of the story is cool, with the two main focal characters in direct opposition. It creates empathy with the "villains" - who have a very weird plot.