Autonomous (novel)

Last updated

Autonomous
Autonomous hardcover.jpg
Cover of the US hardcover edition
Author Annalee Newitz
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre Science fiction
Publisher Tor Books
Publication date
September 19, 2017
Pages301 (hardcover, first edition)
Awards Lambda Literary Award for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror
ISBN 978-0-7653-9207-7 (hardcover)

Autonomous is a 2017 science fiction novel by Annalee Newitz. It is Newitz's debut novel and was published by Tor Books on September 19, 2017. Set in a near future Earth, the book describes a world where both humans and intelligent robots can be owned as property. The events of the novel follow Jack, a "drug pirate" who manufactures illegal versions of patented drugs, and Paladin, a combat robot who is owned by the law enforcement agency searching for Jack after one of the drugs she reverse-engineered turns out to have dangerous side effects.

Contents

Autonomous received generally positive reviews from critics. It won the Lambda Literary Award for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror and was nominated for several other awards, including the Nebula Award for Best Novel.

Plot

In 2144, Jack Chen is a chemist who reverse engineers patented pharmaceuticals to manufacture generic versions which she sells on the black market. She lives on a submarine in the Arctic Sea, outside of the Free Trade Zone, an economic union which covers the majority of North America. Jack steals an experimental drug called Zacuity, a "productivity enhancer" which causes the user to experience a pleasurable sensation while working. Jack discovers that the drug has addictive properties intentionally engineered by Zaxy, the corporation that created it. After several hospitalizations and deaths are connected to black market Zacuity, Jack finds herself on the run from legal authorities. She is joined by Threezed, an escaped indentured human.

Paladin is a newly-activated combat robot owned by the International Property Coalition, or IPC, an international law enforcement organization that handles patent infringement. They [lower-alpha 1] are assigned to handle the Zacuity case alongside Eliasz, a human agent who enjoys the violent aspects of his work. Paladin is indentured to Eliasz and incapable of acting autonomously. While at a shooting range with Paladin, Eliasz becomes aroused. Eliasz berates Paladin using homophobic slurs after they question him about it, as he perceives Paladin as male and is ashamed by his arousal.

Flashbacks reveal that 30 years ago Jack was in a relationship with Krish Patel, a fellow bioengineer and anti-patent activist, but they had a falling out which led to Jack's turn to piracy. In the present, Jack and Threezed head to Krish's lab in Saskatoon. They pass through Yellowknife, where they meet Med, an autonomous robot who has been independently researching the Zacuity cases. Med joins Jack and Threezed at Krish's lab, where they work on developing a counteractive to the addictive properties of Zacuity. Med and Threezed find an online forum post about a drug called Retcon, which appears to counteract Zacuity addiction but leaves many people averse to working.

Meanwhile, Eliasz is drugged while undercover at a party in Casablanca, and Eliasz and Paladin have sex. Paladin tells Eliasz that their brain came from a female soldier, and Eliasz begins to refer to Paladin as female. Eliasz travels to Las Vegas and sends Paladin to Vancouver. In order to go undercover in Vancouver's community of autonomous bots, Paladin is given a temporary "autonomy key". While autonomous, Paladin examines their own programming and learns that they are programmed to feel a strong sense of attachment to Eliasz.

Eliasz arrives in Vancouver and reconnects with Paladin. Eliasz and Paladin find Krish's lab and confront Krish and Med. Eliasz tortures Krish and kills him after learning Jack's location in Moose Jaw. Jack sets a trap and manages to hold Paladin and Eliasz off long enough for Med and Threezed to arrive. Paladin is gravely wounded in the ensuing fight, and Eliasz has the opportunity to shoot Jack but chooses instead to go back for Paladin.

Jack is officially presumed dead after the firefight. Med publishes her research into Retcon and the drug becomes a widespread treatment for Zacuity addicts. Zaxy conducts a successful PR campaign denying the claims that the black market drug was the same as Zacuity. Paladin recovers from their damage with their autonomy intact but is no longer recognized by the IPC. Eliasz and Paladin depart together for Mars.

Background, style, and themes

Newitz has a background in journalism. They founded io9, a science fiction and futurism blog that was part of Gawker Media, in 2008 and remained editor of the publication until they left in 2015. [1] Newitz's non-fiction coverage at io9 included stories that focused on themes they would later incorporate into Autonomous, such as medical technology and the changing landscape of intellectual property. [2]

Though some events take place in Las Vegas and Casablanca, the majority of the events of the novel are set in present-day Canada. Newitz was raised in California but had family members in Canada and spent holidays in Saskatchewan. According to Newitz, they chose Saskatchewan as the setting for the novel in part because they felt that it was "the kind of place that often gets forgotten" in favor of major metropolitan cities in depictions of the future. [3] They noted the irony that many science-fiction television programs are filmed in Vancouver but depicted as taking place in the United States or other countries. [3]

Autonomous is set in a 22nd century future Earth which has broadly embraced free market economics on a global scale. The world governments depicted are economic unions which cooperate to enforce the property rights of privately-owned companies. [4] In the book, medicine has advanced to the point where complex drug interventions are capable of solving wide varieties of problems beyond illness, including reversing the effects of aging and improving physical fitness. Meanwhile, the healthcare system shown is a fee-for-service system where access to these drugs is restricted to the wealthy. Many of the better jobs in the society require the drugs, leading to a system of class discrimination. In addition, both humans and robots are allowed to be owned as property in the world depicted, where this ownership is referred to as indenture. [5]

The themes of Autonomous are primarily explored through the actions and thoughts of individual characters. The character of Paladin, a newly activated robot who is self-aware but unable to act autonomously, is used to explore the idea of freedom and its relationship to consent. Paladin is designed for combat and does not question being used as a weapon. When their owner Eliasz becomes attracted to them, they begin to question human sexuality, gender, and the degree to which their own feelings for Eliasz are something they have freely chosen. [6] The relationship between Paladin and Eliasz is contrasted to the relationship between Jack, a human who has lived much of her life outside of the system of government and standard social structures, and Threezed, who was raised in slavery. Both of these relationships also deal with issues of ambiguous sexual consent. [5]

The book also has noteworthy depictions of LGBT characters and relationships. Many of the characters in the book do not have a gender-based view of sexual attraction, including Jack, who is depicted in relationships with characters of multiple genders. [4] Paladin states that they do not share the human concept of gender and switches from using male to female pronouns halfway through the book at the urging of Eliasz, who struggles with internalized homophobia. [4]

Reception

Autonomous received generally positive reviews, with Newitz's background in journalism and the book's approach to covering intellectual property and medicine receiving particular attention. Writing for The Verge , Adi Robertson compared the book to Newitz's non-fiction work and said the book "draws bold and interesting connections between the ownership of people and information". [2] In a review for Den of Geek , Kayti Burt praised the complexity of the book's worldbuilding and described the book as "[working] best when these perceived dichotomies collapse and work together to become something more complicated, messy, and honest". [7] In a review for NPR , Amal El-Mohtar praised the book for "startling insights [and] delicately turned prose" as well as "compelling character arcs", but criticized the book's technical world building and said that "a lot of the intellectual property aspects of the world don't quite stand up to scrutiny". [8] Niall Harrison, writing for Strange Horizons , also found issues with the world-building and found details of the depiction of society to be inconsistent in a way that impacted the plot, writing "the symptom and the system need to feel crushingly inescapable; and they don't always". [5]

The writing style and characters of Autonomous were also widely praised. Robertson wrote that "Newitz’s pared-down style makes Autonomous a lean thriller that pairs a fast-moving cat-and-mouse game with an impassioned ethical argument". [2] Nisi Shawl of The Seattle Times wrote that Newitz was "both extremely funny and unfussily violent" and generally praised the characters with the exception of Eliasz, who she described as an "affectless cipher". [9] Both Shawl and Burt praised the interactions between non-human characters in the book, with Burt describing them as "some of the best scenes in this book". [7] Kirkus described the book as "a strong and cerebral start if perhaps a little too open-ended". [10]

Reviewers were mixed on the book's handling of sexuality. In a review for Tor.com, Lee Mandelo praised the treatment of Paladin's gender and wrote that "for several nonbinary readers, I suspect it will strike a familiar chord". Mandelo also described the sexual power dynamics as "consistently engaging", [4] but Shawl found that Eliasz and Paladin's relationship in particular had close parallels to the power dynamics of slavery in the United States which detracted from the novel. [9]

Awards and honors

Autonomous won the 2018 Lambda Literary Award for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror, an annual award given to works which explore LGBTQ topics and themes. [11] The award was presented on June 4, 2018. [11] Autonomous was nominated for several other literary awards, including the 2017 Nebula Award for Best Novel. [12]

Awards for Autonomous
Date PresentedAwardYearResultRef.
May 19, 2018 Nebula Award for Best Novel 2017Nominated [12]
June 4, 2018 Lambda Literary Award for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror 2018Won [11]
June 22–24, 2018 Locus Award for Best First Novel 2018Nominated [13]
June 22, 2018 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel 2018Nominated [14]

Notes

  1. ↑ The book uses he/him pronouns to refer to Paladin initially and later switches to she/her pronouns, based on Eliasz's perception of them. For consistency, this article uses they/them pronouns for Paladin.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack McDevitt</span> American science fiction author

Jack McDevitt is an American science fiction author whose novels frequently deal with attempts to make contact with alien races, and with archaeology or xenoarchaeology. Most of his books follow either superluminal pilot Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchins or galactic relic hunters Alex Benedict and Chase Kolpath. McDevitt has received numerous nominations for Hugo, Nebula, and John W. Campbell awards. Seeker won the 2006 Nebula Award for Best Novel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex and sexuality in speculative fiction</span>

Sexual themes are frequently used in science fiction or related genres. Such elements may include depictions of realistic sexual interactions in a science fictional setting, a protagonist with an alternative sexuality, a sexual encounter between a human and a fictional extraterrestrial, or exploration of the varieties of sexual experience that deviate from the conventional.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gynoid</span> Robot resembling a woman

A gynoid, or fembot, is a feminine humanoid robot. Gynoids appear widely in science fiction film and art. As more realistic humanoid robot design becomes technologically possible, they are also emerging in real-life robot design. Just like any other robot, the main parts of a gynoid include sensors, actuators and a control system. Sensors are responsible for detecting the changes in the environment while the actuators, also called effectors, are motors and other components responsible for the movement and control of the robot. The control system instructs the robot on what to do so as to achieve the desired results.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annalee Newitz</span> American journalist, editor, and author of both fiction and nonfiction

Annalee Newitz is an American journalist, editor, and author of both fiction and nonfiction, who has written for the periodicals Popular Science and Wired. From 1999 to 2008, Newitz wrote a syndicated weekly column called Techsploitation, and from 2000 to 2004 was the culture editor of the San Francisco Bay Guardian. In 2004, Newitz became a policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. With Charlie Jane Anders, they also co-founded Other magazine, a periodical that ran from 2002 to 2007. From 2008 to 2015, Newitz was editor-in-chief of Gawker-owned media venture io9, and subsequently its direct descendant Gizmodo, Gawker's design and technology blog. As of 2019, Newitz is a contributing opinion writer at The New York Times.

<i>Dreamsnake</i> 1978 science fiction novel by Vonda McIntyre

Dreamsnake is a 1978 science fiction novel by American writer Vonda N. McIntyre. It is an expansion of her 1973 novelette "Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand", for which she won her first Nebula Award in 1974. The story is set on Earth after a nuclear holocaust. The central character, Snake, is a healer who uses genetically modified serpents to cure sickness—one snake is an alien "dreamsnake", whose venom gives dying people pleasant dreams. The novel follows Snake as she seeks to replace her dreamsnake after its death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlie Jane Anders</span> American science fiction author and commentator

Charlie Jane Anders is an American writer. She has written several novels as well as shorter fiction, published magazines and websites, and hosted podcasts. In 2005, she received the Lambda Literary Award for work in the transgender category, and in 2009, the Emperor Norton Award. Her 2011 novelette Six Months, Three Days won the 2012 Hugo and was a finalist for the Nebula and Theodore Sturgeon Awards. Her 2016 novel All the Birds in the Sky was listed No. 5 on Time magazine's "Top 10 Novels" of 2016, won the 2017 Nebula Award for Best Novel, the 2017 Crawford Award, and the 2017 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel; it was also a finalist for the 2017 Hugo Award for Best Novel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nisi Shawl</span> African-American writer, editor, and journalist

Nisi Shawl is an African-American writer, editor, and journalist. They are best known as an author of science fiction and fantasy short stories who writes and teaches about how fantastic fiction might reflect real-world diversity of gender, sexual orientation, race, colonialism, physical ability, age, and other sociocultural factors.

<i>Therefore Repent!</i> 2007 graphic novel by Jim Munroe

Therefore Repent! is a bestselling Canadian graphic novel written by anarchist freelance writer Jim Munroe and illustrated by Salgood Sam. It is set in a post-apocalyptic Chicago neighbourhood after the predictions of Christian fundamentalists concerning the Rapture have come true, the righteous have risen to Heaven and a society divided between Splitters who believe there will be a second Rapture for those who perform good acts after the first and those who do not. The novel has been called "a progressive, humane rejoinder" to the Christian science fiction novels in the Left Behind series.

Nanopunk refers to an emerging subgenre of science fiction that is still very much in its infancy in comparison to its ancestor-genre, cyberpunk, and some of its other derivatives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel R. Delany</span> American author, critic, and academic (born 1942)

Samuel R. "Chip" Delany is an American writer and literary critic. His work includes fiction, memoir, criticism, and essays on science fiction, literature, sexuality, and society. His fiction includes Babel-17, The Einstein Intersection ; Hogg, Nova, Dhalgren, the Return to Nevèrÿon series, and Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders. His nonfiction includes Times Square Red, Times Square Blue, About Writing, and eight books of essays. He has won four Nebula awards and two Hugo Awards, and he was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clifford D. Simak</span> American science fiction writer (1904–1988)

Clifford Donald Simak was an American science fiction writer. He won three Hugo Awards and one Nebula Award. The Science Fiction Writers of America made him its third SFWA Grand Master, and the Horror Writers Association made him one of three inaugural winners of the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement. He is associated with the pastoral science fiction subgenre.

<i>Among Others</i> 2011 novel by Jo Walton

Among Others is a 2011 fantasy novel written by Welsh-Canadian writer Jo Walton, published originally by Tor Books. It is published in the UK by Corsair. It won the 2012 Nebula Award for Best Novel, the Hugo Award for Best Novel and the British Fantasy Award, and was a nominee for the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel.

<i>Throne of the Crescent Moon</i> 2012 novel by Saladin Ahmed

Throne of the Crescent Moon is a fantasy novel written by American writer Saladin Ahmed. It is the first book in The Crescent Moon Kingdoms series. The book was published by DAW Books in February 2012. The book was nominated for the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Novel, 2013 David Gemmell Morningstar Award for Best Fantasy Newcomer and the 2012 Nebula Award for Best Novel. It won the 2013 Locus Award for Best First Novel.

<i>Ancillary Sword</i> Science-fiction novel by Ann Leckie

Ancillary Sword is a science fiction novel by the American writer Ann Leckie, published in October 2014. It is the second novel in Leckie's "Imperial Radch" space opera trilogy, which began with Ancillary Justice (2013) and ended with Ancillary Mercy (2015). The novel was generally well-received by critics, received the BSFA Award for Best Novel and the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, and was nominated for the Nebula and Hugo awards.

<i>Carnival</i> (Bear novel) 2006 novel by Elizabeth Bear

Carnival is a 2006 science fiction novel by Elizabeth Bear, published in the US by Bantam Spectra. It was nominated for a Philip K. Dick Award, a Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel and a Lambda Literary Award.

Hopepunk is a subgenre of speculative fiction, conceived of as the opposite of grimdark. Works in the hopepunk subgenre are about characters fighting for positive change, radical kindness, and communal responses to challenges.

<i>This Is How You Lose the Time War</i> 2019 novella by Amal el-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

This Is How You Lose the Time War is a 2019 science fiction epistolary novella by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. It was first published by Simon & Schuster. It won the BSFA Award for Best Shorter Fiction, the Nebula Award for Best Novella of 2019, and the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Novella.

<i>The Future of Another Timeline</i> 2019 novel by Annalee Newitz

The Future of Another Timeline is a 2019 science fiction novel by Annalee Newitz. The feminist time-travel adventure follows Tess, a professional time traveler, geoscientist, and secretly a member of the Daughters of Harriet (Tubman), who are working to make the future better for women.

"When Robot and Crow Saved East St. Louis" is a 2018 science fiction short story by Annalee Newitz. It was first published in Slate.

<i>The Terraformers</i> 2023 novel by Annalee Newitz

The Terraformers is a novel by Annalee Newitz. It was published on January 31, 2023, and was received positively by book critics.

References

  1. ↑ Newitz, Annalee (November 30, 2015). "I'm Heading Out to the Black. Farewell, io9 and Gizmodo!". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved August 13, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Robertson, Adi (September 23, 2017). "Autonomous is a sharp thriller about robotic freedom and patent piracy". The Verge . Archived from the original on August 15, 2023. Retrieved August 12, 2023.
  3. 1 2 Sauter, Molly (January 11, 2018). "Annalee Newitz's Autonomous imagines a world in which basic rights become private contracts". The National Post . Archived from the original on August 16, 2023. Retrieved August 13, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Mandelo, Lee (September 19, 2017). "Degrees of Ownership: Autonomous by Annalee Newitz". Tor.com . Archived from the original on August 12, 2023. Retrieved August 12, 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 Harrison, Niall (December 11, 2017). "Autonomous by Annalee Newitz". Strange Horizons . Retrieved August 12, 2023.
  6. ↑ Roine, Hanna-Riikka; Suoranta, Esko (June 2022). "Science Fiction and the Limits of Narrativizing Environmental Digital Technologies". Partial Answers: Journal of Literature and the History of Ideas . 20 (2). Johns Hopkins University Press: 297–319. doi:10.1353/pan.2022.0017. S2CID   249417488.
  7. 1 2 Burt, Kayti (September 23, 2017). "Autonomous Review: Robots, Love, and Identity Under Capitalism". Den of Geek . Archived from the original on August 12, 2023. Retrieved August 12, 2023.
  8. ↑ El-Mohtar, Amal (September 20, 2017). "In A Future Ruled By Big Pharma, A Robot Tentatively Explores Freedom — And Sex: 'Autonomous'". NPR . Archived from the original on August 15, 2023. Retrieved August 12, 2023.
  9. 1 2 Shawl, Nisi (September 24, 2017). "'Autonomous': a funny, violent novel of robots, humans, radical science". The Seattle Times . Archived from the original on August 12, 2023. Retrieved August 12, 2023.
  10. ↑ "AUTONOMOUS | Kirkus Reviews". Kirkus Reviews . Archived from the original on August 12, 2023. Retrieved August 12, 2023.
  11. 1 2 3 "30th Annual Lambda Literary Award Winners Announced". Lambda Literary. June 5, 2018. Archived from the original on January 21, 2022. Retrieved August 12, 2023.
  12. 1 2 "2017 - The Nebula Awards®". nebulas.sfwa.org. Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association. Archived from the original on March 15, 2019. Retrieved August 13, 2023.
  13. ↑ "2018 Locus Awards Winners". Locus Online. June 23, 2018. Archived from the original on May 9, 2023. Retrieved August 13, 2023.
  14. ↑ "sfadb: John W. Campbell Memorial Award 2018". www.sfadb.com. Locus Science Fiction Foundation. Archived from the original on July 4, 2018. Retrieved August 13, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.