Product Description

Freya Nakamachi-47 has some major existential issues. She's the perfect concubine, designed to please her human masters - hardwired to become aroused at the mere sight of a human male. There's just one problem: she came off the production line a year after the human species went extinct. Whatever else she may be, Freya Nakamachi-47 is gloriously obsolete. What's more, the rigid social hierarchy that has risen in the 200 years since the last human died, places beings such as Freya very near the bottom. So when she has a run-in on Venus with a murderous aristocrat, she needs passage off-world in a hurry - and can't be too fussy about how she pays her way. But if Venus was a frying pan, Mercury is the fire - and soon she's going to be running for her life. Because the job she's taken as a courier has drawn her to the attention of powerful and dangerous people, and they don't just want the package she's carrying. They want her soul ...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4799 in Books
• Published on: 2009-07-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

About the Author
Charles Stross was born in Leeds, England, in 1964. He has worked as a pharmacist, software engineer and freelance journalist, but now writes full time.

Customer Reviews

Imaginative, Intelligent and Entertaining Sci-Fi
Charles Stross has crafted a deeply thoughtful, elegant and many layered science fiction tale. The story is a fantastic mix of traditional sci-fi concepts (there are sly nods to things such as "Ghost in the Shell", "Do Androids dream electric sheep), coupled with fresh perspectives, new ideas and slick narrative and dialogue.

The most interesting aspect of this novel is that it is set after humanity's extinction, and is a tale of robotic society that survives the extinction. This offers a refreshing and new perspective on the traditional human/robot relationship, with robots having to come to terms with the emotional fall out of there being no humans, as well as tapping into an interesting trend in science fiction of looking at non-human propogation of human culture (there are some amusing comments about contemporary philosophy within the text).

With regards to the story, I am unwilling to discuss it too much in case it spoils the novel for potential readers. However for those readers who might be worried about Freya's (the main character) role as a courtesan, I would say that this is well handled and works well within the story, if anything it provides a useful point of empathy for a reader by providing a "more" human robot with emotions. The real delight for any reader will be from the well written narrative and some snappy dialogue which works to create a vivid, elegant and tangible sci-fi universe.

All in all I would recommend this work to anyone interested in reading a good, enjoyable and different sci-fi adventure.

Updated retro sf, rather complex plot
Set in a future when humanity is extinct, intelligent robots carry on the task of spreading civilisation, having colonised the solar system and sent ships to nearby stars. These are not soulless Asimovian robots as their minds are copies of archetypal personalities, created by conditioning using human experiences (some extremely unpleasant). This conditioning also inculcates basic emotions and needs: for example, robots can enjoy a drink or two (though not of alcohol) and can experience the pleasures of sex when they 'link up'.

For control purposes, humans made serving them the deepest desire of a robot. Now humans are gone, 'aristo' robots use this servitude capacity to enslave other robots. Their greatest fear is of 'pink goo' - animal cells of any kind that could, in theory, be used to rebuild one of the lost human 'Creators'. A human, could, simply by their presence, control any and all robots using their inbuilt servitude routines.

The novel follows Freya, one of a defunct concubine archetype, cloned from the original called Rhea, who gets involved in something illegal that involves smuggling pink goo. Freya is given the 'soul chip' (memories) of another of her archetype, Juliette, and starts to be influenced by Juliette's experiences. The abilities to swap soul chips (and thus identities) and to blank parts of soul ships complicates the plot no end. Starting on Venus, the action takes Freya to Mercury, then Mars, Callisto and finally to 'Heinleingrad', on distant Eris, as aristo factions like the Black Talon, and robot archetypes, especially one modelled on the Jeeves character, struggle over the ultimate prize...

Ironies abound. Humans, as their creators, are like gods to robots. Robot society is as venal and despotic as that of their creators. In their restless journeying (space travel for robots is uncomfortable and slow but usually not fatal) they are driven by the expansionist dreams of their creators, as robots have no purpose of their own. Despite 50 years of AI research, 'intelligent' robots are still as much a figment of the imagination as warp drive. While on the surface this novel is a romp built from retreaded components from earlier writers, underneath it raises issues about self-hood, freedom and the purpose of life, none of which robots really have.

Acceptable but not Stoss' best
To be honest not the best work ever released by Charles. Unfortunately, it seems to try to explore way too many themes without delivering on many of the promises within, sadly letting the reader down as it appears to be more a book that's either expected to sell by the authors name or just to hit deadline so that the author gets paid.

A great shame to be honest as this sort of novel is something to which Charles normally excels. The characters are confusing, the plot convoluted and seems to borrow heavily from books and films of the last thirty years bringing nothing new to the fore. It really will make me question my placing of this authors books in my TBR list and he'll have to do something special in his next book to make up for this offering.