The Future of Another Time Line, by Annalee Newitz

So this is a pretty straightforward time travel story, meant to use time travel as a way to talk about our present. Which it does, very effectively. The main point of the book is a feminist vs. misogynist time travel edit-the-past war, and it stays logically true to what time travel would accomplish, but with a very interesting twist that in this telling, everyone has known through most of human history that time travel is possible. The premise is a side note to the main story, but brings up some interesting points Newitz kind of throws in along the way. The time travel machines no longer have an interface--worn away over geologic time--but are usable anyway by tapping on the rocks they appear to be. Travelers have gone back far enough to see the interface, and it has lights and buttons. Yet there is a discussion about whether they are made or a natural phenomenon. It seems obvious that they are made, but should it be? I think if I were living with something like this I would entertain the natural hypothesis, without any other evidence of other intelligence involvement. It's a lot like Intelligent Design.

The main story is a very 201- telling of a time edit battle, which serves as a platform to talk about feminism, lesbianism, and the lengths one can go to in defending an idea. It ticks all the boxes, from White Supremacy to moralism to abusive fathers. It's well done, but been done. The plot twists are worthy ones. A self-conscious time travel story is rarely explored territory--most of the others I know of are one-off events or secret societies. One very large exception would be the Terminator series, where it's invented and seems to be generally known about at the end of the future human-AI war. So overall, I'm glad I read it.

Goodreads Review

Autonomous, by Annalee Newitz

Autonomous by Annalee Newitz

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Overall I liked this book, but I have to say that other reviewers have made me consider some problematic aspects of it. I'm not going to change my impression, but there's a lot to think about, and much of it is troubling.

As a novel, it's pretty sophisticated. We have four points of view--Jack the pharmaceutical pirate (with a submarine!), Eliaz the law enforcement agent with a twisted conscience, his partner bot Paladin, and Med the lab bot. All pretty well represented. The story flows along really well, and stays open right to the end.

The characters are troubling, sometimes within the story and sometimes because of how they are presented. Eliaz and Paladin are pretty cold blooded killers, even as they develop a sexual relationship. That's got its own issues, and offends some LGBT readers. I can see it. (view spoiler)[Paladin starts off as a He, because it is a combat robot with obvious weaponry and armor. Eliaz develops an attraction to it for exactly this reason. Eliaz later finds out that Paladin's human brain (something of an accessory) is female, and imposes the female pronoun on Paladin. Paladin goes along with this. We have an interesting exploration of Paladin's inner monologue on whether he (now she) has any choice but to go along. (hide spoiler)]

I believe that the author is trying to say some important things about gender and sexuality, but there's a more dominating aspect of the inevitability of social decay that makes the style actually get in the way of these points. This is very much a millennial voice--the best that the characters fighting a highly rigged system can hope for is a partial, temporary pushback. Corporatism crushes pretty much all of the relationship stories, and I believe this is deliberate.

Great as a library read. More problematic as a purchase, but I'm overall glad I read it. There's a lot going on.



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