Autonomous by Annalee NewitzMy 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)
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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