Saturn's Children |  | Author: Charles Stross
Publisher: Ace Hardcover
List Price: $24.95
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Rating:  54 reviews
Sales Rank: 42969
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Media: Hardcover
Pages: 336
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.2
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.92
ASIN: B001QXC48Q
Publication Date: July 1, 2008
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Product Description
Sometime in the twenty-third century, humanity went extinct—leaving only androids behind. Freya Nakamichi 47 is a femmebot, one of the last of her kind still functioning. With no humans left to pay for the pleasures she provides, she agrees to transport a mysterious package from Mercury to Mars. Unfortunately for Freya, she has just made herself a moving target for some very powerful, very determined humanoids who will stop at nothing to possess the contents of the package.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 54
 Excellent Hard Science, But Overly Confusing November 13, 2009
Steven M. Anthony (Arkansas)
Humanity has become extinct, but civilization and galactic colonization continues to hum along, thanks to a variety of highly sentient androids and other artificial intelligence, which have amusingly oriented themselves into a highly rigid class conscious society. The narrator of our story happens to be an "escort" android (a/k/a a sexbot), manufactured in the form of its creators. As a result, the android is obsolete, both as to form and function.
This novel is not the easiest to read. I frequently found myself rereading paragraphs in an effort to process the information therein. This is partly due to the fact that it is extremely descriptive, especially as it related to science and engineering, and partly due to the fact that the protagonist and many of the other characters wear the memory chip of "sister" or "brother" replicants, making much of the action confusing as it relates to point of view and actual identification of many of the actors. Starting at about page 150, I became somewhat lost and confused and can't swear that I unraveled all the details by the time the novel ended.
There is some outstanding hard science fiction contained in this novel (orbital space tethers, migrating Mercurial cities on rail, fascinating details of energy sources, space and interstellar travel), though perhaps not presented in the best form for easy consumption. Of particular interest are the travel sequences, of increasing length and complexity (Venus to Mercury to Mars to a Jovian moon to a dwarf planetoid outside the Kuiper belt and finally to a nearby star system) and the methods of propulsion, length of travel and the implications thereof.
There are some excellent and witty sections in this book, for example, robots debating the philosophy of evolution vs. intelligent design as related to artificial intelligence. Space ships, hotels and other usually inanimate objects are not only sentient, but sexual creatures.
Much of the novel revolves around the concept of "pink goo", a/k/a human DNA/RNA, the discovery of which could result in reintroduction of the human species with thought provoking implications. All in all, an excellent novel from the viewpoint of hard science fiction, however, at times a chore to read due to the excessively confusing plot lines. Five stars for the science, two stars for the story.
 Thoroughly original November 12, 2009
Anton Polinger
This book is above the cut of most hard sci-fi. It has been a long time since I've read something this captivating and disturbing. Virtually guaranteed to be a fresh look at robotics, with many adult overtones.
Fembots are Hot! October 29, 2009
D. Barber
Freya Nakamichi is beautiful, sexy, skilled, and willing to love and serve the first human she comes across. Freya Nakamichi is a fembot who only has several problems to overcome. The biggest one is that between the time she was manufactured and placed in storage, and the time she was finally activated, the entire human race rather died off leaving her, and all the rest of the human-created robot species, to carry forward on their own. In short, Freya is an obsolete model created to fulfill a need that no longer exists. Tough sledding, even for a robot. While humanity created their robots in their own image, they also seemed to have created them with many of the same problems, issues, jealousies, avarice, insecurities, and sexual issues of humanity itself. In summary, humans may be gone now, but human problems remain and Freya has to deal with them.
Enough other reviews give the basics of this story, so let me mention some areas where this story shines. Robots as sexual servants is well represented here as well as the post-human robotic society to evolve from it. The space travel around the solar system is varied, inventive, and completely convincing. And the remnants of the failed attempt to terraform a gigantic Martian crater paint a vivid picture of the furthest reach of the frail human species and their dreams. Maybe robots really do need to become the post-humans to explore the galaxy.
There are no shortcuts or warp drives in the fictional science here. I best recommend this story for readers with an interest in robotic society in general and fembots in particular. Also Heinlein readers might find a lot to like here in the social issues explored, as well as readers looking to see a hard science view of a possible future alien society because one should always remember that robots aren't people. Prudes may be offended.
I'd give the 4.5/5 stars if I could get in that extra ½.
Heinlein would be pleased October 23, 2009
David C. Hill (Centennial, CO USA)
This self-subtitled "space opera" is dedicated to Asimov and Heinlein, but it is to the latter that the greater homage lies. Stross takes "Friday" (one of my Heinlein favorites), barely files the serial numbers off, chunks it up and remixes it into a story of a robot culture (Asimov) and a sexy robot geisha/courier (Heinlein) trying to make her way through it amidst threats and double-crosses and identity crises. Heinlein would have admired (and been flattered by) the result ... complete with a Heinleinesque weak ending.
Fembots just want to have fun! October 3, 2009
Michael Lichter (Buffalo, NY USA)
As Freya, the female first-person robot narrator of SATURN'S CHILDREN, Charles Stross allows his inner smart-alecky, pun-loving, teenage boy to run wild. Compared to women who write female characters in the first person, Stross is far more fixated on his character's orifices, what gets inserted into them, and what leaks out of them. No female author I've read has her character speak about herself, her body, and about sex in a cutesier fashion than does Stross, although Charlaine Harris comes close. This style of narration will not be to every reader's taste, and it certainly didn't sit well with me. That doesn't mean that Stross' humor, his subversion of the Asmovian robot paradigm, and his playful re-visioning of 1950s sci-fi tropes are not entertaining. It just means that as you plow through this chaotically-plotted retro roller-coaster ride, you may want to have some Pepto-Bismol on hand.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 54
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