Birthright

by Kathleen Sky, Kelly Freas (Illustrator), Roger Elwood (Editor)

[Back Cover]

"In this towering adventure, Kathleen Sky has created an unforgettable character. Is Andros human or an android created by his scientist-father? Others besides Andros would like to know. The survival of an entire android civilization hangs in the balance. In his desperate search for the truth about himself, Andros discovers what terror means. But neither terror nor love will stop him from finding the answer. He must claim his Birthright.
Kathleen Sky is a storyteller of the first rank."

Cover Art Kelly Freas

190 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Kathleen Sky is the pen name of Kathleen McKinney Goldin, an American science fiction and fantasy author.

Reviews

[Jon Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as a scanned paperback copy on the Internet Archive. Here is yet another entry in the Laser Books series, and this one reaches a new level of oddness, and not necessarily in a good way. It is set in some future where human-appearing androids are manufactured to fill menial jobs. Human reproduction has undergone many permutations as well - people are born naturally, or grown in a vat from a fertilized egg, or possibly even knit from wool yarn - I wasn't reading that closely. Deceased geneticist/industrialist Roarchik has built an empire by making the best androids, and these androids fill positions everywhere. Prior to his death he had been experimenting with advanced androids, called Supers. His son Andros is a young man who has no interest in joining his father's android-making business - he is studying astrogation at the Space Academy on Earth when he learns of his father's death. Andros may be an android or he may not - his birth records are incomplete and unclear. If he can prove he is human, he stands to inherit vast wealth. He reluctantly travels to the planet where the android factory is located and immediately falls into a welter of intrigue. He discovers even the simplest of the menial androids have feelings. The Super androids want independence for all androids and are close to rebellion and are plotting to overthrow their human masters. The interim manager of the android factory and his minions are concocting evil plots. There is a band of Hell's Angels-like hoodlums called Racers stirring up trouble in town. Will the androids win their freedom? Will Andros prove his humanity or will he join with the androids? It's all pretty goofy. If you dare, read the book and find the answer to these and other burning questions. Three out of five stars.

[James Dick · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a tendency for stories about AI and androids to devolve into anti-slavery narratives, which have not only been done to death, but are at best a superficial way of engaging with topics like artificial intelligence and machine life. And while Kathleen Sky is not exempt from this, she subverts expectations just enough to create a truly compelling, dark, and believable tale of a people fighting for their right to life. I am awarding this story four stars; the absence of a fifth is strictly because this story plays with an aged and well-used trope. Sky has proven her excellence.

[Egghead · Rating 3 out of 5]

uninteresting
saga of a man who might
be an android. yawn.