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Automaton
THE NEAR FUTURE
Doctor Sydney Betancourt has achieved the impossible–the first robot indistinguishable from a human. But as she reveals her creation to the world she finds that not everyone approves of what she’s done. Some are even willing to kill her for it.
THE FAR FUTURE
S-1D, an automaton in a city of robots, has lived for a long time. But it’s about to be confronted by something it believes to be impossible–a lone girl wandering the wilderness, in spite of the fact that humans have supposedly been extinct for three hundred years.
Across time, their two stories are tied together. As Dr. Betancourt investigates the plot against her and S-1D confronts the solitary human, they will each find their destinies linked in ways that neither one will fully understand– until the end.
Doctor Sydney Betancourt has achieved the impossible–the first robot indistinguishable from a human. But as she reveals her creation to the world she finds that not everyone approves of what she’s done. Some are even willing to kill her for it.
THE FAR FUTURE
S-1D, an automaton in a city of robots, has lived for a long time. But it’s about to be confronted by something it believes to be impossible–a lone girl wandering the wilderness, in spite of the fact that humans have supposedly been extinct for three hundred years.
Across time, their two stories are tied together. As Dr. Betancourt investigates the plot against her and S-1D confronts the solitary human, they will each find their destinies linked in ways that neither one will fully understand– until the end.
- GenresScience Fiction
Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2015
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370 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 6, 2017
I liked the book and the concept it did have some rough language. If you like Sci-fi and Robots and Don't mind the F-word thrown around this is a great book. I received this book from GoodRead Giveaway.
March 6, 2021
These robots do not follow the three laws established by Issac Isimov. So things cannot go well. But it is Dystopian so how can anything go well? Still, the robots are pattered after humans so they do make some human like decisions. I kept wondering why not just download your brain/memories to the automaton and be done with the human body? Why did the robots need bio fuels? Wouldn’t we have something better in the future? And a human society always ends up in the same hierarchy as before. Keeping some in the dark and the higher ups in the know. I guess we don’t know any other way.
The big flaw that I think I see in the story is that S-ID forgot where/how she was created. How can that be if her brain is a computer? Unless it is working as a human brain in that it stores away extremely unpleasant events?
The big flaw that I think I see in the story is that S-ID forgot where/how she was created. How can that be if her brain is a computer? Unless it is working as a human brain in that it stores away extremely unpleasant events?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 4, 2016
I won this book in a goodreads drawing.
A sci fi novel that is rife with heavy handed propaganda.
At some point in the near future, human like robots are on the verge of becoming, and there is some pushback by reactionary troglodytic people, all of whom are portrayed as venal idiots. When the foremost researcher in the field reveals she has invented a robot that has passed as human for months, not only is there an international incident and world-wide riots, someone tries to assassinate her, and a virus is released that will drive the human race into extinction.
In the far future, an unusual robot sees something it hasn't seen in centuries: a human being. This part of the story isn't what it might be. Instead of examining what it would be like for a robotic society to react to the sudden presence of humans, we visit a chiliastic society in an underground bunker, which is exactly the same as every other millennial sect. It is this failure of the imagination, and the need to propagandize which leads to the book's ultimate failure. Rather than provoking thought or imagination, or even entertaining, through world building, the author chooses to try to force a thesis down the reader's throat.
Too bad. The premise is intriguing, and the stories dovetail nicely, revealing a high skill level of authorship, but this book is a wasted opportunity.
A sci fi novel that is rife with heavy handed propaganda.
At some point in the near future, human like robots are on the verge of becoming, and there is some pushback by reactionary troglodytic people, all of whom are portrayed as venal idiots. When the foremost researcher in the field reveals she has invented a robot that has passed as human for months, not only is there an international incident and world-wide riots, someone tries to assassinate her, and a virus is released that will drive the human race into extinction.
In the far future, an unusual robot sees something it hasn't seen in centuries: a human being. This part of the story isn't what it might be. Instead of examining what it would be like for a robotic society to react to the sudden presence of humans, we visit a chiliastic society in an underground bunker, which is exactly the same as every other millennial sect. It is this failure of the imagination, and the need to propagandize which leads to the book's ultimate failure. Rather than provoking thought or imagination, or even entertaining, through world building, the author chooses to try to force a thesis down the reader's throat.
Too bad. The premise is intriguing, and the stories dovetail nicely, revealing a high skill level of authorship, but this book is a wasted opportunity.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews