- Hardcover: 323 pages
- Publisher: Ace Books (July 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0441015948
- ISBN-13: 978-0441015948
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 15.2 x 3.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,155,623 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Imaginative, Intelligent and Entertaining Sci-Fi,
By Kuma (London) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Saturn's Children (Paperback)
Charles Stross has crafted a deeply thoughtful, elegant and many layered science fiction tale. The story is a fantastic mix of traditional sci-fi concepts (there are sly nods to things such as "Ghost in the Shell", "Do Androids dream electric sheep), coupled with fresh perspectives, new ideas and slick narrative and dialogue.
The most interesting aspect of this novel is that it is set after humanity's extinction, and is a tale of robotic society that survives the extinction. This offers a refreshing and new perspective on the traditional human/robot relationship, with robots having to come to terms with the emotional fall out of there being no humans, as well as tapping into an interesting trend in science fiction of looking at non-human propogation of human culture (there are some amusing comments about contemporary philosophy within the text). With regards to the story, I am unwilling to discuss it too much in case it spoils the novel for potential readers. However for those readers who might be worried about Freya's (the main character) role as a courtesan, I would say that this is well handled and works well within the story, if anything it provides a useful point of empathy for a reader by providing a "more" human robot with emotions. The real delight for any reader will be from the well written narrative and some snappy dialogue which works to create a vivid, elegant and tangible sci-fi universe. All in all I would recommend this work to anyone interested in reading a good, enjoyable and different sci-fi adventure.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Updated retro sf, rather complex plot,
By
This review is from: Saturn's Children: A Space Opera (Mass Market Paperback)
Set in a future when humanity is extinct, intelligent robots carry on the task of spreading civilisation, having colonised the solar system and sent ships to nearby stars. These are not soulless Asimovian robots as their minds are copies of archetypal personalities, created by conditioning using human experiences (some extremely unpleasant). This conditioning also inculcates basic emotions and needs: for example, robots can enjoy a drink or two (though not of alcohol) and can experience the pleasures of sex when they 'link up'.
For control purposes, humans made serving them the deepest desire of a robot. Now humans are gone, 'aristo' robots use this servitude capacity to enslave other robots. Their greatest fear is of 'pink goo' - animal cells of any kind that could, in theory, be used to rebuild one of the lost human 'Creators'. A human, could, simply by their presence, control any and all robots using their inbuilt servitude routines. The novel follows Freya, one of a defunct concubine archetype, cloned from the original called Rhea, who gets involved in something illegal that involves smuggling pink goo. Freya is given the 'soul chip' (memories) of another of her archetype, Juliette, and starts to be influenced by Juliette's experiences. The abilities to swap soul chips (and thus identities) and to blank parts of soul ships complicates the plot no end. Starting on Venus, the action takes Freya to Mercury, then Mars, Callisto and finally to 'Heinleingrad', on distant Eris, as aristo factions like the Black Talon, and robot archetypes, especially one modelled on the Jeeves character, struggle over the ultimate prize... Ironies abound. Humans, as their creators, are like gods to robots. Robot society is as venal and despotic as that of their creators. In their restless journeying (space travel for robots is uncomfortable and slow but usually not fatal) they are driven by the expansionist dreams of their creators, as robots have no purpose of their own. Despite 50 years of AI research, 'intelligent' robots are still as much a figment of the imagination as warp drive. While on the surface this novel is a romp built from retreaded components from earlier writers, underneath it raises issues about self-hood, freedom and the purpose of life, none of which robots really have.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Was I disappointed...,
By Book Crazy "PammieR" (England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Saturn's Children (Paperback)
I think this book suffered from a a back drop that was too colourful, I kept wanting questions answered about the post human socieites and culture that were not really relevant to the story being told. Freya's story is tragic because she cannot fulfill the purpose that she was designed for becasue there are no Human Males and she has to find a new path through her life and that takes her on a long and dangerous journey...The story kept me interested to find out the end but it read like a spin off novel where there was another series in this 'universe' that had gone before whereby the required background cultural information would be there to help you along.
I like reading Charles Stross' offerings and this book will not stop me from reading his work in the future but it perhaps not the best choice for a first purchase of his work as he has written much better for example Glasshouse.
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