Autonomous

Autonomous by Annalee Newitz
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The overarching theme in this novel is the definition of freedom--what is it and how it can be taken away: By becoming indentured (slavery), addicted, bought (corporate greed) or even defined (labeled by society). There are sentient robots, reckless bootleggers, indentured humans. It makes for a pretty exciting ride though I feel despite stealth technology, implanted networks, brains in robots, that I've read all of it before, and slightly better done. The Nexus series by Ramez Naam explores similar themes in a similar world but with better action and characters and has the added advantage of a postface by the author explaining the viability of his creations. The Imperial Rach series by Ann Leckie explores sentient technology/human relationships and gender issues in a completely unique and thoughtful way.

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