Autonomous is the highly anticipated debut from science journalist
and founder of the science and sci-fi blog io9 Annalee Newitz, a novel
that explores humanity's technology and culture in a future where
everything--and everyone--is a product.
Earth, 2144. Jack is an anti-patent scientist turned drug pirate,
traversing the world in a submarine as a pharmaceutical Robin Hood,
fabricating cheap scrips for poor people who can't otherwise afford
them. But her latest drug hack has left a trail of lethal overdoses as
people become addicted to their work, doing repetitive tasks until they
become unsafe or insane.
Hot on her trail, an unlikely pair: Eliasz, a brooding military agent,
and his robotic partner, Paladin. As they race to stop information about
the sinister origins of Jack's drug from getting out, they begin to form
an uncommonly close bond that neither of them fully understand.
And underlying it all is one fundamental question: Is freedom possible
in a culture where everything, even people, can be owned?
"Autonomous is to biotech and AI what Neuromancer was to the
Internet."--Neal Stephenson
"Something genuinely and thrillingly new in the naturalistic,
subjective, paradoxically humanistic but non-anthropomorphic depiction
of bot-POV--and all in the service of vivid, solid
storytelling."--William Gibson
