Saturn's Children

Charles Stross

Jul 2008 · Sold by Penguin

About this eBook

Sometime in the twenty-third century, humanity went extinct, leaving only androids behind to fulfill humanity’s dreams. And, having learned well from their long-dead masters, they’ve established a hierarchical society—one with humanoid aristo rulers at the top and slave-chipped workers at the bottom, performing the lowly tasks all androids were originally created to do.               

Designed as a concubine for a species that hasn’t existed for two hundred years, femmebot Freya Nakamichi-47—one of the last of her kind still functioning—accepts a job from a stranger to deliver a package from mercury to Mars. Unfortunately, she’s just made herself a moving target for some very powerful, very determined humanoids desperate to retrieve the package’s contents…

Ratings and reviews

Good concept ruined by poor transitions between scenes... and overbearing emo. The story and characters didn't warrant the "Oh, woe is me! I have no control over my life!" drumbeat this author fostered on nearly every other page of this novel. Ugh. (If you are 14 and think your parents just don't 'understand'... and you wish you had control over your life, then you might find this appealing.)

Almost a D/s scifi novel with synthetic lifeforms playing out all the love, lust, ambition and neuroses of their extinct human creators.

A weird, fun romp. Plot twists. Titillation. Sympathy, Dystopian future and inhuman creators. A strange zig zagging blend that manages to work.

About the author

Charles Stross was born in Leeds, England in 1964. He holds degrees in pharmacy and computer science, and has worked in a variety of jobs including pharmacist, technical author, software engineer, and freelance journalist. He is now a full-time writer.