Tuesday, January 04, 2011

I just finished Saturn's Children by Charles Stross.

 Saturn's Children is a convoluted book, with sections in dreams combined with sections in memory combined with sections where it's not clear who the protagonist is or what is going on.  This is as a result of the setup - a universe where humanity is extinct, and the artificial intelligences they created still roam the solar system.  These robots can exchange memories through "soul chips", leading to the above conclusion.

Stross does add one major new, interesting twist.  Some of the robots are trying to re-create a human being, but because all of the robots have been programmed with the equivalent of Asimov's Laws, making them slaves to any human, they fear humans and fight to prevent this resurrection. 

The only other novel part of the book is Stross's didactic attempts to convey exactly how difficult/terrible he things even intra-solar system travel would be.

Overall, it's an OK read but not one of his most enjoyable books.