Autonomous
Newitz takes a potentially interesting idea, only superficially executes on it, and then slathers it with an artless dose of radical intellectual property activism, pseudo-edgy hackerspace/academia wet dreams, and transsexual robotic intercourse.
Only rarely does a novel provoke such a visceral negative reaction from me. Congratulations to Gizmodo editor-in-chief Annalee Newitz for writing "Autonomous", the most hyped piece of garbage I've read this year. Also, major minus points for Neal Stephenson and William Gibson for their endorsement quotes on the cover that convinced me to give this book a chance. Newitz takes a potentially interesting idea, only superficially executes on it, and then slathers it with such an artless dose of radical intellectual property activism, pseudo-edgy hackerspace/academia wet dreams, and transsexual robotic intercourse that by the time I was halfway through, I cranked up the audiobook speed to 2x just to get it over with. If you like shallow, unbelievable characters with no development, you'll love it when Newitz smashes you over the head with wise, virtuous robots delivering lines like, "It's time for humans to understand that property is death." Take a hard pass on this one.