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Autonomous

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Autonomous

By: Annalee Newitz
Narrated by: Jennifer Ikeda
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About this listen

Winner of the 2018 LAMBDA Award for SFF.

Shortlisted for The Nebula Award 2018.

Shortlisted for The Locus Award for Best Debut 2018.

Earth, 2144. Jack is an anti-patent scientist turned drug pirate, traversing the world in a submarine as a pharmaceutical Robin Hood, fabricating cheap medicines for those 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 is an unlikely pair: Eliasz, a brooding military agent, and his indentured 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 understands.

And underlying it all is one fundamental question: is freedom possible in a culture where everything, even people, can be owned?

©2017 Annalee Newitz (P)2018 Little, Brown Book Group Cyberpunk Fantasy Fiction Science Fiction

Critic Reviews

"Autonomous is to biotech and AI what Neuromancer was to the internet." (Neal Stephenson)
"Something genuinely and thrillingly new." (William Gibson)

"Holy hell. Autonomous is remarkable." (Lauren Beukes)
All stars
Most relevant
Didn't like the beginning at all, I thought it was just the voice, so I also got the physical book...but no...it was both...so have put down the reading/listening to this book for some months....Then I started listening to it again, but only during showers at start, then the story and audio got more and more interesting and irresistible and I couldn't help wanting to know what would happen next. My emotions fluctuated with the characters and their actions. The world setting and concepts were also eye-opening for me as I don't really read much sci-fi books, so I had to re-listen to some parts a few times to understand (and with the help of Google). The audio voice also grew more vibrant down the track. Would love to see this in a quality movie too.

Really interesting, really!!

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The blurb lead me to believe there was a lot more scifi/cyberpunk than there is. The blurb also touched on an unconventional relationship when it turned there was much more than just a touch. Also a lot of gender politics and sexuality commentary. The book I wanted was not what I was sold.

Not what I was after

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The story is just excellent. Newitz has created a World in not ashamed to say I need more of.

The characters are real and engaging and this telling had me hooked from start to finish.

Shout out to triangulation podcast on twit for the recommendation.

A thrilling ride through a fascinating cyberpunk universe.

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A currently relevant, yet futuristic Sci Fi look into Autonomy

Delves into robotics, bio, health, ethics & economics, in depth

The author paints a picture which portrays both a positive & negative autonomous future

Worth a read/listen with an open mind.

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Fascinating story of how we connect with others, where we may kindle relationships and find love in a post-human future. Great spoken performance. Really enjoyed this one.

Science constantly changes but search for love constant

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