Saturn's Children

a space opera

No cover

Charles Stross: Saturn's Children (2008, Ace Hardcover)

Hardcover, 336 pages

English language

Published July 1, 2008 by Ace Hardcover.

OCLC Number:
202548412

View on OpenLibrary

4 stars (47 reviews)

Sometime in the twenty-third century, humanity went extinct—leaving only androids behind. Freya Nakamichi 47 is a femmebot, one of the last of her kind still functioning. With no humans left to pay for the pleasures she provides, she agrees to transport a mysterious package from Mercury to Mars. Unfortunately for Freya, she has just made herself a moving target for some very powerful, very determined humanoids who will stop at nothing to possess the contents of the package.

11 editions

Easy read with terrible topics...

2 stars

Content warning rape, slavery, mass extinction

Review of "Saturn's Children (Freyaverse #1)" on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

It seems the books I finish—i.e., the books I enjoy—I can’t usually recommend to others confidently. There’s a lot of really cool stuff here, and weirdly packaged. Charles Stross, the author, seems to be a computer–Japan–astrophysics nerd, and people like that are frequently lovable in real life but can produce stilted writing (the bits of Neal Stephenson I’ve read come to mind)—but all the storytelling elements Saturn’s Children were just perfect:

“I find her personality annoying. It’s like being [not forcefully] molested by a sleeping bag that speaks in Comic Sans with little love-hearts over the i’s.”
“Now let me tell you about nuclear space rockets: They’re shit. And I hate them.”
“Slowing time is shit. Aristo-class travel in the outer solar system is shit. Nuclear-powered space liners are shit. Two-timing scumbags who’re in love with my elder sister are shit.

I can see people loving and hating this—I’m …

Review of "Saturn's Children (Freyaverse #1)" on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

A fascinating and wonderful idea about a world where androids survive their human makers. Unfortunately, the execution and protagonist make it hard for me to fully enjoy the novel. Focusing on a sex android, the story revolves around her getting embroiled in a nefarious plot to bring back humans to the world of androids. While the idea is absolutely compelling, the interspersions of sex and submission, even as I understand why it is there, is off-putting. I recognize the litany Stross draws on, yet I cannot fully absorb myself into the world and the story.

Review of "Saturn's Children (Freyaverse #1)" on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Charles Stross' work can be really hit or miss for me. This book was enjoyable, but seemed almost rushed. I don't mean rushed in terms of pacing, but almost like there was a lot going on in his head that never actually made it to the page, which made it a far less thoughtful book than it could have been.

There are some interesting ideas in here, particularly the musing on how a society of robots designed to serve humanity cope with the fact that humans are extinct, and thus their primary purpose in life is obsolete. There's a lot of heady thought wrapped up in that idea, including questions of free will. There is also a lot to think about in terms of identity as each robot is based off of a template persona's memories and can trade their own memories with others of the same template. These difficult …

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Subjects

  • Science Fiction - General
  • Fiction / Science Fiction / General
  • Fiction
  • Fiction - Science Fiction
  • Science Fiction