The bot or droid, known as Mother, selects an embryo from a catalog of many embryos. Depositing her into an artificial womb, the embryo grows into a baby.
Mother raises the girl, known as Daughter, but shields her from all knowledge of the outside world.
Mother has been programmed to save humanity but she will also kill humans if it benefits her larger plan. Daughter realizes that Mother has been lying to her when a stranger break through the protective barrier.
The stranger, played by Hilary Swank, looks a lot like a much older version of herself. The stranger is injured and distrustful of droids, including Mother. She claims to be in contact with other humans.
After the stranger is better, Daughter takes off with the stranger. She has learned some terrible truths about Mother and the family of embryos kept in the clear cases.
The stranger has secrets, too, which leads the daughter to reject her and return to Mother.
Ostensibly, Daughter has returned for her infant brother and the other embryos. She confronts rather than reconciles with Mother, who is it turns out, is more than a single bot.
In the end, viewers hear Mother's chilling lullaby. Mother is
capable of killing but so too are all the other players in this narrative.
Katya is an Authenticities and Antiquities dealer in the far future where the details of life are recorded on Captures. She collects items before this time for their nostalgic value, ordinary things like typewriters and dictionaries.
She relies on her A.I. like many would really one a friend. That is why she find herself so unaccountably alone when her A.I. goes off-line.
Most of the novelette is Katya's experience of being kidnapped for three days by a strange masked man. He shows no empathy toward her during the three days she is "off line," but mysteriously he allows her to live to tell her tale.
This is one of the stories that leaves readers hunger for more, yet Kowal keeps some things shrouded in mystery.
This is a captivating SF/fantasy tale about how we construct memories and how we survive is both puzzling and thought-provoking.
This is an absolute stunner in every sense of the word--rich prose, tight plotting, and imaginative twists and turns.
The Company has manufactured biotech that wreak havoc upon the City. The actions of Mord, a man-made bear-like creature, and his proxies cause the Magician and her pseudo-children to rebel.
Even before the rebellion, however, the City has been wrecked, leaving many scavengers. Rachel, who lives in the Balcony Cliff with Wick, has learned the art of scavenging.
Though there is a gap in her memories, Rachel remembers once living on an island. Later, as the waters rose, she became a climate refugee and moved to the City.
Perhaps she sees something of herself in the creature, Borne, who helplessly clings to Mord's flank. She nurtures him yet she doesn't know exactly what he is.
No one does, not even Borne himself. For a time, he ponders if he is a biotech weapon created by the Company. Wick suggests that they deconstruct him to see what he is but Rachel feels outraged. He is a "person" in her eyes yet he at first seems little more than a plant with eyes.
This is the startling story of a woman who remembers two different versions of her life.
Pat's life takes two completely different trajectories.
In one version she has four children. She chooses the safe but disparaging partner, Mark.
In another version of her life, where she is known as Trisha, she rejects Mark and chooses an unconventional lifestyle. She falls in love with a woman, writes guidebooks to Italy, and has children with a friend.
"Character is destiny," postulated Heraclitus. In this novel, however, one choice changes not only a woman's life but alters world history and politics as well.
My Real Children is an intriguing thought exercise but not really satisfying. Some of the turns of events in both realities are heartbreaking.
In the future, everything, even murders, will be recorded in an Archive that researchers can search for clues.
This sounds like CCTV, which already exists, except its more of a virtual reality experience. Individuals, like John Dominic, who lost his wife, can relive moments with their loved ones in an endless loop.
All of the wiring for internet streaming is surgically implanted in their skulls, so no one needs a computer or device.
John Dominic is not only obsessed with his deceased wife. He's also obsessed with solving a cold case, Hannah Massey, a woman whose body he finds in the Archive.
Poetry, criticism, Adware, Internet streaming are all part of this eerie cyberworld.
Framed for a crime, Dominic is forced to switch doctors and treatment plans. Previously, he had been a substance abuse addict. He is referred to a new doctor, Dr. Reynolds, who may be hiding a shady past.
John Dominic has also been entrusted to find another woman who has disappeared from the Archive--the elusive Albion. Pursuing her will prove dangerous.
Soon to become a feature film, this exciting science fiction novel will please mystery fans and fans of Hugh Howey's Wool.
The Gone World is Tom Sweterlitsch's latest novel.
