SATURN'S CHILDREN

Freya Nakamachi-47 has some major existential issues. She's the perfect concubine, designed to please her human masters - hardwired to become aroused at the mere sight of a human male. There's just one problem: she came off the production line a year after the human species went extinct.

Whatever else she may be, Freya Nakamachi-47 is gloriously obsolete. What's more, the rigid social hierarchy that has risen in the 200 years since the last human died, places beings such as Freya very near the bottom. So when she has a run-in on Venus with a murderous aristocrat, she needs passage off-world in a hurry - and can't be too fussy about how she pays her way.

But if Venus was a frying pan, Mercury is the fire - and soon she's going to be running for her life. Because the job she's taken as a courier has drawn her to the attention of powerful and dangerous people, and they don't just want the package she's carrying. They want her soul...

I was really excited about reading this book and my enthusiasm carried for a while. But then I found it hard to focus on the story and on Freya's travels. I'm not sure what it was about this story that caused me to lose interest slowly, but it just wasn't as awesome as I was hoping. Usually, anything that even mentions a robot has me hooked, but it didn't in this case.

Although, having said that, this book was very well written and using Freya's POV was a great idea and a great tool, since she's as close to human as it gets in this world. Not to mention that there's plenty of action to keep you interested and some very bizarre but unique concepts, machinery and transports.

Saturn's Children is a Sci-Fi story told through the eyes of a robot that somehow always manages to stand out and get herself into trouble. It's an interesting, suspenseful read with plenty to keep your mind racing, especially for hardcore Sci-Fi fans.

Saturn's Children, September 2009, ISBN 1841495689, Orbit Paperback