vN

Women of Genre Fiction – Book 6

vN – Madeleine Ashby

This was another random pick, as I found this one in the library.

This book had so much promise. Robots (vNs – short for von Neumanns – very clever) are integrated into society in such a way that they are either part or the family, in this case, wife and daughter, or as labor. Many are exploited workers in unsavory professions. Similar to robots in the Asimov novels, the vNs have a failsafe that prevents them from harming humans or seeing any harm being done to humans by anyone or anything. Amy, a young vN, is catapulted from her life as a sheltered kindergartener to one on the run as a criminal after she literally eats her grandmother. Her grandmother had made a surprise appearance and killed a child in an attempt to get to Amy by fighting Amy's mother. Grandmother does not have the failsafe, as she has killed a child. Amy does not appear to have this failsafe as well, since she does not curl up in agony as other vNs do when faced with similar situations. Throughout the book, Amy seems to keep the mentality of a kindergartener, despite the events that happen which should make her wake up and face reality and despite the fact that her grandmother, now living inside her (remember, these are robots full of code), has taken over her body on occasion to save it. Javier, initially Amy's rescuer, is a character that evolves throughout the book. He starts out as an emotionally crippled vN to one who develops feelings for his offspring and for Amy. This makes his character much more interesting than Amy's.

The story is a bit confusing at times. Why would all of Amy's aunts want to eat her? If her line was started to be nurses, they should also have propagated this flaw. Eating Amy wouldn't be necessary. It is odd that this particular line has banded together when they are not networked, as other models are. Javier seems to just appear out of nowhere and rescue Amy more than once. The end of the book seemed like the author felt she needed to finish the story so Deus ex Machina - out of nowhere comes a (I won't spoil the story for those who want to read it).

This book was entertaining if read quickly enough to overlook the inconsistencies. Will I read the sequel? The vNs evolving emotionally, finding their niche as free beings, learning about themselves and fighting for their rights as sentient beings could make a great story. Or it could be another story full of inconsistencies and a bizarre ending. The jury is still out on that question.