Machinehood

S.B. Divya — 2021

From the Hugo Award nominee S.B. Divya, Zero Dark Thirty meets The Social Network in this science fiction thriller about artificial intelligence, sentience, and labor rights in a near future dominated by the gig economy. Welga Ramirez, executive bodyguard and ex-special forces, is about to retire early when her client is killed in front of her. It’s 2095 and people don’t usually die from violence. Humanity is entirely dependent on pills that not only help them stay alive, but allow them to compete with artificial intelligence in an increasingly competitive gig economy. Daily doses protect against designer diseases, flow enhances focus, zips and buffs enhance physical strength and speed, and juvers speed the healing process. All that changes when Welga’s client is killed by The Machinehood, a new and mysterious terrorist group that has simultaneously attacked several major pill funders. The Machinehood operatives seem to be part human, part machine, something the world has never seen. They issue an ultimatum: stop all pill production in one week. Global panic ensues as pill production slows and many become ill. Thousands destroy their bots in fear of a strong AI takeover. But the US government believes the Machinehood is a cover for an old enemy. One that Welga is uniquely qualified to fight. Welga, determined to take down the Machinehood, is pulled back into intelligence work by the government that betrayed her. But who are the Machinehood and what do they really want? A thrilling and thought-provoking novel that asks: if we won’t see machines as human, will we instead see humans as machines?

Reviews

Gillian Rose@glkrose

Feb 11, 2023

3.75 stars A pretty solid sci-fi story. Well-paced and full of interesting ideas. There was even a really relevant parallel to what is currently going on in the US and handled well.

Didi Chanoch@didichanoch

Nov 2, 2022

For the past several years, there's been an ongoing arms race between biotech and robotics/AI, especially when it comes to assistive technology. In this novel, that takes place near the turn of the next century, the author takes this race several steps forward in imagining a world where both are much more embedded in human lives. The science and world building combine together brilliantly to imagine a truly vivid possible future. This novel stands besides the works of authors such as Malka Older and Ramez Naam in imagining futures that are both believable and diverse (which is absolutely part of what makes them believable) and creating fascinating stories in those future.

Ben Nathan@benreadssff

Sep 15, 2021

An interesting idea poorly executed. This would have been much better served as a series of short stories as there just wasn't enough there for this book.