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Saturn's Children Hardcover – July 1, 2008

by Charles Stross (Author)
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Following the extinction of humankind in the twenty-third century, leaving behind only androids, femmebot Freya Nakamichi 47 accepts a job to transport a mysterious package from Mercury to Mars, unaware that some extremely powerful and ruthless humanoids will stop at nothing to possess the package and its contents.
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  1. Part of series
    A Freyaverse Novel
  2. Print length
    336 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Ace Hardcover
  5. Publication date
    July 1, 2008
  6. Reading age
    18 years and up
  7. Dimensions
    6.54 x 1.17 x 9.26 inches
  8. ISBN-10
    0441015948
  9. ISBN-13
    978-0441015948
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sex oozes from every page of this erotic futuristic thriller. In a far-future class-driven android society, most of the populace are slave-chipped and owned by wealthy aristos. When low-caste but unenslaved android Freya offends an aristo and needs to get off-world, she takes a courier position with the mysterious Jeeves Corporation, but the job turns out to have dangers of its own. Designed as a pleasure-module, Freya isn't quite as obsolete as she could be, as androids have sex with each other incessantly. Hugo-winner Stross (Halting State) has a deep message of how android slavery recapitulates humanity's past mistakes, but he struggles to make it heard over the moans and gunshots. Readers nostalgic for the SF of the '60s will find much that's familiar (including Freya's jumpsuit-clad form on the cover), but that doesn't quite compensate for the flaws. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Bookmarks Magazine

Charles Stross is a unique voice among today’s wave of “New British SF” writers, but he also knows his history. Saturn’s Children is dedicated to old lions Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov, and the ghosts of both (especially Heinlein) can be felt in the latest effort. Reviews of the novel vary wildly, which may suggest as much about the tastes of particular SF readers as it does about the specific case. The combination of sex and violence clashes a bit with some deep philosophizing on identity and purpose, though Stross’s sense of humor and Freya’s rollicking adventure transcend what SF Reviews deems “some bizarre cross-genre hybrid.” Many SF readers will appreciate the novel, deemed as one of Stross’s more accessible, and revel in the author’s numerous nods toward his influences; others might want to give it a pass.
Copyright 2008 Bookmarks Publishing LLC

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ace Hardcover; First Ed edition (July 1, 2008)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0441015948
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0441015948
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.15 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.54 x 1.17 x 9.26 inches
  • Customer Reviews:

About the author

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Charles Stross

Charles Stross

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Charles Stross, 58, is a full-time science fiction writer and resident of Edinburgh, Scotland. The author of six Hugo-nominated novels and winner of the 2005, 2010, and 2015 Hugo awards for best novella, Stross's works have been translated into over twelve languages.

Like many writers, Stross has had a variety of careers, occupations, and job-shaped-catastrophes in the past, from pharmacist (he quit after the second police stake-out) to first code monkey on the team of a successful dot-com startup (with brilliant timing he tried to change employer just as the bubble burst).

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
915 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book quite enjoyable and a solar system spanning thriller with erotic twists. They also describe the originality as inventive and scientifically solid. Readers appreciate the great characters and depth. Opinions are mixed on the writing style, with some finding it competent and impressive, while others find it confusing and unreadable. Reader opinions are mixed also on the storyline, with others finding it interesting and complex, while other find it complicated.

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Entertainment valueOriginalityCharactersStorylineWriting styleHumor
38 customers mention "Entertainment value"38 positive0 negative

Customers find the book enjoyable, interesting, and excellent. They also describe it as a good space opera, noir fiction set in space, and a solar system spanning thriller. Readers also appreciate the good characters, humor, and unexpected twists.

"...Very interesting world, and if you pay CLOSE attention, the plot is complex and fascinating, but not for a casual read" Read more

"...The robot sex is much discussed. It is interesting. Funny and ribald at times, sweet at others -- kind of like human sex...." Read more

"Freya Nakamichi is beautiful, sexy, skilled, and willing to love and serve the first human she comes across...." Read more

"...It's worth a read, and we'll soon see whether the follow-on book Neptune's Brood is as good. Five stars." Read more

23 customers mention "Originality"23 positive0 negative

Customers find the book inventive, hard science, and entertaining. They also say it's thought-provoking and convincing. Readers also appreciate the imagery, spaceships, and awesome technology. They mention that the book is not as confusing as many of his other works.

"...Something that is really worth imaging, is the imagery of the book. We see Venus glowing in its heat from a platform miles above the surface...." Read more

"...Inventive and scientifically solid, but eventually too complicated to really satisfy. ---Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)" Read more

"...The space travel around the solar system is varied, inventive, and completely convincing...." Read more

"...filled with Stross's usual cornucopia of imaginative, inventive concepts and gadgets, and will in no way disappoint fans of Stross's previous..." Read more

11 customers mention "Characters"11 positive0 negative

Customers find the characters in the book great, deep, and gripping. They also say the book is close enough to Heinlein's own spirit to be a fitting tribute.

"...Children moves along at a brisk clip, and the heroine-android stays perfectly in character throughout...." Read more

"...The characters were a lot of fun, and the whole concept isn't one I'd read before, so I recommend reading it.[...]" Read more

"Much in the vein of Robert Heilien's Friday. The book's protagonist is easy to root for however it bogs down to much in scene and scientific..." Read more

"...And yet the protagonist is absolutely engaging, even if she is a robot...." Read more

36 customers mention "Storyline"11 positive25 negative

Customers are mixed about the storyline. Some mention it has a really good story to be told, it's exciting, and never has dingy moments. However, others say that the plot very quickly becomes very complicated, boring, and confusing.

"...But the plot very quickly becomes very complicated, as Freya is hired to transport a certain illicit package to Mars (shades of Heinlein's Friday),..." Read more

"...interesting world, and if you pay CLOSE attention, the plot is complex and fascinating, but not for a casual read" Read more

"...Slow at times, a bit confusing in the middle part (until you understand what is going on in the main character's head), but compelling and..." Read more

"...plot to _Friday_'s makes for a stilted, awkward, and occasionally nonsensical turn of events -- but I'm also left with the feeling that Stross was..." Read more

16 customers mention "Writing style"8 positive8 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the writing style. Some find it competently written, skillful, and not as confusing as many of his other books. Others however, say it's unreadable and tripe.

"Freya Nakamichi is beautiful, sexy, skilled, and willing to love and serve the first human she comes across...." Read more

"...CLOSE attention, the plot is complex and fascinating, but not for a casual read" Read more

"One of the better written books I've read recently. Charles Stross's "Saturn's Children" is a breath of fresh air...." Read more

"...I read; see also "Heinlein fan" -- but I found the prose incredibly clunky and the plot far too convoluted and disjointed...." Read more

7 customers mention "Humor"4 positive3 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the humor in the book. Some find it funny and ribald at times, while others say it's difficult to take seriously and anticlimactic.

"...The robot sex is much discussed. It is interesting. Funny and ribald at times, sweet at others -- kind of like human sex...." Read more

"...Unfortunately, this is a premise that is difficult to take seriously...." Read more

"...It's a pitch-perfect Heinlein parody (spung!) which will amuse those who like to see the old genre sexism turned inside out." Read more

"...this book 3 stars because the ending, although unexpected, was very anticlimactic leaving me somewhat disappointed." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars The 22 diagrams and appendices
Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2024
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Are missing from my copy, and surely needed, just to follow the intricate web of personae, duplicates, and resurrected robots

Very interesting world, and if you pay CLOSE attention, the plot is complex and fascinating, but not for a casual read
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Baslim the Beggar
5.0 out of 5 stars Friday's child
Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2009
Verified Purchase
As many others have noted, this is a Heinlein take-off. I think the master would approve. It is strongly based on Heinlein's Friday. If you doubt it, look for the hotel reservation for F. Baldwin (Freya almost says either Freya or Friday Baldwin). Baldwin was Friday's boss and of course Friday comes from Freya. Friday, as an "artificial person" was regarded as less than human. Freya, derived from a robot now considered out of date is discriminated against because of her size. (She's tall, the "new people" are short. -- Heinlein would approve of turning convention upon its surly head.)

There is considerable attention to what is freedom and what it is to be chattel. The ways in which Freya or other robots can lose her freedom can be subtle or brutal (and sometimes both).

I rather like the way that Stross sets it up so that the robots must perforce have many of the qualities we associate with ourselves. Humans have found that the best way to make an intelligent robot was to make it's wiring mimic that of the human brain, and to train it much the same way that a human child is trained (years of development). It makes it plausible. But it leaves them with the problem that the robots, if not subject to a coercive programming, would be disobedient and independent, much like teenagers.

The robot sex is much discussed. It is interesting. Funny and ribald at times, sweet at others -- kind of like human sex.

Something that is really worth imaging, is the imagery of the book. We see Venus glowing in its heat from a platform miles above the surface. We see a moving city on Mercury. Fantastic visions from the orbit of Mars and on Mars. Callisto and then Eris, deep in the Kuiper belt. Space elevators, bootstrap devices, nuclear rockets and magnetic field manipulators.
(About the some of these, a good read is Gerard t'Hooft's "Playing with Planets)

This is science fiction, baby!
3 people found this helpful
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Patrick Shepherd
3.0 out of 5 stars When Robots Run Themselves
Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2008
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Stross is one of the newer hard-sf voices, and his previous books have shown a great inventiveness and a plethora of ideas and concepts that go well beyond what we've seen in the field before. This book, while firmly grounded in homage to some of the great early SF masters of Asimov, Heinlein, and Clarke, is in many ways just as inventive as his earlier books.

The situation is a solar system populated entirely by robots; their creators, us poor humans, having given up the ghost a couple of centuries ago (exact means of our demise never explicitly stated), but in any case, humans have left the building. This situation alone is reminiscent of Simak's City, where the humans left en-masse for Jupiter, and left stewardship of Earth in the hands of robots. But unlike that story, here we have a vibrant society of robots, who only nominally follow Asimov's Three Laws, robots that have evolved various classes and a hierarchy based on power and money, complete with a method of completely enslaving a robot who has run out of funds.

The story follows Freya, a sexbot built to service the sexual needs of the now long-gone humans, and as such can find no purpose to her life. She has to make do with sex with other robots, which is simply not as satisfying. But the plot very quickly becomes very complicated, as Freya is hired to transport a certain illicit package to Mars (shades of Heinlein's Friday), and in doing so becomes involved in schemes and counter-schemes by those who are attempting to really control the entire solar system. During the course of delving into these schemes, we are treated to a grand tour of the Solar system, from Mercury all the way out to the Oort cloud, all thoroughly grounded in the best information currently available about conditions of each of Sol's family members.

In many ways, this book's message is about identity and just what makes a `person', as one of the capabilities these robots have is to record and exchange `soul-chips' with other robots of the same lineage. While this message is clear, it also leads to the major problem with this book. In its later stages it becomes very difficult to keep track of just who is who (schizophrenia runs rampant!), who the bad and good guys really are, and just what the ultimate purpose of each of the factions really is. Freya's character, which had been so carefully and well built up in the first half of this book, seems to get lost in all the multiple other personalities. Alongside of this is one other problem: the portrayed level of sexual attraction Freya feels for another robot who is extremely close to the model of their Creators (i.e., a human male), as I found it rather unbelievable that robots would be designed with such an overriding complex that it would subsume their normal rationality.

The ending was also a bit of a disappointment, with a bit too much of `all ends well' and `things will get better from now on', and too little resolution of some of the more complicated details of the various plot threads.

There's a fair amount of sex in this book, almost a given due to its premise, and while never extremely graphic, does include certain varieties that some might consider `kinky', and certainly makes this book unsuitable for younger people.

Inventive and scientifically solid, but eventually too complicated to really satisfy.

---Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)
7 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Nura
4.0 out of 5 stars Serious science fiction
Reviewed in India on May 12, 2018
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The book is filled with so much nerdy details. The story telling is excruciatingly plodding. Whenever the story takes off and threatens to launch us into orbit, he puts in a burst of some detail we can't ignore and keeps us grounded.

The story is set in a future where synthetic organisms are the dominant life form. And the human race is extinct. A chase is on to acquire a piece of human tissue that will makes its acquirer a King.

Not pacey, but definitely a worthy read.
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Iñaki De Miguel
5.0 out of 5 stars Bueno e intrigante.
Reviewed in Spain on June 18, 2016
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Una vez que comencé a leerlo no pude parar, no sé si este es su mejor libro, pero definitivamente uno de los mejores.
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Peer Sylvester
4.0 out of 5 stars Klassische SF neu erfunden
Reviewed in Germany on September 30, 2010
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Im Prinzip haben wir es hier mit klassischer SF zu tun: Viel Weltraumreisen, von Robotern kolonisierte Welten, Robotergruppen, die sich gegenseitig bekämpfen und viele Intrigen - das ist klassische Asimov-SF im großen Stil.
Das es sich hier um einen (relativ) neuen Roman handelt, merkt man zum einen daran, dass die Technik im Hintergrund durchaus dem aktuellen Stand der Forschung entspricht, was bei SF immer ein Plus ist. Zum anderen ist das Setting recht gewagt: Die Heroin und Erzählerin ist ein Sexroboter, der (oder die) aber nichts zu tun hat, weil die Menschen ausgestorben sind. Das ist mal was neues! Das zeigt aber auch, dass man nun nicht unbedingt ganz große Literatur erwarten kann. Im Gegenteil: Die Geschichte ist recht spritzig geschrieben und nimmt sich selbst nicht allzu ernst. Insbesondere den ersten Teil liest man daher recht flott weg. Dann allerdings wird die Story etwas krude (wenn auch durchgehend logisch) und so ab der Hälfte treten ein paar Längen auf, die nicht unbedingt hätten sein müssen. Das Ende ist dann wieder durchgehend spannend.

Insgesamt kein Super-Buch, aber wer mal wieder lust auf gute, alte "Soap-Opera"-SF hat und damit leben kann, dass er im Prinzip "Pulp" liest, wird den Kauf nicht bereuen!
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Kuma
5.0 out of 5 stars Imaginative, Intelligent and Entertaining Sci-Fi
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 20, 2009
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Charles Stross has crafted a deeply thoughtful, elegant and many layered science fiction tale. The story is a fantastic mix of traditional sci-fi concepts (there are sly nods to things such as "Ghost in the Shell", "Do Androids dream electric sheep), coupled with fresh perspectives, new ideas and slick narrative and dialogue.

The most interesting aspect of this novel is that it is set after humanity's extinction, and is a tale of robotic society that survives the extinction. This offers a refreshing and new perspective on the traditional human/robot relationship, with robots having to come to terms with the emotional fall out of there being no humans, as well as tapping into an interesting trend in science fiction of looking at non-human propogation of human culture (there are some amusing comments about contemporary philosophy within the text).

With regards to the story, I am unwilling to discuss it too much in case it spoils the novel for potential readers. However for those readers who might be worried about Freya's (the main character) role as a courtesan, I would say that this is well handled and works well within the story, if anything it provides a useful point of empathy for a reader by providing a "more" human robot with emotions. The real delight for any reader will be from the well written narrative and some snappy dialogue which works to create a vivid, elegant and tangible sci-fi universe.

All in all I would recommend this work to anyone interested in reading a good, enjoyable and different sci-fi adventure.
29 people found this helpful
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FeydRautha
3.0 out of 5 stars Les qualités et les défauts de Charles Stross en un roman
Reviewed in France on October 20, 2017
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Charles Stross est capable du meilleur comme du...moins bon. Saturn's Children se classe dans la catégorie du moins bon. C'est en fait un roman symptomatique du génie et des faiblesses de Stross. Stross est un geek. Il a une connaissance encyclopédique de la SF, il a un humour de geek, il a l'imagination débridée d'un geek, l'intelligence, et même les fantasmes sexuels d'un geek version maître Jedi des geek. Il procède toujours de la même manière dans ses romans. Il s'inpire de ce que d'autres ont fait avant lui, reprend un concept et le développe en version XXL. Parfois ça marche (Accelerando, the Laundry Files, Palimpsest, Singularity Sky, Halting State...), et parfois ça marche moins bien (Glasshouse, Iron Sunrise, Saturn's Children, Rule 34...).

Sous des allures de space opera d'espionage, Saturn's Children est l'exploration du conditionnement individuel et des mécanismes psychologiques de l'esclavage portée dans un monde où l'humanité a disparu. Ne reste que ses créations : des robots de toutes formes, de toutes fonctions, de différents degrés d'intelligence, dans un système solaire en grande partie colonisé. Sous ces conditions initiales, Stross va invoquer Heinlein, Asimov, le mythe de Frankenstein, ... et comme à son habitude en jouer et amener tout cela plus loin, plus haut, plus fort. Stross part du principe, expliqué à mi roman, que développer une intelligence artificielle autonome est compliqué. Les hommes ont donc pris comme modèle ce qu'ils connaissent le mieux : eux. Le cerveau humain, ses connections neuronales, mais aussi ses limites, ses peurs, ses obsessions, ont servis de modèle pour donner de l'intelligence, mais aussi lier par des liens indéfectibles leur création. Ces liens non seulement ont fait que les robots ont été incapables de réagir lors de la disparition des humains (pour des raison qui ne sont pas expliquer car les robots ne les ont pas comprises), mais que ceux-ci perpétuent la culture humaine, que ce soit sous forme politique, sociale ou technique. Nous avons donc une société de robots devenus plus ou moins obsolètes qui essaient de subsister sans leur créateur, tout en étant obsédés par ceux-ci. Se posent alors alors les questions du libre arbitre, de l'individualité, de la vie et son devenir. Tout ceci est exploré sous toutes les coutures, et de façon magistrale, par Stross dans le roman. Au final, ce sont des robots avec des sentiments humains exacerbés qui s'expriment dans Saturn's Children.

Stross est un auteur de hard-SF, autant prévenir. C'est personnellement un courant de la SF dont je suis féru au delà du raisonnable. Mais les explications techniques et scientifiques dont Stross n'est pas avare ont tendance à refroidir une bonne partie des lecteurs. Ce n'est pas de la SF légère. Pourtant, je trouve que c'est là où Stross brille le plus. Certaines pages du roman flirte avec le génie, notamment dans les descriptions des voyages interplanétaires et ce que cela implique. "Space travel is shit", ou des différentes planètes du système solaire. Tout ceci est précis du point de vue scientifique et d'une crédibilité sans faille. Il y a aussi des pages sur le conditionnement de l'individu ou sur la notion de personnalité qui sont vraiment des perles du genre.

Alors, qu'est-ce qui cloche au final ? Ce qui cloche, c'est le déroulement du scénario qui est émotionnellement très insatisfaisant. Stross passe beaucoup de temps à mettre en place les choses, cet univers, à développer une histoire dont on se dit qu'elle va être spectaculaire, mais qu'il résout trop rapidement, sans embarquer le lecteur dans le tourbillon émotionnel que ce livre aurait mérité. Ni plus ni moins. Et ça, c'est une des grandes faiblesses de Stross, une caractéristique qu'on retrouve trop souvent dans ses romans. Charles Stross est un auteur intelligent, beaucoup trop pour son propre bien. Il a beaucoup d'idées, il écrit bien (en tout cas, moi, j'aime son style), mais il a souvent du mal à mettre toutes ses idées au service d'une histoire qui va transporter le lecteur.

Mention spéciale pour la couverture la plus laide depuis pas mal d'années en SF. Il fallait oser.
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