Review: vN

Title - vN

Author - Madeline Ashby

Standalone or Series - The Machine Dynasty #1

Genre - Sci Fi

Publication July 31st 2012

Goodreads & Amazon

Rating 4 out of 5

Synopsis

Amy Peterson is a von Neumann machine, a self-replicating humanoid robot.

For the past five years, she has been grown slowly as part of a mixed organic/synthetic family. She knows very little about her android mother’s past, so when her grandmother arrives and attacks her mother, little Amy wastes no time: she eats her alive.

Now she carries her malfunctioning granny as a partition on her memory drive, and she’s learning impossible things about her clade’s history – like the fact that the failsafe that stops all robots from harming humans has failed… Which means that everyone wants a piece of her, some to use her as a weapon, others to destroy her.

Review

I received this book in return for a honest review from Netgalley from the publisher Angry Robot. The book is the story of Amy a vN short for von Neumann the creator of her clade (generation) of android. Amy lives with her father a human and her mother a vN just like her. Most vN are full grown within a year based on how they eat however Amy’s parents decided to let her grow like a human girl, so she’s starved in essence so she doesn’t grow quickly. Amy knows very little about her mother’s past, because it’s not something her mother wants to talk about. At her kindergarten graduation everything changed, her grandmother kills a little boy and attacks her mother. Amy attacks her grandmother in hopes of saving her mother she bites her, which causes the starving Amy to eat all of her grandmother, leaving her with her grandmother inside her.

After eating her grandmother she arrested, when she wakes up she learns that she’s no longer five but fully grown and very confused. She’s rescued by Javier a fellow vN together the pair escapes into the forest on a journey to find Rory in hopes that she can help Amy. Amy isn’t a typical vN her failsafe has failed, causing her to be able to harm people so all kinds of bounty hunters including police are searching for her as well as her escaped friend. The pair is directed by another vN to look for Rory who will help her. Along the way Javier has his 13^th offspring who he calls Junior, which is a new experience for Amy. Amy is unlike other vN’s because she has emotions, not just a plug in she laughs, cries and loves.  

I enjoyed the book, I always had a fondness to sci fi my mother had a passion for sci fi movies and books. The book reminds me a lot of Bladerunner which is a movie I have fond memories of. I loved Amy she’s so innocent even though she is plagued by her evil grandmother who can take control of her body when she needs too. It's a great fast paced book that is full of action but still has some emotional aspects as well. I found the storyline entertaining it drew me in right from the start, and I had a hard time putting it down. I had to know what would happen next in Amy and Javier adventure. I can’t wait for the next book. If you like android sci fi books I highly recommend it.