An Unnatural Life

by Erin K. Wagner

Overview

Murderbot meets To Kill a Mockingbird in Erin K. Wagner's An Unnatural Life, an interplanetary tale of identity and responsibility.

The cybernetic organism known as 812-3 is in prison, convicted of murdering a human worker but he claims that he did not do it. With the evidence stacked against him, his lawyer, Aiya Ritsehrer, must determine grounds for an appeal and uncover the true facts of the case.

But with artificial life-forms having only recently been awarded legal rights on Earth, the military complex on Europa is resistant to the implementation of these same rights on the Jovian moon.

Aiya must battle against her own prejudices and that of her new paymasters, to secure a fair trial for her charge, while navigating her own interpersonal drama, before it's too late.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250752093
Publisher:	Tom Doherty Associates
Publication date:	09/15/2020
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	493,903
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Erin K. Wagner is an English professor in the SUNY system, an Appalachian transplanted to the Catskills. Her short stories have appeared in a variety of publications, including Apex and Clarkesworld, and her poetry has been published in Abyss & Apex and the South Dakota Review. Her first novella, The Green and Growing, was published by Aqueduct Press.

Editorial Reviews

06/15/2020

Wagner (The Green and Growing) retreads a popular sci-fi theme in this strikingly written but predictable story. Young lawyer Aiya Ritsehrer moves to the human colony of Europa for a new life. She finds work in criminal rehabilitation, helping prisoners on the Jovian moon find fresh starts. But she’s faced with a challenge when she’s assigned to work with 812-3, an artificial intelligence serving a life sentence for a murder he claims he didn’t commit. When 812-3 says he wants to appeal, Aiya takes the case despite the pervasive, often violent prejudice against artificial life that threatens her own life and relationships. Stories about the rights of artificial life, especially those convicted of crimes, have a long history in speculative fiction, and while Wagner raises fascinating questions about what it means to be human, they’re questions that have been asked before. Though Aiya is a rich and thoughtfully crafted character, 812-3 never comes across as a full presence in his own right, undermining the story’s themes. Fans of AI-centric sci-fi will make quick work of this, but wish for a fresher angle on a familiar idea. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

09/01/2020

Lawyer Aiya Ritsehrer had only gone to visit the convicted murderer as part of the rehabilitation program, but the robotnik Worker-class 812–3 insists he is not guilty. Cybernetic organisms have recently been awarded rights on Earth, but on the moon Europa the military colony has not progressed quite that far. Aiya begins to explore the possibility of an appeal for 812–3 and the facts that exist beyond the obvious evidence. Faced with prejudice from other humans—including her own—Aiya will discover that this case will not only impact her professional and personal life on Europa, but it will have repercussions throughout the galaxy all the way back to Earth. Thematic questions about humanity, artificial life, and created community are woven into tight scenes and pointed prose. VERDICT Wagner (The Green and Growing) delivers a work with a focus of a "what makes one human?" theme in an exciting novella that recalls Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and Emily Devenport's "Medusa Cycle" series.—Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton

Library Journal

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