In 2144, everything is owned—drugs, data, even people.
Jack is a rogue scientist-turned-drug pirate, fighting Big Pharma with bootlegged meds for the poor. But her latest hack goes wrong. The drug she reverse-engineered makes users addicted to work—fatally so. Now she’s being hunted.
On her trail: Eliasz, a government agent with a violent past, and Paladin, a newly minted military robot learning to navigate identity, desire, and loyalty.
As their chase spans continents and moral lines blur, Autonomous asks what freedom really means in a world run by corporations and bound by patents. Can autonomy exist when ownership defines everything?
Tense, smart, and wildly original, Annalee Newitz’s Hugo-nominated debut is Neuromancer for the biotech age—a bold fusion of hard sci-fi and urgent ethical questions.
