This book is a modern take on 'The Stepford Wives', a book by Ira Levin that has spawned two movies. The satiric novel is about a town called Stepford, where men have replaced their wives with robot clones who cheerfully do housework, shop, cook, etc., and don't argue or disagree with their mates.
*****
Alpha Bots takes place in 'New Stepford', where all the women are AI androids, purchased by men to fulfill their needs. There are various types of droids, from thin and lithe,
to sexy and curvy,
to soft and matronly.
Cookie Rifkin is a sex kitten owned by her 'husband' Norman Rifkin, who's mainly interested in carnal relations and saving money.
Cookie and her kind are a cut above basic robots in that they can eat, drink, experience pleasure, feel pain, and most importantly, think for themselves.
Unfortunately, the 'ladies' have almost no free will, and have been programmed to be controlled via literary quotes, a remote control, or - if all else fails - an off switch.
Like a good New Stepford wife, Cookie always wears dresses, obsessively uses coupons for grocery shopping, is a talented chef, wears pretty nighties, and is enthusiastic in the bedroom.
This boring routine wears on Cookie, though, and she attends a book club with AI friends for intellectual stimulation, and makes a recreational drug from banana skins to relieve her anxiety.
Cookie's best friend Paula lives next door with her husband Dan, and seems happy being an AI wife.
Though Cookie is unsatisfied with her life, her programming makes it impossible for her to 'disobey' Norman until she meets a female cop named Maggie,
and a handsome black man called Wayne, two individuals with extraordinary talents.
Maggie is an anarchist with an agenda and Wayne wants to liberate AI androids.
Once Cookie asserts some independence, Norman decides she's 'broken', and boxes her up and throws her away. Cookie escapes and - under the tutelage of Maggie and Wayne - learns to overcome her programming; telepathically share thoughts/knowledge with other androids; make things she needs (with a replicator-like device); liberate fellow androids by making them fight (throw punches, kick, etc.); and more.
Cookie and her compatriots also discover an underlying agenda in New Stepford, being carried out by Norman and his boorish friends. These guys better watch out, because the android gals are smarter, tougher, have MUCH better technology, and are almost impossible to kill.
The story is engaging, but the book is overlong and too slow at times. Still, there are some wonderful scenes, one of my favorites being the birth of android babies whose first meal is a corker.
If you're looking for something feminist and futuristic, you might want to give this book a try.
Thanks to Netgalley, Ava Lock, and Semiscope for a copy of the book.
Rating: 3 stars
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