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Machine

3.93 of 5 stars 3.93 · rating details · 82 ratings · 34 reviews

Celia's body is not her own, but even her conscious mind can barely tell the difference. Living on the cutting edge of biomechanical science was supposed to allow her to lead a normal life in a near-perfect copy of her physical self while awaiting a cure for a rare and deadly genetic disorder. But a bioandroid isn't a real person. Not according to the protesters outside Ce...more Celia's body is not her own, but even her conscious mind can barely tell the difference. Living on the cutting edge of biomechanical science was supposed to allow her to lead a normal life in a near-perfect copy of her physical self while awaiting a cure for a rare and deadly genetic disorder. But a bioandroid isn't a real person. Not according to the protesters outside Celia's house, her coworkers, or even her wife. Not according to her own evolving view of herself. As she begins to strip away the human affectations and inhibitions programmed into her new body, the chasm between the warm pains of flesh-and-blood life and the chilly comfort of the machine begins to deepen. Love, passion, reality, and memory war within Celia's body until she must decide whether to betray old friends or new ones in the choice between human and machine. *Don't forget to check out Jennifer's short fiction collection Unwelcome Bodies also from Apex Publications!
"The novel is unrelenting, driven by Pelland's unflinching eye and her absolute willingness to shatter her very vulnerable, not very emotionally resilient protagonist. It's a powerful novel, certain to emerge as one of the best of the year. I'll be remembering it next award season." Adam-Troy Castro, SCI FI Magazine "I'm not sure anyone else could take material like posthuman politics, kinky sex and body modification, and explicit metaphors for the abortion debate and euthanasia, and turn it all into a heartrending love story, but Jennifer Pelland nails the dismount every time." NK Jemesin, Hugo-nominated author of The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms "Jennifer Pelland's MACHINE is the kind of book that sticks in your soul. The story and characters sink under your skin and challenge the way you think and haunt you long afterwards. This is what science fiction is meant to be." Lyda Morehouse, author of Resurrection Code and Archangel Protocol "Science fiction, at its very best, fearlessly challenges readers and compels them to look at the world around them in a different light and that is exactly what Jennifer Pelland s brilliant debut novel Machine does in grand style." B&N Bookclub "It's at times disturbing, at times heartbreaking and it always keeps the reader on their toes. The novel offers an awful lot of questions for the reader to mull over. So many in fact that a couple of days after I finished it, I still haven't been able to pick my next read. Not many books manage to do that." Val's Random Comments "Good science fiction makes you think. Pulp science fiction entertains you. Great science fiction, on the other hand, makes you think while entertaining you. Such is the case with Machine by Jennifer Pelland." Bibrary Book Lust(less)

Paperback, 316 pages

Published January 9th 2012 by Apex Publications (first published January 1st 2012)

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Apr 27, 2013 L Timmel rated it 3 of 5 stars

_Machine_ is an engaging exploration of somataphobia, mostly that of main character Celia's hatred of her temporary "body" which she endeavors to variously "control," "punish," and annihilate when she learns that her wife rejects it. (Another, more generalized version of somataphobia, in which certain characters desire to permanently replace their bodies with immortal machinery that they consider "perfect" in comparison with the weakness and imperfection of their somatic bodies, is simply noted...more _Machine_ is an engaging exploration of somataphobia, mostly that of main character Celia's hatred of her temporary "body" which she endeavors to variously "control," "punish," and annihilate when she learns that her wife rejects it. (Another, more generalized version of somataphobia, in which certain characters desire to permanently replace their bodies with immortal machinery that they consider "perfect" in comparison with the weakness and imperfection of their somatic bodies, is simply noted often, without exploration.) My problem with _Machine_, though, is that it couples a fantastic, logically impossible premise with an sfnal story. Fantasy can sometimes be meshed with sf, but not when the narrative style is that of non-playful straightforward psychological realism.

The novel's foundational assumption is that Cartesian dualism-- the belief that "mind" exists apart from the "body"-- is literally true, when in fact the last half century of neuroscience has shown that consciousness ("mind") is in an artifact of the neurological processes of the brain and central nervous system (i.e., the body), and not an entity that can be neatly downloaded into a machine and then continue to function as a discrete entity quite apart from the processes that have been producing it. As I read _Machine_, I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. (Granted, I was a bit puzzled at the beginning when Celia woke from the transfer process and experienced no difficulty standing, walking, using her hands, etc., without training or practice of any kind.) We are told repeatedly that Celia's machine body is "simulating" the emotions and physical responses of a somatic body, but the more this was repeated to me, the harder it became for me to quash my need to question just what kind of "brain" a machine might have that it could reproduce consciousness and hormonal flows so seamlessly that Celia never ever perceived a difference between her somatic body and her "machine" body. Of course, our brains are creating bridges all the time in order to maintain a sense of seamless continuity and sensory construction of the world. But would a machine brain be able to do that, too? The narrative, in its constant invocation of Cartesian dualism, never once hints that anything quite that complex is involved in its "android" bodies and never admits that the mind is inseparable from the body that produces it. This is consistent with Celia's view, of course, in her desire to punish and control the body her wife has rejected. But given how often experts are allowed to speak their expertise in this novel, the absence of a more sophisticated view (one that acknowledges the obsolescence of Celia's belief in mind/body dualism) is glaring.
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Jan 05, 2013 Cynthia Wood rated it 4 of 5 stars

Jennifer Pelland's first novel follows Celia, a woman recently diagnosed with a virulent early-onset form of Alzheimer's Disease. In a procedure evidently established, yet still highly controversial, Celia has her consciousness transferred into a bioandroid - an exact copy of her human body, so that she can continue to live and create memories while her biological body is put in stasis to await a cure.

What happens from there is the meat of this book. Celia's wife divorces her, unable to fathom c...more

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Jul 25, 2012 Ronel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favourites

It has been a week since I finished it and cannot get it out of my mind. This is such a fantastic book.

I've always been a huge sci-fi fan. Not so much the "Hark, an alien" type but more the "what if XYZ happens a hundred years from now." Realistic sci-fi for the lack of a better term (or is that an oxymoron?)

The book centers around the idea that the human thoughts and memories of a terminally ill patient can be transferred into a bio-android body. The body of the patient is then put into stasis...more

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May 22, 2012 Suzanne Reynolds-Alpert rated it 5 of 5 stars

Excellent. I read this book about two months ago, and have been digesting it before reviewing it.

This story has stayed with me. Often, I will read (and enjoy) a book, but a month or two later it will have "faded"--vital parts of the story have just dropped out of my memory. I will REMEMBER liking it, but find that I cannot hold onto the details.

Machine is sticky.

Pelland's writing style is very straightforward, and she creates visceral images that have staying power. These are a few of the reason...more Excellent. I read this book about two months ago, and have been digesting it before reviewing it.

This story has stayed with me. Often, I will read (and enjoy) a book, but a month or two later it will have "faded"--vital parts of the story have just dropped out of my memory. I will REMEMBER liking it, but find that I cannot hold onto the details.

Machine is sticky.

Pelland's writing style is very straightforward, and she creates visceral images that have staying power. These are a few of the reasons this is a highly recommended read.

Another is that the story reminded me of something Octavia Butler might have written. I have never made this comparison before, and I do not do so lightly. Butler is my favorite author, because I loved her completely un-self-conscious delving into the body, sexuality, and the psyche. Pelland's book also has these qualities, which means that it is not a "pretty" read.

Celia, The main character has a rare disease that will ravage her body. But in this near-future world, exact replicas of a person's body can be made, and the personality (memories, etc.) downloaded to it. The copy can continue to "live" while the original remains in stasis, waiting for a cure.

Celia decides to use a mechanical body, but this decision is fraught with difficulty. Upon waking, Celia finds that her wife has left her--her wife is unable to continue a life without the "real" Celia. While dealing with her crumbling marriage, Celia feels increasingly disconnected from her mechanical body. She struggles with wanting to do things to her mechanical body that she would not due to her organic body. These and similar struggles force the reader to consider questions such as: What is the nature of 'self', and where does it reside? What does it mean to be a person? Also, anyone who has struggled with body dysmorphic disorder will find some of Celia's struggles uncomfortably familiar.

Important and current social issues provide an interesting backdrop--gay marriage, religious beliefs, the ability of the state to intervene in personal decisions.

This novel is not without imperfections. Had I been able to, I would have given it 4.5 stars instead of 5. The ending is unsatisfying and problematic, and feels abrupt, as though the author herself had to write it quickly.

If you want an excellent but sometimes uncomfortable read from a new voice (I promise, you'll be hearing more from her) I urge you to pick up this novel.(less)

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Feb 20, 2012 Ryan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

Celia Krajewski is unsure of how long she has to live. None of us do, really, but for Celia the matter is a bit more pressing, as she's recently discovered she carries a gene for a rare mutation that will eventually destroy her mind. She has an out, though; she can place her body in statis, transferring her mind and personhood to a bioandroid body so that she can continue living until a cure is found.

Death always demands payment, though, and Celia's attempt to cheat it comes with the cost of her...more Celia Krajewski is unsure of how long she has to live. None of us do, really, but for Celia the matter is a bit more pressing, as she's recently discovered she carries a gene for a rare mutation that will eventually destroy her mind. She has an out, though; she can place her body in statis, transferring her mind and personhood to a bioandroid body so that she can continue living until a cure is found.

Death always demands payment, though, and Celia's attempt to cheat it comes with the cost of her marriage; her wife refuses to see Celia as the 'real' Celia, claiming that to be with her robotic body would amount to infidelity. This starts Celia questioning exactly how human her new self is. Eventually, she starts to hurt herself, to remind herself of her humanity. To her surprise, she finds that she starts to like the pain. And that she's not the only bioandroid who feels that way.

While the science fictional elements of Machine are absolutely essential parts of it, they are not the central focus of it; instead, Pelland wisely chooses to focus her story on Celia's attempts to retain a feeling of humanity as she starts to lose many of the relationships with others that define who we are; our romantic relationships, friendships, hobbies and career choices are so often a part of our self-definition that to be stripped of them can remove that feeling of humanity from any of us, if only momentarily; to be stripped in that way while inside a biomechanical body that only reinforces those feelings of nonhumanism.

Beyond the character study of Celia, Machine also has some interesting things to say about the interplay of individual rights and collective good. Given the subject matter of the book, it would be very easy to think of Machine as a book that would argue that individual rights are always paramount, and the first-person narration that Celia provides definitely seems to support that. “Body autonomy”, as it is phrased in the book, is understandably important for all the mechanical characters, and it is the realization that she lacks that that drives Celia to make some of the choises that she does in the course of the story. However, as first-person narrators are inherently unreliable, it's important to look beyond Celia's opinion and see what's actually happening. The reality that we can observe when we look beyond Celia is that all of the crises that Celia faces throughout the book stem from others using their own bodily autonomy – their 'free will', to use a somewhat loaded term – without regard to how those choices will impact others. The regularity with which that occurs doesn't seem to be coincidental, but rather seems to be a statement from the author on the need to balance one's own self-discovery and actualization with the knowledge of how that will affect others around them.

The human characters in Celia's story are fascinating and self-contradictory. Most of those that recognize that there is still humanity in her, or at least claim to, refuse ultimately to treat her as human, instead objectifying her and using her as a tool for their own ends. Within the moral framework of the story, this objectification is somewhat defensible – it could be argued, after all, that they're operating with the same desire for individualistic autonomy that Celia desires – but it is still ultimately counterproductive and serves only to increase Celia's feelings of separation and otherness from her new body.

Machine was, at times, a hard book to read. The emotional power of Pelland's writing left me breathless at a few points, and the depths that Celia is willing to go to prove her remaining humanity to herself will no doubt be shocking to some readers. The tragedy that sits at its core makes it a very rewarding read; Jennifer Pelland manages to put a very human and humanistic face on a subgenre that at times tries to flee from those descriptors.

(note: Apex Publications provided a copy of Machine for review).(less)

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Feb 12, 2012 Adam Ickes rated it 4 of 5 stars

If I had to describe this book in one word that word would be disturbing, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I won't go into much detail so I don't ruin it for you, but Machine is the thought provoking story of a woman, Celia, who takes on an android body while her biological body is held in stasis until a cure can be found for her rare form of Alzheimer's. The woman has few friends to support her during her greatest time of need. She faces many unforeseen struggles in her new life as a bioa...more

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Feb 04, 2012 Lynette Aspey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If you’re looking for a deeply probing investigation of transhumanist social and technological issues, then Machine is not for you.

On the other hand, this is a well-written, character-driven story. Jennifer Pelland has done a good job integrating recognizable trends into her future setting, while paralleling those advances with an American society still in the grips of Christian fundamentalism, particularly with regard to “the soul” and “life choices”.

A brief(ish) outline, (I don't think there a...more If you’re looking for a deeply probing investigation of transhumanist social and technological issues, then Machine is not for you.

On the other hand, this is a well-written, character-driven story. Jennifer Pelland has done a good job integrating recognizable trends into her future setting, while paralleling those advances with an American society still in the grips of Christian fundamentalism, particularly with regard to “the soul” and “life choices”.

A brief(ish) outline, (I don't think there are spoilers but tell me if you disagree):

After discovering that she has inherited a unique form of early onset Alzheimer’s, the lovely but tragically vulnerable, Celia Krejewski, sets out to save her life by putting her body into stasis until a cure can be found. The year is 2092 and any possible cure is still many years away. Faced with the imminent degradation of her brain, Celia opts for a “biomechanically engineered” solution, what amounts to a “courtesy body”: an outwardly perfect copy of herself that will be the vehicle for her consciousness until her organic body can be cured.

That’s the plan. However, when Celia awakes in her artificial body, the first thing she discovers is that she has been cruelly abandoned by her beloved wife, Rivka, who will not “cheat … by living with her machine copy”. Inevitably, and very quickly, Celia begins to fall apart.

Her first independent act is one of self-mutilation, in which she attempts to transpose her grief, which can only be a programmed response, into something physical. Glimpsing the machine is a way of proving this fact to herself, but the act of cutting the skin away on her finger triggers a safety program that “locks her down”. It is in this state of helpless bondage that Celia gains an insight into her true condition. After being admonished for her “accident”, she is then released back into her unsupported, human environment.

But Celia is now set upon a determined path to recapture the painlessness of lock-down, to strip away the programmed layers that hide the truth of what lies beneath her flawless and easily repaired skin. She is both a naive young woman throwing herself into a murky underworld of fetishist fantasy, and an AI striving for self-awareness by deconstructing a carefully contrived human-personality matrix. That this self-discovery is erotically charged only manages to convey the fact that self-determination can be a very slippery slope.

Celia’s journey ends as we knew it would, and it is the largely unsympathetic, secondary, character who gets to drive change (off stage), without her having taken, or even comprehended, Celia’s journey. This, I found disappointing. Otherwise, I enjoyed Machine, as the story of a displaced consciousness seeking to align its Cartesian duality.

(This review has been excerpted from my blog. If you want to read more, visit http://sleepingdragon.info/2012/mind-...)
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Jan 31, 2012 Dale rated it 5 of 5 stars

Whether you call it science fiction, or speculative fiction, or sociological fiction, or any other term, the genre field is about technological advances, but more importantly, what those changes in technology mean to us as humans. The best examples show us how people's lives are altered with this new leap in the sciences-- what about us changes, and what remains essentially the same. The humanity of the story is what truly matters.

In Machine, the humanity of the story is all, as it should be. J...more Whether you call it science fiction, or speculative fiction, or sociological fiction, or any other term, the genre field is about technological advances, but more importantly, what those changes in technology mean to us as humans. The best examples show us how people's lives are altered with this new leap in the sciences-- what about us changes, and what remains essentially the same. The humanity of the story is what truly matters.

In Machine, the humanity of the story is all, as it should be. Jennifer Pelland gives us a heart-rending tale of a life altered by a technological advance. When science can put our consciousness into a mechanical body, who would want to go back to their fleshly frame? When there are, in effect, two of you, which is the "real" one? Does that term have significance anymore? How would your loved ones react to your mind in a different shell?

These questions and more pop up in this masterful book. So many different viewpoints are shown as to what people would think about the technique, and what happens to those who undergo it. There are religious and ethical protesters, opportunists, fetishists, and others who are portrayed against the personal struggle of one woman to keep her identity and life together.

When, for medical reasons, the protagonist Celia Isoke Krajewski undergoes the procedure to put her fleshly body in stasis while she "lives" in a mechanical copy, she awakens to find that in the eyes of some, she is now a monster. Those now opposed to her include her nearest and dearest loved ones. She soon becomes an outcast, separated from all she has known. She finds unlikely allies in her struggle to understand who she now is and what that means.

The book realistically shows that although society changes in regard to some personal choices, people in the book continue to hold bigoted opinions about what others are doing with their bodies and selves. The characters are tolerant about their own choices, but demand that others submit to a different standard.

So we have a grand example of a book that examines what it is to be human when the boundaries of humanity are stretched and morphed into alternatives. Is it an evolution or an abomination? Machine will make you think and give you a new understanding about identity, gender, and beliefs.

When you have finished with Machine and want to read more by this talented author, get her book of stories, Unwelcome Bodies, with further explorations of identity and change.
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Feb 29, 2012 Bryan Schmidt rated it 4 of 5 stars

If the author had set aside her ideology and just focused on story, this would be a five star book, but unfortunately, despite being hard to put down, the story suffers under the weight of the preachy tone. Questions could have been asked and left up to readers to decide how they come down on the issue. But that doesn't happen here enough. And that's too bad, because there's a rollicking good Science Fiction tale underneath, one I found it hard to tear my eyes away from. But just when I was gett...more If the author had set aside her ideology and just focused on story, this would be a five star book, but unfortunately, despite being hard to put down, the story suffers under the weight of the preachy tone. Questions could have been asked and left up to readers to decide how they come down on the issue. But that doesn't happen here enough. And that's too bad, because there's a rollicking good Science Fiction tale underneath, one I found it hard to tear my eyes away from. But just when I was getting wrapped up again, the sledgehammer slung through with another ideological sermon and ruined the moment. I dislike ideological blathering in the guise of fiction, whether the ideology matches my own or not. In spite of that, the book is a fascinating tale set in a fascinating, well built world with a well drawn lead and some nicely handled, though thinly drawn supporting characters. The plot and pacing are almost spot on, except for the above mentioned preaching issue. The book just carries you along, infusing you with a desire to find out what happens next. The tale of a woman diagnosed with a rare, bad version of Alzheimers who takes advantage of future tech to have her "brain and memories" transferred into a biorobotic body until a cure can be found, while he fleshly body lies in stasis, Machine asks some truly fascinating questions about science. How far should it go and at what cost? Just because we have the technology, does that make it right to use it? Are there other questions we should ask? It's compelling and emotional and fascinating. Too bad the ideological lectures got in the way. None of those political things is essential to the story which already has so many deep questions to ask and does just by its plot and circumstances. The politics distract focus and would not be missed if they weren't there. Still, Pelland shows great talent as a writer and storyteller and I have no problem understanding why it found a willing publisher. There were probably several.(less)

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Mar 08, 2012 Daniel rated it 5 of 5 stars

I first met Jennifer Pelland two years ago. Her collection of short stories, Unwelcome Bodies, had recently come out and her brilliant and depressing stories were just what I needed to read at that time. So when I saw her first novel was coming out, I knew I had to get it.

Machine is a breathtaking achievement. One sits in awe at the imagination and psychological detail that has gone into the creation of the world of this story. It's nearly a century in the future and those with currently incura...more

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Apr 03, 2013 Elvis Brown rated it 1 of 5 stars

Audiobook:

I wanted to like this book, I really did. The cover was tacky but the premise seemed well, promising. I never finished it. I got well over half way through constantly waiting for this book to get off the ground. Instead there was this constant pathetic whining of the main character. Dreary! How could you get such a dismal, weak, discouraging book from such an exciting idea?

I feel guilty saying this but it felt like it written by a 12 year old who had been encouraged by someone with no...more

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Feb 11, 2012 Rob rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: random-comments-review

...Machine focuses completely on impact on the individual. Pelland doesn't spend time on exploring the implications of developments in the novel to wider society beyond what is necessary for the development of her character, which some readers may find a weakness. Personally, I think Machine is a very good character study. Celia is a troubled individual and her story does not make for happy reading. It's at times disturbing, at time heartbreaking and always keeps the reader on their toes. The no...more

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Nov 05, 2012 Brittany rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: kindle

This is a tough one, and I'm probably going to be thinking about this book for a long time. It was a strange, thought-provoking, very disturbing, character-driven story that I probably won't ever want to re-read. The writing was very good, although stark, but my Kindle copy had a lot of (annoying) grammatical errors. I really liked the futuristic world that Pelland built, and the fact that she didn't infodump or even really explain most of the daily-life technological advances. It was very belie...more

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Jul 24, 2012 Jon Swanson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, transhuman

Very strange and dark.

People suffering from incurable diseases are able to copy themselves into bio-androids, putting their real bodies into stasis while they wait for medical technology to cure them. Non-medical use of this technology, at least in the states, is strictly prohibited.

A part of this book is how American society, pessimistically projected from our current trend of heavy religiosity and anti-science, deal with this european developed transhuman tech. That part is pretty weak.

The ma...more

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Jan 26, 2012 Arachne8x rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: e-book, gritty, sci-fi

This is a very gritty, very creepy, extremely insightful book.

Is the self in the mind, in the soul, in the body, or in all of the above? Is a constructed body that is virtually identical to the original a place where the human psyche can feel at home?

Celia is inhabiting an android body that is virtually indistinguishable from the one in medical stasis, but while this seems like a perfect solution to the problem of deadly or debilitating diseases, as Celia discovers there are parts of society and...more

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Feb 06, 2012 Sally rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: lesbian

Good science fiction makes you think. Pulp science fiction entertains you. Great science fiction, on the other hand, makes you think while entertaining you. Such is the case with Machine by Jennifer Pelland.

The concept at the heart of the story is an interesting one, and even though it's been done before, it's never been done quite like this. In the not-too-distant future, science has managed to create entirely human-looking android bodies into which human thoughts and emotions can be copied. It...more Good science fiction makes you think. Pulp science fiction entertains you. Great science fiction, on the other hand, makes you think while entertaining you. Such is the case with Machine by Jennifer Pelland.

The concept at the heart of the story is an interesting one, and even though it's been done before, it's never been done quite like this. In the not-too-distant future, science has managed to create entirely human-looking android bodies into which human thoughts and emotions can be copied. It's a technology that was designed for the benefit of terminally ill patients with incurable diseases, allowing them a chance to live while they wait for a cure, although it's starting to become something of a cosmetic procedure as well, despite the overwhelming political and religious objections.

The novel follows the story of Celia, a young woman with a rare genetic disease that's a low priority on the medical research front. She wakes up from the copy-over process, acting, feeling, and thinking exactly as she did in her old body. For her, there is no change, and no awareness of being different from what she was before. Unfortunately, her wife doesn't see it the same way, and Celia awakes to find herself divorced . . . alone . . . shunned by the woman she loves, who refused to cheat on the woman she loves with a soul-less copy.

D.B. Story's Fembot Chronicles, which I've reviewed her many times of the past few years, are some of my favourite stories to deal with the concept of mechanical beings and self-awareness. There, the focus on the story was on robots acquiring sentience, and fighting for rights they never had. Here, with Machine, the focus is instead on humans becoming something less-than-human in the transition, and fighting for the right to distinguish themselves from what they have lost.

On the one hand, it's a rather dark and disturbing reality with which we're presented, with Celia and her new found friends illegally modifying themselves to look less than human since society's rejection has made them feel less than human. It begins with Celia slicing open her finger to see the ceramic 'bone' beneath, and quickly progresses from there. Polished chrome skin, featureless mannequin-like bodies, and glowing eyes are the physical aspect, with the ability to suppress emotions, voluntarily go into lockdown, and play with the sensitivity of their pain/pleasure receptors is another. Like I said, it's almost heartbreaking to see the lengths to which they feel forced to modify themselves, even as we share in the exhilaration of freedoms and feelings otherwise impossible for the rest of humanity. The voluntary fetishization of their condition is oddly confusing, coming across as erotic and exciting when they fetishize one another, but disgusting and inexcusable when they play to human kinks.

As part of her exploration of what it means to be human, Jennifer does an amazing job of dealing with questions of sexuality and gender. Celia, as I mentioned previously, is a lesbian, although it's entirely inconsequential in the future presented. Other than one instance where another character reminds her that her marriage would once have been as controversial as her new body, her sexuality is a complete non-issue. Similarly, we get to explore some interesting ideas of gender through Celia's augmented friends, including one who can alter his gender at will to be male, female, or a combination of the two, and another who is entirely featureless and androgynous since, as it points out, robots do not have a gender.

If I were to voice one complaint, it would be over the ambiguity of the ending, but I realised that was intentional. Celia's fate is what we make of it, and that brings us right back to the concept of making you think while entertaining you. I realise I haven't done the story justice, but hopefully I've highlighted enough of the elements handled so masterfully by Celia that you'll want to give it a read.(less)

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May 17, 2013 Joe Stamber rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: audio, read-2013

Sometime in the future, anyone suffering from an incurable illness can be frozen until a cure is found. To enable them to carry on living in the meantime, a clone is created which looks, acts and feels just like the person it is emulating. Machine is a study of what happens when Celia undergoes this procedure and how she copes with the resulting issues.

I found the basic plot of Machine very interesting and it was a new idea to me, so credit to Pelland for imagining something that could technical...more Sometime in the future, anyone suffering from an incurable illness can be frozen until a cure is found. To enable them to carry on living in the meantime, a clone is created which looks, acts and feels just like the person it is emulating. Machine is a study of what happens when Celia undergoes this procedure and how she copes with the resulting issues.

I found the basic plot of Machine very interesting and it was a new idea to me, so credit to Pelland for imagining something that could technically become reality one day. There were other interesting ideas in the book, the networking glasses and the tweaks the clones had done to name two. I found Pelland's writing style to be clear and easy to read. The cast of characters was varied and included some clever ones as well as a few duds.

Unfortunately, the biggest dud was Celia, who we spend the entire novel with. The best word to describe her is pathetic, although one of Google's definitions for the word is "arousing pity" and she certainly didn't do that. However, the second definition is "miserably inadequate" and that hits the mark perfectly. Celia whines constantly and considering she has a job that requires intelligence, she is dumb beyond belief at times. Having such a soppy protagonist made Machine hard going for me.

Not content with making the main character so annoying, Pelland manages to trump her with Celia's best friend (Triny I think) although thankfully she doesn't feature much. How anyone could be friends with her is a mystery, as she is as irritating as Celia is pathetic and twice as dumb. I almost wrote to Pelland asking her to rewrite Machine with myself as a character so I could track Triny down and punch her.

For a story about freezing humans, creating clones, lost love, androids creatively modifying themselves, protests against the clones and wacky robot sex, I found Machine dragged in places when it should have been exciting. Perhaps it was because Celia depressed me so much. To sum it all up, Machine is well written with some great ideas but just too annoying to be enjoyable.(less)

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Jul 16, 2012 heidi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebook, scifi, wiscon, reviewed

I really really hated the end of this book. More passionately than I hated the epilogue of the Harry Potter books, and that's saying something. But then it occurred to me that the reason I was so angry about it was because I was so invested in Cecilia's personality and story.

I was curious along with her about her new body, and angry about her wife's abandonment, and I could see why she was disenchanted with trying to pretend to be human when she had an option.

Cecilia gets an android replacement...more I really really hated the end of this book. More passionately than I hated the epilogue of the Harry Potter books, and that's saying something. But then it occurred to me that the reason I was so angry about it was because I was so invested in Cecilia's personality and story.

I was curious along with her about her new body, and angry about her wife's abandonment, and I could see why she was disenchanted with trying to pretend to be human when she had an option.

Cecilia gets an android replacement body while her bio body is on ice awaiting treatment for a neurological disease. Sadly, when she wakes up, her wife has freaked out and left. Cecilia is left alone, or to the tender mercies of a psychiatrist, to work out who she is all over again, the way many people do after a failed marriage. Cecilia's case is just a bit more complicated.

Cecilia finds a group of other bioandroids who are transhumanist, in a way. They all fit along a continuum of modification. Some are a little tweaked, and some no longer appear human. Each of them is searching for the body that reflects their new understanding of their other-humanity.

I was mesmerized by the inventive writing and thought about what a person could or would turn off. One of the first things Cecilia selects is a tweak called "stoneface". If she had that turned on, she did not have to express her emotions involuntarily. I can only dream of being able to control my involuntary crying in some situations. I would feel so much more powerful and confident if I could get rid of that. She still felt everything behind her stoneface, until she selected other tweaks to give her detachment. She could turn her pain on and off, her voluntary motion. Cecilia had power over her body that I think many of us dream of. It was amazing.

This book is very tightly focused on Cecilia's experiences. It's not about culture or society or the bigger issues, it's very much about this one person's experience. I applaud the narrow focus that allows Pelland to explore so much.

Read if: You are interested in exploring the slightly gnostic themes of body independence. You are fine reading about dirty robot sex.

Skip if: You want a wider picture. You are not going to be ok with dirty robot sex.

Also read: Fool's War, by Sarah Zettel, for a view of bodies and consciousness back the other way.(less)

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Mar 26, 2012 Rrain rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, queer

I didn't actually mean to read this book last night. There were a few other books before it in my queue, but I clicked on it accidentally and thought, what the heck, I'll read a few pages before bed. I didn't put it down again until I was finished, ignoring all basic human necessities such as sleep, water and bathroom breaks in my urgency to reach the end.

I'm fascinated by the deep and thorough examination of body and self, and I'm particularly enamoured of the unreliable narrator, used so brill...more

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Apr 20, 2012 Pippa Jay rated it 4 of 5 stars

The good:
I was really hooked by an excerpt I saw from the opening of this. I loved the concept of it, the whole idea of if you put your mind and memories into another body, is it still you? There were lovely touches of technology and a good use of psychology. It questions the whole idea of identity, of soul and self, of sexual identity, and how much influence our body has on our mental state. A stark reflection of current society where so many people attempt to conform to the advertised 'ideal',...more

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Mar 16, 2012 Jon rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm conflicted about this book. It was entertaining, and I finished it, but it wasn't satisfying.

It attempts to explore an interesting issue, and does a good job with parts of it, but overall it feels like a thin excuse to write about robot sex. Some of the wording and "tech" talk feels childish, and some of the flat behavior of the characters enforces this.

I wanted to like this book more than I did, but it's just not quite there. There's a way to meld your sex scenes and behavior together wit...more

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Mar 20, 2012 Jeff rated it 3 of 5 stars

Really enjoying this one so far--the descriptions of what it would be like to be a mind in a purely mechanical body are quite vivid. Also, it's got queer characters, and some naughty bits.

Turns out there are *quite a few* naughty bits.

Liked this book quite a bit. Pelland has some complex ideas to explore, and she touches on a lot of interesting concepts--I wish that she had explored them a little bit more in-depth, even. I would have edited out at least a few of the "a machine doesn't feel" li...more

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May 07, 2012 Shara rated it 3 of 5 stars

The premise: ganked from BN.com: Celia's body is not her own, but even her conscious mind can barely tell the difference. Living on the cutting edge of biomechanical science was supposed to allow her to lead a normal life in a near-perfect copy of her physical self while awaiting a cure for a rare and deadly genetic disorder.

But a bioandroid isn't a real person. Not according to the protesters outside Celia's house, her coworkers, or even her wife. Not according to her own evolving view of herse...more

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Mar 10, 2012 Misha rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, fucked-up, novel, science-fiction

I've known Jennifer Pelland for something like 14 years and have watched her carve out a niche as a top-notch small/indie press science fiction writer exploring how people relate to technology and to their own bodies. Machine feels like the culmination of her exploration of those themes, bringing them all together in one dark, kinky, twisted, screwed-up ride about a woman learning to live in an android body. I heartily recommend this book to anyone who likes their science fiction to kick over hu...more

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Jul 09, 2012 Akc rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: own

A well-written and captivating tale set in the not-too-distant future (2090s). Celia, who is afflicted with a rare genetic problem that will fry her brain, opts to have her consciousness downloaded into an android replica of her body while her organic body is held in stasis, thus giving medical research time to find a cure for her. The procedure is highly controversial, with conservatives and mostly the religious right making the country a hostile and dangerous place for those who have chosen to...more

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Mar 02, 2012 Tamahome rated it 4 of 5 stars

Just got it on the basis of the ebook sample. Seems nicely creepy and depressing à la Octavia Butler. The author was just on sfsignal's podcast, but the interview mostly covered belly dancing.

Lesbian woman gets a new body, wife leaves, she starts taking herself apart.

28% - (kindle book has no page numbers) Io9 is going to rave about this.

56% - Oboy. (She doesn't shy away from the sex.)

90% - Ok, let's finish it. I think I can do 600 'units' an hour and there's 800 left.

All done. Very different...more

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Aug 24, 2012 Jim rated it 5 of 5 stars

What a great read. This is adult themed science fiction with a delicious dollop of social commentary. Jennifer Pelland is able to flesh out the logical implications of an imagined extraordinary medical technology. It's a good story line. It's hard to think of this book and remember it was, after all, fiction. Great job, Ms. Pelland.

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Aug 15, 2012 Scott Dailey rated it 5 of 5 stars

Excellent. Goes beyond the technology of being able to transfer your mind into an android body until a cure is found for your terminal illness. Protesters, feeling of alienation. A great story. Unwelcome Bodies was a great collection of short stories, now a great novel. I need to find more of her stories to read.

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Apr 09, 2012 Derrell rated it 3 of 5 stars

Ok, short review. This is a pretty good look at the questions surrounding the advancements in medical treatments and the ethical questions that society needs to ask itself. Things like just what is a human.

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May 01, 2012 Chris rated it 3 of 5 stars

I like the questions that Jennifer Pelland poses about bioandroids and the future of humanity. The story is good and Celia's character reacts realistically if you were put in her shoes, but the ending left me a little disappointed because I thought C2 was destined for starting a revolution after all the let downs and betrayals she experienced. It is hard for me to figure out if Pelland who expands what it means to be human is cautioning us about becoming to andoidlike with the realistic ending b...more

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About Jennifer Pelland

Jennifer Pelland lives just outside Boston, sharing her home with an Andy and three cats. She’s been a published short fiction author since 2002, with stories appearing in such venues as Strange Horizons, Abyss and Apex, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, Tales of the Unanticipated, and Apex Digest.

(Photo by Andrew Benson.)

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