Book Review: Friday by Robert A. Heinlein
She is trained in physical combat and weaponry, incredibly strong, fast, and determined never to fail at her job as a combat courier. She is also sexy, loving, and beautiful (though she'd argue the latter). Her name is Friday...and she's an artificial woman. Simply put, Friday was created in a lab. Thus, while her appearance is completely human, she doesn't fully grasp human emotions, reactions, and customs.
Our story begins with Friday returning from a secret courier mission assigned by her employer, known only to her as "Boss" (until about 3/4 into the story, but no spoilers). However, she is betrayed by one of their own, captured, tortured, and gang-raped until she is rescued by operatives.
However, Friday doesn't appear to sustain much, if any, emotional damage from the experience. She is enraged, but not distraught, nor does she seem to suffer the deep trauma and shame that most rape victims experience. I'm not sure if this was due to her training and conditioning or if Heinlein merely downplayed that to keep the story moving.
Friday is almost immediately ready to get back to work but Boss insists that she take downtime. The next several chapters of the book follow Friday as she takes a vacation and ends up signing on to join an extended family in New Zealand. However, when they learn that she is artificial, the head of the family turns on her and breaks Friday's contract.
From there, Friday tries to return to Boss back in California but is sidetracked by terrorist attacks and petty wars between nations. While traveling through Canada, she finds herself taken in by a semi-ballistic ship captain named Ian. He brings her home and introduces her to his wife, a fiercly strong-willed woman named Janet, and her other husband, Georges. Instantly, Friday bonds with Janet, with whom she nearly makes love. She also bonds with Ian and Georges, with whom she does make love.
As the acts of terrorism force states and nations to close borders, Friday finds it ever challenging to return to HQ, taking on many identities, jobs, friends, lovers, and a few near-fatal adventures along the way. When she finally reaches Boss again, in a completely new secret HQ, he takes her off courier duty and places her in academic study, which is disrupted by events outside her control.
Friday then finds herself out of work, but not out of options. She takes one last courier job off-world, one that changes her life drastically and forever.
In the mind-boggling, incredibly detailed world that Heinlein lays out for us, sex comes free and easy. I lost count of how many lovers (men or women) that Friday slept with through the course of the story. However, Heinlein's writing is never pornographic, never erotic. It is merely suggestive and, at times, comedic.
National boundaries no longer exist as we know them. Many of the states are now sovereign countries as are the provinces and territories in Canada. New Zealand and British Canada are the best nations on Earth though society at large is in decay. There may even be another pandemic plague on the horizon. Polygamy and homosexuality are common and as accepted as the green of grass and the blue of sky. Artifical persons, however, not so much.
Families are managed more like corporations, their foundations seemingly driven by finance first, love second. Heinlein is known for presenting ingenious social commentary in his stories and that is prevalent in Friday. Although the term "internet" is never used explicitly, the information and communication technologies presented in the story are prescient.
Overall, Friday is an engaging read, drawing you into a society that, to be honest, may not be too far in our own future.
Our story begins with Friday returning from a secret courier mission assigned by her employer, known only to her as "Boss" (until about 3/4 into the story, but no spoilers). However, she is betrayed by one of their own, captured, tortured, and gang-raped until she is rescued by operatives.
However, Friday doesn't appear to sustain much, if any, emotional damage from the experience. She is enraged, but not distraught, nor does she seem to suffer the deep trauma and shame that most rape victims experience. I'm not sure if this was due to her training and conditioning or if Heinlein merely downplayed that to keep the story moving.
Friday is almost immediately ready to get back to work but Boss insists that she take downtime. The next several chapters of the book follow Friday as she takes a vacation and ends up signing on to join an extended family in New Zealand. However, when they learn that she is artificial, the head of the family turns on her and breaks Friday's contract.
From there, Friday tries to return to Boss back in California but is sidetracked by terrorist attacks and petty wars between nations. While traveling through Canada, she finds herself taken in by a semi-ballistic ship captain named Ian. He brings her home and introduces her to his wife, a fiercly strong-willed woman named Janet, and her other husband, Georges. Instantly, Friday bonds with Janet, with whom she nearly makes love. She also bonds with Ian and Georges, with whom she does make love.
As the acts of terrorism force states and nations to close borders, Friday finds it ever challenging to return to HQ, taking on many identities, jobs, friends, lovers, and a few near-fatal adventures along the way. When she finally reaches Boss again, in a completely new secret HQ, he takes her off courier duty and places her in academic study, which is disrupted by events outside her control.
Friday then finds herself out of work, but not out of options. She takes one last courier job off-world, one that changes her life drastically and forever.
In the mind-boggling, incredibly detailed world that Heinlein lays out for us, sex comes free and easy. I lost count of how many lovers (men or women) that Friday slept with through the course of the story. However, Heinlein's writing is never pornographic, never erotic. It is merely suggestive and, at times, comedic.
National boundaries no longer exist as we know them. Many of the states are now sovereign countries as are the provinces and territories in Canada. New Zealand and British Canada are the best nations on Earth though society at large is in decay. There may even be another pandemic plague on the horizon. Polygamy and homosexuality are common and as accepted as the green of grass and the blue of sky. Artifical persons, however, not so much.
Families are managed more like corporations, their foundations seemingly driven by finance first, love second. Heinlein is known for presenting ingenious social commentary in his stories and that is prevalent in Friday. Although the term "internet" is never used explicitly, the information and communication technologies presented in the story are prescient.
Overall, Friday is an engaging read, drawing you into a society that, to be honest, may not be too far in our own future.
No comments have been added yet.
