To Be a Woman

The Metal Maiden Series #1

by Piers Anthony

A humanoid robot serves as a perfect female companion—until she achieves consciousness—in this wildly different story from a New York Times–bestselling author. Humanoid robots are surely in our future, but their uses are likely to be limited to body guarding, childcare, companionship, and sex. Other chores can better be done by smart non-humanoid machines designed for those specific tasks. But for these limited purposes, the best robots must be so realistic that they are indistinguishable from live people. Elasa is such a robot. You can’t tell her nature if she doesn’t reveal it. You can talk with her, embrace her, kiss her, and she is the perfect woman. Until she becomes the first conscious robot. She’s no longer satisfied to pretend to be a woman; she wants legal recognition that she is a woman, so that, among other things, she can marry the man she loves. Therein hangs a tale . . .

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Audiobook, Short Stories

84 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 24, 2012

About the author

Though he spent the first four years of his life in England, Piers never returned to live in his country of birth after moving to Spain and immigrated to America at age six. After graduating with a B.A. from Goddard College, he married one of his fellow students and and spent fifteen years in an assortment of professions before he began writing fiction full-time.

Piers is a self-proclaimed environmentalist and lives on a tree farm in Florida with his wife. They have two grown daughters.

Reviews

[Kavan · Rating 1 out of 5]

The idea of how a robot might achieve sentience is absolutely fascinating. The execution is so one note and prurient as to defy belief. Zero attempt at characterization or any kind of real dynamics and developments. Horrible. I'm gobsmacked by the number of four and five star ratings.

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was not initially sure I wanted to rate this five stars until the final chapter. I’m not one for spoilers, normally, so I’ll just say this: the sex was trite and contrived through most of the book, and erotic lit is not normally my cup of tea. It did serve to further the plot, but was excessive for me.

[Scott Shjefte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good exploration of an interesting topic

How do you tell if an AI is sentient? I've seen this explored in any number of novels, in one fashion or another, and this is not a bad case.

I found the pathway to a feel-good resolution the author used to be a bit too easy, in some ways. That said, the author seems to have been more interested in trying to demonstrate true sentience to the satisfaction of the reader, rather than go for gritty realism in the story.

The android in the story is, in many ways, a better woman for her man than any natural woman could be, especially after achieving consciousness. I'm sure that is the point, but I'm actually kinda jealous of the android's lover, lol.

There is a fair amount of bare-bones erotica in the story. It IS about a sexbot achieving consciousness, after all. None of it is really obnoxious and much of it is even pertinent to the story.

Anyway, it was a decent read. Not sure why I only rate it a 3, but it feels like it is missing something I want in stories, I guess. Not enough doubt during the "black moment," maybe?

Do enjoy it and make your own mind up. :)

[Lena Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

An OK story

Firstly, I really liked the primise of this story. I thought the plot was interesting. However the plot was ruined because there were a lot of explicit sex in the story that I wish I had known about before reading. I am definitely not reading this again and would not recommend. Especially since I was so interested in the premise, and then disappointed with way to much sex

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was surprised by the abrupt sexual scenes. This is full on erotica. The story line does provoke thought into robotic consciousness and the mechanic emotionless actions of humans. I have loved Piers Anthony most of my adolescence and all of my adulthood. I will try the sequel and see how this story unfolds

[Pablo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a surprise, I had just finished reading A Spell for Chameleon. It is definitely not for children (first paragraph establishes it). It was still an engaging novela, sits maybe between Cherry 2000, Ex-machina and A.I.

[Viva · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spoilers ahead. I'm in between books and going through some of Pier's Anthony's older books. He's one of my favorite authors but he can be a hit or miss.

Elasa is a female robot that the protagonist uses for sex. We've seen this story before in Split Infinity where Style teaches Sheen the robot human behavior. But somehow I liked that book much better. Maybe because I was 13 years old then. I just reviewed another book of his Aliena, with the same "plot" where he teaches an alien in a human body the same thing. I'm not a prude, it's just that the storyline is too unrealistic and goes into sexy time too suddenly. The writing is also too amateurish.

[James Biser · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great idea for a book!
People are little more than fleshy machines or robots when identity and love are not considered. In this story, a robotics company produces robots that are perfectly like humans and able to service as sexual partners and companions. Told from the point of view of a veteran who was injured in combat, one of these robots learns to be an individual and the veteran and his love must fight for her right to live and be considered real.

[Xander · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea is simple: can a robot truly have conciousness? I felt as though Anthony didn't really address it as much as Is a robot capable of sexual agency? It felt a tad rushed and I think that so much more could have been explored.

[Sydney Vachino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend for any sci-fi or robot lovers. As a student interested in computer science and artificial intelligence, I thought this was a unique take on the "are robots citizens" situation. Recommended for high school students and up.

[Shari · Rating 5 out of 5]

FANTASTIC READ REALLY ENJOYED EVERY PAGE

I was shocked at first, but after getting into the story line I understood the author's intent. Written well, even the sexual parts were not objectionable. I was amazed by the court hearing.
Truly a thought provoking book.

[Marlene · Rating 2 out of 5]

I used to LOVE Piers Anthony books. Either I have changed or Anthony has. I honestly did not read all the way through this book. I couldn't get past the first five depressing chapters with so much sexuality and loose relationships implied or described. Not for me.

[Charles L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting Premise

This was an enjoyable read on my iPhone. The basic premise was like a few other gaming conscious story’s. The story line makes no scientific announcements or impossible ideas. We are well on the way with smart sex robots. Lighthearted reading.

[K. Counihan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 1 of 4. A humanoid robot serves as a female companion.
It starts off slow until she achieves consciousness.
She is then no longer satisfied to pretend to be women.
Now she wants legal recognition that she is a woman.
I thought it was a half decent read.

[Amie Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun book

This is a fun book and easy to get through in a day. It's simplistic and formulaic but because the author seems to have crafted it this way intentionally, it somehow works.

[Laurie Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK Book

For some reason this book just didn't do any thing for me. The writing was missing some thing. Too predictable

[Scott Whitney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this one. It is a good exploration of what it means to be human and what rights humans have as a robot starts to fight for those rights.

[David Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Piers Anthony and this book lived up to my expectations.

[Aistė · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an interesting idea, but not enough developed. Everything happened too fast and without that spark of intrigue.

[Patrick J. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish.

[Cayden · Rating 2 out of 5]

😬

[Aubrey Terron · Rating 1 out of 5]

So, SO bad.

The story is horrendous, but the narrator makes it worse.

[Derrick Hawkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

love piers anthony but this one went on kinda long with a slow result that almost made me stop reading.

[ScoLgo · Rating 1 out of 5]

A perfect example of the worst type of authorial wish fulfillment to be found in fiction.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

he could not afford to rent a robot, he could not afford to have a lady, but this lost soldier found more in one night then he bargend for.... he found love in the fembot that came reluctantly to his house to show him the broken fembot he had arranged for in a try out. Little did he know that deception would create more problems in his life, years later, he aggreed again to have a fembot, and reluctantly aggreed to advertise for the company, but he was lonely and found that he was unattractive to women of the normal kind. But it was his love that would change everything.

[Otavio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back to "I, Robot"

PA compared himself to Asimov in writing process, but here the similarities go much deeper! Both writers have conquered the impossible challenge of a "human" robot! What an oxymoron! But this is, after all, fiction. When genius and fiction meet, another reality is created, just like what happens when a machine becomes conscious. A truly amazing book.

[Sean Randall · Rating 3 out of 5]

incredible, to think I've been reading work Anthony published since 1967 and to still see him pumping material out today is just wonderful. This is classic style, his distinctive characterisation is still right on the money.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I had read this when it came out. Bit of a turn from his normal fantasy stuff. After making it through all the sex scenes at the beginning it got a lot better once the plot really started. Will likely read the rest of the series soon...

[Beka · Rating 2 out of 5]

Odd.

I was rather disappointed with this one. Orgasms are triggering the spark of consciousness? Hmmm not my thing and I normally like Piers Anthony.