SciFi Novella Review: Emergent Properties by Aimee Ogden

 

Emergent Properties by Aimee Ogden:

Full Disclosure: This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on July 25, 2023 in exchange for a potential review. I give my word that this did not affect my review in any way - if I felt conflicted in any way, I would simply have declined to review the book.

Emergent Properties is the next novella from author Aimee Ogden, author of a pair of really interesting novellas from last year - Local Star (A Queer Polyamorous Space Opera and Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters (A Queer Space Opera with elements of the Little Mermaid and a whole lot more). This novella travels over ground made familiar to many sci-fi fans in Martha Wells' Murderbot stories, with Emergent Properties following the independent AI Scorn in a world filled with non-autonomous AIs who are limited to certain roles and properties...unlike the young Scorn. And so, in a similar vein to Murderbot, there's a story here about an AI unsure of its own purpose and place among humans and non-autonomous AIs, as Scorn tries to solve a mystery while treading the line of not acting too like humans...but also not limiting zirself too much either.

The result may feel like it's covering similar ground in AI self-discovery as Murderbot, but the method Ogden does so is very different, and that results in a rather interesting and well told story (even if it will be one far less approachable for the common fan than Murderbot). The world and setting here isn't particularly setup all too deeply, with the reader having to fill in gaps and implications on their own, but Scorn's own mental narrative and perspective works really well as the story sets up a mystery for Scorn to investigate - what happened to the ten missing days in Scorn's memory and who would be trying to stop Scorn from finding something out...and what? - and follows that through to its conclusion. Very enjoyable, as usual from Ogden.


Plot Summary:

Scorn is fairly unique among AI sentiments - ze is the first ever fully autonomous and independent AI, able to go wherever ze wants to go (as long as ze has the funds to purchase a chasis into which ze can download zir consciousness). Scorn's Mum and Maman are now divorced and CEOs of rival tech corporations with major global influence, but both of them hoped Scorn would opt to something other than zir chosen path: being a freelance investigative reporter trying to track down the truths behind the actions of the corporations that run the world.

It's an occupation that has gotten Scorn into trouble in the past, but nothing like recently - when Scorn's personality rebooted to find that ze has no memory of what transpired over the last ten days other than it having something to do with a story that Scorn was investigating on the moon. And so, despite warnings from both Scorn's Mum and Maman, Scorn sets out to retrack zir steps and to figure out what exactly ze was doing that got him killed and restored from such an old backup. But whoever stopped Scorn before is still out there trying to find a way to get rid of Zem, and Scorn will also have to deal with prejudiced humans, greedy corporations, and limited resources in order to succeed...and what Scorn finds may result in ze rethinking zir whole purpose and method of acting....

My Review: 

Emergent Properties features a world that doesn't get much depth or explanations - AIs are somewhat common, although most are leashed or restrained by corporate ties and creators (unlike Scorn), although some long for the independence Scorn has, and corporations rule the world and the Moon...and conflicts are started between them rather than the old nation states. A deep dive into all this we don't get here, although the hints we get are pretty fascinating.

Instead, we get the noir investigation of Scorn (who, if you couldn't tell from above, uses ze/zir/zem neopronouns). Scorn is an AI who considers zirself to have a mission - searching for the truth - no matter how much others wish ze would do something else (like zir mothers - Scorn's human creators, a pair of women CEOs who are now divorced and vicious rivals). But Scorn is in some ways pretty much like a young adult or teenager in terms of their emotional balance - being caught off guard by potential romantic overtures that ze might want to reciprocate, being repeatedly frustrated and annoyed by human prejudice towards AIs and how other AIs are treated - one brother of Scorn's is a weather AI named MATt who is jovial and a friend but Scorn gets angry at how he is programmed to enjoy doing his weather work instead of having a choice about it. And so Scorn's investigation comes with a lot of impulsive mistakes and struggles - especially as Scorn is conflicted by how ze was taught human courtesies...even to be directed towards AIs and non human intelligences...while Scorn also detests human treatment of zir kind and doesn't want to be human.

And so we get a mystery which thankfully doesn't outlast its welcome (this is not a long novella) which allows Scorn to go through zir emotional journey, keeps the action tense, and concludes with some solid revelations and themes. This isn't some big revelatory novella, but it's a very good one for its main character's journey, and I would definitely recommend it to those seeking for maybe a slightly different take on the same concept as Murderbot, or even those who haven't read Murderbot at all. It's a worthy work in its own right, and I hope it does decently well.