Description
From award-winning author Sarah Pinsker comes a novel about one family and the technology that divides them. Get one - or get left behind. Val and Julie just want what's best for their kids, David and Sophie. So when David comes home from school begging for a new brain implant to help with his studies, they're torn. Julie grew up poor and knows what it's like to be the only kid in school without the new technology, but Val is terrified by the risks and the implications. Soon, everyone at Julie's work has the implant and she's struggling to keep pace. It's clear that she'll have to get one too if she's not to be left behind. Before long, Val and Sophie are the only two in the family without the device, and part of an ever-shrinking minority in their town. With government subsidies and no apparent downside, why would anyone refuse? But Sophie can't shake the feeling that something sinister is going on behind the scenes and she's going to do whatever it takes to find out - even if it pits her against a powerful tech company and the people she loves most.
The new novel from Sarah Pinsker, author of the Nebula-Award-winning A Song for a New Day.
About the Author
Sarah Pinsker's A Song for a New Day won the 2019 Nebula Award for Best Novel, and her collection Sooner or Later Everything Falls into the Sea won the Philip K. Dick Award. Her short fiction has appeared in Asimov's, F&SF, and numerous other magazines, anthologies, and translation markets. She is also a singer-songwriter who has toured behind three albums on various independent labels. She lives with her wife and a very energetic terrier in Baltimore, Maryland. She can be found at sarahpinsker.com and twitter.com/sarahpinsker.
Reviews
Pinsker's newest is a carefully crafted sci-fi web stretched over an intensely human core... Issues of discrimination, ableism, transparency, and more weave together to create an intricately told cautionary tale' * Booklist (starred review) *
A fascinating novel that explores how technologies can transform family dynamics * BuzzFeed *
Pinsker's meticulous research and melodious prose bring readers to the heart of a family and the challenges of societal expectations, technology, and the desire to advance without fully understanding the consequences * Library Journal (starred review) *
A compassionate, richly textured look at how one ordinary family deals with the next wave in productivity technology... Best of all, the novel's futuristic premise feels as realistic and lived-in as its characters' love for one another' -- Annalee Newitz
A deeply empathetic story of a family struggling with everyday impossibilities. We Are Satellites will drill a tiny - entirely painless - aperture in the side of your skull, snake its way inside, and rewire how you think about the lines between yourself, technology, and those we love -- Bob Proehl
This is science fiction as domestic slice of life; a gripping, believable immersion in the day after tomorrow * Guardian *
A book that poses interesting questions and does it with great poise itself. Wonderfully written with a realistic feeling family at the centre * SF Book Review *
A smart, sensitive unpacking of the personal, political and social assumptions that go into the development and promotion of new devices. It's all the more powerful for being painfully ordinary, down to Val blaming herself for not resisting a technology she knows will harm her family * The Times *
Watching these intriguing and imperfect family members finding a way to bring their orbits together is what We Are Satellites is really about. It's such a deeply humane portrait of a family that it barely needs its SF at all - even though the SF provides an unnervingly credible hint of what challenges families might face in the not-too-distant future, if we aren't quite there already * Locus Magazine *
Very clever... SF which examines the effects of a particular change on a society has a long history and this book is an outstanding, intelligent addition to that category. If there is any justice, it should be appearing in future Award lists. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more of this author's work' * Birmingham SF Group *
A slow-burning novel... This is a book about technology with a very human core. It's a quietly compelling novel that will leave you looking at your relationship with technology with a fresh pair of eyes (but not bionic ones)' -- Geek Dad
Book Information
ISBN 9781800243880
Author Sarah Pinsker
Format Hardback
Page Count 400
Imprint Head of Zeus -- an AdAstra Book
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
The new novel from Sarah Pinsker, author of the Nebula-Award-winning A Song for a New Day.
About the Author
Sarah Pinsker's A Song for a New Day won the 2019 Nebula Award for Best Novel, and her collection Sooner or Later Everything Falls into the Sea won the Philip K. Dick Award. Her short fiction has appeared in Asimov's, F&SF, and numerous other magazines, anthologies, and translation markets. She is also a singer-songwriter who has toured behind three albums on various independent labels. She lives with her wife and a very energetic terrier in Baltimore, Maryland. She can be found at sarahpinsker.com and twitter.com/sarahpinsker.
Reviews
Pinsker's newest is a carefully crafted sci-fi web stretched over an intensely human core... Issues of discrimination, ableism, transparency, and more weave together to create an intricately told cautionary tale' * Booklist (starred review) *
A fascinating novel that explores how technologies can transform family dynamics * BuzzFeed *
Pinsker's meticulous research and melodious prose bring readers to the heart of a family and the challenges of societal expectations, technology, and the desire to advance without fully understanding the consequences * Library Journal (starred review) *
A compassionate, richly textured look at how one ordinary family deals with the next wave in productivity technology... Best of all, the novel's futuristic premise feels as realistic and lived-in as its characters' love for one another' -- Annalee Newitz
A deeply empathetic story of a family struggling with everyday impossibilities. We Are Satellites will drill a tiny - entirely painless - aperture in the side of your skull, snake its way inside, and rewire how you think about the lines between yourself, technology, and those we love -- Bob Proehl
This is science fiction as domestic slice of life; a gripping, believable immersion in the day after tomorrow * Guardian *
A book that poses interesting questions and does it with great poise itself. Wonderfully written with a realistic feeling family at the centre * SF Book Review *
A smart, sensitive unpacking of the personal, political and social assumptions that go into the development and promotion of new devices. It's all the more powerful for being painfully ordinary, down to Val blaming herself for not resisting a technology she knows will harm her family * The Times *
Watching these intriguing and imperfect family members finding a way to bring their orbits together is what We Are Satellites is really about. It's such a deeply humane portrait of a family that it barely needs its SF at all - even though the SF provides an unnervingly credible hint of what challenges families might face in the not-too-distant future, if we aren't quite there already * Locus Magazine *
Very clever... SF which examines the effects of a particular change on a society has a long history and this book is an outstanding, intelligent addition to that category. If there is any justice, it should be appearing in future Award lists. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more of this author's work' * Birmingham SF Group *
A slow-burning novel... This is a book about technology with a very human core. It's a quietly compelling novel that will leave you looking at your relationship with technology with a fresh pair of eyes (but not bionic ones)' -- Geek Dad
Book Information
ISBN 9781800243880
Author Sarah Pinsker
Format Hardback
Page Count 400
Imprint Head of Zeus -- an AdAstra Book
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
