Activation degradation A novel

Lostetter's latest (after The Helm of Midnight, 2021) uses classic science-fiction themes to weave together a story that's familiar, and yet it offers enough mystique to keep the reader guessing. Unit Four is activated with a very specific purpose: defend the Jupiter mine, which allows Earth to retain resources for its population, at all costs. Unit Four's only interactions are with the other units--its "sisters"--and its handler. After a mission to take out the invaders who threaten the mine fails, Unit Four is taken aboard a ship with some strange invaders indeed--and it discovers that its world is nowhere near as simple as it was made out to be. Its constant struggle for identity and learning the truth will resonate with readers, and its wavering back and forth between seeing itself as a robot versus a human gives readers an unexpected sense of empathy for it. Though the novel starts off a bit slowly, it quickly picks up when Unit Four's original mission comes to an end and it begins to find itself anew.

Lostetter (the Noumenon series) sweeps readers up into a thrilling sci-fi adventure that raises challenging questions about artificial intelligence, sentient responsibility, and freedom. In a far future in which Earth society hangs on by a thread, Autonomous Maintenance System Unit Four is programmed to defend the valuable helium-3 mine orbiting Jupiter under the command of its Earth-based handler. An alien ship attacks and Unit Four risks everything to defend its workplace and home, but when it's captured by the enemy and discovers they look just like it does--bipedal "soft" robots--Unit Four questions everything it thought it knew. Presented with an alternate worldview, Unit Four must decide whom and how much to believe, and then what to do about it. This decision makes for a riveting story that weaves mystery and philosophical questions together with brisk action. Unit Four is a fascinating character, and Lostetter's vivid descriptions create a marvelously textured setting for this story of human error and hidden history, where nothing is really what it seems and the truth may be the strangest thing of all. The twisty plot and masterful storytelling set this apart. Agent: DongWon Song, Howard Morhaim Literary. (Oct.)