| In the middle of the twenty-first century, corporations run almost everything. After Shira Shipman's marriage has broken up, and her young son has been taken from her by the corporation that runs her zone, she returns to Tikva, a Jewish free town where she grew up. As a result of global warming, it is deemed unsafe, and so far, has been left as a free city. Shira moves in with Malkah, the brilliant grandmother who raised her.
Sarah takes a job with Avram, a cybernetics expert. Avram has created a golem, a robot, to protect the free city. Yod is a unique cyborg implanted with intelligence, emotions and the ability to kill. Shira develops an unusual relationship with Yod, who, like Frankenstein's monster, is filled with both love and hate. Shira is to make Yod indistinguishable from humans. What she teaches Yod is to become a man that a woman ideally wants. The two begin a romantic relationship. Meanwhile, she must deal with her own past and past loves, and mistakes which led to the loss of her son. She and Yod decide to retrieve her son. The story also tells the parallel legend of Jacob, who created a golem from the Ghetto of Prague, a clay creature created to protect the people from a pogrom. Shira's grandmother, who programmed Yod, leaves portions of Jacob's story in the settlement's communication network. Yod, like the golem, was built to protect the city from corporate attackers. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of book - sensitive (sigh....) FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story Romance Yes Romance plotlets: - love forbidden by society Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Descript. of chases or violence - 10 % planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30 % Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 30 % Human/magical couple? Yes Type of couple: - She's a human, he's a robot Main Character Identity: - Female Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Main Adversary Identity: - Robot How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a substantial amount How sensitive is this character? Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters Setting Takes place on Earth? Yes Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment scientific jargon? (SF only) - some scientific explanation Sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - descript of kissing - descript of touching personal anatomy - doing it with a robot/computer How much dialogue? - significantly more descript than dialog |
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