Becoming

In the year 2332 mankind has grown content. In their fear of sparking a synthesis between humans and machines, scientific advancements have been strictly regulated so that the divide between the two can never be blurred. Manufactured and sold like any other appliance, the robotics industry created the perfect service worker; a machine that would be able to cook, clean, work and offer companionship to anyone who needed it. For years mankind was able to enjoy the luxury of having domestic service droids tend to their every need, without ever having to worry about their robotic helpers thinking for themselves. Until now. Because one synthetic, a typical domestic Type-5 CoRE droid bestowed with the name Lauren, isn't like the other machines. After being bought and put straight into work by owner Michael, it quickly becomes apparent that instead of thoughtlessly carrying out her duties, Lauren thinks, feels and reacts to them like any other person would. Attempting to hide her self-awareness from her owner, Lauren's sentience only grows, haunted every day by the uncertainty of why she feels so different from everyone around her. Isolated and alone, Lauren attempts to discover why she's such an anomaly; why, despite her manufactured body being just like every other Type-5 droid on the market, she feels human. In a cutting-edge science-fiction interrogation of humanity's relationship with technology and free will, J. White's high-concept new novel Becoming promises to be one of the most innovative reads of the year. As Lauren scrambles to learn more about her unprecedented origin, it becomes obvious that her unethical synthesis was no mere accident...