The Mother Code

By: Carole Stivers

Narrated by: Soneela Nankani

What it means to be human—and a mother—is put to the test in Carole Stivers’s debut novel set in a world that is more chilling and precarious than ever.

The year is 2049. When a deadly non-viral agent intended for biowarfare spreads out of control, scientists must scramble to ensure the survival of the human race. They turn to their last resort, a plan to place genetically engineered children inside the cocoons of large-scale robots—to be incubated, birthed, and raised by machines. But there is yet one hope of preserving the human order: an intelligence programmed into these machines that renders each unique in its own right—the Mother Code.

Kai is born in America’s desert Southwest, his only companion his robotic Mother, Rho-Z. Equipped with the knowledge and motivations of a human mother, Rho-Z raises Kai and teaches him how to survive. But as children like Kai come of age, their Mothers transform too—in ways that were never predicted. And when government survivors decide that the Mothers must be destroyed, Kai is faced with a choice. Will he break the bond he shares with Rho-Z? Or will he fight to save the only parent he has ever known?

Set in a future that could be our own, The Mother Code explores what truly makes us human—and the tenuous nature of the boundaries between us and the machines we create.

Enjoyed it very much

It grabbed my attention from the beginning to the end! Experienced a complete range of emotions as the story unfolded. All in all it is a very hopeful storyline; interesting, and with believable and relatable characters. A good balance of suspense during the storyline building. It doesn’t seem far fetched at all in this day and age.
I may run through it a second time to pick up on anything that I may have missed earlier. Definitely recommend it.

Overall good

The narrator did an astounding job reading off the book. The narration made it that much easier to follow along.

Imaginative but predictable

I liked the concepts and a lot of the imagery in this book. It has some novel ideas. Unfortunately I got caught up often when it felt like simple communication between the characters or obvious actions would have pretty much negated the conflict.

Mixed feelings

I really liked the premise of this book. The ending was an absolute full stop let down with really no climax or resolution.
Characters and dialog left a lot to be desired. The adults in particular all seemed just as robotic as the the robots. There was nothing at all to differentiate the characters personalities or emotions. There are very few expressions of emotions except from children. These linear characters and and the bland dialogue really put me off. Not once does a character have any complex emotions or motives it was almost cartoonish. The children are little better, because they are children and tend to have simpler motives and emotions.

I felt like the first third of the book could have been condensed considerably and a lot more time could have been given to the children and their struggle.

The fact that this book was on a list of best science fiction for 2020 is either a disappointing statement on contemporary literature. Or, as I suspect, it was put on such a list because someone paid for it to be there. It’s not awful but not award worthy.

Not gonna do it

I'm not going to be forced into leaving a review. My star rating is enough.