The Mother Code
Aug 2020 · Penguin
3.7star
11 reviewsreport
Ebook
352
Pages
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About this ebook
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.
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.
Ratings and reviews
3.7
11 reviews
Brenda Rezk
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November 25, 2020
It was strange reading about a pandemic so devastating that it is destroying the human race while living through our own (milder) Covid-19 pandemic. In the case of The Mother Code, the U. S. military releases a new genetically engineered bioweapon that was supposed to disappear without a trace after use. Surprise! It didn't! Some microbes take in naked DNA from their surroundings. In this case, certain species of Archaebacteria are capable of taking in the inert form of the DNA used in the bioweapon and then replicating more of it in the deadly form that kills humans. Oops! As the deadly bioweapon spreads around the world, the U. S. has teams working on a last ditch effort to save the human race from extinction. This involves finding a way to create fetuses that are resistant to the bioweapon. Anticipating that there may be few naturally resistant humans, they also had to create and program robot mothers to incubate, birth, feed, nurture, protect, and educate these children. The book moves back and forth between the "present", post-apocalyptic time of the robots and children and the "past" years that the scientists spent trying first to avert disaster and then trying to prepare the fetuses and robots. I enjoyed the book, especially the parts focusing on the kids and their robot mothers. The science was really well done. I didn't connect as strongly with the scientists as I did with the kids and their mothers though. I didn't really connect with the Hopi visions of the future either. Adding the supernatural detracts from the sci-fi, in my opinion. I can do without pre-ordained, religious visions. Overall, this was a great first novel.
Shawny Shawny
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May 12, 2023
fgg
About the author
Carole Stivers was born in East Cleveland, Ohio. She received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She went on to post-doctoral work at Stanford University before launching a career in medical diagnostics. She now lives in California, where she's combined her love of writing and her fascination with the possibilities of science to create her first novel, The Mother Code.
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