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 … 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.
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Happy Friday, my Fellow Book Dragons! This evenings Gem is quite odd looking. It is encrusted with sand and looks like some sort of circuit that has lain out in the sun for far too long. We can see the lines of gold running through a green, jadish background and even though it looks completely inanimate if we breathe on it or touch it with a claw, it lights up. This is Gem Maker Carole Stivers’ The Mother Code.
Set in the year 2049 a man made bio weapon has gotten loose and is plaguing planet Earth. Amidst the panic a group of scientists decide to save humanity by implanting embryos in robotic “mothers” and sending them off into various places in the hope that they will keep these children alive and the earth will repopulate.
The story centers on a boy named Kai and his “mother” Rho-Z. She has everything he needs to grow strong and smart. Food, lessons, heat, air-conditioning, etc. She has been sent to the American Southwest. Here she has kept him for 6 years. Suddenly she is commanded by her programming to start moving him in search of others.
They find a girl and her robot mother. The adventure begins. I loved this part of the story. It reminded me very much of those adventure stories by authors like Kipling that I read as a Nestling. Here was a world neither child had seen before and it becomes a struggle for survival, food supplies are low, it’s time to get cracking.
The children come of age, as children do and oh so quickly. What’s a mother to do when this happens? She changes of course. She is no longer needed as a nurturing protector. And in this case Rho-Z and her compatriots change in ways never imagined. Will Kai and the other children allow their mothers to be destroyed or will they fight for their mothers to be preserved and allowed to continue?
I really liked this book. Carole Stivers is a Silicon Valley Biochemist and so the book does require some knowledge of bioweapons and biochemistry if you really want to understand things or if you are willing to overlook them you can read on. I prefer to know so I jotted a few notes and off to the encyclopedia I went. It didn’t take long and I enjoyed it immensely. I love learning new things. I have done this all my reading life and it never hurt my “little grey cells” one bit.
This is definitely Science Fiction at it’s most fun. We see a futuristic situation (part of which is no longer futuristic – Heaven knows we have been living it this past year) and we have likeable characters, cute kids and robots with clever names like Rho-Z. Who wouldn’t want a Mama named Rosie?
If you aren’t pandemicked out and love Sci-Fi and would love a good, old fashioned weird romp, this is it. Enjoy. Until tomorrow, I remain, your humble Book Dragon,
Drakon T. Longwitten
I received a copy of this book through Goodreads from Berkley. My opinion are my own.
In 2049, the government set an allegedly non-viral agent loose in Afghanistan in order to kill select enemy combatants. When the virus doesn’t behave like the biowarfare scientists thought it would, it turns deadly. Kai is one of 50 genetically engineered children placed in robotic incubators in the deserts of America who are supposed to survive the global pandemic. That, too, doesn’t happen. Kai’s robotic mother nurtures and teaches her son how to survive as do the other robotic mothers. The remnants of the surviving government decide the mothers are no longer behaving “correctly” and must be destroyed. But will Kai and the other surviving children allow that to happen?
This book has it all – science, robotics, two story lines, drama, biowarfare, engineered genetics, etc., and love. Carole Stivers, a scientist herself, puts the word science back in Science Fiction, but, as a reader, you don’t have to be a scientist to understand what’s going on in her stories because she gives you enough information to understand the events taking place in both stories. The author wrote this book before the Covid-19 pandemic, but it could have easily fit right into this book.
Stivers’ world building is outstanding, her character development is equally impressive, and the two stories come together seamlessly. You may find yourself liking one story line better than other, but then the two stories merge and Stivers gives us something more to focus on. This book will stay with you for a very long time because, while a year ago what happens in this book would have seemed farfetched, now it seems all too possible.
If you like your science fiction full of science with believable story lines and well-drawn characters, you’ll love this strikingly well-written book. It should be at the top of your to-be-read list.
My thanks to Berkley and Edelweiss for an eARC.
4.25 stars–THE MOTHER CODE by Carole Stivers is a sci-fi, futuristic, apocalyptic story line focusing on a biological weapon that spread out of control.
In the year 2049, the US military secretly deployed a weapon of biological warfare ( a synthetic nucleic acid nanostructure NAN) in a remote region of Afghanistan. Although immediately deemed a success, the virus quickly mutated, and with the help of mother nature, would eventually engulf the entire world. Knowing that the end of mankind was near, researchers, scientists and bio-engineers built and programmed fifty ‘Mothers’ to incubate and raise the only children expected to survive.
Told from several third person perspectives following three different time lines THE MOTHER CODE focuses on the possibility of a manmade cataclysmic virus; a biological weapon of war that once introduced is unable to be controlled. Years would pass wherein the US military and all of their power found themselves incapable of finding a vaccine, and in the ensuing time, would become the target of revenge. In an effort to ensure some of humanity survived, fifty embryos would be placed in robotic cocoons, where the implanted ‘Mother Code’ would ensure their survival at all costs. Ten years would pass, the children who thrived, along with their ‘Mothers’, would search for any remaining survivors, but in doing so would catch the attention of the few forsaken remnants of mankind, men and women who are hoping to bring home the children who survived.
THE MOTHER CODE is a haunting and thought provoking story of power and control; of possibilities and probabilities; of what ifs and whys; of motherhood, acceptance and love. The stupidity of man to presume he can control that which he does not know, and the betrayal by those in power believing they have the ability and authority to control the world. THE MOTHER CODE looks at what it is to be a mother; the evolution of technology and cybernetics; sentience, self awareness, consciousness; and the ability to evolve, accept, love and protect.
The story line is awash in technical jargon, military lingo, science fact and fiction, as well as futuristic terminology that may be overwhelming to some readers but such is the nature of science fiction and fantasy.
Released during the COVID19 pandemic, the story line may hit too close to home for more sensitive readers.
The Mother Code by Carole Stivers
The Mother Code is such a unique and creative story that I enjoyed immensely. Its themes are powerful and deep – as it explores the role of a mother. This may be a dystopian read which is outside of my usual genre but enjoyed this nonetheless. Stiver is a new author to me but this book really got my attention to her brilliant storytelling. I really enjoyed this one and look forward to her future novels.