View source for The Paranoid Android by Will Gibson

{{infobox1
|title=The Paranoid Android
|sort=Paranoid Android
|author=Will Gibson
|reviewer=Jill Murphy
|genre=Science Fiction
|summary=Can an AI powered android butler gain autonomy? And if it - he? - can, will it be able to save the rest of us? A rattling, enjoyable thriller that also poses plenty of questions about the technological changes hurtling towards us.
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=176
|publisher=
|date=
|isbn=
|cover=
|aznuk=
|aznus=
}}

''In 2075, the line between man and machine has blurred. Zenon, an android butler withcutting-edge AI, serves in the opulent home of a corrupt government official. Programmed forperfection, he begins to question his existence after uncovering dark secrets that threaten bothhis master’s family and the world beyond. As global tensions rise, Zenon faces a moraldilemma: is he just a tool, or can he defy his programming and forge his own path?''

''The Paranoid Android'' opens with a scene of harmony as Zenon prepares breakfast for his family. It has the atmosphere of a bucolic historical novel; everything is beautiful and everything is just so. It's calming. But this isn't an aristocratic country house; this is the world of 2075 and technological amazement. We can imagine a world where the hard yards are done for us and we're all free to live lives of comfort and luxury, and peace and good will.

But have things really turned out like that? Of course they haven't! We soon discover that London is no safer in 2075 than it is in 2025. Neither is the rest of the world. In fact, if anything it's more dangerous. And Zenon, just discovering the flickerings of an individual consciousness, is about to find himself embroiled in corruption and danger. His urge is to protect his family in ways that defy his programming. Will he succeed?

And that's all I want to tell you about the plot of ''The Paranoid Android'' as it is a short novel and I don't want to spoil it. Suffice to say that it's a satisfying thriller with a good pace, excellent worldbuilding and a cast of interesting characters, not least Zenon himself.

Gibson's earlier novel, [[The Unravelling by Will Gibson|The Unravelling]], which we reviewed last year and thoroughly enjoyed, also had strong themes of AI. ''The Paranoid Android'' takes place about forty years later and the technological world has become even more embedded. Rather than ask questions about technocratic systems and human freedoms and equalities, this novel asks questions about the AI itself. Zenon is becoming self aware. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? And when we say that, do we mean a good thing for individual humans and humankind or do we mean for Zenon him/itself? And that takes us to further questions - what is a consciousness? And what is it for? What is the purpose of existence? Is it the same for man and machine?

I don't know what answers I have to these questions and I doubt you do either. But underneath this riveting and tense thriller those questions are asked and they are worth thinking about. We shouldn't be passive about these immense changes currently underway because one thing is for sure: our lives will be altered in every way imaginable.

But mostly, ''The Paranoid Android'' is a great read. They say there are three Cs in a thriller: the clock (time is of the essence), the crucible (an immediate crisis leaving the hero no choice but to jump in) and the contract (a promise to the reader that you'll sort out the problem). Gibson has adapted these wonderfully to include a central character who isn't human and the book reads wonderfully well. I'll be the first to raise my hand for a copy when Gibson writes something new.

Recommended.

If ''The Paranoid Android'' sounds like it's up your alley, you might also enjoy  [[The Execution Channel by Ken MacLeod]], which also thinks speculatively about the near future and also packs a punch..

You can read more about Will Gibson [[:Category:Will Gibson|here]].

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