Book review: When a Robot Decides to Die by Francisco García González Very remini

Book review:When a Robot Decides to Die by Francisco García González

Very reminiscent of Black Mirror, only with more depravity and less diversity. González is a talented writer, and his dark, disturbing visions of the future make for an interesting read (particularly those which draw on Cuban history and politics) but there’s only so many twisted sci-fi narratives told through the eyes of a misogynistic, murderous cis straight man/robot that I can stomach reading before they all begin to blend together.

Women in the vast majority of these stories were either dead, on the verge of extinction, or referred to only in the sexual fantasies of the more important characters. With each story I was left feeling a little more angry when yet another male perspective was introduced. Although, given that so many of González’s stories seem to equate masculinity with sexual violence, I’m not sure that I would have wanted to read a story of his featuring a female protagonist.

Many thanks to Vanderbilt University Press for providing a copy of When a Robot Decides to Die. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Publisher: Vanderbilt University Press
Rating: 1 star | ★✰✰✰✰
Review cross-posted to Goodreads

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