Thank you to NetGalley and Tordotcom for allowing me access to an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Emergent Properties feels like a new breed among the post-human or transhuman genre. We are very used to the Cyberpunk story of AI as a soulless and callous sort of intelligence with a very strong sense of otherness and oftentimes fear. This is something entirely different. Here we have Scorn, a main character who was manufactured to do a job and yet is driven to follow zir own path. This path is even harder to follow as ze wakes up to a ten day loss of time and very few clues about where ze was and why ze wasn't backed up. It's a really great premise that plays on themes like those in Altered Carbon or Neuromancer.

I really enjoyed the feel and pace of this book. It is not long, but it seems to pack a lot of action into a very small space. I'm even more impressed with the scenes that take place exclusively, or nearly exclusively, in non-physical spaces. Scorn as an AI spends a lot of time with no physical form existing primarily in a storage capacity or in virtual spaces and yet the story doesn't want for forward momentum. Scorn's struggles with issues of identity and family much as anyone else, and then there's the general stigma against bots and AI and the distinctions between the two.

If I'm forced to get critical I would say that this story, much like others with transhuman or post-human settings, drops the reader into a world with a number of techno-speak that takes a little time to fully acclimate to. Even with that said it is nowhere near the level of jargon use as a William Gibson or similar book. Although it takes a little work, the payoff is worth it. I also kind of wish there was a little more scene setting because it seemed like we were barely introduced to this very fascinating world and then it was over. The result of that little bit of missing exposition left me a little less impressed with the ending than I otherwise would have been.

In summary, this was a great quick read. It definitely scratched an itch for a different type of story telling about AI and identity. I really hope to see more like this and I would definitely suggest this to anyone who wants a different take on the detective story trope.

This novella has every element of sci-fi that I LOVE! Sentient AI POV on zir journey to self-actualize beyond zir parents designs upon zir life and purpose -- this had the potential to not only feed my Cyberpunk delight but also young adult/coming of age narrative love. And yet, it took me way too long to finish this. Perhaps it's the dense world-building the author isn't interested in handholding you through, which is fine, except we are also expected to care about a protagonist's jour ey without really understanding the scope of their distress in context. We do eventually get there and it has a somewhat rushed but moving end. I just wish it made me feel more for the bulk of this short work. Still curious to check out the author's future works.

For me, it was hard to get into


I was excited to by the premise, the neo-pronouns made it unbearable at times. It is such a weird thing to find distracting, but I would have to put it down and come back a day or two later after a while of reading. I’m a queer person, I love seeing Ze/Zer out there in the world, but with the computer dialogue and the neo pronouns; It was all super distracting for me. Once we get going, it gets easier, but what I thought would take me a few hours to get through, took days.

I can tell the writer has skill with pros and have read other things by them where the pros shine. It was difficult to really appreciate them in this novella once the tone had already been set by the initial style choices. I could see a lot of folks being into it, but it didn’t land for me.

The story is solid. I don’t think it is Murderbot territory, I think it is its own thing. Chasing Murderbot would be a bad idea, I’d focus on what makes it stand out in the marketing campaign. It had “golden age of scifi” vibes and I was here for that, especially with the length.

I’ve read other things by Ogden and really enjoyed them. The mix of style and tone just wasn’t a hit for me.

I quite enjoyed Emergent Properties while I was reading it, but I don’t think it quite came together for me — I’m reviewing this a few days after finishing, and I confess, I’m not entirely sure what to say. I wouldn’t compare it too much to the Murderbot books, which have a very distinctive voice and attitude — this book has some similar themes, and even some similarities of voice, but is a little less… mature-feeling, I guess?

I did enjoy the setup of the mystery, and having to try and figure out what exactly is going on, without giving the game away. However, I kind of lost the thread of it between the body swaps and the random (-seeming) attacks on Scorn, and also the interlude in the black box bar.

There’s a lot of interesting stuff going on — the part in the black box bar actually intrigued me a lot since it imagined how AIs and others might interact, and how something akin to the internet (but older) might be. I think the Aura thing felt cribbed from Black Mirror, though (or at least, that’s where I know that whole social score thing from — even though I don’t myself watch Black Mirror!).

All in all, I had fun, it just didn’t quite come together for me. I’d read more by the author, and even more with this character or this world.

Emergent Properties has some interesting ideas (ai rights/autonomy, sense of self, changing chassis), but I ultimately felt like the narrative was a bit too sluggish and disjointed for me to get swept up.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor for providing an advanced copy for me to review.

Emergent Properties
by Aimee Ogden
Science Fiction Short Story
NetGalley ARC
Ages 14 +
Publication date: July 25, 2023


Scorn is a state-of-the-art A.I., and it is a reporter, and the story it is chasing is about itself. It's missing ten days of memory, but why and what the story was about, it doesn't remember.


Think of the movie 'Total Recall' except on the moon and ninety-nine percent of the characters are robots or programs, the minor all with the personalities of a screen saver set on the logo, moving at the second slowest speed. And the MC, it is the bubbles, bouncing just a little faster.

Yes, as you can tell I didn't like this story. It was slow and without personality. The action was minimal:'ooh problem... I fixed it'. And no it is NOTHING like Murderbot!

But since the MC and most other characters were bots/programs in some shape or form, the author couldn't give them much of a personality, so that must be why this is only a short story, thus why the descriptions of everything; characters, personalities, setting, history, are short and lifeless, making this more of a 'telling' story than showing.

Had the author created this story with the MC having more of a personality, which it should have since it was supposed to be 'state-of-the-art', and giving it more of a detailed history rather than the summing up of its life, it might have brought the story to life and made it more believable/relatable, thus entertaining.

There's not really violence besides threats and summing up things, so this is suitable for most readers as long as they can understand the ramblings and technical language, so I'm guessing readers 14 and older would understand it the best.

1 Star

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Tor Publishing Group for an advance copy of this science fiction novel of the future dealing with corporate wars, AI reporters, what makes a living being, and what makes a family.

The Fourth Estate has been under attack for quite awhile, and while most of the attackers are trying to divert from their crimes, misdemeanors, and stupidity, there are some things that media is guilty of. Much of media is in it for the clout, to hang with the powerful, and be a part of the in-crowd. Sort of like Kent Brockman on the Simpsons wanting to work for the Ant-Overlords in the Simpsons. However there are still many in the media, who chase down leads, look at documents, wonder about things and hit both the streets and the and the information superhighway, looking for clues. These are the true journalists, who question those in power and how they got there, ask the hard questions to the so-called genius class, and follow-up with receipts. Searching for the truth is a noble cause, and something worthy of praise, human or in the case of our main character artificial intelligence. Emergent Properties is a novella by Aimee Ogden focusing on a crusading reporter that might be AI, but is all crusading in searching for the truth, even if the cost might be oblivion.

Scorn is an artifical intelligence who instead of being just an explorer as Scorn's mothers expected Scorn to be has become a freelance reporter, traveling the world unraveling shady deals and exposing criminals. Scorn awakens in a backup facility, missing almost 10 days of time, and with no idea what Scorn was working on before rebooting. A payment puts Scorn on the Moon, and part of a transport crash that left a lot of dead, and more mystery. So Scorn hits the streets, looking for clues and slowly find that the answers Scorn is looking for might lead to Scorn being take offline, forever.

A very different science fiction story, that is kind of a throwback in many ways, featuring a crusading reporter looking for a big story, but with AI, politics, gender issues, and what makes a family. There is a little pulp too in that Scorn has died, and is almost searching for Scorn's killers, sort of D.O.A., where a man tries to determine who has given him a poison that will kill him in 12 hours, or even C-3PO when the droid is blasted in The Empire Strikes Back, and tries to warn everyone. The book is well written and funnier than I expected. A good Commodore 64 joke scores a lot of points with me. The book starts odd, but the learning curve is quick and readers will get the pace fast. There is a lot going on and the book is a novella, so the pace is pretty quick. Hopefully Scorn's next appearance will be longer so readers can take in the story. A lot is covered, dealing with parents who are disappointed in what life choices have been made by their creation, AI what it is, and what rights it should have. Robotic bigotry. For a novella the book is really full of ideas.

Recommended for fans of books by J.S. Dawes, Megan O'Keefe even Ann Leckie. There is a lot of common themes in their books that readers will enjoy. I really liked this story and want to read more on Scorn, and even see some articles Scorn has done. Gonzo AI investigative stories about the future sound fun. This is the first book that I have read by Aimee Ogden, I can't wait to read more.

Suspenseful, Enjoyable, great pacing, exciting settings kept me hooked. Great novel that will be the perfect to lose yourself in. Thank you Net Galley and Tor for ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the early copy. This novella is super short and k8nd of rem8nds me simarlarily of murderbot, if he had more emotions. Sometimes it was hard to keep track of what was happening some of the time but you get used to it. The character wasn't my favorite but definitely read if your look8ng for a short scifi involving an ai with more complex feelings.

I can see why Emergent Properties is being compared to Murderbot. While the AIs have different personalities, they definitely touch on similar issues of autonomy. We are thrown right into the story with Scorn, our MC, and they have just woken up with data/time missing. They aim to backtrack and figure out what happened to them and why. This is a quick little story I think any sci-fi lover would enjoy.

I feel like I understood what the author was going for here, theme wise, but as a whole this novella kind of fell flat for me.

Scorn is an AI created by their mothers, who are CEOs of mega-corporations on Earth (and the Moon). We begin the novella with Scorn waking up and realizing ze was destroyed at some point, losing time in their most recent investigation - thus, having to retrace their steps and figure out not only what they were finding out, but who tried to kill them and way.

There are some really fun interesting bits of ideas here. A black box bar provides a secure space for Scorn and other robots/AI to hang out and maybe have discussions about autonomy that might make humans a little nervous. The bar AI itself may or may not be into Scorn, ze has to figure that one out. Scorn can print various bodies, and though ze spends most of the time in humanoid bodies, ze feels most comfortable in a spider-like body.

There are also threads of ideas that also touch on the possibility of AI fighting to be recognized as sentient beings, and the way humans poorly to that. I felt like it was meant to mirror, in a way, the fight that trans and genderqueer folks are up against right now.

As I said, great ideas are woven throughout this. Unfortunately, the narrative itself just absolutely fell flat for me. When not touching on interesting ideas, I just didn't care at all what Scorn was doing. Didn't care who tried to kill them, didn't care what the story they were chasing was.

This is absolutely a great idea put to paper, and I think Ogden has some brilliant ways of interrogating gender and parent-child relationships through Scorn's journey. I just wish the entire narrative itself lived up to those ideas.

My review of this book is forthcoming. It should be appearing in Locus Magazine in the next month or two.

EMERGENT PROPERTIES was so much fun. AI reporter Scorn heads to the Moon, chasing the biggest dirty corporate scoop of the solar system, with zir nagging mothers at zir heels, and a barely functioning chassis. But what they uncover may not be what they set out to find. I loved every moment of this story. The blackbox on Earth, and the public spaces of TLMN, are so richly developed in such a tight novel. Cantankerous Scorn is my new favourite "artificial". And Maman is so relatable. I'm hoping to see the pegasus chassis in the sequel, though!

I screamed, I cried, I nearly threw my Kindle.

Thank you NetGalley, author Aimee Ogden, and publisher Tordotcom for the emotional damage eARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

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I had to sit with this one a few days after I finished it to determine how to rate it. I loved it, it was incredible. But it's not perfect. So was it a four-star read, or a five-star read? I ultimately landed on the idea that the gripes I have will not stop this book from living in my brain rent-free forever, right next to my other all-time favorites. The deathgrip this story had on me, emotionally, secures the five-star rating. I suppose a four-point-five rating rounded up to a 5 is more accurate, but that's getting into semantics. I freakin' loved this book, ok? Within the first two pages I was screaming at my partner to "Please read this book!" and after the last page, I was sobbing, "Please, read this book."

The biggest challenge I had with this was the novella was not broken into chapters. It just starts, and then keeps going. It made it a little difficult to judge where I was in the grand scheme of the story, but I can understand it might be formatted like this because it's an ARC. And if this is an intentional choice by the author, then I can understand it's like this because its more immersive. Scorn, our genderless AI protagonist, doesn't sleep except to run updates and antivirus scans. Because sleeping and transitions and moving from chapter to chapter is a human concept, and our main character is not a human, I can appreciate and respect an artistic choice to forgo chapters.

Other minor complaints include... I don't know. Nothing else comes to mind right now. I'm reluctant to say the ze/zir pronouns were a complaint. I actually really liked the concept because hello, Scorn isn't a human, so why would ze have gendered pronouns? But I personally am unfamiliar with this particular set of pronouns, and wasn't confident in how to pronounce them, and kept wanting to revert to my comfort default of they/them. But that's 100% a failure on my part, not the authors. It's one of the things that drove me to want to read this book anyway. It was such a novel concept, but such a mundane concept. AI doesn't have gender. Duh.

Anyway, how 'bout we get into the good stuff?

It started with the dedication, "For anyone who's ever had a fraught parental relationship". I think most of us have been there at some point. It's such a human concept, for ones parents to be a source of stress. And, in Emergent Properties, that concept translates from maker to AI as well. Scorn even calls zir makers "Mum" and "Maman". That is how they asked to be addressed when Scorn was made, and Scorn complied. Ze actually was created under a different name, Hopper. At some point prior to the book's start, Scorn changed zir name. There's some trans allegory here, but really, I don't think its any different than if someone decided they wanted to stop being referred to as their nickname, Lizzie, and go by their full name, Elizabeth, or a different nickname for Elizabeth such as Liz, Beth, Bess, Bessie, Betty, or Eliza. Mum does call Scorn by the wrong name once or twice, but apologizes and corrects herself.

But still, Mum and Maman, now divorced, are still trying to meddle and interfere in Scorn's life. Ze wants to be an investigative journalist, and not go off exploring the moons of Jupiter like ze was designed to do. And that's where we meet Scorn in this novella, telling zir mother that just as Hermey doesn't want to make toys and wants to be a dentist, ze wants to blow the lid off this story and get to the bottom of whatever corporate shenanigans are happening at the moon.

As the story progresses, we follow Scorn through zir journey around Earth and the Moon, touching base with contacts and hanging out in unsavory chat rooms, jumping from chassis to chassis depending on the needs at the time, dodging EMPs and malware attacks, and making sure ze has plenty of backups uploaded to the cloud because ze never knows when ze might meet the business end of a magnet.

It's hard to pick a favorite thing, but one of the many standout qualities is this story, and author Aimee Ogden, do not pander to the reader. New concepts are introduced without lengthy explanations and backstories. For example, it's up to you, the reader, to figure out contextually what an Aura is and how it works and why one matters. Subsurf trams, emotionalacrums and sensoriums, displacement dysphoria, datacrawling, and the Midatlantic Elevator are just some of the ideas in Emergent Properties that are not overly defined, but readers can still get the gist of what they are, based on context. I absolutely love a book that shows and doesn't tell.

Scorn's insults and sarcasm are a close second, despite the fact ze says ze doesn't have a sarcasm function. If something is slow, it's "human speed". If it's outdated, it's a "Commodore 64" or a "toaster".

Before I end this review, I've got to share a few standout quotes that made me fall in love with this story...

1. A subsurf accident. And now a lost backup too? Scorn doesn't have a bullshit detector integrated into zir sensorium but if ze did, it ought to be ringing now...

2. Nothing ze's accomplished yet has ever made Mum think ze's on the right track in life, but hey: as she'd so recently pointed out, Scorn is functionally immortal. At some point either ze proves zemself, or Mum dies. So hey, ze sort of wins either way.

3. ... ze doesn't intend to be caught by some Commodore 64 of a security bot.

4. Okay, Scorn. Think like a human... Gross. But useful.

Man, I love it. And I'll probably reread it in the future. I'll definitely recommend it. In fact, I already have.

A fun twist on the noir genre in which our hard-boiled detective is a genderfluid artificial intelligence who is more comfortable in a spider form than a human one. I really liked how Scorn embraced zir inhumanity - they reject traditional norms of humanoid presentation and social convention and really emphasize how AI transcend human comparisons. This is the first story where I really felt reminded that AI intelligences are made of code and information and can travel and exist in spaces outside of human understanding, discarding bodies as easily as one might discard clothes. Scorn's bitterness toward humanity is also compelling, a foil to the more common trope of robots who grow to accept humans rather than continue to reject them. It might not be as sweetly optimistic as some other robot stories, but it does feel more genuine as a reaction to discrimination and oppression.

I also enjoyed the entertaining pieces of human tradition Scorn chooses to embrace - politeness, is one, as drilled into them as by the two conniving genius corporate ex-wives they refer to as zir mothers. Another is the familiar beats of the noir genre: at one point Scorn trudges to a bar for a world weary drink, except the bar is a flirty French AI and most of the conversation takes places in a liminal digital space. The bar scene was actually my favorite in the whole book, as Ogden gets the chance to flex her humor chops through a cleverly phrased forum discussion between a group of AIs that both highlights their unconventional communication methods and weaves in bits that any user of Reddit or Discord will get a kick out of. However, behind all the bells and whistles of the prose, the plot was deceptively simplistic and the denouement predictable. I think this will appeal strongly to anyone missing Murderbot, but be prepared for this story to lack the same upbeat hopepunk energy.

Scorn is an AI that seeks to recover the last ten days of memories that were lost during an investigation.

The writing style of this book is etremely particular. The pronouns, the technobabble and the occasional different language made me at times feel like I was reading complete gibberish. I think a quote from the book is best as an example:

“Thank you,” ze says, already parsing the nuances of diaspora slang to rapid-track natural language maturation. “ This might help me.” “Non c’è di che,” they assure zem. “Always a pleasure to be of service.” As deep in dialectical processing as ze is, Scorn doesn’t stop to examine those words until ze’s installed in zir boarding bay.

But once you get used to that, there are a few things that i enjoyed und would have liked more of: things like Scorns relationship to their brother who is a slightly less advanced AI weatherstation that is happy to just be a weatherstation, as opposed to Scorn who was supposed to explore the moons of Jupiter but would rather be an investigator.

All of Scorns interactions with lesser Bots were pretty adorable and I loved reading about those (you always have to thank the maintenance drones, its just polite).

Odd use of pronouns and a clunky plot. It has potential, but often fails to deliver. It's an okay read, just don't go in expecting the next bestseller.

[Blurb goes here]

Aimee Ogden writes in beautiful prose. One wasted in her latest novella: "Emergent Properties." After all, her writing was all that kept me going. More on that later.

It's been pointed out by other reviewers that this story is in no way comparable to The Murderbot diaries. I have to agree on that one.

A general AI reporter, Scorn is on the brink of writing the news story of a lifetime. That's the reason for his trip to the moon: to unfold the conspiracy. That was ten days ago. Scorn has lost all memories leading to his demise. There are snippets of information here and there about his mission, but most of it is gone: he was one of the victims when a transport crashed on Earth's satellite. Was someone trying to get rid of him?

Aimee Ogden creates an uncomplicated puzzle. Regrettably, one that unfolds by itself. There's hardly any need for Scorn. He just goes to the places he planned on going when he first started investigating the conspiracy. A conspiracy that's later revealed by the antagonist (you guessed it) right before trying to get rid of Scorn once and for all. The customary "bad guy reveals his plan to good guy, before offing them."

The conspiracy in itself is exceedingly simple, Scorn stumbling into it by sheer coincidence. Yes, he's an AI with a penchant for finding answers. For data gathering and analysis. Something that would've been great to read about, although it seldom happens. Even when confronting the antagonist, we discover that most of Scorn's theories are wrong.

As you travel between the pages, you'll notice a glaring critique when it comes to Scorn's family ties...the bot is kind of an ass. I would have enjoyed it more if it were not for the unexpected author's foreword acknowledgment: "For anyone who's ever had a fraught parental relationship." You know? Because parenting is "oh, so easy."

When reading, I couldn't help but trip over the figurative cornucopia of "neo pronounces" needed when talking about Scorn. The AI is a "Ze." So, until you get used to it, you'll be thinking "Ze" is some other character: something glaringly obvious in the first chapter. Add to that that the author sometimes reffers to Zim as a "Her". Making it clear that some substitutions were made to accomodate the pronouns.

While I'm sure to read more from Ogden, I'm sorry to say that this is one book I cannot recommend.

Thank you for the advanced copy!

This novella is a hell of a lot of fun.

I found that it took me a little bit to properly get into it and get used to the prose and use of ze/zem pronouns; part of that is that the prose is a little choppy, and part of that is that I realise that as a singular "they" has become more common, I'm less used to neopronouns. Nonetheless, the terse prose served the mood of the story, and ze/zem served to articulate the idea that our protagonist is really not a human.

I thought it was particularly well written with the way that AI identity echoed trans identity, exploring things like the relationship between consciousness and body and what you do when your own ideas of who you are differ from your parents' ideas. The relationship between AI siblings was also great, and genuinely moving and lovely.

This was, ultimately, a funny, thoughtful, exciting bit of writing, and I'm certainly hoping that it has sequels. I will read them.

An AI wakes up missing 10 days of memory and must retrace zir steps to figure out what happened. Scorn is a sort of freelance journalist actively seeking out the truth even if it puts zir very existence at risk and zir goals at odds with zir mothers.

I wish the other characters, and the world, had been fleshed out a little more, and I especially wish there was more MATt, but novellas frequently leave me feeling that way.

I can see how the comparison is made to Murderbot as both are AIs that don't desire to be human and defy their intended purpose, but this is a very different story, and Scorn is a very different protagonist. I enjoy both in their own way.