A couple of books

[tectile]

Anyone read these?

"Skinned" by Robin Wasserman.

To save her from dying after a horrible accident, Lia's parents transplant her brain into a mechanical body. Lia is rejected at school and returns home to isolation as religious extremists hold protests over the new technology. Strong language, some violence, and some descriptions of sex.

"Crashed".

Living with other "mechs" since her parents transplanted her brain into a mechanical body, Lia becomes a pawn in a religious leader's movement to outlaw the technology and eradicate machines such as Lia. Sequel to Skinned.

These books are aimed at young adults so there probably won't be anything to extreme.

I downloaded them in commercial audio book form and will give them a try and report back if anyone is interested.

[gynoneko]

Haven't heard of them, but please, let us know if they are any good... and please share if you can

[dale coba]

I found books 1 & 3 in the series, in USENET.
They are in the FTP.

- Dale Coba

[Sentient6]

Great find, man! Hearing about the day-to-day specifics of a bot/borg's existence (from a former humanly perspective) is something I really like that I can't seem to find much material for. The circumstances of the protagonist here are rather unpleasant though =(

[csoloist]

Eh, gotten through the first book and half way through the second... Strongly reminds me of No Woman Born, except longer and not nearly as well written. Similar themes even if the protagonist is a robot rather than a cyborg. Having said that it's right up my alley. Just needs more robo-stuff and, uh, "slammin'". Very much for a younger readership.

ETA: Hokay, finished all of 'em now. Third book's cheesy and a bit more entertaining but ends terribly. Writing seems to have improved somewhat between the first and third books.

[tectile]

Well I got through the first book and let me tell you it was a struggle. There's eight hours of my life I'll never get back.

I like to think that I can see quality in almost anything if it's there.

"Skinned" is just bad writing. That's it, just bad.

The second book is waiting to be read but I just don't think I can take any more of this garbage.

[rabiator]

I've read most of the three books by now. The writing is not stellar, but definitely not "garbage" either. So I have to disagree with tectile here.

The theme of the books is probably not what the ASFR crowd is looking for. Sex only plays a very small role. There is much teenage angst about becoming a misfit and outsider, the whole thing is framed in a bit of an adventure story, and the big question "am I still myself or only a copy" also comes up. But here the story is simply too shallow to be really good. Maybe this is due to the intended target audience, but I think this is the greatest shortcoming of the trilogy.

Overall, fine for reading once, but probably not something I'm going to re-read.

[apok]

I finished the "Skinned" trilogy over the last year (audiobook via Audible), so I'll weigh in. I have mixed feelings on the series.

As others have said, there's practically zero sexual content. Some of the sci-fi world-building is pretty decent, but I think the biggest weakness is the characters themselves. Pretty much every character, including the protagonist, is deeply unlikeable. Everyone is some combination of selfish, shallow, stupid, spiteful, and/or dishonest. The latter two books throw religious zealotry into the mix. They are a frustrating mess of bad motivations, inconsistent judgment, and logical gaps. The plot is a meandering mess, full of holes.

There were some good points amidst this gloom, though. A first-person description of being treated like an object. Being turned off at night by her handlers as she rehabilitates in a hospital/lab. Learning to use her robotic functions. Suffering a freeze-malfunction at school. In the second novel there is a scene where she crashes into a snowbank at speed and remains buried there for a while, functional but immobilized. There is another scene where she meets others of her same make and model, and she meditates on being part of a series of machines, unique only by serial number.

I've wanted first-person content and this scratched that itch, to an extent. The bookmark feature is a blessing here. I've gone back and revisited the quality scenes. It was a rough slog through mediocre sci-fi to find them in the first place.