We Are Satellites

4 stars, Metaphorosis Reviews

Summary
Young David pushes his mothers to let him accept a free Pilot - a new, surgically installed device that all his classmates have to help them multi-task - but finds it doesn't work for him quite as expected. As he struggles - and joins the military - one mother gets her own Pilot, one mother refuses, and his Pilot-ineligible sister becomes an anti-Pilot activist.

Review
I believe Sarah Pinsker came to my attention via a story nominated for an award, but, oddly, I can seem to pinpoint which. At any rate, her name developed a slight familiarity and vaguely positive tinge. When I saw this book, I thought I'd give it a try, and I'm glad I did.

The title is somewhat misleading. There's only a passing mention of satellites, and even as a metaphor, it's pretty distant from the narrative and relationships, despite what the provided Reader's Guide would have you think. This is a very near-future story entirely set in a mid-sized town on Earth, and with a limited set of characters – so near-future that it's really only mildly speculative, though it handles that mild SF element well.

At heart, it's a story about family – two mothers, a son, and a daughter – and how they react to the new technology of the ‘Pilot', a device that can help people multi-task, but doesn't work for all. While the story is largely a quiet, small-scale one, Pinsker's characters are the stars here. The perspectives alternate among them, and each is fully formed, credible and engaging. It's a pleasure to see them interact, which is good, because that's essentially what the story is about; the Pilot is mainly a plot device.

While Pinsker's characters and prose are very strong, and the personal implications of the Pilot are well considered (the social ones much less deeply), I had trouble buying some of the technology. For example, a key plot point is the fact that the Pilots have a blue light – but there's never really any reason why they should or would. Second, the fact that essentially the whole country converts to an embedded device from a single manufacturer, that over decades has no competition, was difficult to buy.

Overall, though, this is a pleasant, engaging, mild-SF story of family and devotion, somewhat along the lines of Connie Willis. It may not strain your imagination, but you'll enjoy reading it.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 rounded up! I didn't read the reviews that warned me this is more family drama than sci fi! Oops!! This was like a family saga (skipped through the year etc) and it was engaging but I wish we got more satisfaction out of the resolution out of the sci fi/political part. It was VERY much in the background

Plausible near-future Science Fiction that reviews the impact of a technology like Elon Musk's Neuralink might have on our society and those who cannot participate, as well as the dangers of giving corporations like that too much unchecked control. Themes include LGBTQ and disability, and it's refreshing to see an unconventional family (Sophie and David have two moms) at the center of this story, without the story being about that.

I refuse to categorize this as sci-fi. This is a family drama with the barest hint of a sci-fi element, like the La Croix of genres. I probably should have put this book down as soon as I could tell where things were (or were not) heading, but I wanted to finish it so I could feel justified in leaving an actual rating.

The book follows Val and Julie, and their two kids Sophie and David. Society has begun adopting neural implants called Pilots that augment human attention, allegedly letting them multitask better and be more productive. A rift quickly opens up between the “haves” (people with Pilots) and the “have nots” (people without). David is the first person in the family to get a Pilot, followed soon by Julie. Val is staunchly anti-Pilot, and Sophie can't get one for medical reasons. We watch this small family grow up, grow apart, and grow into different aspects of Pilot life–Sophie becomes an activist, David becomes involved in the military (and then washes out with PTSD-like symptoms), and Julie and Val become increasingly irritated with the other's stance on family.

And then....the book ends. There's some weak mystery about whether the company behind Pilots is up to something shady, but that never goes anywhere. Interspersed with this family's drama are attempts by the author to push a certain narrative. Social media is bad, screen time is bad, military members are knuckle dragging cavemen and college is superior in all ways, ride share programs steal your information and aren't to be trusted, the list goes on and on. It comes off super preachy and not at all organically integrated into the non-story the author is trying to tell.

I was super disappointed with this book, and think the premise and summary is misleading. The sci-fi element (the Pilot implants) is barely used beyond being the catalyst for drama, and I was incredibly disappointed at being given a family drama I wasn't signing up for.