book 3 of Live Robots

by Rudy Rucker

isbn: 038078159X
subject: SF, Fiction and Literature, Humor
finished: 3/2/1998

Freeware is set 20 years after Wetware, and 30 years after Software. It follows lots of characters such as Randy Tucker, a man who enjoys sex with moldies, Tre, whose perplexing poultry catalyze a breakthrough in decoding cosmic waves, Monique and Xlotl, moldies that are abducted and taken to the moon, Sta-Hi, coming off a stint as Senator, and Quuz, an entity who knows that the Sun would like nothing better than to eat the Earth.

I have a few problems with this book: first, besides replacing boppers with moldies not much has changed, and second, it's not nearly as funny as its predecessors; I'm not sure if this is because Rucker is maturing as a writer, or because it's harder to make satire work as his world becomes farther removed from our own. Anyway, Freeware is a good book that didn't quite live up to the high standard set by its predecessors.