Virtual Girl

Early 90s sci-fi novel about a sentient android trying to survive in human society and understand her place in the world.

I picked up this book from a neighborhood free library because it looked like it would be amusingly cheesy 90s pulp, but it wasn't exactly what I expected. The author seemed to be making a serious effort to explore the challenges that an artificially-intelligent being might encounter, rather than just trying to create a "sexy robot girlfriend" fantasy. While this is a worthy endeavor in principle, it felt like the author's reach exceeded their grasp. The end result was that the work lost a lot of its potential camp value due to its serious tone, while remaining too lightweight to offer much in the way of literary show more merit.

One unusual thing about this book is the prominence given to homelessness in the story. The protagonist spends most of the plot as a homeless person, traveling from city to city, and the book goes into a lot of detail about what life on the streets is like, describing scenarios like sleeping in a shelter or having one's stuff stolen at a laundromat. These parts of the book feel much more realistic and grounded than the technological elements, but it seemed a bit odd to give these mundane details such prominence in the story.

In the end, this book didn't really offer any deep insights about its subject, while its entertainment value was severely limited by the workmanlike writing, unfocused plot, and flat characters. I didn't hate the book, but I can't really recommend it either. show less