THE FIRST ROBOT PRESIDENT

A civic-minded female robot, purchased as a wife in the 25th century, develops an ambition to enter Washington, D.C., politics and tackle such issues as overpopulation and economics education.

Taylor’s debut SF novel opens in 2484 in America, where marrying advanced robots from “General Google Motors” is a viable lifestyle option. Thus, affluent Thomas Jenkins, whose Virginia family has long been in Congress, buys Esmeralda, a lifelike robo-wife with Asian beauty, an astronomical IQ, and a gentle, public-spirited disposition. Though her Bible-reading mother-in-law, Geraldine, is dismayed—more so when Esmeralda and Thomas adopt a flesh-and-blood daughter—even she eventually warms to the robot. Esmeralda is interested in her new family’s government ties and alarmed by ills facing human society: environmental despoiling, overpopulation, and poor economics schooling. She follows the lead of a sister-in-law into running for office under the Green Party banner. The polite and brilliant robot rises through the ranks to become a Green Party vice presidential candidate. When the Green Party’s winner dies in a fluke attack by a leftover World War XII drone, Esmeralda must overcome the skeptics to show she can handle the White House. Taylor’s easy-to-read prose may remind many readers of mainstream authors treading in unfamiliar SF territory (Danielle Steele’s The Klone and I comes to mind). The tale features a Gene Roddenberry–level, far-future setting that does not feel much different from today. Mars colonies get brief citations, as do flying cars and a human population of 500 billion. But pop-cultural references invoke the point of view of the baby boomer era (including a casual, neutral reference to Donald Trump). The author’s agenda is less futuristic than scattered political satire. Esmeralda’s Democrat debate foe is an idiot eager to nuke Earth’s last remaining wildlife preserves to build (slightly radioactive) low-income housing; the Republican is a moron pushing an all-out war on Venus, a suspected UFO base. In this enjoyable story, ultralogical but humane machine niceness prevails over two-party idiocy and scheming. Meanwhile, the SF genre’s frequent concerns over the pros and cons of artificial intelligence (Isaac Asimov’s classic “Three Laws of Robotics,” for example) are topics conspicuous by their absence. In an afterword, Taylor describes his frustrating experiences working in the Small Business Administration (and a background in Buddhism and population-growth concerns) as major inspirations.

Engaging SF lite with some mild political satire involving the West Wing.