O'Brien, Caragh M
Entry updated 30 June 2025. Tagged: Author.
(? - ) US author who also writes as by Sierra Greer; her Young Adult Birthmarked Trilogy, comprising Birthmarked (2010), Prized (2011) and Promised (2012), begins in a Near Future American Dystopia where women, treated as obscenely fruitful breeders, are retained in oppressive Keeps. Annie Bot (2024) as by Sierra Greer traces the problematic course towards something like self-conscious autonomy of a Robot created to perform as a girlfriend; Annie seems to map this passage through learning how to read the man she is tied to. But that "tie" is in fact a form of bondage; though Annie may ultimately be freer than the "Artificial-Friend" protagonist of Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun (2021), she is enchained in a mesh of inbuilt instructions that govern her explorations of Identity: the more she is free to love her owner, the more she is bound to love him, as per program. This dilemma is examined carefully. Annie Bot won the Arthur C Clarke Award in 2025. [JC]
Caragh M O'Brien
born St Paul, Minnesota
works
series
Birthmarked Trilogy
- Birthmarked (New York: Roaring Brook Press, 2010) [Birthmarked Trilogy: hb/]
- Prized (New York: Roaring Brook Press, 2011) [Birthmarked Trilogy: hb/]
- Prized (New York: Macmillan/Square Fish, 2012) [exp as coll: one story added: Birthmarked Trilogy: pb/]
- Tortured (New York: Macmillan/Square Fish, 2011) [story: Birthmarked Trilogy: pb/]
- Promised (New York: Roaring Brook Press, 2012) [Birthmarked Trilogy: hb/]
- Ruled (New York: Tor.com, 2012) [story: Birthmarked Trilogy: pb/Julie Dillon]
Vault of Dreamers
- The Vault of Dreamers (New York: Roaring Brook Press, 2014) [Vault of Dreamers: hb/]
- The Rule of Mirrors (New York: Macmillan/Roaring Brook Press, 2016) [Vault of Dreamers: hb/]
- The Keep of Ages (New York: Macmillan/Roaring Brook Press, 2016) [Vault of Dreamers: hb/]
individual titles
- Annie Bot (New York: HarperCollins/Mariner, 2024) as by Sierra Greer [hb/]
links
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