This is science fiction for those who do not usually read it. A wonderfully fast moving human and humane story informed by ideas from science fiction (for example, Isaac Asimov's laws of robotics) and science fact (notably Masahiro Mori's 'uncanny valley' hypothesis which suggests that humanising the behaviour and appearance of robots and their like will be regarded positively by human beings up to a point but beyond this will be seen in increasingly negative terms). On this some recent studies suggest that women are, as does Stella, the book's central and most beguiling character, more likely to respond in …