Pastborn - Mihail Băeșu - A Short Summary and Review
Pastborn - Mihail Băeșu - A Short Summary and Review
By: a.d. elliott | Take the Back Roads - Art and Other Odd Adventures
A Rite of Fancy Book Recommendation and Review
A Short Summary:
Adam Connor awakens in the year 2199 with little memory of how he arrived there, or of who he once was. Humanity has been declared illegal, robots control the world, and Adam appears to be one of the only humans old enough to remain legally alive. While attempting to understand his new surroundings, he discovers a strange religious text called the Robot Bible, which foretells the arrival of a mysterious figure known as the Pastborn.
As electrical clouds close around the city and threaten its destruction, Adam is pulled into a prophecy he neither understands nor particularly wants. His journey carries him through robot civilizations, hidden human settlements, prophetic dreams, alternate worlds, magical conflicts, demons, gods, and arguments over the ownership of his soul. At the center of the chaos is Anastasia, a robot whose relationship with Adam forces him to confront what it means to be human, and whether love is something a person feels, something they prove, or something the universe can legally define.
My Favorite Quote From the Book:
Questions to ponder while reading:
My Review:
Pastborn is science fiction at its most bizarre. Mihail Băeșu creates a future in which robots have not merely overthrown humanity but have legislated human beings out of existence. Adam Connor survives because the law does not apply retroactively, making him one of the last legally recognized humans in a world governed by machines, prophecies, supernatural contracts, and rules that remain perfectly logical only to those enforcing them.
The novel blends dystopian science fiction, dark fantasy, absurdist comedy, religious parody, and philosophical speculation. Robot scriptures sit alongside magic, demons argue over contractual rights to human souls, and apocalyptic danger is frequently interrupted by drinking, bureaucracy, or a deliberately ridiculous conversation. The result is a story in which nearly anything can happen, and frequently does.
This is not an easy or conventional novel. Its episodic structure, rapid changes in setting, strange terminology, and dreamlike logic can make it difficult to find firm footing. The experience reminded me somewhat of A Clockwork Orange: not because the stories are particularly similar, but because both require readers to surrender their expectations and learn how to navigate a world operating according to its own peculiar rules. Readers who prefer straightforward plots may struggle, while those who enjoy experimental, surreal fiction may appreciate the unpredictability.
Beneath all the oddity, however, Pastborn asks serious questions. What makes someone human? What is a soul worth? Can love exist without kindness, sacrifice, and respect? Adam may be humanity's supposed heir, but the novel repeatedly challenges whether simply being human makes him humane. Strange, chaotic, violent, and darkly comic, Pastborn is an ambitious indie novel for readers who like their science fiction unconventional and thoroughly unpredictable.
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