Code of the Lifemaker

by James P. Hogan

A million years ago a wayward, malfunctioning alien ship landed on Titan to start a robot factory.

A million years later, 20th century humans embark on a mission, purportedly to determine the suitability of a site on Mars for colonization. Instead, the mission is “rerouted” to Titan, and only the mission “brass” knows why.

What they find is a thriving robot colony in the equivalent of Earth’s medieval period. The brass sets out to exploit the robots for the financial gain of the US and Europe. One unlikely alliance of the usurped team sees the robots for what they are — sentient beings made of a different kind of biology.

I quite enjoyed this book, despite Hogan’s tendency to rant (in this case about the stupid masses who desire to keep themselves ignorant). The story is quite engaging.