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''Kiln People'' is a 2002 science fiction novel by author David Brin. The book is set in the near-future, where technology allows people to place a copy of their consciousness into a life-size model of their body made of clay, completely revolutionisng society. The story follows private detective Albert Morris and his duplicates, or 'dittos', as he chases the criminal Beta and investigates the disappearance of Yosil Maharal, the creator of the ditto technology.▼
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| author = David Brin
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▲'''''Kiln People''''' is a 2002 science fiction novel by author [[David Brin]]. The book is set in the near-future, where technology allows people to place a copy of their consciousness into a life-size model of their body made of clay, completely revolutionisng society. The story follows private detective Albert Morris and his duplicates, or 'dittos', as he chases the criminal Beta and investigates the disappearance of Yosil Maharal, the creator of the ditto technology.
{{tropelist}}
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* [[Cloning Blues]]: Averted and played straight. Most of Albert's dittos are happy with their short lot in life, believing that by using the machine to return their memories to Albert, they get a kind of afterlife and meaning in existence. Frankie however, a flawed copy of Albert who doesn't follow his will, does complain a bit about his situation.
** Clones who know they're not going to rejoin the archetype tend to despair; society has adapted to this, and some volunteers organize the Temple of the Ditsenfranchised to provide some comfort for the dittos who aren't getting an afterlife.
* [[
* [[Cyborg]]: Most humans possess tiny, cyborg additions by the time the novel is set. Albert himself has a camera fitted in his eye and a phone fitted in his head, among other gadgets. It is common to fit similar, though cheaper and simpler devices in dittos too. Albert makes it common practise to fit his dittos with voice recorders, providing most of the narration of the book.
* [[Doppelganger Replacement Love Interest]]: {{spoiler|Frankie takes over Albert's body with the latter's permission, partly to allow their mutual love Clara a proper and happy life, instead of being stuck with two half men.}}
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* [[Gentleman Thief]]: Beta likes to cultivate this image, and scrupulously refrains from damaging real people. The latter is, however, because if he did actually hurt someone, he would be crossing the [[Moral Event Horizon]], [[Pragmatic Villainy|and that's bad for business.]]
* [[Golem]]: The essential premise of the book is that this is a world where technology has allowed the creation of golems, giving life to clay.
* [[Immortal Life Is Cheap]]: Played straight and subverted. The short-lived clay golems into which people download their personalities are regarded as totally expendable, but no-one risks their real self any more, and for someone to suffer even minor injury is quite a scandal.
* [[In the Future, Humans Will Be One Race]]: Played with. After the creation of clones, "brown" becomes the term used for all human skin tones, even Caucasians.
* [[Jekyll and Hyde]]: Beta turns out to be {{spoiler|Ritu Maharal. She suffers from a rare mental condition similar to a split personality, where at random dittos she creates are formed from a second personality which is a ruthless criminal.}}
* [[Kill and Replace]]: Averted. {{spoiler|Maharal is replaced by his duplicate, but it doesn't hide the fact that it is a ditto.}}
* [[Market-Based Title]]: Known as ''[http://www.flickr.com/photos/57037724@N03/5452451599/ Kil'n People]'' in the UK.
* [[My Sibling Will Live Through Me|My Original Will Live Through Me]]: When {{spoiler|original Albert}} becomes near-comatose, {{spoiler|his copy Frankie}} takes over his life for him, with his permission {{spoiler|by overwriting Albert's mind with Frankie's by uploading}}.
* [[My Skull Runneth Over]]: It is standard practise to use a machine to absorb a ditto's memories back into the original before it dies. The problem is that the human brain only has space for a few hundred years' worth of memories, which is normally not a problem even for most ditto users. One character, however, has become a "queen bee" — she stays in one place and sends out dozens of dittoes at a time to live her life for her — and arranges for an elaborate suicide when she realizes she's almost out of room.
* [[Needs More Love]]: ''Kiln People'' came second place in 2002's Hugo, Locus, John W. Campbell and Arthur C. Clarke award competitions.
* [[Pinocchio Syndrome]]: Frankie would much rather be human than a ditto.
* [[Powered by a Forsaken Child]]: Key to {{spoiler|ditto!Maharal's}} villainous scheme. They intend to {{spoiler|release biological weapons into densely populated urban areas while using ditto technology to empower and release their own soul. The resulting deaths would boost ditto!Maharal's soul, allowing it to transcend to godhood.}}
* [[Private Detective]]: Albert Morris (and some of his dittos).
* [[Second Person Narration]]: Used to demonstrate to the reader how the characters' consciousness changes when exposed to {{spoiler|ditto!Maharal's soul machine.}} It also increases the tension during the climax of the story.
* [[Sex Bot]]: Ivory dittos are designed to feel greater sexual pleasure, the experiences of which the originals will later absorb.
* [[Science-Related Memetic Disorder]]: By the time of the novel's events, mad science has been diagnosed as caused by one of several psychological complexes. Albert Morris listens to the villain {{spoiler|ditto!Maharal}} ramble and mentally goes down a list of symptoms, eventually diagnosing him with a textbook case of one of the complexes.
* [[Shout-Out]]:
** [[Frankenstein]]: the slang for a renegade ditto is a "Frankenstein duplicate" or "frankie."
** [[Pinocchio]] is referenced at one point when talking about Frankie: {{spoiler|"She's all yours, Pinocchio."}}
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