Book review · comics & graphic novel · novel · novella

Robot and/or AI as main character

I was adding recommendations upon recommendations at the end of my review of Sea of Rust and I thought that it would be best if done in a separate post. It wasn’t very fair to this book/author/publisher to add other books that I thought were better… So here it is, a post with some books I think could be of interest if you’re looking for stories with artificial intelligence and/or robots as main characters!


img_4982A Closed and Common Orbit (Wayfarers #2), by Becky Chambers.
This novel was amazing from start to finish. It starts right at the end of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet ( ❤ ) and follows an artificial intelligence who gained a body, and goes in a journey of self-discovery. It is told in dual point of view, the other being from Pepper (minor character in Angry Planet) and her past.
For warm and cozy feelings – while still dealing with some rough things: this a very nice book.


sept07Descender, Vol. 1: Tin Stars, by Jeff Lemire, Dustin Nguyen, Steve Wands.
I have read the first two volumes of this graphic novel and loved them a lot.
In the far future, a catastrophe led to humans distrusting androids. Among others, we follow Tim-21, a boy android with some sorts of feelings and with a family; waking up in a space base with everyone gone. He ends up at the center of a galaxy-wide crisis since he’s the only android left and some robots-aliens are still a threat.
I loved the art, the watercolor-style makes it all feel almost unreal, and works really well either in violent action scenes, flashbacks or innocent and pure ones involving Tim-21.


maywrapup11A Lady’s Maid, by Sarah Gailey.
This short story set in the Victorian era is both hilarious and a bit sad. Ideal for a short read with an android who has some issues understanding how humans work, a kitchen girl who tries to make the best out of the awful situation and men who want to be in control (but not for long.)
Warning for body horror, still dealt with on a very light tone.

Read here!


allsystemsred_finalAll Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1), by Martha Wells.
I wrote a review a while back about this novella and if I have to sum up: a robot with social anxiety comes to term with who it is and what it wants to do with itself. A very cute read, blood/violence involved, but immensely funny.


[update 02/04/18]
imperial radchThe Imperial Radch trilogy, by Ann Leckie
Amazing trilogy from the point of view of an artificial intelligence in a human body (who used to be a warship) on a path to vengeance but makes friends along the way! I loved the criticism of colonialism and the use of pronouns on this series.
My review of the trilogy here.


[update 02/04/18]
“it me, ur smol”, by A. Merc Rustad

This tiny short story is adorable and takes only a few mintures, read it here or click the link from the author’s tweet that leads to their website!

https://twitter.com/Merc_Rustad/status/979834179797049345


Books that I haven’t read yet but am interested in:

 

The novel The Dark Side by Anthony O’Neill. Thought I don’t think the robot has a point of view? But I’ve heard very good things.

The graphic novel Wires and Nerve by Marissa Meyer and Douglas Holgate, following Iko from the Lunar Chronicles.

The novel The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia. Love the cover with a steampunk vibe!


Some other faves ❤

 

Astroboy
This boy robot is so precious, always trying to do his best and being the nicest boy ever :’)

BB-8 
The new little robot in Star Wars The Force Awakens, you couldn’t have missed this cute droid in stores everywhere after the release of the movie!
I haven’t included in the picture R2-D2 and C-3PO and K-2SO but I DO love them also!!

Data
This antroid from Star Trek TNG was one of the highlight of the show for me! His little quirks like the fact that he often wonders about the difference between him and humans, his love for his cat, his friendship with another crewman and their adentures in the holodeck… I love him a lot! Maybe… maybe more than Spock *gasp*

Marvin
The depressed and paranoid robot from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams is so so sad, but also hilarious in his own way. I used the image from the movie because that’s how I discovered the series, but yeah, the books are better! Still love the movie since it’s the way I first experienced this story, sorry!

Wall•E
I have a soft spot for Disney movies that have a scifi feel, so yeah I love Wall•E A LOT. It’s not perfect, but it’s so strange and very cute, this very anxious robot doing his job and trying his best, feeling lonely and going into the stars (not his choice though), I just love this movie a lot, especially since there is so few dialogues and some very nice soundtracks!


Any recommendation of books or stories that could fit this list? Do tell!

4 thoughts on “Robot and/or AI as main character

  1. I actually adore this post! I love books with robots/AI as main characters. I’ve already read and enjoyed Descender and I will definitely be reading All systems red because I love the author’s Raskura series. And of course Wall-E and BB-8…❤️ Thanks for this, I’ll make sure to check out the books I haven’t read.
    Btw, I have nominated you for The Mystery Blogger Award! If you’re up for it, I’d love to see your answers. Check out my post for more info: https://littlefoxandreads.wordpress.com/2017/10/10/mystery-blogger-award/

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Aww thank you Adri!! You’re so sweet!!
      I hope you will love All Sysyems Red! I hope to read her other books soon!
      Well-E and BB-8 are so pure ❤ ❤ ❤

      o m g that is so nice thank you! (also thank you for letting me know! I haven't had time to read every post by everyone I follow in a while so I would have been very sad to miss this!)
      I'll try to do that soon-ish 😀 Thanks again ❤

      Like

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