Books like Crazy Foolish Robots

Siti Kassis isn’t sure what she wants to do with her life, but following her father back to the deserted homeworld of humanity is pretty low on her list. But the Hero of Darenti Four insists, and it’s an exciting mission, so they enter deep sleep together, and emerge into a much different Earth than they expected.

The characters are believable and clever, with funny bits liberally sprinkled throughout, and Julia’s writing is excellent. Young, old, male, or female; every reader will love Siti’s adventures on a catastrophically changed Earth!

Diana Smythe is a survivor, and she’ll do almost anything to keep her dream of flying to the stars alive. But she won’t betray her friends, or give into bullies, which gets her into ever-deeper trouble. Good thing she’s super smart!

Star Compass is an excellent combination of steampunk and sci-fi. Anthea is a wonderful writer, her characters strong but flawed, and her worldbuilding amazing, combining Victorian mores with modern space flight.

Clair Johnson is determined to prove herself and find out what really happened to her mother. Neither of those things happen the way she expects. 

This is an easy read, with interesting world building, and a realistic set of characters. I enjoyed the setting, the friend group, and the intrigue a lot!

Theo has lived in “safety” her entire life, but as she’s grown, she’s become clumsy. Her safe world considers her a potential threat. Plus, her mother has moved them out of Theo’s life-long home, and wants to take her across the galaxy, and her father has disappeared. Everything in her life has changed and nothing is as it seems. But Theo is no weakling; she’s a survivor.

Fledgling is an alternative entry point into the Liaden Universe, Lee & Miller fabulous space opera series. The writing is outstanding, the universe complex, and the characters fantastic. I love everything about this series!

I’m fascinated by the ways AI and intimacy are becoming intertwined.

We already trust AI with our deepest thoughts, questions, and secrets. Increasingly, people are forming intimate relationships with this software that knows them so well. The more it learns about us, and the better it becomes at anticipating what we want, the more complicated our ideas about desire, consent, and control become.

Like my book, Annie Bot asks whether a choice can truly be yours if someone (or something) has been designed to shape it. If technology can influence or even manufacture desire, what does consent look like?

I really liked this book because, besides covering the potential ramifications of AI and robots, it also provides interesting insights explaining why different people hold radically different views on how they will affect the future.

While I don’t agree with all the author’s statements, it nevertheless provides much to consider.

I love this novel. I read it well after my own came out, but the strong, badass, stoic female main character reminded me a lot of Delia from What Branches Grow (despite Brittle being a robot). The often dark and gritty scenes interspersed with moments of emotion and laugh-out-loud absurd humour turned a story that could have been depressing into one that was a helluva lot of fun. The raiders in this novel also fit the trope in the same homage to Mad Max/Fallout that mine do in What Branches Grow, albeit in a way I didn’t expect. The novel is also a quest through the wasteland with a ragtag group that culminates in a final battle, which is a similar trajectory to my novel (and a plotfline in this genre I very much enjoy).

I love books that are clever, imaginative, and portray a particular person or character as the main theme. This book does it for me.

The character is a murderer robot, but I came to like him and his weird but insightful perspective. I could see his world through his eyes. I felt sorry for him by the end of the book and was rooting for him. That was great.

I always like a bit of technology thrown in, but not have it be the main story or too complicated that it gets in the way of the characters. The writing was especially good, and I found myself turning page after page, engrossed in the story.

I dearly loved Isaac Asimov's vision of the robot. Although the idea of a mechanical man has entertained audiences for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, Asimov dealt with the reality of how humans will coexist with our intelligent creations. 

Prior to Asimov's three laws we had always thought of robots delivering evil as surrogates of their evil masters. And always with human intent. Evil emperors trying to rule the world is typical. But Asimov showed us the danger of machines that are their own masters. 

Machine learning and reasoning are now a reality different from anything humans can conceive. We are limited in our comprehension of machines by our biology and evolutionary context. But they are not limited in their comprehension of us or themselves. Just ask AlphaGo move 37. I am certain Asimov's three laws will never be enough to ensure our survival in a world where we… show more.

The artwork in this colorful book is detailed and amazing. It’s a big job to move letters of the alphabet and the expressions on these robots’ faces are priceless, especially the gleeful ones. This action-packed book is filled with fun sounds and a variety of skinny-limbed robots hauling letters in every color of the rainbow. At times it’s a challenge to find the small item that begins with the letter. There is a lot packed into each page.