Made to Order: Robots and Revolution edited by Jonathan Strahan
Publisher – Rebellion
Published – Out Now
Price – £8.99 paperback £5.99 Kindle ebook
100 years after Karel Capek coined the word, robots are an everyday idea, and the inspiration for countless stories in books, film, TV and games.
They are often among the least privileged, most unfairly used of us, and the more robots are like humans, the more interesting they become. This collection of stories is where robots stand in for us, where both we and they are disadvantaged, and where hope and optimism shines through.
Including stories by:
Brooke Bolander · John Chu · Daryl Gregory · Peter F. Hamilton · Saad Z. Hossain · Rich Larson · Ken Liu · Ian R. Macleod · Annalee Newitz · Tochi Onyebuchi · Suzanne Palmer · Sarah Pinsker · Vina Jie-Min Prasad · Alastair Reynolds · Sofia Samatar · Peter Watts
Robots are very much something I’ve associated with SF seeing R2-D2 and K-9 in my youth has certainly impacted how I think of them. They’re our friends (WALL-E) they’re our nightmares (The Terminator) and sometimes our rivals as we see automation grow across industries (reality). As with all things they’re evolving and now we have helpers in our homes and phones called Alexa or Siri to obey our commands and listen to what we say. The next stage looming is the further development of Artificial Intelligence and are we soon at the stage where we can’t tell the difference from ourselves? In Made to Order – Robots and Revolutions edited by Jonathan Strahan I found a huge and impressive array of tales exploring our relationships with our non-biological relations that is well worth tracking down.
A Guide for Working Breeds by Vina Jae-Min Prasad – This starting tale is worth the price of admission on its own. A newly created robot gets assigned an experienced mentor to support them as they adapt to living and working with humans. Framed as emails being sent to one anther the reader will spot the mentor has a slightly more dangerous job than the newbie. Cats, cafes, assassins, and friendships make this story absolutely charming and a small reminder about finding the jobs you love!
Test 4 Echo by Peter Watts – A very different tone is taken here as we join a deep space exploration experiment trying to find life on the moon Enceladus. The experiment leader is dismayed to find his probe called Medusa is not working as expected. There is a beautiful slight of hand played here as we think the tale is more about Medusa but it’s the battle of wills within the crew that reveals the darker side of this version of humanity. High recommended
The Endless by Saad Z Hossain – A stylish robot noir tale of revenge as the foulmouthed AI responsible for an airport is swindled by another AI and forced to move traffic cargo instead. But he has a plan for ice cold revenge. Smart fast and goes into many directions exploring a really unusual AI culture. One of my faves
The Hurt Pattern by Tochi Onyebuchi – At first this story seems robot-light but it turns in a dark thriller as a young analyst exploring some new investments make some sinister connections with data that AIs are creating. This tale adds a further sinister dimension to topical events. Chilling but very relevant.
Idols by Ken Liu – Probably my favourite in the collection. Small mini tales explore this story where an AI form known as Idols can re-create celebrities, jurors, judges, family members and even yourself. Hugely powerfully exploring what such a world change would mean from family therapy, fears, impact on jury service and most importantly understanding who we are. Robots are ultimately a reflection of humanity. Absolutely brilliant and beautiful at the same time.
Bigger Fish by Sarah Pinsker – A noir style tale of surprises that gives us an Asimov style murder mystery but adds in commentary on big busines and justice. Loved how this future world is painted so quickly for the reader to understand and also captures that noir detective tone I love.
Dancing With Death by John Chu – this was another tale I fell in love with. Robots and ice skating is an unusual combination, and our narrator is a robot nearing the end of their life working hard to keep up in a warehouse that is next generation automating the automatons and their only other hobby is assisting a skate club. Another fantastic future world painted as well as robot mythology to explore but ultimately a tale of giving yourself a second chance.
The Translator by Annalee Newitz – Another awesome story of a future going bad where the AIS struck singularity and now rarely talk to humans. Only a small patch of underfunded university translators get the odd message. But now the AIs announce they may be going but leaving humans a present. Loved both the worldbuilding here and the denouement which is deliciously open-ended.
Sin Eater by Ian R Macleod – The last human who also is the Last pope is dying and a robot known as the Sin Eater arrives to take confession and send him on to the next world. A strange story of a man’s life, religion and another singularity with an unforgettable and also powerful final scene as robots finally own the world.
Fairy Tales for Robots by Sofia Samatar – Now this is an awesome piece of storytelling. A woman tells a robot about to come alive some fairy tales she has designed to help the robot understand itself and humans. It mixes how humanity has weaved tales of artificial life into our culture in many forms for years from golems to puppets who want to be a real boy; it shows us a woman’s entire life and why probiotics became her passion. But it is also about the hopes and fears of what humans and robots can do next. An absolute delight to read.
As you can tell this was a collection that I found extremely powerful and a delight to read. There are many more stories to talk about but it’s a fine selection of intelligent and powerful stories that make you think and also send you to other worlds than these plus how we view robots now as well as ourselves. Strongly recommended!
