Searching: Good, engrossing stories about robot(s) and artificial intelligence

Wyrmlord

Wyrmlord

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Hello!

With Westworld returning to HBO, I've been in the mood to read some good books about robots and artificial intelligence.

I've already read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, and I'm looking for others.

Please do not recommend Ancillary Justice, and the other books in the series. I got halfway through AJ and couldn't continue. I am aware of Asimov and his Robot series, but I'm looking for something more modern.
 
I'm not sure how much robots are a thing these days. All I can think of is Martin L. Shoemaker's Today I Am Carey, Madeline Ashby's Machine Dynasty series, and I think it's Martha Wells' Murderbot series. And all I can say about those is that vN (Ashby's first) was okay and I have recently picked up iD, that the Shoemaker is based on a great story and I've ordered the novel but haven't read it, and have only heard about the Wells.

(And I didn't like Ancillary Justice at all, either. :))

-- Oh, but moving back a bit, probably my favorite AI book is Greg Bear's Queen of Angels.
 
All the Asimov robot books And of course the daddy of them all R.U. R . Karel Čapek

Edit: which reminds me re-reading those wouldn't be a bad way at all to spend isolation time
 
Well, Tanith Lee's The Silver Metal Lover is highly regarded. It's YA, if that makes a difference to you. (I read it as a middle-aged adult and it made me cry, as I recall. It was quite an emotional experience.) The sequels aren't as good.
 
I was able to come up with a lot of books with AIs but it seems like you may be interested in humanoid robots or androids, like in Westworld.

The protagonist in Martha Wells' "Murderbot Diaries" series, starting with All Systems Red, is an android.

Becky Chambers' "Wayfarers" series feature AIs and robots. The AI ship mind is a secondary character in The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, and a robot AI is the main character in the sequel, A Closed and Common Orbit. The second book in particular digs into issues of identity and self awareness and embodiment for the robot character.

Al Robertson's "Station" series, Crashing Heaven and Waking Hell feature AI heavily both as characters and setting and features disembodied minds, drones, and ship minds, as well as humanoid robots.

Ken Scholes' "Psalms of Isaak" epic fantasy series (starting with Lamentation) features "metal men", automatons who are like self-aware robots.

That was all I could come up with regarding robots.

For disembodied AI and shipminds and such, we have:
  • Iain Banks' Culture books are chock full of AIs, Excession in particular stars a number of great AI characters.
  • A major character (but not the main character) in Kim Stanley Robinson's Aurora is an AI.
  • The plot of William Gibson's Neuromancer hinges on AIs.
  • Aliette de Bodard's The Tea Master and the Detective stars an AI as the detective.
  • One of the main characters in Velocity Weapon by Megan E. O'Keefe is an AI.
  • Kim Stanley Robinson's (again) Red Moon features an AI character.
  • A central plot point in Up Against It by M.J. Locke involves an AI.
 
William Gibson's newest Agency is about the emergence of the first AI.
 
It might not be a bad idea to just search post titles for "robot" in the book search forum.
 
I rather enjoyed 'The Turing Option' by Harry Harrison and Marvin Minsky, but then again, I'm weird :)
 
Earthsearch by James follett . Originally a radio series , if your not in the UK you might be able to listen to it on you tube . I has been novelised , but the radio version is better .
 
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