Two excellent new sci-fi novels tackle robots in very different ways

Ode to the Half-Broken
Suzanne Palmer, Daw Books

Luminous
Sylvia Park, Magpie

Robots and whether they will one day deserve to be treated like people – or destroy humanity, or both – have interested writers for well over a century now.

In the real world, the robot threat appears to involve the uses of artificial intelligence in misinformation and more direct forms of warfare such as drone attacks. In the world of literature, however, many writers focus on individual robots. Maybe giving the AI a body and a face simply helps tell your story better to creatures with bodies and faces.

Fictional robots have a lot going for them. They can be funny, cool or sexy. They can be nerdy and a bit depressed. Some represent “the other”, a test of how humane we are. They can also help us think about concepts of ownership that may apply to our treatment of pets or farm animals. And they can be terrifying killing machines. Murderbot, created by Martha Wells, is a good example of a robot that ticks all those boxes.

This month, I have read two very different robot books. Both are thoughtful and well written, with richly realised internal worlds, but there the similarities end.

In Ode to the Half-Broken by Suzanne Palmer, an old robot comes out of a long period of self-isolation after enemies unknown steal one of its legs. A half-dog, half-robot creature offers to help find its leg, and they are joined by a human mechanic and an emancipated aerial drone. The author calls them a “motley crew”, and that is what they are.

Our gang’s quest becomes about more than the missing leg. Weird stuff is going on, and the old robot worries that dangerous forces may threaten the world’s steps towards recovery after an apocalypse.

In Palmer’s future, the robots have worked out how to free themselves and are treated with respect, by and large. Our hero, the old robot, is a superhero, with state-of-the-art armour ready to activate. Pre-emancipation, its past was dark, but the tone of the book is cheerful, and could be enjoyed by younger readers. There is an intelligent, talking train, after all. It even says, on my early proof copy: “The dog lives.” There is an assured, comic tone that reminds me of Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky and Annalee Newitz’s Automatic Noodle .

Silvia Park’s debut Luminous is not at all comic. Apparently, it began life as a story aimed at kids, but you probably wouldn’t give it to a child to read. In Park’s future, 20 years after the reunification of Korea, robots are ubiquitous, easy to mistake for humans and bought to replace dead children, or work as domestic or sex workers. They are “only” human imitations and are often treated very badly.

One of the human heroes, Jun, has a deadbeat police job in Robot Crimes. The crimes largely involve the theft of robots; how you treat your robot is mostly up to you. Jun’s sister Morgan works in robotics and is living with one of her creations, a butler-boyfriend called Stephen.

She is trying to create humanity in the robot by isolating him from outside influences, but switches him off when she doesn’t like his behaviour. Both Jun and Morgan have never recovered from the loss of a robot who was like a brother to them. Meanwhile, across the city, a young girl has discovered a strange creature in a scrapyard

There are flashes of brilliance in Park’s depiction of the robots. They are all abused and your heart goes out to them, but they are complicated and, in some cases, dangerous. Stephen is a particularly interesting character; I could have probably read a whole book about him. I look forward to whatever Park writes next.

Emily also recommends…

TV

Battlestar Galactica
(2003-2009) Ronald D. Moore, Prime Video

The human-looking Cylons in the TV reboot of Battlestar Galactica are the most enjoyable robots ever created. Think of how much happens to them, and what they are capable of. You also don’t know which human characters are Cylons until nearly the end of the show. Start with the 2003 miniseries before plunging into the four-series arc.

Emily H. Wilson is the author of the Sumerians series (Inanna, Gilgamesh and Ninshubar, all published by Titan) and she is currently working on her first sci-fi novel. She is a former editor of New Scientist and you can follow her on Instagram @emilyhwilson1