Fans pick 100 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 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).

Maybe it’s the millennial in me, but I can’t begin to tell you how much I relate to Murderbot. All it wants to do is get through its workday so it can take a break and watch its shows—and yes, maybe my job is slightly less stressful than acting as security for a science expedition that’s pissed off a bloodthirsty super-corporation, but we all have our struggles. Like socializing with our coworkers. Or capitalism. Or man-eating space worms. 

Probably my favorite thing about Murderbot is the deadpan humor with which it tells its story, which really comes to life in the audiobook thanks to Kevin R. Free’s narration. 

Haunting and beautiful, it gave me a new perspective on what science fiction can accomplish: Ishiguro’s book is subtle, humane, and deeply concerned with the troubles of the real world.

This story of Klara, an “artificial friend” purchased to keep a sick little girl company, takes up questions of eugenics, artificial intelligence, and, ultimately, what it means to be a human being.

Along the way, the book explores the gulf between economic and social classes with as much care and compassion as Charles Dickens or Thomas Hardy—Klara and the Sun is some of the most inspiring science fiction I have ever read.

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 knew the film Blade Runner before I read this, the novel upon which it's based, but I was not prepared for the richer complexities of the novel.

My favorite parts of the novel, a bizarre new religion and the extinction of all but human and animal life, barely make it into the film. Even the androids, built to be slaves, are much more nuanced and complex than in the film. I loved the conclusion of the book, which affirms the beauty of life, both natural and mechanical.

No one explores the idea of A.I. better than Isaac Asimov, so when robotics experts Powell and Donovan build an advanced robot called QT-1 or “Cutie” for short, “be careful what you wish for,” comes to mind. Cutie isn’t so bad, except he seems to doubt everything he’s told after he’s created, including the fact that humans built him. When Powell asks Cutie why he doesn’t believe it, Cutie claims it’s intuition. When Powell tries to explain to Cutie about the stars, planets, and space, Cutie disagrees with him and decides to “reason” out things on his own. Unfortunately, this robot is so far advanced, it has the ability to form opinions and ideas, that don’t necessarily equate to logic—a primary lesson about intelligence which is learned early on in the story.