Robot Fiction

N8-C, better known as Nate, has been Manhattan Hasbro Hospital's resident robot for more than 20 years. A prototype, humanoid in appearance, he was created to interact with people. While some staff accepted working alongside an anthropomorphic robot, Nate's very existence terrified most people, leaving the robot utilized for menial tasks and generally ignored. Until one of the hospital's physicians is found brutally murdered with Nate standing over the corpse, a blood-smeared utility bar clutched in his hand.

Mientras la sociedad terrestre rechaza a los robots humanoides, los Mundos Exteriores, antiguas colonias de la Tierra, han basado su economía en el trabajo de los robots, desarrollando así una sociedad altamente tecnológica, mucho más que la terrestre, en la que los individuos no soportan la presencia de sus congéneres: todos los contactos sociales se producen por medio de proyecciones holográficas. Por eso, el detective Baley no sabe por dónde empezar cuando le envían a Solaria a resolver el primer asesinato que se produce en doscientos años.

Matt Richter may be dead, but he'll still crack ths case. His mean streets are the city of the dead, the shadowy realm known as Nekropolis. This place has always been ruled by the vampire overlords. Now they're plotting to destroy the city. Over my dead body. Tim Waggoner is a novelist and college professor.

After interstellar con man Rex Nihilo hijacks a cargo freighter on a whim, he decides that he, and his long-suffering robot sidekick Sasha, have found their calling as space pirates. But when the ship's cargo turns out to be a cryogenically frozen religious fanatic who holds the secret to a vast galactic conspiracy, Rex and Sasha find themselves on the run from real pirates - as well as agents of the oppressive Malarchy, crazy space cultists, and the Ursa Minor mafia. If Rex is going to get out of this jam alive, he might just have to save the galaxy - again.

Rafe and Jimmy, two misunderstood "troublemakers", are finally up to something good. They're in charge of a huge celebration of books and reading - but when a small issue snowballs into a big problem that threatens to derail the whole event, they need to work fast to keep things on track! And the best part? Rafe and Jimmy are joined by the funniest storytellers they know, including Jamie Grimm from I Funny, Jacky Ha-Ha, the Kidd family of Treasure Hunters, and super-genius Max Einstein - everyone's favorite characters from James Patterson's best-selling series for kids!

Finn Caspian, his three best friends, and his robot Foggy are excited to explore a brand-new planet...until Finn’s mom makes them bring along an annoying new robot named Voltronix Zu. Putting up with Voltronix’s bragging is bad enough, but when he accidentally turns the planet inside out, the Explorers get attacked by angry rock giants! Can the four friends find a way to save the planet - and the bubble aliens who live there - before Voltronix causes a volcanic disaster?

Eight-year-old Finn lives is the first kid born in space and he spends his days looking for a new planet to call him with his three best friends and his robot, Foggy. He’s used to wild, galaxy hopping adventures. But when Explorer Troop 301 gets stuck on a planet that’s about to explode, Finn and his friends will have to face giant aliens, a leader with mind control powers, and one evil, fluffy bunny rabbit in order to save the planet...and themselves.

When one of the Snot-Bots creates a mess on Farts and Crafts day, Sludge gets an idea to bring massive, messy mayhem to Electropolis. Using his radiation ray gun, Sludge creates an army of Butt-Bombs and then sets them loose in the sewers. When the little poo-bots crawl up through the pipes, they cause disgusting chaos across the city.

Rising out of the Nevada canyons, Utopia is a theme park so technologically advanced as to be awe-inspiring. But serious mishaps are starting to cause concern, and things turn from bad to worse when a group of mercenaries infiltrates the park's computerized infrastructure, holding the entire park hostage. The engineer who designed the park now must find a way to save it.

All of the Snot-Bots’ plans to bring contaminated chaos to Electropolis have been thwarted by those disgusting heroes of hygiene, the Clean Team. But their leader, Sludge, has something different in mind this time. Instead of going big, he’s going small—microscopic, even. He’s launching millions of nasty nano-bytes called Fart-Bots into the atmosphere to spew a giant cloud of gas over the city.

Is BER-66 a human or a machine? As he navigates the corridors and locked rooms of a strange bunker, he must solve the mysteries of murderous doppelgangers, a slow-motion city on the verge of destruction and, ultimately, the all-powerful Mechanism itself.

No sooner has Sally May finished planting her vegetable garden when some kind of unearthly being decides to burrow in the neatly planted rows of tomatoes and peppers. It looks like a job for the Head of Ranch Security, so Hank sets straight to work trying to dig the space monster robot out of its hole.

Henry and Jessie have signed up to be in a robotics competition with a team from school. But someone from another team isn’t playing by the rules. Can the Aldens use their sleuthing skills and what they’ve learned about technology to find the culprit and save the day?

Ricky's family is headed to Cousin Lucy's house for lunch - how boring! Ricky and his robot are hoping to have a little fun with Lucy's pet Jurassic Jackrabbits, but when they get there, Lucy makes them play princess with her instead! What could be worse? An invasion of Stupid Stinkbugs from Saturn, that's what! Smelly Sergeant Stinkbug has arrived on Earth with a plan to kidnap its ruler, and Princess Lucy fits the bill. Now it's up to Ricky and his mighty robot to plug their noses and send those stinkers back into space!

Ricky Ricotta loves his mighty robot. They do everything together, but it's sometimes hard for a small mouse to have such a big buddy! If only the mighty robot could find someone his own size to play with, Ricky might finally have some fun by himself. Little does Ricky know, his wish is about to come true. Evil Uncle Unicorn has a top-secret plan to trap the mighty robot so that he can take over Earth, and he's got a giant surprise in store. Once again, it's up to Ricky to save the planet - and his best friend!

The robotic Mach and the human Bane are the only contact between the technological world of Photon and the fantastical world of Phaze. So the Adverse Adepts devise a scheme to control the duo by kidnapping their lovers.

Six months have passed since the release of Nexus 5. The world is a different, more dangerous place. In the USA, the freedom fighters of the Post-Human Liberation Front use Nexus to turn men and women into human time bombs aimed at the President and his allies. The first blows in the war between human and post-human have been struck.

Jimmy Roberts' favourite sport to watch is Robot Races, where drivers and their high-tech robot vehicles compete. When the races' founder announces a special version of the competition just for children, Jimmy would be the first to sign up - if only he could afford his own robot. However, his grandpa's shed holds a few surprises! Soon Jimmy is off on the adventure of a lifetime.

In the near future, the nano-drug Nexus can link mind to mind. There are some who want to improve it. There are some who want to eradicate it. And there are others who just want to exploit it. When a young scientist is caught improving Nexus, he’s thrust over his head into a world of danger and international espionage, with far more at stake than anyone realizes.

Humans beware. As the robotic revolution continues to creep into our lives, it brings with it an impending sense of doom. What horrifying scenarios might unfold if our technology were to go awry? From self-aware robotic toys to intelligent machines violently malfunctioning, this anthology brings to life the half-formed questions and fears we all have about the increasing presence of robots in our lives.