Robot Fiction

The Robot Federation and the Feline Empire have been at war for eons. And now that fight is coming to a tiny primitive planetoid…Earth. The mission for both cats and robots: retrieve the Singularity Chip. With it, cats can live past their nine lives, and robots are granted eternal battery life.

This is a collection of seven contemporary robot tales written by some of today's most acclaimed science fiction authors. A sentient war machine combs a beach for trinkets to create memorials for its fallen comrades in the Hugo Award-winning story, "Tideline", by Elizabeth Bear. In "Balancing Accounts", by James Cambias, a small-time independent robotic space tug is hired by a mysterious client for a voyage between two of Saturn's moons.

The colony planet of Eighty-Six looks as dull as all its fellow new worlds to veteran journalist Lex Falk. But when a local squabble starts to turn violent, and the media start getting the runaround from the military high command, his interest is seriously piqued. Forbidden from approaching the battlezone, he gets himself chipped inside the head of a combat veteran - and uncovers the story of a lifetime. When the soldier is killed, however, Falk must use all his resourcefulness to get safely back home again…and blow the lid off the whole damn thing.

Clunk, a clapped-out robot, is convinced he's about to be junked. Instead, his penny-pinching boss is sending him off to be refurbished. Being old and wise, Clunk knows there's a catch, but at first it doesn't seem too bad. He just has to help a freelancer pick up some cargo. Unfortunately, Hal Spacejock - the freelancer - is obstinate, over-confident, and woefully under-skilled, and he's never going to let a lowly robot fly his precious ship.

Rade and his team have joined forces with a new ally to hunt a rogue alien on a lava world. He intends to use a research station on the planet as his base of operations. Unfortunately, when the team arrives at the station, the research scientists are not quite who they appear to be.

Chandler Gray is a sailor and app developer that has created Saga. A virtual AI detective that lives on his phone. The duo embark on an unlikely adventure together across the globe after Gina Lee, a wealthy and glamorous yacht owner, is kidnapped during the famous Swiftsure boat race. Along with a group of friends, the two must work together to track down the missing woman. Their journey leads them far and wide; from piracy in the Aleutians to being attacked in the backwoods of Vancouver Island.

The sequel to The Lives of Tao. The Prophus and the Gengix are at war. For centuries they have sought a way off-planet, guiding humanity's social and technological development to the stage where space travel is possible. The end is now in sight, and both factions have plans to leave the Earth, but the Gengix method will mean the destruction of the human race. That's a price they're willing to pay. It's up to Roen and Tao to save the world. Oh, dear...

A family and their friends frantically battle legions of zombies in a major American East Coast city. This family has one advantage, and that is its ability to innovate new technologies, including robots, to increase their chances of survival. Through the use of the robots, they are able to reclaim some of their lost world, but zombies are not their only worry. Other survivors are often just as dangerous. Finding sources of food and water prove to be equal and ongoing challenges for them.

Anne has spent most of her 13 years dreaming of the day she and her best friend Penelope will finally leave Saint Lupin's Institute for Perpetually Wicked and Hideously Unattractive Children. When the big day arrives, a series of very curious happenings lead to Anne being charged with an epic quest. Anne, Penelope, and new questing partner Hiro have only days to travel to strange new locales, solve myriad riddles, and triumph over monstrous foes - or face the horrible consequences.

San Francisco, anni Cinquanta. Jim Briskin è uno speaker radiofonico di successo che non riesce a lasciarsi definitivamente alle spalle il rapporto con la sua ex moglie Patricia. Art Emmanual è un assiduo ascoltatore del programma di Jim e vive in un seminterrat insieme a sua moglie Rachael, da cui sta per avere un bambino.

Just what happened when the Time Machine returned? Having acquired a device for themselves, the brutish Morlocks return from the desolate far future to Victorian England to cause mayhem and disruption. But the mythical heroes of Old England have also returned, in the hour of the country’s greatest need, to stand between England and her total destruction.

Evelyn has a constant need for perfection that’s blown some fuses among her robotics teammates, and she’s worried nobody’s taking the upcoming competition seriously. Allie is new to school, and she’s had a history of short-circuiting on teachers and other kids. So when Allie is assigned to the robotics team as a last resort, all Evelyn can see is just another wrench in the works!

Planet Hyman is at a lost as Hilda takes a sabbatical, she has found her "pleasure dome" and while she learns there is more to life than a new manifesto, H2 and DBO plot a coup. With Mex hungover, and Beryl shamed, there is little to stand in their way apart from a hippy colony too chilled to care, a reporter with no scruples, and a missing set of batteries. Will H2 and DBO take over the planet and run it the proletarian way? Or will Hilda rise from her wet dreams toss her dead batteries to the wind and take over from where Beryl left?

Robot Might loves to help others but always end up creating more trouble. Do you know why?

Follow Takashi Hiraku and the Robot Commandos. An elite unit of augmented warriors that charge into battle supported by an army of robotic drones. A new enemy, Colonel Shona Morven, a cybernetic veteran of the war leads an elite force of rebel Black Shields commandos to Thanax. They travel with a small fleet of transports and a single battle carrier filled with fighter craft and dropships. In a stunning attack they sweep behind Union lines and overrun a mining colony and threaten to seize control of the remaining vital Mining stations in the Thanax Maelstrom.

The Old House sits on the corner of the street, dirty and rundown, seemingly abandoned… It is a gateway to other dimensions and it holds many secrets. Strange creatures come out sometimes, and sometimes those creatures are quite dangerous. When 12-year-old Ben’s aunt and uncle mysteriously disappear while patrolling around the Old House, he is suddenly tasked with helping his parents on patrol.

When Astrid and the rest of the Shooting Stars find out that their teacher, Ms. Ruiz, is about to celebrate a big birthday, they band together to create the perfect gift. Her big day happens to be the same as the upcoming Code-a-Bot robotics competition, and they decide to do something special there.

Set in 2040, the Mars Diaries feature 14-year-old Tyce Sanders, the only child ever born on Mars. He lives under a dome on the red planet with 200 scientists and techies, including his mother, Kristy Sanders, a biologist and a believer. Tyce is confined to a wheelchair, but virtual reality and robotics allow him to experience life beyond his physical boundaries.

Having long since replaced humans in the back hallways and servants' quarters of the ultra-wealthy, new models are acquired, render their service, then are quietly deactivated when obsolete. But then we gave them the ability to learn. One household is about to find out that, while Asimov's laws are immutable, humans are about to experience an uprising of a different sort. This first, surprisingly heartfelt episode of a new series puts the listener in the shoes of the the soulless who serve.

Colonel Shona Morven attacks the Dragoon base with the support of a rebel regiment of infantry. It’s a deadly assault, and leaves the base burning. The Union forces are told to retreat by high command. But Takashi hates to retreat before the hated Morven and refuses. Instead, he helps lead the valiant defense against the cybernetic villain.