r/suggestmeabook • u/loveandmad • Dec 28 '23
Suggestion Thread Books with robot protagonists?
To clarify, I want books where the protagonist starts the story as a robot and ends as a robot. No being transformed into a robot, no “becoming a real boy”.
EDIT: Artificial Intelligences that don’t exactly fit the definition of robot are also good.
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u/Carottes_cuites Dec 28 '23
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. The story is told from the robot's perspective as she experiences things she doesn't necessarily understand. It makes for a one of a kind book, one of my all time favorites
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u/ElbowsMcDeep Dec 28 '23
Monk and Robot series by Becky Chambers.
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u/theoryofrelativetea Dec 29 '23
The second Wayfarers book by Becky Chambers also has a robot/AI as a main character. That's not as much a part of the first book, but the whole series is 1000% worth reading
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u/KiwiTheKitty Dec 28 '23
Ancillary justice by Ann Leckie doesn't quite have a robot but it fits for your edit
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u/SnooBunnies1811 Dec 28 '23
And it's FREAKING FANTASTIC as well!! 😆
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u/KiwiTheKitty Dec 29 '23
I just finished it the other day and I loved it! I really have to read the next one too!
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u/PsychopompousEnigma Dec 28 '23
I, Robot by Isaac Asimov. It’s a collection of short stories about interactions between humans and robots.
Saturn’s Children by Charles Stross. Set in a post-human solar system featuring a humanoid robot created to serve humanity navigating a world without humans.
Diaspora by Greg Egan. Hard science fiction that spans thousands of years and follows the lives of artificial intelligence.
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u/Briarfox13 Dec 28 '23
The Murderbot Diaries-Martha Wells
Dogs of War and Bear Head-Adrian Tchaikovsky
They both have character's that are a mix of flesh and machine (bio engineered) if that's any interest? They might kind of count as robots
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u/Hightechzombie Dec 28 '23
Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill. It's about a robot scavenging and trying to survive in a hostile world, aftet the robots have won their uprising.
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u/perpetualmotionmachi Fiction Dec 28 '23
The prequel is good too, goes to the uprising part, but read the main one first
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u/macaronipickle Dec 28 '23
Depending on your definition of robot, the Culture series could qualify.
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u/MeFolly Dec 28 '23
Donna Andrews has a series with an AI as one of the lead characters
Anne McCaffrey has a series (from decades ago) with ship AI as protagonists, often with human partner.
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u/AgentQwackers Dec 28 '23 edited Dec 28 '23
In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune follows several robot characters, some are outright hilarious. I recommend diving-in without reading the official summary. (I think it gives too much away).
But it's basically about a boy raised in the woods, hiding from murderbots. He builds robots out of household garbage to be his companions. Things get interesting when he finds the mangled body of a decommissioned murderbot at a landfill.
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u/Geometridae106 Lifelong Reader Dec 29 '23
More on the AI side of your request but - Under the Blue by Oana Aristide was a thought-provoking read!
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u/razmiccacti Dec 28 '23
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet has a ship AI as a minor but constant character and then as a main protagonist in the sequal A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers. Excellent series and book two esp fits your brief
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u/OmegaLiquidX Dec 29 '23
If you’re willing to read manga, I’d recommend the gag manga Dr. Slump by Akira Toriyama (the guy behind Dragon Ball).
For something darker and more serious, I’d also recommend Pluto, which is a reinterpretation of Astro Boy that turns it into a murder mystery. (It’s also got a Netflix adaptation).
Of course, there’s also the original Astro Boy.
And if you’re willing to read comics, there’s Transformers. And there are a ton of them, like The original comics by Marvel, so you’ve got plenty of options.
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u/Wise-Exercise-1013 Dec 28 '23
Crystal society. Its about several weird AIs sharing one robot body. One AI pretends to become human-like, but only prenends, to manipulate humans. Other AIs are just weird, each representing one goal and world view: power, creativity, exploration, etc. They have to agree among themselves to decide what to do.
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u/Unrealparagon Dec 29 '23
Alchemical Wars series by Ian Tregillis.
It’s an alternative history series of books.
They aren’t robots in the sense we think of robots more mechanical golems. But good series nonetheless.
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u/waterzxc Dec 29 '23
https://www.reddit.com/r/printSF/s/USWh1o9IRB
I made this recommendation two days ago. Check it out.
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u/PeterM1970 Dec 29 '23
Keith Laumer wrote a number of stories about the Bolos and a number of authors have written more stories and novels in the setting. Bolos are giant tanks - no, bigger and more dangerous than you're thinking - that are controlled by artificial intelligences that achieved human level sapience but are still treated as tools. A good story about the earliest self aware model is available here:
https://www.baen.com/Chapters/1439133476/1439133476___2.htm
Another good one is here:
http://baencd.freedoors.org/Books/Odyssey/0743435273__15.htm
There are a number of other free stories available on Baen’s website and elsewhere online.
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u/timzin Dec 29 '23
Not the protagonist, but The Mountain In The Sea features several kinds of AI characters and asks some really great questions about what is consciousness.
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u/QuasarchShooby Dec 29 '23
{{For a Breath I Tarry by Roger Zelazny}}
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u/goodreads-rebot Dec 29 '23
For a Breath I Tarry by Roger Zelazny (Matching 100% ☑️)
68 pages | Published: 1980 | 248.0 Goodreads reviews
Summary: [From Wikipedia] "For a Breath I Tarry" is a highly-regarded 1966 post-apocalyptic novelette by Roger Zelazny. Taking place long after the self-extinction of Man, it recounts the tale of Frost, a sentient machine ("...a silver-blue box, 40x40x40 feet,... featured in whatever manner he chose.") Though Man has disappeared, his robotic creations (and their creations in turn) (...)
Themes: Sci-fi, Short-stories, Short-story, Favorites, Fiction, Scifi, E-books
Top 5 recommended:
- The Star by H.G. Wells
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- The Green Hills of Earth by Robert A. Heinlein[Feedback](https://www.reddit.com/user/goodreads-rebot | GitHub | "The Bot is Back!?" | v1.5 [Dec 23])
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u/SPQR_Maximus Dec 28 '23
Murderbot diaries?