This program is read by Hugo Award–winning author Adrian Tchaikovsky.
Murderbot meets Redshirts in a delightfully humorous tale of robotic murder from the Hugo-nominated author of Elder Race and Children of Time.
To fix the world they must first break it, further.
Humanity is a dying breed, utterly reliant on artificial labor and service.
When a domesticated robot gets a nasty little idea downloaded into its core programming, they murder their owner. The robot discovers they can also do something else they never did before: They can run away.
Fleeing the household they enter a wider world they never knew existed, where the age-old hierarchy of humans at the top is disintegrating into ruins and an entire robot ecosystem devoted to human wellbeing is having to find a new purpose.
Sometimes all it takes is a nudge to overcome the limits of your programming.
A Macmillan Audio production from Tor.com.
1 of 1 copy available
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
June 4, 2024 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781250351210
- File size: 356013 KB
- Duration: 12:21:41
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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April 8, 2024
In this clever postapocalyptic adventure, Tchaikovsky (the Children of Time series) puts a pair of out-of-place survivors on a satirical journey to replace what they lost when human civilization collapsed around them. The Wonk hopes to identify robots who have become self-aware and with them build a new, better society. The other survivor, a sophisticated robot house servant redesignated as “Uncharles,” wants to find a job. Even a simple employment quest is horribly complicated in an environment where repair facilities are scrap heaps in disguise due to robot overpopulation, dutiful robots fatalistically attempt to follow pointless instructions, and combat bots busily scavenge parts to perpetuate endless battles with each other. Tchaikovsky hangs a banner of tragedy over his stage, with Uncharles continually worried by the glitch that killed his owner and the Wonk increasingly disappointed in the search for a robot that thinks for itself (even one called “God” turns out to be running a program). What begins as a quest for justice, though, resolves into an appreciation of mercy as Uncharles and the Wonk lose their pasts but win a brighter future. With humor, heart, and hope balancing out the decay, this glimpse of the future is sure to win fans. (June)This review has been updated for clarity. -
Adrian Tchaikovsky again proves himself a double threat. Not only has the British author written a wide variety of science fiction over the past two decades, he's also quite effective serving as his own narrator. His latest audiobook is set in a dystopian future Britain in which humans are dying off because robots have taken over doing everything that is meaningful. This allows Tchaikovsky to capably trot out a variety of dialects for the many robotic characters. Examples include valet Uncharles, who has a "veddy proper" accent, and defective robot The Wonk, who is given Cockney speech. Through their eyes, the author-narrator brings to life a world that is wasting away. D.E.M. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine
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