When it comes to robots, itās hard not to think the film and television incarnations have it all over their print brethren. Gort, Robby, āThe Robotā (Lost in Space couldnāt be bothered to name theirs) Huey/Dewey/Louie, R2D2, Wall-E, BB-8. Ask someone to imagine a robot and itās more than likely that one of those iconic silhouettes will pop into their heads, as opposed to a favorite from a book or short story.
Well, we speak for the trees! Err, robots! The poor, forgotten print ones that is. From good old Tik-Tok of Ozma of Oz to Lester Del Reyās lovable titular Runaway Robot, from the annoying Speedy of Asimovās āRunaroundā ā the story that introduced the famous Three Laws of Robotics ā, to the hysterically depressing Marvin from The Hitchhikerās Guide to the Galaxy. And letās not neglect that sneaky robotic sub-group, the androids like Asimovās R Daneel Olivaw (probably along with Marvin my own personal favorite) or Phillip K. Dickās Roy Batty.
So what about you, readers? Who are your favorite literary robots/androids? And in āif you canāt beat āem, join āemā mode, why not toss in your favorite cinematic/TV one as well. Some day our robot overlords will get a good laugh as they sift through the records of our past days of glory…
One commenter wins a book from our stacks.
Murderbot! Does it count?
Jeeves, now a butler, previously a war robot from the Liaden Universe by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.
Yes! Murderbot!!
Technically I think Murderbot is a cyborg … but it still gets my vote!!
I’m going to say Murderbot, too!
Ash from Ridley Scott’s Alien.
The Chee from Animorphs. The Robot from Lost in Space. The Cylons from the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica. R2D2 and C3PO.
I will say Tik-Tok from the Oz books!
Definitely Isaac Asimov’s robots, like Robbie and especially R. Daneel Olivaw.
Marvin has a soft spot in my heart. He is just so……Marvin!
Yes. Yes he is.
The androids from “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” by Philip K. Dick inspired the Replicants of “Blade Runner”. Of course, there’s Tanith Lee’s “Silver Metal Lover”. In recent TV, we have “Westworld”‘s Hosts and the Synths of “Humans”.
Bishop from Aliens.
In books Iād go with Mack from The Automatic Detective by A. Lee Martinez. In movies I like R2D2
Bender from Futurama!
Freya from Charles Stross’s _Saturn’s Children_. (Although I see other people have italicized text, I couldn’t figure out how.)
R. Daneel Olivaw is my favorite
Iko from the Lunar Chronicles is a favorite. She’s so plucky!
Liz H, if you live in the USA, you win a book of your choice from our stacks.
Please contact me (Marion) with your choice and a US address. Happy reading!