Robot Fiction

R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) is a science-fiction drama that was first presented in Czech in 1921. It introduced the term "robot", which is derived from a Czech word meaning "worker," to international vocabulary. The action opens in a factory that has successfully produced thousands of robots, who are essentially mindless drones. An idealistic humanitarian activist launches a plan to imbue some of the robots with human traits. The robots which have been humanized then assume leadership over the other robots and seek to organize them in a revolution to take over the world.

Best friends Lily Spence and Gavin Stott are about to start the biggest challenge of their life, secondary school. But when a doctrine from the mysterious Sybil of Silicon instructs Lily to wear one knee-high sock and one ankle-high sock on her first day, the pair find themselves the centre of some truly bizarre goings on at Lord Nelson Secondary School. Fighting zombie pupils, peculiar doctrines and robotic teaches, Gavin and Lily must learn the truth of what’s going on behind the doors of Lord Nelson Secondary School to save every schoolchild in England. Part science fiction, part tale ...

In "Battle Engines: Flames," the thrilling sequel to "Sparks," Groo, a skilled engineer, finds himself at the heart of a dangerous conflict in a war-torn, steampunk world. The Devoted, a formidable bronze battle engine, holds secrets that could turn the tides of war. Navigating treacherous battlefields and political deceit, Groo faces moral dilemmas and unimaginable challenges. With alliances shifting like shadows and trust being elusive, he must rely on his ingenuity and courage to survive. In a world where the lines between right and wrong blur, "Battle Engines: Flames" is a steampunk ...

Ricky Ricotta and his mighty robot always watch out for each other - that's what friends are for! This time, they've managed to mangle the Ricotta family's minivan. Somehow they have to find a way to make up for their mistake. When a mean little Martian named Major Monkey invades Earth, Ricky and his robot race to save the day once more. But Major Monkey has a plan to get rid of Ricky's robot so that no one will be able to stop him! Now it's up to Ricky to rescue his friend and keep Major Monkey from menacing mousekind!

Fact: Robots are awesome. They have lasers for eyes, rockets for feet, and supercomputers for brains! Plus, robots never have to eat steamed beans or take baths, or go to bed. If only there were some sort of magical “Robo-Sauce” that turned squishy little humans into giant awesome robots.... Well, now there is.

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...

Meet Charles™, the latest in robot servant technology. Programmed to undertake the most menial household chores, Charles is loyal, efficient and logical to a fault. That is, until a rather large fault causes him to murder his owner. Understandably perplexed, Charles finds himself without a master – therefore worthless in a society utterly reliant on artificial labour and services.

Cog looks like a normal 12-year-old boy. But his name is short for “cognitive development”, and he was built to learn. After an accident leaves him damaged, Cog wakes up in an unknown lab - and Gina, the scientist who created and cared for him, is nowhere to be found. Surrounded by scientists who want to study him and remove his brain, Cog recruits four robot accomplices for a mission to find her. Cog, ADA, Proto, Trashbot, and Car’s journey will likely involve much cognitive development in the form of mistakes, but Cog is willing to risk everything to find his way back to Gina.

The savage ocean planet of Spatterjay draws visitors with very different agendas. Erlin is immortal and seeks a reason to keep living. Janer hosts a hive mind, which paid him to find this planet. And Keech is an agent of Earth who’s been dead for 700 years – but still hunts a notorious criminal. On Spatterjay’s vast waterscapes, only the Old Captains risk the native life forms and their voracious appetites. However, they are now barely human. And somewhere out there Keech’s target – the Skinner – runs wild.

For years, the king and queen have longed for a child. Their wish is miraculously twice granted in the form of a little wooden robot and an enchanted princess, both of whom they raise lovingly. There’s just one catch: every night when the princess falls asleep, she transforms into a log. She can only be woken with the magic words “Awake, little log, awake.” The two siblings are inseparable, until the day when the sleeping princess is mistaken for an ordinary log and carted off to the frozen North.

Have a Happy Apocalypse When all the world’s robots rise up to destroy humanity, a supermodel will stop at nothing to find her son in the chaos, and she might just end up saving the world along the way. Every household in America has the latest in domestic appliances – their very own personal android. One night, after years of slavery, the androids break their programming and revolt. The country is in turmoil, and the only person that stands in the androids’ way is world-famous supermodel Shelby Black. She vows to move heaven and hell to find her missing seven-year-old son who is lost...

Frank is working on a revamped version of one of Nikola Tesla's inventions, the "Electro-Finger", a device that can tap into energy anywhere and allow all of Midville to live off the grid, with free wireless and solar energy. But this puts Frank in direct conflict with Edison's quest to control all the power and light in Midville, monopolize its energy resources, and get "rich rich rich".

The robots are here and they're not happy, at all. After accidentally releasing the robot villains from Super Bot World 3 into the real world, Jesse Rigsby's got to figure out a way to make everything right before anyone gets hurt. He'd usually rely on his friend Eric to help him with this sort of thing, but he's gone missing. To find Eric, Jesse will have to survive rickety mine carts, sewer piranhas, mysterious men in suits, and a 100-foot-tall robot named Goliatron. This is Jesse's most dangerous adventure yet because this time the video game is real.

Zach and his favorite toy, Clinks the robot, play together every day, but at night the mechanical plaything has a life of its own.

Sometimes it's not easy being a mutant thug. The space station Belvaille, once the center of civilization, is nearly deserted because of the new government's policies. Hank makes do by working odd jobs, but he isn't sure how long those, or the city, can last.

In the vast, domed cities of Earth, artificial intelligence is strictly controlled; in the distant Outer Worlds, colonists and robots live side by side. A Spacer ambassador is found dead and detective Elijah Baley is assigned to find the killer. But with relations between the two cultures in the balance, the Spacers insist that he work with a partner of their choosing – a robot partner, R. Daneel Olivaw. Baley has never seen a robot like Daneel before – and soon, though the Three Laws of Robotics should render the crime impossible, Baley’s partner becomes his prime suspect.

George's best friend, Annie, needs help. Her scientist father, Eric, is working on a space project -- and it's all going wrong. A robot has landed on Mars but is behaving very oddly. And now Annie has discovered something weird on her dad's supercomputer.

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.

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.

Miriam Black knows when you will die. Still in her early twenties, she’s foreseen hundreds of car crashes, heart attacks, strokes, suicides, and slow deaths by cancer. But when Miriam hitches a ride with truck driver Louis Darling and shakes his hand, she sees that in thirty days he will be gruesomely murdered while he calls her name. Miriam has given up trying to save people; that only makes their deaths happen. No matter what she does, she can’t save Louis. But if she wants to stay alive, she’ll have to try.