Best Robot Science Fiction

I, Robot

by Asimov, Isaac

Asimov wrote the three laws of robotics and this collection of stories is a cornerstone of Robot Sci Fi.

Asimov is the God Father of all things science fiction and robotic, and no self-respecting top robot novel list would be worth reading without this book in prime position. You know what else I love about I, Robot? Asimov...

Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? (Blade Runner)

by Dick, Philip K.

A novel that contains images that are Retro Futuristic, but is also a story about a post-apocalyptic Earth.

Set in a post-Nuclear War society, the future is pretty bleak. People are being encouraged to leave the planet for parts unknown and are being given an incentive, their own personal android, to get out of here. Some of t...

R.u.r.

by Karel Capek

Czech is hardly a widely spoken language, and in the years immediately after the First World War Czechoslovakia had barely gained its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire which had largely swamped Czech culture...

The Humanoids (Humanoids) Start here

by Jack Williamson

Humanoids were created to serve humanity, but as they spread across the galaxy they turn out to be more master than servant. A classic exploration on the values of natural life and artificial life.

Why does Jack Williamson's The Humanoids take fourth place on our list? Only because he was named a Grand Master of Science Fiction by the Science Fiction Writers of America in the mid 1970s, being the second pe...

Cyborg (Six Million Dollar Man) Start here

by Martin Caidin

Frederik Pohl’s Man Plus is, to say the least, ambiguous about the benefits of cyborgisation. But that is not how most people see it. The most popular examples of the idea are from film and television, specifically from...

Soul Of A Robot

by Barrington J. Bayley

In this novel a robot tries to convince humans that it is their equal.

Soul of a Robot is sweet, and funny, and ridiculous. And I mean ridiculous in the nicest possible way. The novel is like the Katy Perry of the robot world (if she was just a bit smarter and more erudite), rather...

Silent And Very Fast

by Valente, Catherynne M.

Okay, I admit to doing a Lance Armstrong here. I've put a novella on the list. But this novella by Catherynne M. Valente is so beautifully, poetically written, with such haunting and poignant scenarios, and with...

The Alchemy Of Stone

by Ekaterina Sedia

Two women in a row on this list! This list could pretty much be recognized as an equal opportunity brand. (For the slower ones in the class, I feel I should explain this is a joke, satirizing the lack of recogni...

Ilium (Ilium)

by Simmons, Dan

Do you like original, intelligent fiction, with a hard sci-fi slant? No? Well, clearly there's something wrong with you. Google your symptoms, and get to a doctor! Personally, our prescription would be a library,...

The Complete Roderick (Roderick)

by John Sladek

This book is one of my favorites on this list because of the satirical viewpoint of our western society. Roderick, the robot with learning capabilities, is educated by watching television. I love what this says...

I, Robot: To Protect (I, Robot (reichert))

by Mickey Zucker Reichert

Reichert's novel is amongst a trilogy of novels inspired by Asimov's I, Robot. A tough gig, I'll admit, given the hordes of hungry sci-fi, robot nerds ready to devour poor, unsuspecting authors. In my opinion, Rei...

Robopocalypse (Robopocalypse) Start here

by Daniel H. Wilson

I, for one, welcome our new overlords! (You know you're getting old when you feel you need to explain that H.G. Wells is actually behind a super-popular The Simpsons reference.) Do you like the terminator? Do yo...

Saturn's Children (Freyaverse) Start here

Stross himself calls this novel a "space opera and late period Heinlein tribute", referring to Heinlein's Friday. A Charles Stross sci-fi novel is always an entertaining read, and the cover of Saturn's Children suggests...

Code Of The Life Maker (Code Of The Lifemaker) Start here

by James P. Hogan

Hogan's 1983 science fiction novel used NASA's Advanced Automation for Space Missions as its inspiration for Earth astronauts meeting the Taloids, robots who have colonized Saturn's moon Titan. Around 1,000...

The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy) Start here

by Douglas Adams

It began as a radio series on the BBC. It was quickly adapted for television (with many of the same cast), and much later there came a film version (though the less said about that the better). But it is now probably...

The Automatic Detective

by A. Lee Martinez

An indestructible robot gives up world domination in favour of driving a cab—but soon is on an quest to find his kidnapped neighbours.

This novel is one of the most unique robot stories in existence, covering not just robots and science fiction, but stirring in the perfect dosage of detective, noir style. If you are a sci-fi fan, a fan of classic...

Mockingbird

by Walter Tevis

I'll give you the bad news up front: this novel has been classified as Young Adult. I know, I know - I can hear the groans already, and I don't blame you, given the new sexless, alcohol free, drug free, and swear word fr...

The Windup Girl (2010)

by Bacigalupi, Paolo

In a future Bangkok, walled in against rising seas and kept alive by a ruthless seed bank, the world's calories are controlled by a few giant corporations. Anderson Lake poses as a factory manager while he hunts for lost...

A.i. Apocalypse (Singularity)

by William Hertling

If you are a literary snob, this book will not appeal to you, but if you are a science-fiction nerd who lists their interests as: artificial intelligence, neural networks and machine learning, you will love this book, an...

How To Survive A Robot Uprising

by Daniel H. Wilson

Between Romero, Max Brooks, The Walking Dead, and every second American being a "prepper", you probably know all there is about a zombie apocalypse. But are you prepared for the robot uprising? Daniel H. Wilson's firs...

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles) Start here

by Marissa Meyer

A popular trope in fantasy is the revival of fairytales, with a twist. You only have to go to the cinema and watching Red Riding Hood, Snow White and the Huntsmen, and Hansel and Gretel to see your childhood favori...