A ReadOrbit guide

Science fiction about AI and robots

These stories use artificial intelligence to ask who gets agency, responsibility, and a place in the human future.

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Cover of Understanding William Gibson

2016

Understanding William Gibson

by Gerald Alva Miller

"Gerald Alva Miller Jr.'s Understanding William Gibson is a thoughtful examination of the life and work of William Gibson, author of eleven novels and twenty short stories. Gibson is the recipient of many notable awards for science fiction writing including the Nebula, Hugo, and…

Cover of Paradigms lost

2014

Paradigms lost

by Ryk E. Spoor

4.0

"In a world of data manipulation and cyberspying, an investigative journalist find that the supernatural lurks! A major revision of Spoor's first novel, Digital Knight, with all new material. Being an expert in information searches, image processing and enhancement, pattern match…

Cover of For the Win

2010

For the Win

by Cory Doctorow

3.7

Young adult science fiction set in the present or near future. The characters are "gold farmers" extracting virtual resources from online games and selling them to richer players. Their exploitation leads them to unionize, which leads to violence and trickery. In the virtual futu…

Cover of Pathfinder

2010

Pathfinder

by Orson Scott Card

3.9

The book begins with Rigg, a boy that has the strange ability to see the path of any living being, no matter how long ago it existed. He spends his time hunting with his father in the mountains, trapping for valuable pelts. His father is his mentor, and so he has taught Rigg ever…

Cover of The Philip K. Dick Collection

2009

The Philip K. Dick Collection

by Philip K. Dick

[v. 1] Four novels of the 1960s: The great accomplishment of Philip K. Dick, in the words of editor Jonathan Lethem, was "to turn the materials of American pulp-style science fiction into a vocabulary for a remarkably personal vision of paranoia and dislocation." These four novel…

Cover of Death's Head

2007

Death's Head

by David Gunn

4.0

Set in a chillingly realistic far-future world, and featuring a gritty antihero even more frightening than the evil empire he serves as soldier and assassin, Death's Head is sure to be one of the most talked-about novels of the year. David Gunn is loaded--and he shoots to kill.At…

Cover of Olympos

2005

Olympos

by Dan Simmons

4.4

Beneath the gaze of the gods, the mighty armies of Greece and Troy met in fierce and glorious combat, scrupulously following the text set forth in Homer's timeless narrative. But that was before one observer -- Twenty-first Century scholar Thomas Hockenberry -- stirred the bloody…

Cover of Custer's last jump and other collaborations

2003

Custer's last jump and other collaborations

by Howard Waldrop

A stew of talent, well simmered... In a career that has spanned thirty-four years, Howard Waldrop has withheld these collaborations from his five short story collections, in order to create a dream, this special volume. Included are several Hugo and Nebula nominated stories, rang…

Cover of Europa strike

2000

Europa strike

by Ian Douglas

4.0

2040: Ruins of ancient civilization uncovered on Mars reveal startling truths about the creation of humankind.2042: In the gray dust of the Earth's Moon, an extinct enslaving race left behind more answers, more questions...and a grim warning.2067: As Earth's warring factions clas…

Cover of Microcosmic Tales

1992

Microcosmic Tales

by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, Joseph D. Olander, Donald Franson, Norman E. Hartman, Jack Ritchie, Charles E. Fritch, Phyllis Eisenstein, Fredric Brown, Robert Mattingly, Barry N. Malzberg, Jack Dann, George Zebrowski, Charles Sheffield, George H. Smith, Robert F. Decker, Harry Harrison, Richard Wilson, T. E. D. Klein, Richard K. Lyon, Arthur C. Clarke, Patricia Matthews, Alan Brennert, James Tiptree, Jr., Anthony Boucher, Bob Shaw, Walt Liebscher, Mack Reynolds, A. E. van Vogt, Paul Dellinger, Harlan Ellison, Henry Slesar, Ron Montana, Joanna Russ, Theodore Cogswell, Marcia Martin, Eric Vinicoff, Edward Bryant, Garen Drussaï, William F. Nolan, Helen M. Urban, Robert Silverberg, Alice Laurance, Robert Sheckley, Charles A. Spano Jr., Craig Strete, Rick Conley, Manly Wade Wellman, Dennis R. Caro, Eric Frank Russell, Robert Payes, Fritz Leiber, Ray Russell, Roberta Ghidalia, Sherwood Springer, Joseph F. Patrouch, Roland J. Green, H. L. Gold, Jan Howard Finder, Ruth Berman, James E. Gunn, Philip José Farmer, Bill Pronzini, Arthur Tofte, F. M. Busby, Paul J. Nahin, James A. Stevens, Rachel Cosgrove Payes, Juleen Brantingham, Maggie Nadler, Lester del Rey, Larry Niven, Edward Wellen

The Last Answer - short story by Isaac Asimov Package Deal - short story by Donald Franson Lycanthrope - short story by Norm Hartman [as by Norman E. Hartman] Gemini 74 - short story by Jack Ritchie Geever's Flight - short story by Charles E. Fritch Lost and Found - short story b…

Cover of Alien Sex

1991

Alien Sex

by Ellen Datlow, Leigh Kennedy, Rick Wilber, Harlan Ellison, Scott Baker, Larry Niven, K. W. Jeter, Philip José Farmer, Lisa Tuttle, Bruce McAllister, Edward Bryant, Pat Cadigan, Geoff Ryman, Connie Willis, Richard Christian Matheson, Lewis Shiner, Roberta Lannes, James Tiptree, Jr., Michaela Roessner, Pat Murphy

5.0

From Bernie Goutley's review: 1.) Her Furry Face by Leigh Kennedy A primate handler who is in a waning marriage falls for one of his super-intelligent orangutan students. 2.) War Bride by Rick Wilbur The world is going to end tomorrow unless you’ve been taken as a pet by one of t…

Cover of Story of Atari Missile Command

1982

Story of Atari Missile Command

by Kid Stuff Publishing, John Braden

This is the first in a series of five "Story of Atari" books with read-along audio recordings, each book has black and white illustrations on each page, as well as the text of the story. This is a story book that tells of a Zardonian defense officer, Ed Mathews. Whom helps to sta…

Cover of Tower of Glass

1970

Tower of Glass

by Robert Silverberg

3.7

Simeon Krug has a vision--and the vast wealth necessary to turn dream into reality. What he wishes is to communicate with the stars, to answer signals from deep space. The colossal tower he's constructing for this purpose soars above the Arctic tundra, and the seemingly perfect a…

Cover of One Hundred

2020

One Hundred

by Philip K. Dick, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Andre Norton, C. L. Moore, Alfred Bester, Frederik Pohl, Edgar Pangborn, Barbara Constant, Emil Petaja, Alan Edward Nourse, Therese Windser, Clark Ashton Smith, William F. Nolan, T. D. Hamm, Sonya Dorman, Robert E. Howard, Evelyn E. Smith, Robert F. Young, H. Beam Piper, Walter M. Miller Jr., Keith Laumer, Lilith Lorraine, R. A. Lafferty, Sydney J. Van Scyoc, Fritz Leiber, Milton Lesser, Helen M. Urban, Jerome Bixby, Kurt Vonnegut, Charles L. Fontenay, Lester del Rey, Ann Warren Griffith, Frank W. Coggins, Harry Harrison, L. Taylor Hansen, Louis Trimble, Gordon R. Dickson, Helen Huber, Henry Kuttner, Miriam Allen deFord, Dorothy Quick, Mary Elizabeth Counselman, Poul Anderson, Karen Anderson, Edgar Wallace, Algis Budrys, Robert Sheckley, Mari Wolf, Stanley G. Weinbaum, Cyril M. Kornbluth, Frank M. Robinson, Richard Matheson, Anne Walker, James Blish, August Derleth, Rhoda Broughton, Frank Herbert, Tom Godwin, Edmond Hamilton, John D. MacDonald, Katherine MacLean, Judith Merril, Clifford D. Simak, Carl Jacobi, E. C. Tubb, Manly Wade Wellman, William Tenn, Lynn Venable, Florence Verbell Brown, Jack Williamson, Ben Bova, Philip José Farmer, Ron Goulart, Dean Ing, Laurence M. Janifer, Robert Silverberg, Hal Clement, Steve Rasnic Tem, Melanie Tem, L. Ron Hubbard, Mary Carlson, Annie Proulx, Ted White, Terry Carr

Jackie Sees a Star by Marion Zimmer Bradley All Cats are Gray by Andre Norton Song in a Minor Key by C. L. Moore Travel Diary by Alfred Bester Pythias by Frederik Pohl The Good Neighbors by Edgar Pangborn The Sound of Silence by Barbara Constant The Intruder by Emil Petaja An Oun…

Cover of The Coin Giver

2010

The Coin Giver

by M. M Buckner

In the 23rd century, the Earth's surface is devastated by global warming, and corporations exploit billions of poverty-stricken employees whose lifetime contracts they own...Richter Jedes, the rich powerful CEO of ZahlenBank, wants to live forever – so he makes two copies of hims…

Cover of The Kundalini Race

2004

The Kundalini Race

by Stanley D Sears

THIS BOOK IS WRITTEN IN THE CLASSIC MYTH MOTIF OF THE GODDESS AS THE REDEEMER. THE CLASSIC MYTH MOTIF IS UNIQUE IN MODERN LITERATURE.566 pages that can change your life.The meaning of life:Discovering and personally affecting its meaning is as important a task for modern man as t…