Here is a quarterfinalist review for a full read for Team 1.21 Gigawatts for the first round of SPSFC#5 by team judge Archie Kregear. For more information about the team and our progress, please go to the team update page here.

Blurb

When a robot built for construction work first sees an angular, sleek prototype military robot slink onto the base he’s working outside of, he immediately falls in love. The problem is, only anomalous bots understand the concept of love, and the lowly laborbot has not deviated from his default programming once. So he thinks, anyway. When the laborbot is scheduled for decommission, the military bot cannot possibly live without him, and the two bots set out on a path to find the fabled anomalous robot utopia Root.

My Review

Well, what’s not to love about a two robots, one built for construction and the other for military, becoming self aware and forming a relationship? The story is told from the POV of the laborbot, Sterling, as it is upgraded and nurtured by the military bot, Zev. The plot is driven by the search for parts, avoiding surveillance of those looking for rogue robots, and searching for robot utopia. In some sense the book is similar to any coming of age, or self awareness journey where the characters acquire more things and knowledge. The story often took me back to the late 1980’s and 1990’s when I worked in the computer industry and was constantly searching for parts and software to upgrade computer systems. The endless swapping of chips, boards, and disks then as in this story consumes time. What my background did allow me to see is the author’s extensive knowledge of computing. She put it all on display and thus the details tended to dominate the narrative while the plot took a while to develop and get to the end.

Plot and Characters

There are only two characters that matter, Sterling and Zev. A third character is introduced late in the book in what I feel was a introduction to another story. Zev comes in as the advanced prototype and it takes Sterling as a friend when it discovers the laborbot is self aware. There are parallels to Don Quixote and his relationship to Dulcinea, and others of this trope, as Sterling is greatly improved during the story. Sterling accepts nearly all the upgrades as it lacks the programming to really know what an upgrade will do. What the reader does get to see are the thoughts of Sterling through the upgrade process, which at times I felt were beyond what a laborbot should be able to think/feel. In the end, the character arc for Sterling is complete. Zev, also undergoes some deep introspection and a revelation about who/what he really is.

My thoughts

As the second book I am writing a full review for in SPSFC #5, I found the book well written. There is too much detail about all the upgrades, searching for parts, and explaining what software will do. The plethora of insights on the affects of the upgrades slowed the story down and this took away my enjoyment of the book. There was little tension to make me want to read the next chapter. The revelation of what allowed Zev to be sentient, left me disappointed as it wasn’t as miraculous as I had hoped or expected.

Summation:

The Warm Machine is an excellent dive into what a sentient robot might think and feel. The psychology and philosophy of the robots is explained thoroughly by this unique story and the parallels of how a human might find self-awareness under a mentor are well done. The author shows her mastery of language and does a great job getting into the processor of Sterling to reveal the innerworkings of what life is about.