Robots - Recent Reads and TV Too

This is a TV Tuesday post, mixed with a Recent Reads. Topic? Robots. I ended up reading LifeL1K3 around the same time I was watching Season 3 of Humans. I really TRY not to read such similar books back to back, or watch something with the same theme ... just so I don't confuse things in my brain. But it does make for a good themed blog post *Ü*

I first discovered the BBC Series HUMANS in Summer of 2015. It was showing on AMC, and I recorded the episodes using my PlayOn service so I could stream them to my gym TV. I ended up rewatching the first season w/Hubs upstairs when it hit Amazon Prime.

When the second season started to air on AMC in the Spring of 2017, I was anxious to watch again ... again recording and streaming to the gym. I'd heard the third season was coming out, but this time I just waited and watched for it to appear on Amazon Prime. When it finally did, it was next up on my "to watch" list.   Just eight episodes each season ... two years is TOO long in-between. Sometimes I just wish I'd been more patient, and watched all three seasons back to back. I just watched a preview from season 1 ... I didn't remember a lot of it! It's been too long. It is an intriguing series. Robots, made to help with labor, replacing much of the human workforce, and gaining consciousness.

The movie I-Robot. 

The television series Battlestar Galactica. 

The  "Partials" book trilogy.

All robot related stories I've enjoyed in the past.

For more recent reads ...

 

I borrowed Lock In from my local library. It was a random pick for me. I loved it. Rather than featuring complete robots with an AI consciousness, the machines here are actually connected to a human body/brain. One affected by a futuristic disease called Hayden's Syndrome, which leaves the victim unable to move or communicate, even though they are fully conscious within their body. They are "locked in" per se. While there is no cure, scientific discovery leads to robot bodies that can connect and house the consciousness for those with this disease.  It's such a unique idea. Where do authors get such imagination?  The machine bodies are called "threeps" by many, as one of the first users looked in the mirror and stated "I look like C3PO" (from Star Wars). 

Lock In is technically the first book ... and Head On is a sort of sequel. Lock In can be a stand-alone, but as I loved the characters and the world created here, I was happy to read another installment. What I didn't know going in, was that there was a short story, called Unlocked that really introduces everything. I would absolutely recommend reading it to start (you can find it here on Tor for free. I prefer a Kindle copy, but it was worth reading this web-based presentation.)

This was one of those books that I could "see" ... my imagination made it into a movie. Loved the idea of the consciousness being able to hop from one mechanical body to another. No need to physically travel, just rent a new body at your desired destination. Just know it will cost you if you don't return it in good shape. That's something our protagonist struggles with ...

Even with the horrid disease, and people/robots walking around, the Lock In world was still very familiar. Not post-apocalyptic, not super-futuristic. Recognizable and relatable.

Not so for the LifeL1K3 world. As the story starts, it totally reminded me of the movie "Real Steel".   A big arena, with robots fighting, programmed by their human counterparts. But that not what the book is really about. At the very beginning, we are given definitions of the different types of robots (Automata, Machina and Logika), the three rules (and some thoughts on those) ... and a memory. We aren't sure whose memory or what it is all about. Those memories continue to surface throughout the book. They are written in italics, so they are easily identified. I was listening to audio, and still the different distinctions were quite clear. Also (I was glad I was able to download the Kindle copy in addition to the audio, as I like to have a visual of some of the story) Cricket's robotic "voice" was in a different typeface, which I liked, it added a distinctive note to the Kindle copy, the narrator did a good job with the different voices on audio.

Speaking of voices ... the book/characters had a distinctive tone. In their slang ... such as "no way a bot this beautiful is getting bricked by some fritzer" ... fizzy, smoked, true cert, and ALL the nick names and ways characters were referred to... LemonFresh (that's not even a nickname really), bestest, Riotgrrl, Freckles, Dimples, BrainTrauma, "the lifelife", almost-boy, dead girl, the Preacher. I liked it, although sometimes it got a little overdone (the "her bestest" and "the lifelike" ... a LOT of that).  Everything came together in the end. Even the title, with the numbers in there. The author did a good job and making the characters (and us) care about some of these machines (like Cricket and the little robot dog.)  There is a sequel coming out this year. Like the series Humans ... I'm wondering if it would have been better to wait and read the books back to back.

Any other robot/android TV, Movies or Books I should check out?
(I have seen WestWorld ... HBO Shows)