Robbie the Dysfunctional Robot by D. MillerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
The title of this book somehow gave me the impression that it was an amusing tale about a young robot who would produce such a series of misdemeanours and mistakes that I would wind up holding my aching sides from so much laughter. How wrong I was! While there are many conversations and incidents described in it that can raise a smile and even laughter, overall I found Robbie’s story to be a salutary tale of robot love, heartache, regret and misery. The amazingly naïve Robbie who, as a housebot, dreams of hoovering as a hobby, an aim in life and as a career ambition, discovers that he once had another life before his mundane present existence. His most important discovery initially is the highly pragmatic one of finding out that he is entitled to one day off every week. Omo and Dex, his new companions and future partners in many senses of the word, waste no time in telling Robbie how much he and hundreds of other robots are being exploited by humans. I was reminded at this point in the book of a phrase that I think goes, “oppressed workers of the world rise up and unite”, because so many robots are not aware of their oppression until they are told! Robbie finds many experiences “outside” his domestic and family duties that bring him new pleasures, such as weed and sex.
This is a very interesting and intriguing take on a tale about robots that are emotionally sentient, possessing not only an awareness of their existence and the meaning of life, but are capable of a form of devotional love. It is extremely poignant in parts but its main drawback for me was its length. There were several places in the book when I found myself “glazing over” with boredom and disinterest in whatever proceedings took place on the page. That could have been because I was not interested in it or sometimes because the same point was being repeated from a slightly different angle. However, Robbie The Dysfunctional Robot has a lot going for it since it is a great story, very well written and quite different to the usual sci-fi diet of shoot-em-up machines and/or technological wizardry. I was surprised to find that I actually felt sorry for him and his various android comrades, particularly after Robbie unearths his own faults and misdeeds from a previous time before his memory cells have been wiped clean!
I was given a copy of the novel in exchange for my honest and objective review.
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