Naked Came the Robot

by Barry B. Longyear

From the Nebula Award-winning author of It Came from Schenectadyf

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

214 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1988

About the author

Barry Brookes Longyear was an American science fiction author who resided in New Sharon, Maine.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't a great novel, but it's a very funny one. If the left-handed love-child of Ron Goulart and Steve Gerber dropped some of Philip K. Dick's LSD and started typing... There are some scenes and sections that wouldn't be considered socially acceptable today, but they amused more than offended when the book was published. It satirizes everything from religion to Harlan Ellison, and in clear defiance of Ray Bradbury suggests that S is for sex and R is for robots. Very funny stuff!

[Scott Holstad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Naked Came the Robot is the craziest book I have ever read. It's simply insane. It's barely linear, barely sticks to the plot, which is a robot-run world is being invaded by alien robots and must fight them off with the help of human, Henry. Whose mother is made into a robot, with his permission. Coin operated sex with robots is one of the more normal things in this book. There are talking protoplasms, a general with turtle flappers for arms, a colonel who's a lobster (who is subsequently eaten), a robot best friend named Hugo, an old man wearing a red bra and panties and surrounded by teddy bears found in a looney bin, armed Amish, underground freeways, the nuclear deterrent between the US and the Soviets (this was first published in 1969), a world now run by the Economy rather than the military, wizards, talking roaches, references to Crane and Carrol and Dante, etc., a scene from hell, and more. It's nuts. Somehow a story emerges and somehow a story is told, but it's the telling that's entertaining, not the storyline itself. I'd give it a five on originality and about a two on actual writing, as it appears to have been written by a college English major undergrad. So three stars it is. If you want something crazy and witty and entertaining, it's recommended. If you want serious sci fi, avoid it like the plague.

[Tomislav · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read 10 December 2006. This has to be one of the most bizarre satires, parodies, or whatevers, that I've read in a while. Barry Longyear has some enjoyable books to his credit, especially Enemy Mine and related works, and the Circus World trilogy. But from page 2 where there is a mention of somebody named I.P. Daley, you know this is something, well, different.

On a somewhat more serious note, the plot roughly follows that of Stephen Crane's 1894 classic The Red Badge of Courage - the main character is identically named Henry Fleming. Longyear also borrows heavily from Lewis Carroll and many others. So, the question is, to what end does Longyear put all this? Apparently, so that he can deliver stupid one-line puns and science fiction in-jokes. I'd like to think that as a science fiction fan, I got most of those jokes, but if I missed some, who's there to tell me?

Finally, I'd like to quote Stephen Crane from this book. He and several other writers appear as characters in Dante's Hell, playing poker with Henry Fleming. As he says, "Have you ever noticed that every time a poet or a writer puts out a real piece of crap, he calls it a satire or a parody?" Funny thing is, I don't think Longyear would even mind me quoting this here, it's just a self-referencing in-joke to be found by the reader.

[Phil Wujek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strange, amusing, thought provoking. Think Douglas Adams on drugs. Lots of word play and puns, which kept it interesting. Great concept about future warfare.

[Tanner Howsden · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not horrible, but a lot of the humor seems to fall short in several areas.

[SciFiOne · Rating 1 out of 5]

1989 grade F (Might have abandoned)