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Xanthe and the Robots
Xanthe is a member (female) of a research team which is investigating the possibilities of humanoid robots, in a world of chaos and starvation . . . Two types of robot have been the Pragma-practors, who do the conventional manual work; and the Philophrenics, who have been programmed to more human levels, to feel affection, to talk, and even construct themselves. The question should they be allowed to go further?
- GenresScience Fiction
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1979
46 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 9, 2024
"Robots stand for us in the same way as fictional characters stand for us."
Borrowed from a friend's shelf because I like robot stories. With its themes of robot gender and identity, I think this one is due a revival.
Borrowed from a friend's shelf because I like robot stories. With its themes of robot gender and identity, I think this one is due a revival.
August 12, 2020
Enjoyable but slightly depressing.
June 11, 2024
Xanthe is a stony, friendless robot programmer, living at her commune-esque job in a collapsing world.
Xanthe and the Robots didn't have nearly enough robots for my taste. It did, however, have a lot of Xanthe. For someone so devoted to her work , she never really does any. The first half of this book is her complaining, taking naps, worrying, and swimming in her endless introspections. Almost nothing happens at all, and she has no hobbies and doesn't ever leave the grounds.
When she does finally leave, more than half way through the book, you find out that the world is in shambles. Xanthe was somehow so isolated that she never noticed, and I would have really liked the information sooner. I'd also like to know who exactly is funding the creation of philosphy-minded robots with little return, in a world where people are leaving cities as refugees and just dying out in the fields and abandoned neighborhoods.
Xanthe herself falls into the underwhelming trope of cold, walled-off woman who crumbles into lovey dovey mush at the appearance of a random and juvenile man. She also completely looses her repulsion of children once she gets pregnant. Because hope and the human spirit or something.
The robots are divided into two classes: Pragmapractors and Philophrenics. The Pragmapractors are labor models, but still intelligent, though apparently they've been around so long that even the programmers don't know how they think, which is bs. The Philophrenics are made to explore and expand upon human ideas. The Philophrenics become self-determined, make demands, and start building things by use of the Pragmapractors, who rebel for equality. In the midst of the this, the human characters become irrelevant and are pushed out. The robot parts were the best parts, by far. Most of the human characters I felt either indifference or annoyance towards. I didn't care for the way the dialogue was formatted and there's a comical overuse of ten cent words.
Xanthe and the Robots didn't have nearly enough robots for my taste. It did, however, have a lot of Xanthe. For someone so devoted to her work , she never really does any. The first half of this book is her complaining, taking naps, worrying, and swimming in her endless introspections. Almost nothing happens at all, and she has no hobbies and doesn't ever leave the grounds.
When she does finally leave, more than half way through the book, you find out that the world is in shambles. Xanthe was somehow so isolated that she never noticed, and I would have really liked the information sooner. I'd also like to know who exactly is funding the creation of philosphy-minded robots with little return, in a world where people are leaving cities as refugees and just dying out in the fields and abandoned neighborhoods.
Xanthe herself falls into the underwhelming trope of cold, walled-off woman who crumbles into lovey dovey mush at the appearance of a random and juvenile man. She also completely looses her repulsion of children once she gets pregnant. Because hope and the human spirit or something.
The robots are divided into two classes: Pragmapractors and Philophrenics. The Pragmapractors are labor models, but still intelligent, though apparently they've been around so long that even the programmers don't know how they think, which is bs. The Philophrenics are made to explore and expand upon human ideas. The Philophrenics become self-determined, make demands, and start building things by use of the Pragmapractors, who rebel for equality. In the midst of the this, the human characters become irrelevant and are pushed out. The robot parts were the best parts, by far. Most of the human characters I felt either indifference or annoyance towards. I didn't care for the way the dialogue was formatted and there's a comical overuse of ten cent words.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews