Thursday, January 17, 2019

Three Robots Experience Objects Left Behind from the Era of Humans for the First Time, by John Scalzi

[Anthology]
★★★☆☆ Average

(SF Humor) An account of robots trying to make sense of artifacts left by vanished humanity. (1,294 words; Time: 04m)


"Three Robots Experience Objects Left Behind from the Era of Humans for the First Time," by (edited by Dominik Parisien and Navah Wolfe), appeared in (RSR review), published on by .

Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)

Review: 2018.148 (A Word for Authors)

Pro: I particularly liked their attempt to figure out what a cat was for. “They had an entire network that was devoted to dissemination of pictures of these things.” There's also something cute about the way the robots talk like present-day teenagers.

Con: Short as it is, the joke gets old before the story ends.

Other Reviews: Search Web, GoodReads.com
John Scalzi Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline

Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.

5 comments (may contain spoilers):

  1. Speaking of Scalzi... Have you seen this short story collection published online by The Verge*? It looks like something you may wish to review.

    * Would The Verge be an online magazine? Are there magazines anymore?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I haven't seen it. Do you have a link? And are they a) original fiction and b) mostly over 2000 words? (i.e. "not real, real short")

      Delete
    2. Probably this:

      https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/5/18055980/better-worlds-science-fiction-short-stories-video

      Delete
    3. Ah, I have seen those. I'm waiting to see what other people have to say about them, but I checked the word count on one, and it was a comfortable 4,500 words.

      Delete
    4. Thanks for the link.

      The animated versions of the stories are well done. There are also podcasts for anyone who prefers audio. I think all stories have a written version available. Not all stories have the other options.

      Worth checking out. The animated versions take about 4 minutes to watch and give you an idea of the written version.

      Delete