ROBOT RAIDERS

by Ellen W. Leroe ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 1987

Bixby and Frani (humans) and MAXIII and Ally Tonerds (machine intelligences) foil a dastardly plot to ruin the Mars mission. Bixby, SilCo High's ace cybernist, has been invited to join the Mars mission with his creation, the svelte rohumian Ally, so she can be tested with the Mars robot, Cybernaut Elite. Accompanying Bixby is MAX, assistant principal of SilCo High, a flexible if overheated robot. Little known to Bixby is the secret plot of the Men Not Monsters league, whose chief ingenue, the petite Serena, is the daughter of the displaced human astronaut Ace Harder. Using Serena to infiltrate the mission, the league destroys Cybernaut Elite by overstressing him in the artificial Mars tank. If not for Frani, Bixby's friend from SilCo High, all would be lost, but through her quick thinking the league's bomb is dismantled, Ally takes cybernaut Elite's place on the mission, and the friends are honored as heroes. Exuberant and irreverent farce-cum-sendup is a time-honored part of science fiction, and readers attuned to cartoons and spoofs will be entertained by this sequel to the earlier Robot Romance. But those looking for more serious fare may be annoyed by such exclamations as: ""Leaping logistics"" and ""He'll drive me bytes and beepers yet!"" Logical lapses are common in farce, of course, but readers may wonder how Ally's brains, housed in a large computer mainframe, are supposed to get to Mars. And the cover artist should read the book: a human, not a robot, bites the villain.

Pub Date: July 1, 1987

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 181

Publisher: Harper & Row

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1987

Categories: CHILDREN'S