I, ROBOT SOLDIER

Dennstedt’s SF novel features an unlikely friendship between a mercenary robot and an orphaned young girl.

The story opens on a robot soldier awakening to a world of complete destruction, the landscape quite literally aflame. One Shot—so named for his one working weaponized arm—thinks he may be the last sentient being left on the planet. As he scours his surroundings for resources, he comes across a young girl amidst the rubble, a vision so startling he barely avoids shooting her dead at first sight. Obeying Asimov’s three laws of robotics (cheekily referenced in the title), One Shot quickly makes caring for the girl, Amy, his priority, even renaming her “the Boss” to suit their new relationship. As they traverse a barren landscape struggling to survive, they pick up a “pet,” a maintenance drone One Shot reconfigures and which Amy simply calls “Cat.” Tension mounts when the crew makes its way through a bombed-out city and Amy starts shivering and shaking. One Shot thinks she’s cold, but Amy soon admits she’s scared, and not just because she’s all alone with only a robot for a friend—she’s seen shadows at the edges of her vision, and whenever she throws her head back over her shoulder, she’s convinced they’re being followed. Her fears seem unfounded, but when the pair come across a dying robot soldier and he relays news of the horrific battle that brought this world to its knees, readers realize One Shot and Amy may not be alone, after all. Dennstedt’s premise is both classic and promising, best described by One Shot himself: “We must have looked a sight—a young girl, a robot soldier, and a submissive maintenance Cat walking down a long empty road to nowhere, the last survivors of a broken world.” While this concept is well-worn, the blossoming friendship between One Shot and Amy is affecting enough to separate this tale from others in its genre. The narrative isn’t overloaded with tech-talk, but fans of SF are bound to enjoy the ethical quandaries of robotics explored here.

An exciting adventure exploring notions of friendship between humans and machines.