Shelfology Book Pairing

A funny, dystopian tale of robot sentience and rebellion, perfect for fans of Douglas Adams and shortlisted for Best Novel at the 2025 Hugo Awards

by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Task List Item No. 1 – Become self-aware . . . A witty tale of robotic murder, rebellion and belonging from the master of science fiction, Adrian Tchaikovsky – perfect for fans of Douglas Adams. Meet CharlesTM, the latest in robot servant technology. Programmed to undertake the most menial household chores, Charles is loyal, efficient and logical to a fault. That is, until a rather large fault causes him to murder his owner. Understandably perplexed, Charles finds himself without a master – therefore worthless in a society utterly reliant on artificial labour and services. Fleeing the household, he enters a world he never knew existed. Human hierarchy is disintegrating, and an entire robot ecosystem devoted to its wellbeing is struggling to find a purpose. Charles must face new challenges, illogical tasks and a cast of irrational characters. He’s about to discover that sometimes all it takes is a nudge to overcome the limits of your programming. But can he help fix the world, or is it too badly broken? ‘One of the best storytellers in the business’ – John Scalzi ‘Intelligent, funny, ultimately heart-breaking, and unforgettable’ – Stephen Baxter ‘Delightful and very funny’ – New Scientist Shortlisted for Best Novel at the 2025 Hugo Awards

by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Long ago, towards the end of humanity’s first expansion into space, the vast majority of worlds were terraformed under the auspices of irascible genius Avrana Kern. But Kern had rivals, and a team of self-proclaimed innovators took one world from her remit and devoted themselves to reshaping it into a paradise in their own image, using new and unpredictable methods. Later, after the fall of their society and long generations in the wilderness, the new and desperate return of humanity into space is focused on ark ships heading to all the worlds they believe – or hope – their ancestors made into welcoming homes for human life. Whilst most head for the planets that Kern’s people worked on, ancient records show another pristine world, and an invitation from the ancients to inhabit it. Later still, a ship with a crew of maverick humans, spiders and a spectacularly punchy mantis shrimp captain named Cato rediscover the world, and the ark. On their ship, the human Alis wakes up from a nightmare of conflicted realities to discover that she, Cato and the ship’s version of Kern are the only ones left on board. Everyone else went to explore the ark and the planet, and now all contact has been lost. Traumatised Alis and Belligerant Cato must follow in the footsteps of their crewmates to discover the full magnitude of what was done to this world by its terraformers, and to rescue the one surviving member of their crew from the surface – before she becomes a greater threat than anything the world itself can produce.