I tend to prefer medium- or fast-paced books, and this is a slow-paced book, driven by character more than plot. I do love self-aware robots, though. A bot coming to terms with its ability to feel, when bots are not supposed to experience emotion, is nothing new, but Sterling and Zev’s relationship with each other is where this story shines. I like how their search for a sanctuary ends. The voice is great and the vibe is charming.

I read this as a judge for the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC5). This review is my personal opinion and doesn’t reflect the novel’s place in the contest. Thank you to author for the e-copy!

I didn’t expect this to be as wholesome as it is, and I’m absolutely in love. There are so many wonderful moments – didn’t know I could love two bots that much!
The writing drags you right in, not a single boring moment, and perfectly follows Zev and Sterling’s change

Can’t wait to read the next one!

A beautiful and heartwarming book. I mostly gobbled it down in a single day. Sterling and Zev are such wonderful characters, and their growth as individuals and as a pair is believable and sweetly human despite their clearly robotic natures – a concept which is also smartly expressed, and not just via word swaps, but in the distinct ways they view the world around them.

Don’t let the somewhat simplistic beginning fool you – it only serves to show how much Sterling grows as he blossoms into his sentience and emotions and quite literally becomes more capable of complex thought as the story progresses.

The Warm Machine is an excellent dive into what a sentient robot might think and feel. The psychology and philosophy of the robots is explained thoroughly by this unique story and the parallels of how a human might find self-awareness under a mentor are well done. The author shows her mastery of language and does a great job getting into the processor of Sterling to reveal the innerworkings of what life is about.

Let me preface by saying I found the author through her art on bsky, and subsequently bought her book to support her when she announced it, so I may be slightly biased. However, I pride myself in having a pretty high standard for good writing/editing, and this was the first indie published book I found myself able to get through and genuinely enjoy. Writing is hard and editing is even harder when you have a story to tell, especially so when you’re indie, but Cozza and her editor did a good job.

The good: I absolutely love the way Cozza describes her tech. She’s confident in her worldbuilding and everything in universe seemed to make logical sense. I loved the nods to Linux/sysadmin type work as a Linux noob myself, and all the computer nerd speak factually checked out to me without seeming confusing for less tech inclined readers. Knowing Cozza has a background in developing websites as well definitely seemed to help her here. Her description of the bot net and warnings/errors was extremely satisfying and well-integrated into bot anatomy. The visual representation of these in the book was also handled wonderfully, and I wish more authors/editors would stop shying away from making these clear visual distinctions in books.

FLC0776/Sterling had some amazing character growth. I wish we would have seen as much growth with AZR4700/Zev, but it makes sense as the story goes on why he is the way he is. I would also have loved to see more about [spoiler], but I think given this was only a novella, Cozza did great with focusing on Sterling and his perspective. I love the relationship between Sterling and Zev Cozza created. I think a lot of stories suffer from “Character A falls for Character B after .5 seconds of knowing each other”, and maybe it felt a bit rushed in a novella vs a full length novel, but I actually think Cozza nailed the pacing and avoiding that trope. Their relationship grows naturally and I love that The Warm Machine doesn’t offer a set plausible explanation as to what it is about each other that the bots like; they just do. They seem to enjoy each others’ companionship over all else, there’s no overly romantic or sexual tones in a newly budding friendship/relationship and I think that’s very refreshing to see in title marketed as a gay robot sci-fi romance. I want more stories that feel like wading into a relationship instead of diving in head-first when characters barely know each other.

The “eh”: I felt like the beginning explanation of “bot, short for robot,” could have been left unsaid or worded better, and there were a few instances I thought things were being explained that should’ve been obvious, but luckily there was less of that the further I read. My biggest criticisms were that, and the sometimes repetitive nature of describing the characters (namely constantly reminders of Sterling being safety yellow), or the few mentions of gold as “Au/Au material” feeling out of place. I feel like a few times there might have been more weird body descriptions, but that may have been in part due to the MCs being bots and not human. I also would’ve liked to see an explanation or some logic with the bots naming each other simply because I’m curious how they chose their names.

Cozza hit a great pace for a

Emergence through Struggle.

I’m a huge sucker for self aware robot stories so I bought in immediately with this one. The tight prose and smart writing certainly made this an easy and inviting read as well. This is a story about Zev and Sterling, two self aware bots who discover their identities not only through the process of emerging consciousness but through the relationship they have with one another. And that’s what made The Warm Machine unique in this niche was that the characters discover who they are because of their struggle together. Zev and Sterling would be different without one another and most likely worse off. Their relationship did not feel token but organic and I found it well done.

This was a mostly character driven work but with enough plot advancements and action to really keep you going. The two protagonists are seeking a fabled asylum for self aware bots and I got to say I really loved how this worked out and how the story turns out for them. It was both melancholy but inspiring. Reading about two characters eeking out their existence and independence alone and against all odds was deeply inspiring. The technical aspects of the book were really well done and the author is clearly knowledgeable about lots of things. There’s a lot to think about with this story that goes beyond the pages but you can also just enjoy the story for what it is at face value. The author has skill and it really shines. I overall really enjoyed this brief read and highly recommend it.

I received a free ebook as a judge for the SPSFC5. This review does not reflect the book’s standing in the competition.

A good read!

A fairly low stakes, bot-focused adventure and subtle love story. A great introduction to the setting. Sterling and Zev are an engaging set of characters and I would certainly love to see more of them in the future. The writing is pretty solid, if somewhat sparse–logical for something from the POV of a bot not built for fancy prose. LOL! As a long time fan of sci fi, I did see the ending coming from a long distance, but it didn’t ruin the impact. I enjoyed story well enough that I’ve already started the second book.

This was a bit heavier, or at least more somber, than I expected. The author did an excellent job of maintaining the perspective of the laborbot and how they perceive the world through their mechanical body and processes, while also showing how their mind expands and morphs as their personality and sense of personhood grows. Because of the dedication to describing the world via a robotic lens, sometimes the prose was a bit dense to get through.

I genuinely never knew what was going to happen next. I had ideas, and I was sometimes right, but there was very much a tense unease that nothing was certain for our laborbot protagonist. This book felt a lot longer than its actual page count because there’s a fair amount of plot and progression, and concepts that trigger the reader to do some of their own reflection and speculation. By that I mean I spent a bit of my reading time staring into space thinking about what I had just read.

A very interesting book that I’d recommend to fans of the philosophical aspects of the sci-fi genre. For people expecting something like A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers: there are similarities, but be warned that this story does not paint quite as hopeful a picture of the future.

Content Warnings:
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting

A well written, utterly intriguing and immersive science fiction that had me gripped from start to finish, The Warm Machine had all the elements of what makes up a great sci/fi- a well developed set of characters, a fantastic setting and a fast paced and enjoyable plot.
I look forward to reading other books by this author in the future.

A really cool queer sci-fi story about two robots exploring their emotions, making sense of their existence and falling in love.

Loved the characters – both Zev and Sterling have such disctinct personalities that come through more and more as they settle into their own emotions. And is it strange that I read this partly as an age-gap romance? An older, simpler (but emotionally mature) robot set in his daily routine slowly comes alive as he starts to notice things around him, starts to think outside of his usual daily life and then he full on blossoms when a younger taller cooler model falls for him, and in the process changes the younger robot too…

The writing is interesting. I liked the machine-like language because it stayed true to the story told from the perspective of two robots, but there were moments when I had to stop and reread a sentence just to make sure I got the meaning correctly.

Overall, a really interesting exploration of emotions and a lovely (slightly angsty) sci-fi love story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the eARC (in exchange for an honest review).

Queer Rep Summary: The main characters are robots, likely closest to aro/ace but those terms aren’t quite applicable. Gender is also not an important factor.

THE WARM MACHINE plays with ideas of friendship, connection, and searching for utopia, all through the lens of a construction robot who falls in love at first sight with a military bot. It delves into questions of personhood, agency, and autonomy, and whether a chassis is separable from the self.

Partly but not only because the main characters are robots, this will appeal to those looking for a romantic or queerplatonic story with some adventure that doesn’t have a sexual component. Great for those who love Martha Wells’ Murderbot series but want a whole book that’s just Murderbot and ART. The character list is small, with enough information to paint the shape of something much more complex, especially due to the interactions on the botnet.

I was pleasantly surprised by the direction that the plot takes. The pacing isn’t quite slow, but it’s a generally calm story where the bots are operating under restrictions and surveillance without actively being in danger most of the time. This changes towards the end, as the danger they’ve been so competently avoiding thus far comes knocking on their door, prompting a crisis which threatens to upend their careful plans for a new life outside of human control.

brilliant. engaging. buying myself a copy because i Will be rereading this. the work put into building and consistently maintaining a nonhuman perspective throughout is impressive. wasn’t expecting the discussions on individuality and sentience, though it added so much depth

plus, how can i be disappointed by gay robots?

tl;dr Literally cried. Actual tears. Blew my nose into tissues. So emotional. That ending hits like a bus, I can’t even describe it. Beautiful book.

Not tl;dr (my thoughts as I read):

Oh man, where to start! Right from the first page I was enamored. I can’t think of a better way to explain it other than child-like whimsy. There’s a fantastical element, despite the sci-fi genre, in how it’s written that just feels so innocent and magical, and also very endearing.

A human may have said that sort of existence was lonely, but FLC0776 did not contain the amount of extra rows and columns to conceive of the concept of loneliness.

He wanted to reach out and touch the bot.
No, that wasn’t correct. FLC0776 hadn’t wanted anything in his entire uptime.

“Thank you,” said FLC0776, a pre-programmed nicety.
“Unrequired,” answered the military bot.

It had me reeling from just the first few pages, with the biggest smile on my face and several out-loud chuckles.

The story explores the ‘life’ of robots existing in a human world, seen through the lens of Sterling, and his thoughts and experiences. I’m glad I went through it slowly, giving the work time to digest. There is a lot of depth despite the storyline itself being rather short. It’s not just the typical, “What is the meaning of life?”, “Can robots be ‘alive’?”, it goes further. What does it mean to be you? Who are you? What makes up you? Who are you in relation to others, and what are the costs of reaching inward to discover yourself? Sterling grapples with those questions and many more, as he also travels with Zev, whose way of life is at odds with Sterling’s beliefs, but whose very existence leads to his salvation. Sterling puts his faith into a bot who both fascinates and frightens him, as they travel together in search of robotic paradise.

The characterization and world-building were wonderful and interesting. I agree with another review that it’s ‘both subtle and fully-formed’. Clearly this world is lived in with its characters, it feels very real, but you’re also not bombarded like you are with fantasy novels, with info dumps and intricately specific details, that at least for me, can be overwhelming. You sort of just walk in and you’re there.

But I did have some nit-picks. My main issue was that I wished there were a bit more in the way of descriptions for settings and locations. Just to get a clearer picture of where they are. Some parts were given more imagery than others, but a lot of the time I found myself struggling to ‘ground’ the characters, and ended up leaning heavily on tropes or previous media I’ve consumed to get a better picture.

I will say though, that as the book went on, it did gradually get better. The farther they went on their journey, the deeper into human territory they traversed, the little drops of details, like graffiti, dilapidated structures, and neon lights helped paint a scene. And the part where humans first approach them had me legitimately sweating! Really eloquently written scene, and absolutely terrifying to imagine. (I know there will be a companion book with Inix, I’m eager to read her perspective on her experiences!)

My only other nit-pick was hoping to see more character growth from Sterling. While he does explore emotions, the world, and Zev, I would’ve liked to have seen more self-confidence. There was a lot of “Zev knows all, just trust Zev.” But just a moment where Sterling feels more self-assured to put his foot down rather than always doubt himself would’ve been nice to see.

The visual representation of the internal bot chat was also really cleverly done, and the visuals for THAT scene (I cry) were, oof, my heart. The built up understanding of how the bot chat worked combined with Sterling shutting down and everything glitching out was so sad ;o; Like you WANTED to be able to read it, but you couldn’t, just like him. This whole scene was just…omg. The whole book was building up to this moment and my heart was just RACING.

And okay, I might’ve legit teared up from the first line of chapter 27 after all that. omg ;o;

God damn, that ending though. I have so many thoughts, so many feelings, I’m so overwhelmed, my heart is just screaming, I’m so emotional, my evens cannot. Like ;o;

Like I’m sitting here and I don’t even know what to type. And the epilogue, with Zev, and how things have just…changed. It’s so well done. It hits so hard. Genuinely so emotional. Learning to accept your limitations, your disabilities, just being content to be with the one you love, like I am actually crying. It’s literally just so beautiful.

Hilarious extra at the end though. I love how the “Problem” list gradually gets more and more anomalous related lmaoo

Ahhh this was so good. <3

*4.5*

There is something so special about THE WARM MACHINE that I haven’t quite gotten in anything else. The writing style is perfectly matched to the theme—mechanical and completely logical but with an underlying level of “anomalous” emotion that SWELLS throughout the book. The personalities of these beings comes right off the page, and with each philosophical discussion and bonding moment they had, I was more and more deeply invested in Sterling and Zev finding their happy ending.

This is not your typical romance book in any sense of the genre, and if THE WARM MACHINE weren’t listed under that, I would almost attribute Sterling and Zev’s love for each other to be platonic. They obviously CARE for each other very deeply in the ways they can and learn how, but it never crosses into romantic, in my humble opinion. That being said, their self-sacrificing care for each other TUGGED constantly at my heartstrings, and they clearly do matter to each other in every way they can.

I touched already on the writing style, but I want to add that besides the perfectly suited and extremely well-done style and brilliant dialogue, Cozza excelled at crafting locale, atmosphere, and some visually stunning scenes from time to time that STAND OUT in my memory. I can easily picture the places described in this, and there’s one sequence, in particular, in a trash heap in a storm that feels like a scene straight out of a movie in my mind—SO vivid, so stark, and so perfectly moody and atmospheric. I was TRANSPORTED and, to some degree, still living there, the physical, visual, auditory, and emotional stimuli so clear and powerful as to live in my brain and repeat fragmentally in idle moments.

My one mild dismay was the ending—the last chapter and epilogue—and the last several revelations between the characters there that felt rushed and not discussed between Sterling and Zev like all the other revelations were. A lot of information was packed into those pages, and where normally, Sterling would process and discuss with Zev these revelations, they were instead almost glossed over. Basically? I just wanted MORE Sterling and Zev figuring things out together and would kill for a bonus chapter or two placed between the final chapter and epilogue where some of it is expanded.

Regardless, all told, this was an excellent, unique, and extremely well-written novella, and I enjoyed every bit of it. THIS is a book that deserves more hype!

This book was absolutely beautiful from start to finish. It’s a quick read — or, at least, is was for me, as I didn’t want to put it down. But I enjoyed every second of the story. I grew up reading, and loving, Asimov’s robot novels, and the characterisations of the robots, some of whom were almost human, but just a little bit different. Aimee’s tale fits right in with the fondest memories I have of the best parts of the stories I grew up with.

Told from the view of our protagonist robot, this book is almost entirely devoid of human interaction, helping to solidly anchor the tale in a world in which ‘bots have their own lives, both programmatic, and, sometimes, not. The writing choices, and often design choices in the book, help give the story a nicely bot-centric feel, but never a cold one.

It’s an adventure, a love story, a coming of age tale of sorts all rolled into one. It took a few hours to finish with a break in the middle I absolutely did NOT want to take, but had to eventually (sleep! curse ye). I’m already anxiously awaiting the next of Aimee’s books, as I’m sure it won’t disappoint.

Top notch scifi. Beautiful writing. Lovely world. This was an absolute treat!

Excellent excellent. A thoroughly wonderful story about robots, life, love and everything. I really enjoyed this and looking forward to the sequel. Thank you to the author. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

The Warm Machine was a lovely story that I really enjoyed. It was heart-warming and thought-provoking, I was rooting for the character from start to finish. This story blended together science fiction, queerness, and found family seamlessly.

I did struggle at times to get through certain parts of the book related to the bot’s technology and related changes. This, however, could just be because I haven’t read many books like this one.

Overall, a great read with a lovely story.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for giving me an ARC.

The Warm Machine follows Sterling, a construction bot, who starts having feelings and thoughts that are outside of his programming. Zev, a military bot, tells Sterling he’s anomalous, and saves him from decomission. Together, they set off to find Root, a robot utopia with no humans.

This was a really sweet and unique read. I really liked Sterling, his anxiety around Zev putting himself in dangerous situations was so relatable, and his journey to put names to what he was thinking and feeling was so lovely to see. His dynamic with Zev was great. I really liked Zev’s insistance on upgrading Sterling and when he finally admitted that he liked Sterling it was such a fantastic moment. Although not explicitly a love story, in that no one says I love you, the care and gentleness that Sterling and Zev treat one another with is so heartwarming. As Zav says to be loved is to be changed, and both Zev and Sterling go through some pretty huge changes throughout the novel.

I wouldn’t necessarily call this a cozy read, as there are some pretty intense action scenes, but it was certainly wholesome.

Presenting a unique foray into the mind of a labour bot, the Warm Machine asks not only the age-old question of can artificial intelligence truly experience life, but also, can it experience love?

I loved this book. I loved it so much, I was low key devastated to reach the end, because I wanted to stay longer in the world of Zev and Sterling as they discovered all the possibilities open to them as two anomalous bots.

As a fellow writer — and a lover of science fiction — this story both soothed and rankled every urge I’ve ever had to write a queer robot-focused story. Soothed, because this was utter perfection, and so, so easy to fall into and lose myself in a rich tale. And rankled, because, wow, I will never write anything as amazing as this story.

My only tiny note is that I’d love to learn more about the world within this story. I eagerly hope there will be more in this world, and, if not, I’ll carry this story close as one of my new favourite books.

Recommended: sure
For a short dive into a calm other world, for robot characters who narrate the whole story, for connection that is subtle yet sweet

Thoughts:
I read the premise of this book as “two robots fall in love and defy their rules to be together” which is sort of accurate, but it’s a whole lot more than that. Love also feels like not the word for it, exactly. Love implies a lot of messy human emotional tangles, and emotion is at the heart (processor?) of this story. But not in the usual “romance novel” way of human love.

Let’s rewind. The story starts of more rigid and becomes flexible, following the changes in the robots narrating everything. Also yes, they do give each other names beyond FLC00201239 whatever so you don’t have to try to think that serial code as a name for more than a chapter or two (though I already had him as “Flick” in my mind by the point he got a name). There is some time and playfulness given to determining what the robot-equivalents of common phrases would be. For example the robots don’t think, the process, and they don’t sleep, they power down, etc. They don’t die, they are decommissioned. This can be a bit clunky at the start, but it gets looser as it goes on.

The story itself is fairly straightforward, and serves as a way to learn more about the robots and their world. You have to be willing to just step into it an accept that you aren’t getting all the possible backstory and lore on this, only as much as is needed and only when necessary. It’s a focus on the characters and their changes more than an active plot of discovery. This gives it a gentle feeling even though there are some fairly extreme tense / actiony scenes in it.

Overall I enjoyed this as something outside what I usually read, and it was short enough that I felt comfortable giving it a try. I am very glad I did as it was fun to think in a different way than usual, and it made me feel some warm fuzzies.

Thanks to the author and Librarything for a free copy. This is my honest review.

Really sweet sci-fi novella about two robots discovering who they are. The author did a good job of portraying the robot characters as robots (as opposed to robot-like humans, which I’ve seen in other books). Even with them not being human, they developed quite a bit throughout the story. While the characters were the strongest part of the book, their journey itself was also enjoyable & exciting. It ended quite suddenly, but it was a great read overall. I saw that this author has a another novella set in this universe that will come out soon; I’d be interested in checking that out

Robots are not meant to have feelings or fall in love. If they do they are considered anomalous, putting them at great risk. But that is exactly what FLC0776 and AZR4700 do. And they like it. They decide to try flee to Root, a safe haven for robots like them, so they can live safely as themselves.

This was a very sweet book. It took me a bit longer to read than expected but I suspect that this is because it is maybe a bit more on the cosier side of things (although there is definitely still some action and I’s definitely say the stakes are pretty high for the characters) and these do tend to go slower for me. But ultimately I enjoyed it. I liked the way the author got into the mind of how a robot would think about the world (and how it changed with time) and all the nods to robotics (like the binary chapter numbers) and scifi more broadly.

Loved the nods to old sci-fi stories and current technology.
I liked this book. Being a software developer and an old-school sci-fi guy, there were some excellent nods to both of these fields. The characters were well-designed and you got the feel that the robots were more than just mechanical devices.

Robotics deftly handled and seldom thought about.
THE WARm MACHINE is deep and wide, touching and exciting, and so deeply&delicately researched that the “mechanics” of it comes off as common knowledge, esp to us.
WELL WORTH YER READ.

The Warm Machine is a delightful read with characters that warmed my cold, metal heart. I would read a sequel in a heartbeat. A sweet and thoughtful queer love story which takes time to examine the logical consequences of itself. What is sentience? What is life? Who can decide that you matter? Written with skill and intention, it suffers only slightly from some strange pacing towards the end. Though, as this is a debut, I’m more than happy to look past that. I hope that this author gets the resources and publishing she deserves, and I hope you read this book.

They’re robots, they’re in love, what more do you want.
It was a pretty good book. The style is interesting because the author really tried to stick with the progression of the bots discovering and expanding their own sentience. I think it was more convincing for me than similar books dealing with artificial lifeforms’ sentience. That said there were a couple things that I found a little weird. Like we just brush off the weirdness of Zev assimilating bots after a while. I feel like that should have been explored more especially in relation to how humans deactivate bots. Also the book ends really quickly. Without giving anything away it just felt like all this build up to just be told what happened second hand. It works in the narrative, but it felt a little disappointing to me. I felt like sometimes the whole of Sterling’s character was dependent on what Zev told him.

Overall pretty enjoyable.

Zev and Sterling are so cute, omg. This gay robot romance is such a good, short read (did it in one sitting) and I highly recommend it. It’s not complicated, and it doesn’t have to be, but the story is there, and it’s beautiful.

I present to you: gay robots.

“The Warm Machine” by Aimee Cozza is a queer sci-fi novella following a laborbot that sees a new military prototype on his construction site and becomes immediately preoccupied with it. It could almost be called an infatuation. But bots can’t feel, right? As the truth of their anomalous programming comes to light, the two are determined to find the mythical robot utopia of Root or be decommissioned forever.

The writing style of the book was a bit of a double-sided sword. On one hand, it was a little confusing to get into exactly what was being described, as our protagonist laborbot was using very specific technological language. On the other hand, I loved how other the characters felt. This wasn’t an instance of human minds in metal bodies, the robots felt like creatures that had entire other ways of thinking and viewing the world. For example, not being able to smell or seeing the world in 360 degrees because of their cameras. While it took me a second to get into what was being described, I loved the general vibe.

There was so much emotion in this story. Following the bots as they figured out feelings for the first time and the huge realizations of exactly what their feelings were for each other was an angsty delight. While it did feel like the jump to full feelings was a bit too quick for the general uptick, the exploration of the futuristic, city-in-levels world was enough to distract. I would have loved a bit more of that (but then I usually prefer full novels) but it was still enough to get a real sense of place.

My particularly favorite tidbit was at the end, with the in-world inserts explaining to consumers how to handle it if their housebot begins to have an existential crisis.

A great pick for anyone that loves robots, especially the gay ones!

This book is a great read pushing the boundary between humanity and robot in an industrial sci-fi setting as two robots come to learn whats outside the boundaries of programming.

This quick read had me invested right from the start. Reading this book we get to watch the two robots find each other, while finding themselves at the same time. The character growth each robot makes throughout really lets you connect to each character. You can’t help but root for these two and the sense of community and love they work to build.

I cannot fully relate how enjoyable this book was. It is well written. I throughly enjoyed following the bots journey into discovery of self, each other, and the world around them. The computer jargon used is logistic enough for the tech mind, but simple enough for the novice to understand. As you dive into the story, you find yourself excited for bots, and refusing to put the story down, fully following them in their pursuit of ‘root.’ Part of you cheers their discoveries and frowns at their failures. This is a book you don’t want to miss.
Personally, I would love to see other books written on the characters in this book. Excellent storytelling. Don’t miss out.

I really loved this book!! The main story is about two robots figuring out their feelings and fall in love. What really surprised me, though, is how good and believable the robots’ perspective is. Their thoughts are hilarious at times, but also shockingly human. Along with the sweet romance and dystopian sci-fi, the book touches on questions about what it even means to be conscious, alive, or approaching death. The “capacity” to think is put into a new perspective, with so many parallels to humans. I can definitely recommend it! 🙂

My favorite type of scifi story is the type where I really care. I like the technical chatter and the worldbuilding and the futuristic visual descriptions but the core of me loving any scifi story is usually around the characters and if I connect to them or not.

The Warm Machine falls very solidly into my “Scifi with a Heart” category along side stories like Andy Weir’s “Project Hail Mary” and Martha Wells’ “Murderbot Diaries.” I liked getting to know these bots and became alarmingly attached to them with haste. I think I was probably about 20 pages into the book before I felt completely invested.

There were some formatting issue that can probably be fixed in a future publication but they didn’t really detract from the story. I did have a few solid laughs (out loud, in public – save me) and I got a little teary eyed at least once. Definitely happy to have picked this up!

this book was incredible! i can’t tell you the last time i read a sci-fi book, but i genuinely couldn’t put this down (except to gush to my wife about how much i was enjoying it!) read it! you’ll love it!

“I do not want to look like them. They may be our creators, in a manufacturing sense only, but we are our own creators of our sentience and anomalous path. They have created me with no desire to look like them, and I do not want to be created in their image either. I am a machine, and I have no desire to wear a false mask of humanity. Despite their best efforts to the contrary, bots will outlive humanity to its last. We are the next evolution of superior forms, and to downgrade ourselves to impressions of our makers is to adopt a Pinocchio complex: it assumes bots desire humanity above all else as the premier, optimal form.”

this is one of two books i’ve finished in years, i could not put it down! ty for that aimee cozza :’) missed reading so much

as another reviewer said, i didn’t realize gay robot romance was for me, but it was. this is so much more than that.

beautifully wrote! i’m not sure if this is the authors first novel, if so, (if not as well) i am so impressed with the world building, and fully “fleshed-out” (lol) characters full of so much ~ life ~

i was filled to the brim with anxiety in certain parts, and QUERIES. one of my fav parts of the book — the innocence in every time that was said, “I have queries.” i wish humans were so straight forward.) there was a point i went to the kitchen to grab something, and came back and pressed ‘play’ on the remote to resume the … book…. my brain seemed to believe i was watching a movie, which shows how engrossing this was, and sometimes heart-wrenching.

what is a soul?

i was introduced to this author through my job running a crowdfunding ‘booktopia’ campaign, i usually read solely memoirs and nonfiction, but something drew me to this book, and i’m so happy it did.

Could not put this down! If you want a thoughtful and captivating exploration into what happens when ‘bots start thinking outside their boxes, catching feels, and contemplating sentience, while trying to keep safe from humans who don’t want them to exist – well, Aimee’s got the goods right here. And I would like to note this cover and the writing are completely human-made. Calling this the work of AI is not only erroneous, it’s insulting. Only bots here are the ones in the story.

What an exceptionally well-crafted story, bringing life and emotions to two robots that outshines some of the personality I’ve seen given to regular characters, or even real life people. These two bots from different worlds are just…I have no real words. Me, a writer, reduced to blabbering and gibberish, because I love these two bots.

The first sense he had of the military bot was picking it up on his ocular visual array, and FLC0776 felt his database flush full with code.

Reading a robot’s tumble into love at first sight, I knew I was in for a good time with Aimee Cozza’s The Warm Machine. Peppered with drily humorous and mechanically cheeky observations on the part of her bots, Cozza’s cleanly written prose charmed me from the very beginning.

She introduces us to laborbot FLC0776, and military prototype bot AZR4700, and allows the reader to bear witness to their journey of personal discovery. Told primarily from the innocently inquisitive perspective of FLC0776 and rich with exploration of his internal life, The Warm Machine runs a gamut of emotions as the bots break their bonds and seek out sentience and safety from the ano runners which reclaim and decommission anomalous bots.

The plot takes the bots through a series of challenges, both physical and emotional, in their attempt to reach Root: an almost mythical safe haven for anomalous bots they’ve heard rumours about on the net. Their journey tests their trust in one another, and their trust in their own sanity.

This is a story about what it means to fall in love, and by falling in love, learning to live.

I never knew gay robot romance was for me but damn this was really good. It’s interesting to see Zev and Sterling go through such human emotions and thoughts without realizing it themselves. Definitely provokes some thoughts about our own world and the advancement of AI models.

This book is absolutely incredible. The world building is both subtle and fully formed, the characters are gorgeous and impossible not to love, and the story itself has so much to say about what it means to be one’s authentic self. I love it and will absolutely be sending copies out as gifts this holiday season.

This story was evidently written by someone with a deep appreciation for classic sci-fi, especially Asimov. This story has much more of a focus on the relationships between the characters compared to many of those earlier books in the genre. It’s good.

Before i start my review i’d like to say, this book does NOT have any ai writing OR illustrations. (Unsure as to why another reviewer would make this accusation.) This book is absolutely wonderfully written, its the perfect amount of romance mixed in with the melancholy feeling of ai learning life. Its beautifully thought out and the characters are fleshed out so well. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the sci-fi genre.

This book. Lemme tell you. I was expecting “cute robots fall in love” — and while there *was* plenty of feel-good, innocent romance — I also got sucker-punched with surprisingly deep commentary on what it means to be sentient.

I won’t spoil the twist for you — you’ll have to find that out on your own — but I will say it was a rollercoaster of a read that I loved every second of.

This is a fun and heartwarming adventure about two robots falling in love, and learning more about what makes them…not human…but alive! It’s a quick read and definitely worth the time. Well written, well edited, and the story will keep you guessing until the end!

What a wonderful book. The character development is deep and imaginative. The story line broaches so many subjects and carries you along until you really care about the bots, their relationship and “lives”. I found myself not wanting to put this book down. Well done!