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Robots through the Ages by Robert Silverberg & Bryan Thomas Schmidt
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Robots through the Ages

A Science Fiction Anthology

$24.10

Get for $14.99 with membership
Length 14 hours 32 minutes
Language English
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A remarkable collection, Robots through the Ages includes stories from some of the best writers of science fiction, both old and new.

This anthology, with an introduction by Robert Silverberg, offers a sweeping survey of robots as depicted throughout literature. Since the Iliad—in which we are shown golden statues built by Hephaestus “with minds and wisdoms”—humans have been fascinated by the idea of artificial life. From the Argonautica to the medieval Jewish legend of the Golem and Ambrose Bierce’s tale of a chess-playing robot, the idea of what robots are—and who creates them—can be drastically different.

This book collects a broad selection of short stories from celebrated authors such as Philip K. Dick, Seanan McGuire, Roger Zelazny, Connie Willis, and many more. Robots through the Ages not only celebrates the history of robots and the genre of science fiction, but the dauntless nature of human ingenuity.

Robert Silverberg has won five Nebula Awards and five Hugo Awards. In 1999 he was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame, and in 2004 the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America gave him their Grand Master Award for career achievement.

Bryan Thomas Schmidt is an author and Hugo-nominated editor of adult and children’s speculative fiction. His debut novel, The Worker Prince, received Honorable Mention on Barnes & Noble Book Club’s Year’s Best Science Fiction Releases. His short stories have appeared in magazines, anthologies, and online and include stories in The X-Files and Decipher’s WARS. As an editor he has edited books by such luminaries as Alan Dean Foster, Tracy Hickman, Frank Herbert, Mike Resnick, Jean Rabe, and more. He was also the first editor on Andy Weir’s bestseller The Martian.

Steven Jay Cohen has been telling stories his whole life, and has worked professionally as a storyteller since 1991. A classically trained actor, he has worked both on stage and behind the microphone for most of his career. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Steven now resides in scenic western Massachusetts, where he lives with his wife, kids, and too many pets to mention.

John Pirhalla is award-winning audiobook narrator who has recorded over 300 titles. An Audie and Independent Audiobook Awards finalist, he has won a Reader's Favorite Award, an Adrenaline Award, a OneVoice Award, and an Indie Ink Award. Whether it's science fiction, fantasy, literary fiction, or thrillers, he enjoys narrating books with lots of characters, voices, and accents.

Peter Ganim is an actor, director, and since 2005, a narrator of audiobooks. He lives in New York City.

Tim Campbell is a narrator and actor based in Los Angeles, California. An AudioFile Earphones Award winner, he has recorded over 160 books spanning almost every genre. Equally comfortable reading as an American or a Brit, pronouncing obscure Laotian vocabulary, or voicing a dragon king, Tim's classical education in history and philosophy, versatility with accents and dialects, and facility with foreign languages keep him in constant demand. In addition, Tim is a classically trained singer and performs regularly with the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Los Angeles Opera Chorus, as well as on studio soundtracks for film and television.

Bronson Pinchot is an Earphones and Audie Award–winning narrator and Audible’s Narrator of the Year for 2010.

James Anderson Foster was one of those kids that actually lettered in drama way back in High School (and if you ask nicely, he might even tell you just how far back that was). Since that time, he's done most of his acting behind a microphone, and has narrated audiobooks for a variety of publishers, across nearly all genres-both fiction and nonfiction. He was born and raised on the west coast, and even though he's lived in the Midwest for over a decade now, still considers Oregon "home." In 2015, James was a finalist in three categories for the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences Voice Arts Awards (Mystery, Science Fiction, and Fantasy). James has been praised for his conversational delivery and ability to sound exactly like the voice you were imagining in your head.

Neil Hellegers is a narrator, actor, and educator who lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife, son, and orange mutt. His voice work can be heard during various commercials, sundry video games, and in numerous audiobooks. Neil has appeared in films, TV shows, and commercials, and has performed and taught Shakespeare to students of all ages. He has a BA from the University of Pennsylvania in theater arts and psychology, and a MFA in acting from Trinity Rep Conservatory.

Scott Aiello is an actor. He has appeared on the TV shows Person of Interest, Elementary, and Blue Bloods.

Stefan Rudnicki is a Grammy-winning audiobook producer and a multiaward-winning narrator, named one of AudioFile’s Golden Voices.

Dan Bittner has narrated dozens of audio books and has starred on stage and on the screen, in movies such as Men in Black, Adventureland, and the Producers: The Movie Musical. He has also appeared onstage as Macbeth Malcolm and Sherlock Holmes in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He has narrated popular audio books such as The Eleventh Plague, Hero, and Forever.

Natasha Soudek was raised in the South, speaks native German, lived in Berlin and Vienna, and finally settled in the Lower East Side of New York City. After honing her stage presence by studying acting and playing hundreds of live music shows (singing and playing bass), she moved to LA to record with Channel/DreamWorks and act on TV. Her voice is as distinct and memorable as the range of characters she’s played on-screen.

Matt Godfrey was raised on O'Connor, Welty, and Lee, and spent most of his teenage years in Yoknapatawpha County. But he traveled wherever the books took him, from Alabama to Tokyo, Twain to Murakami. Now he has the privilege of bringing those books to life as an audiobook narrator. He works in all genres and in a lot of accents, but specializes in his beloved Southern Gothic. He is a two-time nominee for the Society of Voice Arts & Sciences Awards and the Audiobook Reviewer Listener's Choice Awards. He has a fully equipped home studio and works with major publishers, small presses, and indie authors alike.

Alien Voices® was formed in 1996 by actor-director Leonard Nimoy, actor John de Lancie and writer-producer Nat Segaloff to create multi-media works of science fiction and fantasy. Already produced are H.G. Wells' The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, and The First Men in the Moon, Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World and Star Trek®: Spock vs. Q. Each is an original production with riveting performances, lush music and exciting stereophonic soundscapes. All five are available wherever audiobooks are sold.

Noah Michael Levine is an Audie Award-winning narrator, audiobook producer, actor, and author living in the beautiful Hudson River Village of Nyack, New York. He has narrated over 300 titles and looks forward to recording many more. He truly loves his work. Noah's catalog spans the full breadth of genres, from history, philosophy, science, and literary critique to fantasy, drama, comedy, young adult, thriller, and romance/erotica. Noah is an avid home chef, lover of animals, and is working on his first novel.

Jesse Vilinsky is a classically trained actress and voice actor. She has lent her voice to numerous film and television projects and has worked on various video games, animation, and commercial projects and has garnered recognition in AudioFile magazine for her audiobook narrations.

Jim Meskimen is a stage, film, and television actor who has appeared in many well-known movies and television shows. He acted in Apollo 13 and Frost/Nixon, both of which were nominated for Best Picture Oscars. He is the winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award and lives in Los Angeles with his wife, actress Tamra Meskimen.

Illustration of person sitting

Shop small, give big!

With credit bundles, you choose the number of credits and your recipient picks their audiobooks—all in support of local bookstores.

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Limited-time offer

Get two free audiobooks!

Now’s a great time to shop indie. When you start a new one credit per month membership supporting local bookstores with promo code SWITCH, we’ll give you two bonus audiobook credits at sign-up.

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Reviews

Robert Silverberg and Bryan Thomas Schmidt’s anthology is an indispensable collection of stories about Robots through the Ages. The reader receives a terrific overview of the history of robot tales from such stories as Jack Williamson’s ‘With Folded Hands,’ which grows more chilling and prophetic by the day; Robert Silverberg’s masterful Nebula-Award winning tale of robots and ‘Good News from the Vatican’; and Connie Willis’s amusing mystery that presents an intriguing ‘Dilemma’ to Isaac Asimov and a coterie of robots. At the same time, this book offers the joy of discovering never-before-published gems by writers like Seanan McGuire and Ken Scholes. This is a delightful and informative book for anyone interested in robotics, AI, or science fiction.”

Robots through the Ages ponders questions that arise in the face of evolving innovation, including how technology has changed over time.” 

“You might know the reveal, but how it all comes together is fascinating.” 

Robots through the Ages is pure science fiction gold. Classic and new stories filled with weird science, adventure, wild twists, and awesome fun! Silverberg and Schmidt have a winner here!”

“Sci-fi nerds and robotics geeks will find joy in this collection. The anthology includes a wide variety of robot tales. Silverberg and Schmidt do a great job of showing trends and attitudes toward the subject through history. They have selected stories about the fear of new technology as well as incorporating robots and AI into our daily lives.”

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