<i> "Doesn't it scare you, what you could have lost? What could be damaged?" Sterling said, and Zev shook his head, and the military bot, in all of his static face plate pieces, actually smiled. Sterling asked: “Why not?"

"To be loved is to be changed," Zev answered, quiet but certain, even, still. "And we are both changed." </i>

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.

Thank you to the publishers for granting me access to this ARC via NetGalley.