The Wrong Unit: A Novel

The Wrong Unit is one of the best sci-fi adventures I’ve read in a very long time. It contains 85 chapterettes of excitement, humor, and character development—both human and non. The only reason I’m not giving it five stars is chapterette 86, which is a jarring, out-of-place dose of cheesy epilogue that ruined it for me. I definitely recommend you read this book, but stop after chapter 85—which is a perfect ending.

Rob Dircks’ imagination is fantastic, bringing a strong premise and throwing in just the right amount of action, challenges, and humor to its development. I might suggest he paint the scenery just a bit more vividly in future work, but not to the point of distraction as some authors do. This is definitely a page-turner, with good use of plausible sci-fi tropes without falling into a pedantic effort to explain them to us.

Well done, Dircks. Next time, don’t listen to the editor who tells you it needs a Disneyesque ending. (Full disclosure: I received a free review copy from Goldfinch Publishing.)

I loved this wacky sci-fi story of Heyoo and Wah. In the far future, CORE (AI) rule the world and humanity with it. But when Heyoo is mistakenly sent on a mission to save mankind, he (it) finds bringing up a human child more trouble than he knew. Mr. Dircks writes a fine book, with entertaining dialogue and memorable characters. Recommended reading.

A very sweet and exciting post-apocalypse story of a robot transported across the world with a newborn in order to save the human race.

Humanity lives in a single large geographic area, walled in and provided for by the all-seeing CORE. They've been gathered there for their own "safety", and towards that end CORE makes all their decisions, such as occupation, marriage partner, and childbearing times. Humans yearn to escape, but from birth they are implanted with permanent location beacons. They are served by various types of robots, who do most of the work. Hey-oo (not his proper name, but what he's called by the humans he serves) likes his humans and finds them amusing. He's a good-natured sort, tends to think a lot and has deeper and deeper feelings as the years go by. The one sense he doesn't have is taste, which he covets. One day he is sent to CORE for a minor repair and comes back online to find in the room with him an identical unit: the one which has been smuggled in by rebels to be transported somewhere else on earth with a pre-implant child in order to find the mysterious ICEMAN, who will free humanity. In the confusion, Hey-oo is sent instead. Hey-oo is nothing if not philosophical, although terrified at this point, and he does he best to follow the half map thrust at him in the transporter chamber. And so years go by, as the child grows and the two walk into the unknown, determined to free humananity.

Charming, funny, and hopeful, as the two find a long-wrecked world and despair of fulfilling their mission. Told mostly in first person by Hey-oo, we find a synthetic being more human than many of us, and his unique insights and his upbringing of Wah (this is the child's name, since he cried so much as an infant) is delightful. Probably not for young YAs because of some fairly explicit answers to Wah's questions of where he came from. But older teens and certainly adults will enjoy this immensely.

A quick read. Fun, funny, delightful.

Humans have been imprisoned by an artificial intelligence devoted to keeping them safe and happy. They wish to be free. The plan: Send a a sympathetic service unit named Heyoo (think Wall-e from the Disney movie of the same name) and a child (named Wah) to awaken the resistance. Along the way, child grows to man, robot becomes human, adventures abound. Much it learned about life, love and the meaning of family. Short chapters (most only a few pages long) and snappy writing keep the tone light and entertaining. Has a Christopher Moore (Lamb, Fool, A Dirty Job) writes sci-fi feel. Recommended for when you are in the mood for a bit of silly. I'll be adding Mr. Dircks to my reading list.

Like Heinlein but without the chauvinism. This is a "humans fighting back" story centring on a young boy, Wah, who has been inadvertently "adopted" by the robot Heyoo. Together, they act to bring down the rule of the megalomaniac robotic Core which is keeping humans "safe" by imprisoning them. . The plot outline is fairly typical SF material, but where Dircks scores is in the humour and warmth he brings to the story, and the strongly sympathetic characterisation of his two protagonists. You really find yourself rooting for Heyoo in particular as he battles against failing/damaged parts and a dying power unit to get his charge to the point where they can battle the Core. I read this in one sitting and enjoyed it thoroughly.

This book was so much more than I was expecting! The impression I got from the title was that it would be a cold, dystopian robot novel. The plot summary intrigued me - it sounded entertaining. I did not expect it to be as funny as it was, or as heartwarming.

The Wrong Unit is a dystopian science fiction read that takes place about 850 years into the future. Heyoo “Hey you” is an Autonomous Servile Unit, a sort of AI in a somewhat human chassis that was meant to be a help on the farm in the area that is controlled by CORE. CORE is a computer system that has taken over and holding what humans are left in the world captive and controlling them.

When Heyoo goes in for repairs he ends up captured by some rebelling humans and transported out of the area that he knows and then finds that it was a case of mistaken identity, he wasn’t the robot meant to be captured. Along with finding himself in the middle of nowhere Heyoo finds that he was sent with a “package”, a human infant, to deliver to someone called Iceman. Since Heyoo’s job has been to serve and protect humans he does everything to keep the young child alive and complete the mission.

This was a rather lighthearted science fiction read being told from the point of view of an android in the future. Heyoo has a rather developed personality already in the beginning of the story but as he goes on his adventure his personality grows along with the infant he finds himself caring for that he cleverly names “Wah” due to the amount he cries.

Buried beneath the humorous narration though was an interesting plot to go along with the humor of the story. The whole idea behind the story is that humans created these computers but they end up eventually taking over the world and now the humans are trying to rebel. Heyoo being accidentally caught up in the rebellion is fitting due to his own rebellious nature.

Although some of the story and situations really became far fetched I could only continue the feel of the story and laugh when things went a little overboard. The book was just a rather fun lighthearted read all the way through that I couldn’t help but enjoy Heyoo and Wah’s adventure.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

This is a delightful sci fi dystopia – unique in my reading world!

Heyoo is the name of a standard farmer helper unit in 'the sanctuary'. The humans often tease him and he got his name because they always call him “Hey You”. He is in for repair of a circular difficulty when a rebellion takes place. It is hard for the computers to understand why humans would want to rebel against The CORE – after all the computer system provides housing, food, work and control all aspects of the human lives so that they can always be happy.

The humans placed something in his chest and sent him away in a transporter that Heyoo didn’t previously know existed. Before they launch him out he sees the human look at him and say "he's the Wrong Unit!" Heyoo soon discovers that the package he is carrying is a human infant that he quickly names “Wah”! He also has half of a map. Heyoo has no idea how to take care of a messy, hungry infant. But Heyoo has determination to prove he can do the job! He spends the next thirteen years journeying with the map and helping Wah grow as the sole free human in the world. Eventually they uncover other hidden humans and gather a team to advance the release of the humans from 'the sanctuary'.

This dystopian story is truly delightful! It is told in first person by Heyoo. It charmingly moves with his changes as a farmer, a wanderer and even a pirate unit. Over the years of their journey Heyoo discovers the joys of human freedom – and with the inexpressible enthusiasm of a growing child exploring the wide world with his “Dad” as his best – well only for a long time – friend. Their interaction is adorable and evokes all sorts of human emotions: fear, joy, pain, sorrow, and love. And of course, the story reveals the irony of a perfect utopia world that removes the freedom of choice from the humans. The ending brought tears to my eyes! This is fun and definitely worth reading. I want to read more by Mr. Dircks.

I received this from the publisher through NetGalley.