I got this softcover SF anthology from an online seller, in part because the contributors include Seanan McGuire. The theme: robots who've developed emotions, sometimes as part of their programming and sometimes on their own. The stories take this concept to many different places, and I enjoyed the collection very much. Among my favorites:

Seanan Maguire's "The Lambs," which posits a world in which humanoid robots infiltrate classrooms to deflect bullying and abusive behavior onto themselves - while recording the speech and actions of the bullies. The recordings are played in public at graduation ceremonies, with the intent being to publicly shame the miscreants in front of their families and friends - and I admit it's a very tempting image, given the brutality of so much bullying behavior. In the story, the narrator is one of these "lambs", so well-disguised that nobody suspects her, though as the students are aware of the program they do keep on the lookout for likely "lambs". The crux of the story here: the robot finds herself sympathetic to one of the students who's participated in bullying behavior, and wonders whether to reveal his part...

Lucy Snyder's "The Strange Architecture of the Heart" features a lonely woman whose android companion keeps stepping up to the woman's needs and desires, sometimes in a too-literal-genii kind of way, but with some very touching results.

"In So Many Words" by Christopher Kellen is about an android who falls in love with his mistress, in a variation on the "Cyrano de Bergerac" story.

"Do Robotic Cats Purr in Space?" by Kerrie Hughes features robotic "Lullcats" used as therapy companions - but one of the older models has become attached to a human and vice versa. This is one of the lighter entries in the collection.

"AIDed" by Minerva Zimmerman features android "aides" for middle-school kids, doing things like keeping them safe from allergens, environmental hazards - and bullies. A new student from a different culture has opted not to have an AIDE and this results in escalating conflict among the kids - with a bad decision by one leading to a horrifying step taken by others. (I liked the story, but I kept fretting over the limitations to the programming and communication options for the aides, which - if done a wee bit better - could have prevented all the bad stuff from happening.)

"Lost Connections" by Jody Lynn Nye has a much more benign relationship between human and android - but the human is outgrowing her long-time companion. When they encounter a lost and lonely alien, it seems that there may be a way for all of them to move on.

I left this book in the Little Free Library on this bright but VERY windy day; hope someone enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in NH here.]

*** Released for the 2020 Head Shoulders Knees Toes challenge. ***

*** Released for the 2020 Science Fiction challenge. ***