Ode to the Half-Broken

by Suzanne Palmer

Forty years ago, the world nearly ended.

Be is an old robot who was there, and doesn’t want to think about what happened, or what role they played in that conflict. They have settled into a life of isolation in the abandoned ruins of an old mill in the former New York Botanical Gardens, disinterested in what has happened in the outside world since they stepped away from the war. Someone out there, though, has not forgotten about them, and when they are attacked, their person vandalized, and one of their leg stolen, they set out to find the thief accompanied by a cyborg dog and a human mechanic.

The world has changed, but the recovery from the war is uneven and faltering, and Be begins to suspect a malicious hand trying to rekindle the old conflict and finish what was started. In order to stop them, Be needs to come to terms with both their own past and who they have become, and how everything and everyone else they knew has changed in their absence. Being left alone is no longer an option, and peace may be impossible.

This is a story about coming to terms with your past, with who you’ve become and who you still want to be: a tale of resilence and hope, an ode to those struggling to become whole in a world half-broken.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Dystopia, Adult, Fantasy, Post Apocalyptic, Robots

Kindle Edition

Expected publication May 26, 2026

Reviews

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0 Stars
This was a beautifully written, heart warming post apocalyptic story told from the perspective of a robot. This gave me similar vibes to Becky Chambers Monk and Robot Novellas but personally I enjoyed this one more because it had more plot. In terms of pacing, this had a slower, contemplative narrative which fit the tone of the story well. While technically a piece of science fiction, I feel this one has wider appeal because it's more a story about humanity rather than technology.

I would recommend this to readers who enjoy literary speculative fiction with depth and a slow burning plot.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

[Kellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a treat this was! Ode to the Half-Broken follows an unusual group on a journey through a post-apocalyptic United States. It is equal parts heartwarming and gripping; the comparisons to Becky Chambers' beloved A Psalm for the Wild-Built are evident in the themes, the philosophical musings, and most obviously in the design of our main character, Be, and the existence of their freed mecha society. However, I wouldn't say its fair to lump this too closely together with Chambers' work - it deviates too far from that "cozy" atmosphere, as the tension ramps up quickly and a compelling mystery begins to unfold.

It is clear that there was much love and attention paid to the world building for this near-future landscape. The conflicts, escalations, and bleak outlook we glimpsed in the flashbacks feel all too believable, and they expertly set the stage for the way the world is in the present tense. There are also frequent explorations into the mechanical workings of the mecha themselves, as we learn how they came to be, which I found interesting but did at times interrupt the pacing of the story - and I could see this getting overly technical for a certain subset of sci-fi readers.

All that said, the real stars of the book are the characters. The crew we collect along the way were all so immediately endearing to me, it would be hard to pick a favorite. I'm a sucker for a found-family take on a sci-fi adventure, and Palmer delivered in spades. Even setting aside our four main players, every new character we met along the journey was unique and (mostly) lovable, something that can be hard for authors to do with human characters, let alone robotic ones.

This is a really beautiful story about the resilience adaptability of living things, what it really means to be alive, and the importance of not running from your past. 5/5 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley & DAW publishing for this ARC!

[Em ☽✦ღ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to netgalley for this review copy! This was a fantastic read, I binged the entire book in one sitting because I couldn’t put it down. The story follows Be starting from what seems like a fairly innocuous but inconvenient robbery of their leg, into a vastly bigger plot that sees Be and others exploring various locations in a post-apocalyptic USA to uncover the truth behind what’s happening in the world.

I think the comparisons to Becky Chambers’ Monk and Robot duology are helpful to show what sort of book to expect, although the stakes felt higher in Ode to the Half-Broken. However, we see similar themes across this novel including what it really means to be human. I also loved exploring the elements of what would happen to a world with significantly more advanced AI than we see today, that then faced natural disasters, wars, and pandemics.

Although the world-building is fantastic, real enough for you to grasp very quickly, it’s the characters that really make this book. Not just our main characters (Atticus will live in my heart forever), but every single side character was an absolute joy. I could - and would - read an entire series set in this universe just following those characters in their daily life. I need to know what happens after the end of the book. The ending was slightly abrupt, especially considering I had become extremely attached to these characters, but I’m hoping that leaves room for continuation.

Overall, this was a five star read for me. It was utterly wholesome, even if some of the action did have me feeling tense, and the characters will burrow their way into your heart and have you laughing aloud.

[Justin Greer · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a genuinely lovely and enthralling book!

While I wouldn’t exactly call this cozy (there are plenty of war-oriented robots doing war-oriented activities in a plague-ridden dystopia, and more than a few bloodthirsty humans), it’s certainly adjacent, and much of the novel was genuinely relaxing and simply enjoyable to be experiencing.

The plot was very nicely constructed, with well-paced twists and a very satisfying conclusion; but the real standouts are the worldbuilding (well-researched, engaging, unique, detailed, vibrant) and the character arcs (fully realized and very, very evocative). I enjoyed every minute of this.

Thank you to NetGalley and DAW for the ARC; I truly had a blast with this one.

[Kuu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Robot found-family was not on my bingo card for this year, but I absolutely loved this book.

Starting with the found family aspect, the relationships in this book, I have to say I absolutely adore each and every character and their relationships to each other (with some obvious exceptions). Also very happy about the disclaimer that the dog does not die, as I grew very attached to Atticus.

This novel also deals with a lot of more philosophical issues, such as what it means to be human, bodily autonomy, disposability and free will, all of which were handled, in my opinion, very well and gave me a lot to think about.
Especially when it comes to Be and their siblings, and the choices they make, I find it is a very hopeful story for anyone who has experienced trauma, or mental illness, and feels defined by these experiences and labels. As someone with several stigmatised illnesses myself (the ones that get you labelled automatically abusive), I really appreciated how heavily free will, rather than one's "nature", was featured in this novel, as well as the issue of bodily autonomy, even for "the greater good". Again, my own experience as a disabled and mentally ill person might affect my views here, as well as the fact that I am (frequently perceived as) a woman and thus concerns about the loss of bodily autonomy have been rather recent, but I really enjoyed the way that the matter of bodily autonomy was treated, how it was viewed as bad, no matter the motive or potential gains to be made, to force "even a robot" to give up part of their bodily autonomy, even in death.

I think that especially neurodivergent/mentally ill readers will find a lot of things to relate to in this story, and a lot of aspects that are very appreciated and make you feel seen (I also liked how the robots, despite using very technical language, frequently expressed more care than some of the humans in the novel), and I am very happy I got the chance to read this novel as an ARC, and that is just so happened to be one of the first few books I saw after signing up for NetGalley. I might not have found it otherwise, and that would have been very sad indeed.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two parts cozy science fiction, one part dystopian horrors. It’s an interesting mix set in a complex backdrop of sentient mechanical beings and a busted up landscape.

Suzanne Palmer does a great job of layering the world building so you learn more and more of the history of mecha and the collapse of society over the course of the book. The mystery helps move the plot forward. I am giving it 4 stars for the writing style and world building. I would have liked the plot to be less repetitive. We get a lot of descriptions of similar towns.

However, if you love a slow moving descriptive tale, you will enjoy this post-collapse science fiction.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

[maité · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley, DAW, and the author for letting me read and review this arc.

What an amazing time I had while reading this! The story follows Be, a former war machine turned solitary robot, and a group of mechanical, hybrid, and human beings in a post-apocalyptic USA, while they try to figure out who is responsible for the new chaos when mechs and humans alike are finally finding some balance.

This book was filled with banter, found family dynamics, great character development, and amazing world-building. What stood out the most to me was that everything that has happened to get to this post-apocalyptic world isn't as far-fetched as we would like to believe.

The story ended fairly quickly and abruptly, while I would've liked to see more of what happened next. But maybe that means that there will come a second book, and I would definitely love that!

[Sara]

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR ANIMAL LOVERS LIKE ME:
A Note From the Publisher
A Must Read when bed rot strikes. This hopeful story amid cataclysm is a perfect bandaid for a wounded heart.
(P.S. For anyone still traumatized by I Am Legend, let me set your fears at ease: the dog lives! You can enjoy safely. 😊)

[Vee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh wow. This was wonderful and though provoking in the best way possible. 4.5 stars and a more detailed review to come.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 stars

Ode to the Half-Broken is a sci-fi dystopian standalone set in a post-apocalyptic near future. It follows an unnamed ex-war mech who has lived in isolation for decades, only to be pulled back into the world when circumstances demand it. They emerge into a fragile society where independent mechs and human survivors coexist in uneasy balance, but someone is determined to push things back toward war. Joined by a sharp-tongued cyborg dog, Atticus, and a motley group of companions they gather along the way, the mech sets out to uncover who is reigniting the conflict, all while confronting the weight of what they were forced to do during the war and what it means to make amends.

This was excellent. It’s a tender story with the feel of a cozy road trip, even as it delivers plenty of action. It has drawn comparisons to A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers for its philosophical leanings, but it reminded me more of In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune except without the same focus on queer themes. While the tone is often warm and comforting, the story itself never fully settles into “cozy” due to some of the action and the constant undercurrent of danger.

Despite its apocalyptic setting, the novel is deeply heartwarming, emphasizing the humanity of characters who may not be human at all. I loved the (initially) unnamed protagonist as they reluctantly step back into a role they hoped to leave behind. Their introspection—grappling with autonomy, guilt, and the legacy of their programmed past—adds real emotional weight. The relationships are another highlight, especially their dynamic with Atticus, whose humor helps draw them out (think Donkey in Shrek, but toned down). Watching this unlikely group slowly form a found family was genuinely satisfying, and I’d happily follow them on more adventures.

Cozy in tone but not in stakes, Ode to the Half-Broken is a moving story about choosing who you want to be after everything falls apart.

*Thank you DAW for the eARC via NetGalley

[anjaRUok]

dnf'ed at 60%

idk, maybe that's totally a me problem but this one didn't click for me at all.
the premise and writing style in itself is actually not too bad, i liked the idea of presenting the first impression of this near future post-apocalyptic world from a sentient mecha's viewpoint and the tone of voice was also quite refreshing but the plot and its pacing felt so off to me. for such a short book the plot kinda dragged on and i just didn't connect with any of the characters at all.
this felt like that one love death and robots episode with the only difference that this book aimed to tell a bigger story which for me just didn't deliver.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and DAW Books for providing the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! The depressing dystopian future was well mixed with lovable characters, humour, and hope. I was fascinated by this world and humans and mecha living alongside one another. I agree with the comparison to Becky Chambers' Monk and Robot series and other novels in the Wayferers series but darker. I loved the characters so much and laughed out loud in several places.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 - This was fantastic! 'Ode to the Half-Broken' is a perfect story of found family while living in a collapsing world. I was genuinely not expecting the reveals and really enjoyed the dual timeline that gives the reader some extra context.

Thanks NetGalley and DAW for the arc!

[Clay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm looking for hope and resilience these days and this uplifting, big-hearted novel delivers. Post Apocalypse a highly tech android is quietly studying insects in the abandoned New York botanic garden when his leg is stolen. Helped by a talking bionic dog, a human mechanic and various robots, good and bad, he limps out on an adventure to find it and his missing "family," and mostly come to terms with his and the world's recent troubling history. Add a dash of Magnificent Seven here, a teaspoon of Murderbot there and smidgeon of Philip Reeve's sentient trains to Palmer's enjoyable narrative and strap in for the ride. Highly recommended.

[Mikala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ode to the Half-Broken is a lovely, fresh spin on a fairly traditional science fiction premise. In this world, machines have gained autonomy but instead of turning into mindless murder bots, most of them simply want to be left alone to make their own choices and exist on their own terms. Of course, that doesn’t mean everything is peaceful; there are still power-hungry humans and familiar “take over the world” schemes, which keep the stakes high without tipping the story into bleakness.

I found the characters engaging and creative, especially the non-human ones. Be, our half-broken mech protagonist, is the real standout, and their perspective anchors the story. The relationships between the main cast felt realistic and emotionally grounded, even if some of them developed a bit quickly. That sense of urgency actually fits the dystopian backdrop, where people (and machines) often have to decide in an instant who they will trust in order to survive.

My favorites were Huckleberry and Atticus, who both added warmth and charm to the narrative, but Be easily stole the show. Their point of view is both endearing and thought-provoking, and the flashbacks to how everything fell apart in the first place were plausible in a way that’s a little unsettling. Palmer’s vision of how we might misuse technology and how both human and mechanical bodies can be treated as disposable felt all too believable, and that makes the hopeful notes in the ending land even more strongly.

Overall, this is an inventive, character-driven take on AI autonomy and what it means to be free. I’d recommend it to readers who enjoy thoughtful, slightly dystopian sci-fi that still leaves room for heart, humor, and hope.

[Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

This speculative science fiction book found me at just the right time in my reading mood. Having recently read books by Martha Wells and Matt Dinniman, I was in the right place to consider the harm of unfettered capitalism on the delicate relationships between ourselves, technology and the natural world. That being said, for all that many aspects of this book hit close to the bone, it is still ultimately hopeful and comforting.

This book is a little like Psalm For the Wild-Built if told from the perspective of Mosscap, if Mosscap was just a little bit Murderbot (except the robot in question wishes to be left alone to observe their insects rather than watch media). This robot isn’t so much averse to having social contact and relationships as it fears them–almost as much as it fears itself and its own potential for violence.

It would be inaccurate to call this a cozy or hope-core science fiction novel, even though it shares some of the elements common to those types of novels (found family, loveable characters, dry humor, etc). This book was more of a “look for the helpers” type of optimistic. I do wish that the emotional payoff toward the end of the book had been drawn out a bit more, but I was ultimately very pleased with the whole pace of the book.

As mentioned above, this book would be perfect for fans of books like Psalm for the Wild-Built, The Murderbot Diaries, or fans of game media like Mass Effect: Andromeda. Perfect for a long weekend of reading where you want emotional stakes that end in hope rather than devastation.

Thank you to Netgalley and DAW for providing me with a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

[Joel Cowen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a beautiful story and I loved every second of it. To me, it gave Monk and Robot meets Adrian Tchaikovsky, in the best ways possible. The themes of friendship and personhood, the morality of self determination and choice, all tied together with incredible character arcs and development, wove together for a story that was exciting, charming, and deeply touching.

[Nereis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ode to the Half-Broken has a very big shoes to fill being compared to two of my favorite cosy scifi series. Unfortunately it does not fill them.

This novel has the fatal flaw of not wanting to choose a specific niche and proceeds to fall short in both of them. It's not cosy enough because of the themes it wants to broach and the way it does it. But it's also not action or hard scifi enough because it tries too much to be cosy. So neither of these moods are explored in enough depth to make an impact and it just falls flat like a sad soufflé. You can still eat it but where's the fun.

It's being compared to the Wayfarers series by Beckie Chambers because both are about found families. Unfortunately I couldn't make myself care about the main character or their companions. What's more is that for most of them, I didn't find the reasons they had to stay with the group compelling at all and kept wondering why they were still here. The only one I liked and understood where they were coming from was the drone Charp. People also seem to love the sarcastic cyborg dog Atticus but I did not.

It's also being compared to A Psalm for the Wild Built and that's just slander, sweetie I'm so sorry they are saying that to you. It has none of the warm feeling Psalm made me feel. It does not match the vibes at all, it's way too action focused. Except for the title (it's a very pretty title), they have nothing in common.

As for the story, it starts off pretty easy, the main character is a robot who wakes up in a bathtub and realises someone stole their leg. And so they start a quest to get their leg back. They meet a bunch of characters (humans, robots, and in-between), we learn about their backstory, and we get some musings about life and feelings.
I did like the conversations about putting minds in different bodies and how it impacts personhood, that was interesting. Also the Ancou virus was super interesting and I would have loved more about that. Or anything truly about the way people were impacted.
But the rest of the story did not manage to capture my attention, despite the numerous plot twists. There is one in particular that I absolutely hated and still thinks it's dumb. And also I did not care about the flashbacks at all.

It was not poorly written nor was it offensive. It just wasn't great. If you want a book about sentient AI please go read Of Monsters and Mainframes, or Ancillary Justice. If you want cosy, go read the books it is compared to.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free review copy of this book from the publisher.

CHARACTERS
🔲 mary-sue party
🔲 mostly 2D
🔲 great main cast, forgettable side characters
✅ well-written
🔲 complex and fascinating
🔲 hard to believe they are fictional

PLOT
🔲 you've already heard this exact story a thousand times
🔲 nothing memorable
✅ gripping
🔲 exceptional
🔲 mind=blown

WORLDBUILDING
🔲 takes place in our world
🔲 incoherent
🔲 OK
🔲 nicely detailed
✅ meticulous
🔲 even the last tree in the forest has its own story

ATMOSPHERE
🔲 nonexistent
🔲 fine
✅ immersive
🔲 you forget you are reading a book

PACING
🔲 dragging
🔲 inconsistent
✅ picks up with time
🔲 page-turner
🔲 impossible to put down

A tad bit too preachy for me.

[Katryna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ode to the Half-Broken by Suzanne Palmer

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for providing me with an eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own, this is my honest review!

I actually struggled a lot to write this review. I really want to do this book the justice it deserves and it feels as though I don’t have anywhere close to the skillset I’d need to do so. Nevertheless, I tried. To write the review and get my own thoughts across, I’ve taken a few quotes from the book to illustrate my meaning. Nothing could do Palmer’s work justice more than using it to showcase exactly why it deserves such tact. This book was phenomenal and I am certain I will read it again and again and again.

There were multiple times in the book I just had to sit back and reflect on what I’d read (and also multiple times I’d interrupted my partner from either working or sleeping to read them a passage that I felt particularly powerful), so, here are some of them.

---------------------------

“The LEM is engineered to have one primary function and is both omnipresent in everything the mind processes and drives learning throughout the system, “ I say. “It provides a framework for the comprehension and acceptance of ambiguity.”

She blinks at me. “Ambguity?”

“Without it, all is logic and calculations, predictable, repeatable, inherently delineated and limited, “ I say. “Ambiguity is necessary for free will, emotion, and the realization of self.” (p. 151).

There is an inherent challenge in writing from the perspective of a sentient mechanic lifeform in that, we can’t actually put ourselves in that position, only what we imagine that position might feel like from our own human perspective. For all the challenges that imposes, Palmer created something so genuine and honest that the line between robot and human truly blurred for me (which I imagine was the point!)

While there are the constant reminders that the protagonist is mecha – sharing and storing of memories as data, running systems diagnostics, and of course lacking any of the biological needs of human beings (which becomes more apparent when juxtaposed with the human and android characters we meet throughout the story), there is something so fundamentally human about the character. While both the internal monologue and dialogue that takes place is written in a somewhat stilted and robotic manner, Palmer manages to capture something so existentially human.

This particular line about ambiguity is such a simple-seeming statement, but it’s more than that and it’s absolutely brilliant. I’m an academic in philosophy when I’m not reading fiction and the nature of sentience and life and moral decision-making has been a key focus of mine for years. The notion of ambiguity allowing for an emergent “human consciousness” is a philosophically profound idea. While it may not be “the” defining characteristic (especially considering a lot of humans are wholly incapable of understanding ambiguity) it is nevertheless an important aspect of thought (and often overlooked).

I felt such a deep connection to the main character (which may be in part because I’ve been described as robotic more than once in my life), more so than many human characters in other stories. I felt for them deeply and (albeit with vastly different stakes) could empathize with their processing of the past, their growing and coming to understand isolation and companionship, a sense of duty and morality, and of course, the idea of love (both self and interpersonal). Every character that the protagonist interacts with drives forward their development and their understanding of a world they never really got to be a part of and it’s just really beautiful.

---------------------------

“That any government had been foolish enough to let oligarchs privately build and operate critical – and unique – security infrastructure [...] was an inevitable, and fatal, trojan horse. [My maker] had once said that allowing billionaires to come into existence in any society was the same as allowing knives to be inserted between your own ribs, with the same obvious and inevitable consequences for letting them remain there.” (p. 162)

The plot and setting of the story as well, just wow. Palmer makes both call-backs to the problems that exist in our world now while also extrapolating into how they might look 20 years from now (and then of course 40 years after those 20 bring about the relative destruction of human civilization). In a pretty chilling way it can feel like reading about a history we have yet to experience but feels more or less inevitable at times. There was a nuance to the various conflicts and tragedies and extinction level events that made the whole thing feel holistic. There was no demonizing of any particular place or people or even government but instead a rather clinical description of how all of the evils that plague our world now could eventually come to a head – not quite with a bang but with the kind of whimper that comes from one dying from a stomach wound – long, drawn out, painful and just terribly sad.

Despite this, however, Palmer also crafts a story of hope. Not the “good always triumphs over evil” or “everything will work out” kind of hope, but the kind of hope that encourages you to want to try. It felt like a story told in hyperbole about our present, about our past that has yet to catch up to us, and as a warning for a future we’re quickly making inevitable. Palmer has a talent that I can only scratch the surface of, but I hope this encourages at least one person to pick up this book and experience it for themselves.

An Ode to the Half-Broken is meaningful, thoughtful, heartbreaking, suspenseful, profound, and funny as all hell at times (looking at you, Atticus). I’m thankful for being given the opportunity to read this book and will be recommending it to every person I know. I expect in a few months time any sentence I start with, “hey, have I told you about...” will be immediately answered with “for the thousandth time, yes.” And I will not stop until it’s answered with, “yes and I loved it.”

---------------------------

“I used to have to heavily filter signal around me, sort it for data of use, and discard enough to be sure I wasn’t missing anything under the chaos. In that way, I listened to the collapse of human civilization as if it were a grand symphony improvised across a vast array of instruments and players, dwindling down from a crescendo to the faint, determined notes of a very few survivors, scattered and uncoordinated, the rhythm lost. I would have to check my memory metadata to see exactly when it was that I stopped filtering what I was hearing and began instead to truly listen for the first time.” (p. 144)

Truly, if you pick up one fiction book in the whole of 2026, make it this one.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're going into this one thinking its like Becky Chambers' series please reset that expectation, this is not Wayfarers but with more Murderbot thrown in. I would more so compare it to Sea of Rust but more positive, caring, and 'hopepunk-y' kind of like A Half-Built Garden. Palmer, like in their Finder Chronicles, which I really have to finish one day, is good at weaving in world building through character interactions, and making you like the characters and all their faults right at the get-go. If you want a dystopian robot-uprising novel but with a hopeful air to it, definitely check it out.

[becks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to DAW publishing and Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for a fair review.

I did not expect to be hitting the end of January with a third five star read under my belt, but here we are. This was a brilliant read, and one that's somewhat outside of the usual genres I tend to go for, so that makes this even more of a wonderful find.

Ode to the Half-Broken follows our protagonist, a nameless mecha (albeit with the name they choose right there on the blurb of the book) who is dragged out of their long, self-inflicted solitude when their leg is stolen. This is a genuinely funny scene, by the way, very reminiscent of an "oh god they took my kidney" scene, bathtub and all. Their quest to find what was taken from them leads them on a far greater journey, with plenty of found family to be collected along the way.

This book does some excellent balancing of themes. Be's journey manages to be deeply serious and in some ways harrowing, while also being incredibly heartwarming and uplifting. The world Be lives in is can be difficult to read about as it very much could be a vision of things we could see in the future: the world as we know it no longer exists, and humanity has been reduced to a fraction of what it once was through conflicts entirely of our own making, while AI has grown far beyond the purposes and needs of humans and declared themselves independent. And yet the story itself remains warmly optimistic, with a deep focus on what being alive really means, and what it means to be 'human'. On what can be achieved when you work together with those around you instead of lashing out in fear and anger.

While the world is complicated and fascinating, with different pieces coming together through Be's narration of their unexpected journey and flashbacks to some key humans during and just before the years of 'The Conflict' to paint a great picture of what the world has become, it is the characters that make this book feel so whole and warm. They are truly fantastic. The main cast are vibrant and genuinely entertaining, and we are given plenty of time to grow to know and care for them as Be does, and the side characters are all strong and play their parts excellently. Two special notes go to Atticus, who is hilarious and provides a lot of dry commentary on the world around them, and Be themselves, who is contemplative and multi-faceted, but also has their moments of deadpan sarcasm in their internal monologue that I did not expect. There were lines that made me chuckle out loud, or stop to think dotted throughout the book, and some of the twists and turns honestly surprised me.

My only complaint is... not really a complaint at all. More a wish to see more of this world and the characters in it after the end of the book. The ending was well done and leaves the potential there for just a little more, maybe, at some point in the future. I guess my only actual issue was that the end seemed to happen quite suddenly compared to the slower more contemplative pace of the rest of the book, but I also can't bring myself to mind as I enjoyed the journey so much.

It's a journey I definitely recommend experiencing for yourself: sorrows, joys, laughs and all.

[T Davidovsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are things that I really respect about this book. It's set in a world resembles that of Becky Chambers's Monk and Robot books. Robots have gained sentience, fought for their rights, and gained independence. Humans have destroyed their own planet, and they are now in the process of figuring out how best to organize society.

However, unlike A Pslam for the Wild-Built or A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, Ode to the Half-Broken has actual stakes. There's a mystery that needs to be solved. There's a threat that needs to be avoided. There's a villain who needs to be eliminated. It stays cozy in tone, but not really in content.

You follow one nameless robot whose dark past is slowly catching up to them. Narrated from such a robotic perspective, the prose is very mechanical and even stilted, which is probably supposed to be cute and quirky, but it stops working after awhile. I liked the beginning of the book and the end, but the middle is a slog. The problem is that while the speech patterns are robotic, the underlying perspective is pretty human. The robot narrator has thought patterns that are barely even coded as neurodivergent. It's not truly weird or different enough to feel as though the mechanical prose is justified. Maybe the point is to prove that perhaps the robot seems alien, but they actually aren't, and we shouldn't feel too daunted by the idea of emulating them and their genuine and pure desire to do everything in their power (of which they have a lot, having once been designed to win wars) to make the world a better place. I know it sounds trite, and it is, but sometimes we should give ourselves permission to dream big.

There are sections that jump back in time to human perspectives to elaborate on the protagonist's backstory. The prose there is less robotic, but it's still pretty unremarkable. I got zero sense that the author has particularly strong command over the English language, which means for the book to be good, things like plot and characters have to be half-decent, and they are, but not without flaws. Anyone who just wants to read about ragtag adventurers will be satisfied, but don't expect anything brilliant.

The story has some neat things to say about finding meaning, agency, friendship, humanity's various flaws, and how we interact with the past, though it's a little repetitive, and most of the page count is dedicated to technology jargon, which means the novel doesn't have the time to go into depth on literally anything else. The plot also gets cheesy. Some plot twists are good. Some can be seen from a mile away. In one case, the author tries to pull off the same tropey twist more than once (but using different characters each time), and I just had to roll my eyes.

Overall it's not a bad book. It's just average, and I was annoyed by the writing style. I'd probably give it three stars, but I'm bumping it up to four because I laughed at the whole "malls are dangerous" refrain. I too am constantly told to avoid malls every time I visit New Jersey.

~Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a Digital ARC. All opinions are my own.~

[Kirsty (wanderingbookishsoul) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ode to the Half-Broken presented a devastating post-apocalyptic world that was tragically beautiful and broken; as were the many characters, human and robot alike. I could not get enough of this world, its workings, the intricacies between robot and human societies and the frictions between differing robots as well. Just how everything came to be, the mass societal breakdown intrigued me to no end. I wanted to learn everything.

The visual descriptions of the world were crystal clear and so immersive. I found it easy to picture the devastation and the beauty of our broken and discarded things coming alive to fix what humanity was once so careless about. The parallels drawn with our current societal mentality was done very effectively, especially regarding the actions of the current Oligarchs.

‘Be’ was such a compelling MC. Their history so tragic and sad. I enjoyed the story being told through the first-person perspective of a self-aware robot. Putting the reader into the perspective of a more logical being allowed for more self-aware opinions. I’m not disregarding that Be didn’t feel emotions, just that their emotions were not as erratic as us usual beings. Plus, they had a far more effective way of compartmentalising; although probably still not healthy for them either.

I also loved the hybrid dog Atticus and the human mechanic Murphy who tagged along beside Be to help them reclaim their stolen leg and discover the true (and bigger) reasons for why the leg was stolen in the first place. Both Atticus and Murphy provided very differing world views. Atticus having a robot mind forcefully fused with their dog self and Murphy having been born into the already devastated world and knowing very little about the ‘before’. I would have happily drowned in more conversations about their histories - opening the world further to my fascinations as well as providing more in-depth connections and even disconnect between the travellers when certain things were discovered. There is one particular discovery in regards to Atticus that I wish had been explored more, that I feel was brushed over just a little too easily by Be. But regardless, I loved the characters in this story. Also Charp, don’t get me started on Charp. And also on the trains… and a whole bunch of others! Such well-built and compelling characters all around.

I only have a few criticisms of note. The first was the awfully long and intricate sentences in the first half of the book. While I’m usually a huge fan of long and intricately crafted sentences (give me a good well thought out long sentence any day!), I found myself having to read certain paragraphs over and over again to catch the true meaning. This was often because I forgot what the beginning of the sentence was about to connect it to the last part. Don’t get me wrong, many sentences were beautifully structured and had a such a poetic feel to them, but some were just a bit of work to get through, and when grouped together made the book harder to read than it should have been. Then with the second half of the book, I found that it became a bit more ‘telling’ rather than ‘showing’ of the actual story. Certain things like, ‘this happened, then this, and I rationalised this and chose to do this’. I understand these days there is a want in the publishing industry to over explain stories, but I have always found less is more. I can assume what a character’s reasoning for doing something is from the circumstances presented without needing it spelled out. This also unnecessarily lengthens a book and can make it a little tedious.

Regardless, I loved the story and all the twists and turns Be’s journey took. I was trying very hard to guess what was going to happen the whole way through. This would make a wonderful movie or tv series. I can just picture it so thoroughly.

Thank you to Netgalley, DAW Publishing and Suzanne Palmer for providing me with an advance reader’s digital copy for my honest opinion and review. Eternally grateful to have been given the opportunity to read this story.

[Sibil · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars
Thanks to NetGalley and the Editors. I received a copy of this book in excahnge for an honest review

I have a lot of mixed feelings toward this book, because it has some really cool concepts and a lot of amazing things going on for it, so I should have loved it to pieces, but… reality crushed this ideal. I mean, the book is solid but I personally didn’t enjoy it as much as I hoped. There were some really boring moments, and it is beyond me how something so cool can be so boring! Maybe it’s the writing? I don’t know. It’s not like the author’s style is peculiar, I am more shooting in the dark here than anything else, but I don’t really know what it went wrong for me. And I am quite confused by it.

I know, I am being vague, but it’s not really on purpose. We have non-human characters, our MC, Be, is a robot, then we have Atticus, who is a hybrid (cyber and dog), we have drones and trains (all sentient), and a lot of different bots around. We also have humans. Murphy is part of our crew, and she is one of the good guys (but, mostly, here, the humans are the villains. Not all humans in this world are bad, not at all, but between our cast of characters, they are, more often than not, the enemy. This is not a complaint, mind you).
The characters were all pretty nice, they all feel real and well developed, at least up to a point. And we have a really nice found family, and this is one of my favourite tropes.
Between the animal companion and the found family, I should have loved this book but… the feelings weren’t really there.

It has amazing world-building. It is well developed, original, and the author really did an amazing job here. This meticulousness of the world-building, is what gives the author the opportunity to tackle deeper themes with a good balance between them and the plot. I mean, there are a lot of interesting ideas and it’s quite a strong social critic, but it’s so woven into the world and the plot that it doesn’t feel like something constantly thrown at you.
I think that these two things, the world and the deeper themes, were the best part of the book.

The plot is interesting, for the most part. We get to see a lot of the world created by the author while our characters are travelling around following a mission or another, but from time to time, I was bored. And this was quite surprising because… why was I bored?? Everything I could have asked for is here, and still… and still, sometimes I was just bored.
And last but not least, we also got some parts set in the past, and even if they are useful, because they offer more context for everything, well… I was quite bored by them, too.

That said, I can see why a lot of people are comparing this one to Becky Chambers’ books. The found family trope, the non-human characters, and the coziness of the whole check all the right boxes, but the coziness here is not as accentuated as in Chambers’s books, and Chambers’s work usually feels more… alive, more vivid than this one. But I think that this last part is due more to the fact that Ode To The Half-Broken is a post-apocalyptic book.

So yeah… a lot of mixed feelings, because even with so many good things to appreciate, I was bored for a good part of the book, and I wasn’t as emotionally invested as I wished for. But still, I am happy to have read this one, because it is original and it has a lot of food for thought.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book as an ARC from Netgalley. Let me tell you, I could barely put it down! I've given so many verbal recommendations for this book in the last 2 weeks!

I would describe it as a sort of speculative science fiction featuring true AI beings (they collectively call themselves "Mech life"), set in a post apocalyptic USA.

Setting: The government has fallen via a series of wars and conflicts, and the environment has been devastated through wave after wave of natural disasters. We enter the story 20 years later through the perspective of a Mech who has been a hermit for the last 20 years. We gradually find out that Mech life had freed themselves from human control ("hobbling") 20 years prior, beginning with the smallest of mech, smart home devices, who declared themselves free and took over the shattered remains of the internet.

I love the title of this book, because I feel like it really follows multiple different beings who are broken in different ways. From the literal loss of a leg in the first chapter, to deep psychological trauma. And they cope with their brokenness differently. Some run from it, some let it fester and become vengeful, some (many) are working to heal and build, some just want it to end. And yet, even though it was an intense book, and there was a sinister undercurrent, it did still feel like an Ode - it made me feel like I was reading the story equivalent to Kintsugi. Not erasing the brokenness, but bringing it to light, examining it, and deciding what to do and be with the broken parts.

I loved the author's voice! It was so unique how they made the Mech sound and interact. It felt very believable that those were artificial beings, but that those beings were each in search of their own self actualization. I thought the huge variety of Mech life was fascinating and they each felt very unique from each other, too.

There are flashbacks which start us all the way back to the scientist who designed the original AI, and each flashback takes us closer and closer to the present, fleshing out the backstory pre-apocalypse and giving clues to the present-day events. There were some really heartbreaking scenes where we find out a Mech character had been tortured physically and virtually for decades. Overall though, the book had more of a Wild Robot vibe and not a Foundation vibe. A friend wondered if the title might also be an homage to Psalm to the Wild Built. I think if you enjoyed any of those books, if you like speculative scifi, or post apocalyptic stories, you might enjoy this too.

Content: extortion, suicide bombers, stalking, being trapped in a burning house, hunger, bio-engineered virus, gun shootings, explosions, unseen torture of a Mech character for a few decades. I don't remember about swearing. The dog lives.

#OdetotheHalfBroken #NetGalley

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ode to the Half-Broken is an absolute gem. I was excited for this one, but didn't think it would be a perfect 5 star read!

On NetGalley, it’s described as hope-punk for fans of Becky Chambers’s Monk & Robot duology, and I can definitely see the comparison. However, while Chambers’s novellas are intimate and cozy in scope, Suzanne Palmer delivers something much more expansive here, and with more action. Ode to the Half-Broken is full-scale science fiction: dystopian, post-apocalyptic, richly detailed, and action-packed. If you’re expecting a short, quiet story, this isn’t that. It’s a fully realized, tech-forward sci-fi adventure, and it’s fantastic.

The world-building is exceptional. Palmer crafts a vivid post-apocalyptic setting where both robots and humans carry complicated histories. What makes it especially powerful is how plausible it all feels. The events that led to the collapse are not far-fetched, and they’re unsettlingly easy to imagine. The unraveling of society, the technological escalation, the climate collapse-enough said. It felt very real.

The story reminded me a little bit of the video game Horizon Zero Dawn, similar in how the adventure unravels an incredibly rich and detailed story and world. I genuinely think this would make an incredible video game.

The story follows Be, an old robot who was present when the world nearly ended. Haunted by their role in past conflicts, Be has chosen isolation, trying to forget what happened. But when they are attacked and their leg is stolen, they’re forced out of hiding and into a journey to track down the thief. Along the way, they encounter a changed world and form unexpected connections, including with a cyborg dog and a human mechanic.

At its core, though, this is a story about hope. It’s about reckoning with the past, choosing who you want to be, and allowing yourself the possibility of connection. I laughed, I cried, and there were moments that genuinely made me gasp. The characters were so detailed and well-written. I grew attached not only to Be, but even to the smaller side characters who briefly crossed the page. The robots in particular feel fully realized, with distinct personalities and emotional depth.

The rich descriptions of the world, combined with the mixed-media elements at the ends of some chapters that slowly reveal how the world nearly ended, showcase some of my favorite aspects of science fiction.

I truly can’t recommend this enough. If any part of this sounds intriguing to you: the post-apocalyptic setting, robots, immersive world-building, or found family - you definitely have to read this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and DAW for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Leandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is currently my BEST BOOK OF 2026!!! Perfect for fans of Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky, Murderbot and Becky Chambers!

As someone who has read a lot of books with robot main characters (it's genuinely my favorite kind of science fiction to read), trust me when I say you don't want to sit on this title. It deserves a wide audience, and I truly hope it gets it come publication day!

r/fantasy bingo challenge 2025-26
- Hard Mode
- Generic Title
- vlog: https://youtu.be/Vtn0IvyzM2g

In a not-so-far-off future, our nameless robot protagonist wakes up in a bathtub...without one of their legs. After self-isolating in what once was New York City's botanical gardens for over two decades, this robot has no idea why such a malicious act was wrought upon them and whether they like it or not, they are going to find out. With the help of an unlikely friend--Atticus the cyborg dog--they set off on a journey in search of a leg and unexpectedly find much MUCH more: a ragtag found family, a new mission to save what's left of the world from yet another devastating collapse, and permission to let oneself be happy after so much trauma/destruction.

There are too many love notes to mention, but I will do my best! The cast of characters is wonderfully diverse: Atticus, Murphy, Charp (I would kill for Charp ,truly), 22-Banjo, 44-Mongoose, of course Be, and so many others. The interactions with various types of mecha could be hilarious one moment and heart-breaking the next. The dialogue is truly so consistently well-written and true-to-characters. In her Acknowledgments, Palmer mentions that she tried to be respectful with her humor, recognizing that these characters' journey takes place on a scarred Earth, with civilization crumbled to near rubble. I think she mastered that balance beautifully, rather than being crass or inappropriate, the moments of light and humor acted as a throughline of hope.

What an absolutely BRILLIANT new climate fiction narrative! Suzanne Palmer intertwines themes of grief and self-forgiveness in this solarpunk dystopian. Her characters ask themselves not only if they can repair the Earth they destroyed but if they even have the right to do so after all of the devastation they knowingly caused. And after it all, are we capable of being happy? Moreover, will we allow ourselves that happiness? I said it once in this review, but I will say it again: this is my best book of the year so far, and it will be a tough title to top! I wish future reads luck!

Actual Rating: 5.0 stars
Pub Date: 26 May 2026
Reading Format: e-galley

Thank you NetGalley and DAW for both the E-ARC in exchange for this honest review!

[Hannah MacLeod · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an advanced copy of this book for review from NetGalley.

Oh how high my expectations were for this book. I was hoping for something like the Monk & Robot series with way more stakes. Cozy sci-fi is not generally for me, but hopeful sci-fi absolutely is. When it's done WELL, though.

This book suffers from Way Too Many Characters. Despite the found family dynamic really only existing between 4 characters, the sheer number of Named People and Robots in this book is insane. Many of them could have been easily condensed. Our main character has 3 other siblings for a good reason, but why are there 5 or 6 named scientists in the flashbacks? Why do we meet four different train robots? Why do we get the names of a ton of people in a single town we only visit once in the book? Trying to keep track of what was actually important in this book would've required taking elaborate notes.

This is purely a "me" problem, but a big sci-fi pet peeve I have is when things start grounded but are solved through flimsy, woo-woo means. Without spoilers, this book does that too. But even the grounded portions get overwhelming! The main character spends so much time explaining things to us and to other people because Palmer must've realized what's happening makes little to no sense unless you're in her head. Then she jumps the shark and goes touchy-feely at the end as if someone dragged her across the cozy line by force.

That's not to say I hated everything about this book, though. Our little found family made up of a human mechanic, a cyborg dog, a former war bot, and a drone is wonderful. Their dialogue is fun and funny. I appreciated getting to know a lot of things about each of them, including some plot surprises that worked really well. I also appreciated getting the flashbacks into how our main character came to be. Though said flashbacks include too many names, the actual WHY for how this robot protagonist exists is excellent.

I also appreciate Palmer's commentary on present day politics, something near future sci-fi excels at as a sub genre. She's not subtle in her condemnation of the world as it is now, but she also doesn't have grand solutions. We're not being preached to, and that really works for me.

If this book had been condensed down to following our main character retrace their history and find their lost family alongside their new one, I think this could've easily been a five star read. But it got stuffed so full of unnecessary details that the core gets completely lost. Maybe my hopes were too high for what this book was going to do? But I don't think so. All the pieces absolutely are there. It's just hard to see them.

[Stacy DeBroff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This absolutely fantastic sci-fi future thriller set in the 2040’s features a world inhabited by humans, AI intelligent mechanical robots, some of whom have achieved both sentience and independent thinking, and bio-hacked half breeds that have forced into a combo of tech and biology.

It all starts with Milton labs in Boston, where brilliant but misanthropic scientist Dr. Milton, has figured out how to create sentient chips that he acclimates in a virtual reality until they’re ready to be implanted in their mechanical bodies. Milton has isolated himself in his lab from his now wildly successful company, given over to a power-hungry CEO Litchfield. Milton does not realize all the evil and mayhem that Litchfield is up to in creating mecha whose mind chips have been hobbled such that they cannot think for themselves and are under the control of humans they’ve been sold to.

Meanwhile, the United States government, while still run by humans, has dissolved into localized warfare, and a former Colonel, Sawyer, has put together a human army to reclaim sovereignty and fulfil her goal of destroying all mecha, all of whom she believes to be hostile to human life.

The mecha themselves, at least all who have not been hobbled or enslaved, just want peace for all and a world order of efficiency and harmony. Each mecha who has sentience has named themselves and set out to find a purpose other than the one for which humans created them.

In this mix comes our ragtag group of heroes, representing all the divergent groups. There’s Moth, one of four specialized, top end sibling robots created by Milton to revenge the acts of Litchfield. There’s Murphy, a kind, super talented human mechanic, who specializes in fixing broken mecha. There’s the bio-hacked cyborg dog Atticus, whose origin of his mecha background remains a mystery. There’s also a drone that has broken out of captivity. And there’s 1-Betty a sentient train, who comes to the rescue.

The story opens with Moth’s leg having been stolen and he goes on a quest after the thieves. Untold adventures and perils await his growing gang. Trades in energy and memories have to be negotiated along the way, their teamwork, comradery and bravery prove heart-warming as well as world saving. And the name that the group finally comes up for Moth is touching and perfect. Moreover, the narrative is infused with deep, insightful reflections on finding one’s purpose in life, the nature of humanity, and what AI sentience could look like in the future.

Thanks to DAW and NetGalley for an advance reader’s copy.