Advanced Regression

by Edwin J. Tobin

266 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2025

Reviews

[Melon · Rating 3 out of 5]

*** I received a free Advance Reader Copy of this book in exchange for this unbiased review. ***

This book was alright. I can't say it was predictable, exactly, because what's predictable in a future world that reads like an amalgam of Black Mirror episodes. The social downvoting, the self-aware robots, it was interesting, for sure. The dialogue was a little forced feeling to me, and it could've had a better editor--both for content in places as well as some occasional proofreading. It's always neat when someone self-publishes something. It was clear that the author had very specific concerns and ideas about modern life and the direction we're going technologically and socially, and the novel was crafted around expressing those ideas. I'd say if you were already extremely interested in reading about how the rise of robots available to the population at large could affect humans and society, it's worth a read. I can't say how many pages it is, because bizarrely there are no page numbers, but I'd guess about 254. So it's not a real short book, but it's not a doozy, either, which I appreciated. Fairly to the point, not a lot of fluff.

*** I received a free Advance Reader Copy of this book in exchange for this unbiased review. ***

[Joel Hacker · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received a free arc in exchange for a review.
Advanced Regression seems to want to deal with a fairly wide ranging themes and issues...gender roles, relationship dynamics, a.i., social and political structures, culture. Rather than weave these into a cohesive whole in the background of a story, it confronts the reader again and again with them in a poorly edited mess of philosophical musings (presumably from character perspectives) interspersed with unnatural dialogue. Among the few themes its overall stance isn't left muddied and confused, it seems to be warning us of the dangers of AI and a variety of other modern social movements and technologies. This is ironic as it feels as it it was written, assisted by, or at least worked on with the help of AI. There are protracted...for lack of a better term, soliloquies by characters who seem to be talking out loud to themselves.
There are just a lot of problems here.

[Armando Ramirez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Advanced Regression by Edwin J. Tobin Jr. completely surprised me. I went into this book expecting a dark, action-packed tale about the violent overthrow of humanity by humanoids, but what I found instead was a thoughtful exploration of connection, empathy, and the power of emotional bonds. The story dives deep into what it really means to be human, offering quiet moments of reflection where I thought there would be chaos.
That said, the ending left me disappointed. After such an emotionally rich journey, I felt the conclusion fell flat and missed an opportunity to take the story in a stronger direction. Despite that, Advanced Regression was an engaging and memorable read that I genuinely enjoyed.

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had such high hopes at the beginning of this book.. it was so freaking funny!!! But the ending was painfully boring, and although there were some eye-opening moments, it wasn’t great. I really don’t like the fact that there were no page numbers, and the spelling and grammar were absolutely awful.

[Beheshta Khail · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a well written book that made me laugh and think at the same time. Itreally drew me in.

[Mark Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerful social commentary underneath the storyline. Loved it.

[Jjean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written story of the future "living" with a robot - interesting family issues - interesting InSite of a robot in the home - friendship/self awareness - good plot - good ending