Invariable Man: A standalone sci-fi adventure

by A.K. Meek

Old Micah Dresden has an uncanny knack for fixing things. Fortunately, he lives in the Boneyard, a technological junkyard that stretches for miles in the Desert Southwest. Each day he eagerly dives into his work so he doesn’t have to dwell on his departed wife. When a stranger shows up whispering rumors of war—a revival of the terrible Machine Wars of a decade before—Micah decides to fight fire with he will find and fix Machine X. But the futuristic ship built by the defeated enemy AI is now locked away by the government.

 To reach it, Micah and his trusty obsessive-compulsive robot will need to make a perilous trip through human scavengers and the inhuman dreaded Beast. But none of this prepares him for what he ultimately discovers within the enemy machine. Sanford and Son meets I, Robot in this epic battle like you’ve never read.

Genres: Short Stories

280 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 4, 2014

Reviews

[Adrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this short story back in 2016 which was in the early days of my Kindle, I certainly don't remember it buying it. But I have to say what a good decision that was, even if it was almost 4 years ago.
This is a really interesting short story, and the first I've read by this author, so I would certainly like to go on and read both the novel from this short story and other stories from this author.

Even in this short story the characters are good and have a lot of depth and the storyline for 33 pages is really good. I seriously want to know more about Micah and Skip.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adapted from the short story of the same name The Invariable Man (The Novel) is a tale of an old man and his trusted robot sidekick "Skip" living in a huge scrapyard filled with the discarded weapons and technology of a man/machine war

[Jkolter · Rating 5 out of 5]

a unique take on AI

I highly recommend this book to people wanting a stand alone story with a satisfying ending. The characters are believable and the plot is unique. There were a few scientific errors but not many and easily ignored. I’ll be delighted to read a sequel!

[Lars · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read as part of the Robot Chronicles, very good story.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually read the book not the kindle edition as i love books. This story was most enjoyable. it is about a fixer - a man who fixes things in the world that remained after the robotic wars. it is well written, engaging its audience from the word go. It is a well paced story that allows you to sympathise with its main characters. It kept up its momentum to its ending. This is the first story i have read by this author but i am already looking forward to my next one.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won a paperback copy of this book from an blog contest.Wow!!! I really enjoyed this story.The author did an amazing job at world building and created characters with depth.I found myself engaged in the story from the first chapter.The unexpected ending was really well done.I look forward to reading more by this author.I would recommend this book to any fan of the sci-fi genre.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short story that has now been expanded to a novel. An old man & his trusty robot sidekick spend their days living & working in a huge scrap yard filled with the remnants of the man/machine war.This is my first experience of A.K.Meek's works and I must say I was impressed and look forward to reading the novel.

[Lyndon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short novella and homage to post-industrial apocalypse with all the familiar elements - machine wars, a 'skynet' of sorts, android uprisings, etc. Plus some insider references to our sci-fi genre heritage and a nice reveal and surprising conclusion.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great short tech story.

This was a great short story that could easily be a novella. It's very easy to read and has a great twist at the end.