Great Robots of History

Short story collection, published by Black Shuck Books, March 2025

Long before the development of AI, humans created automatons in their own image.

These sixteen weird tales explore magical and mechanical representations of humankind drawn from history and myth – from Odin carving humans from wood to Pygmalion’s living statue Galatea, from Julius Caesar’s animated wax effigy to the chess-playing Mechanical Turk, from the first humanoid robot on the International Space Station to online deepfakes.

Includes ‘The Brazen Head of Westinghouse’, winner of the British Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction, 2024.

Praise for Great Robots of History:

“A wondrous collection of tales, incredibly timely in its thematic, profoundly ambitious in its scope, and surprisingly moving. This imaginative collection addresses philosophical questions in an elegant, yet unfaltering way, ranging from our complex relationship to machines, to what is real, what it means to love and to be alive in our ever-complex world. The result is an utterly magical and joyous celebration of life itself that refuses to take sides, hoping instead that we find our own answers. It reads like a future classic.”
Marian Womack

“A masterclass in short-fiction. Wonderfully varied, not a dud amongst them: a superb anthology, classic robot stories by turns imaginative, surprising, thrilling and poignant.”
Adam Roberts

“A wildly enjoyable, deeply uncanny secret history. These are gratifyingly ambitious stories, glittering with hidden teeth.”
Malcolm Devlin

“In these tales of robots and automata drawn from history and myth, by turns affecting and uncanny, Major blurs the line between human and machine, between spirit and object, and asks profound questions about what it means to think and be alive. These are philosophical fictions, but very far from dry – like Calvino’s they are animated by wit and heart, and hold us rapt.”
Timothy J. Jarvis

Reviews

“Tim Major’s short-story collection Great Robots Of History is a wonderful, wryly intelligent survey of automata, androids and humanoid machines in all their many forms, real and fictitious, down through the ages… Each story is a spoke radiating from the hub of the book’s core theme, offering a range of intriguing viewpoints.” Financial Times

“A spectacular short-story collection themed around automata, androids and humanoid machines of every description, from the mythical (Galatea, Talos) to the historical (the Mechanical Turk, Westinghouse’s Elektro). The range of prose styles Major employs in these tales is breathtaking; the quality, admirably high throughout; the humour, plentiful and wry.” Financial Times (‘Best summer books of 2025’)

“Almost every story in here subverts expectations about what you think you might read about technology based narratives, and almost everything reads like a Black Mirror concept. Very refreshing and unique, especially given the subject matter.” Happy Goat Horror

“Whether fairytale, sci-fi, or Dennis Potter-shaded drama, there’s a lot of innovation here and the one overriding quality to Major’s prose is surely that it’s far from… robotic (ha!).” Ginger Nuts of Horror

“This is an excellent collection playing with the concept of the robot and his long history in myth and science fiction with a lot to think about as to how they reflect us. Inventive, funny, scary and always intelligent this is a fascinating book to dive into. Highly recommended!” Runalong the Shelves

“Major plays with visuals in stage notes and creates something evocative and thoughtful. A fascinating idea using one of the world’s most interesting historical devices.” Runalong the Shelves (reviewing the chapbook edition of ‘Echec!’ )

List of stories

1. The Funnel
   Original to this collection
2. Wax Caesar Displaying His 23 Wounds to the Crowd
   First published in Chthonic Matter Quarterly Vol 1, Issue 4, 2023
3. The Andraiad
   First published in Interzone 290/291, 2021, reprinted in Best of British Science Fiction 2021, longlisted for British Science Fiction Association Awards 2021
4. The Ichor Ran Out of Him Like Molten Lead
   Original to this collection
5. Echec!
   First published as standalone chapbook, Salò Press, 2024
6. The Brazen Head of Westinghouse
   First published in IZ Digital, 2023, reprinted in Best of British Science Fiction 2023, winner of British Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction 2024
7. Icarus and His Wise Father Daedalus
   Original to this collection
8. Degrees of Freedom
   First published in Shoreline of Infinity, Issue 38, 2024
9. Ask and Embla
   Original to this collection
10. Dear Will
    First published in Vastarien Vol. 3, Issue 2, 2020
11. Four Fabrications of Francine Descartes
    First published in Saros, Issue 1, 2025
12. Milk-White
    Original to this collection
13. The Cardboard Voice
    First published in Nightscript Vol 7, 2021
14. There Goes the Neighbourhood
    First published in Abyss & Apex, Issue 92, 2025
15. A Box of Hope: A Can of Worms
    Original to this collection
16. The Horizon
    First read on Tiny Bookcase podcast, 2023, first published in Nonbinary Review, Issue 36, 2024