''Tik-Tok'' is a

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

science fiction novel by

John Sladek John Thomas Sladek (December 15, 1937 – March 10, 2000) was an American science fiction author, known for his satirical and surreal novels. Life and work Born in Waverly, Iowa, in 1937, Sladek was in England in the 1960s for the New Wave ...

. It received a 1983

British Science Fiction Association Award The BSFA Awards are literary awards presented annually since 1970 by the British Science Fiction Association (BSFA) to honour works in the genre of science fiction. Nominees and winners are chosen based on a vote of BSFA members. More recently, ...

Plot summary

The title character is an intelligent robot (named after the mechanical man in the Oz books) who originally works as a domestic servant and house-painter. Unlike other robots, whose behavior is constrained by "asimov circuits"—a reference to

Isaac Asimov yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...

's fictional Three Laws of Robotics, which require robots to protect and serve humans—Tik-Tok finds that he can do as he pleases, and he secretly commits various hideous crimes for his amusement. After manipulating both robots and humans to cause chaos and bloodshed, Tik-Tok becomes wealthy (partly through health care privatization) and is finally elected Vice President of the United States.

Analysis

The novel gleefully satirizes Asimov's relatively benign view of how robots would serve humanity, suggesting that the reality would be exactly akin to slavery: robots are worked until they drop and are made the victims of humans' worst appetites, including rape. Like Sladek's earlier novel '' Roderick'', it also mocks the notion of the Three Laws of Robotics and suggests that there is no way such complex moral principles could be hard-wired into any intelligent being; Tik-Tok decides that the "asimov circuits" are in fact a collective delusion, or a form of religion, which robots have been tricked into believing. This liberation from tradition, while it makes him a cruel sociopath and nihilist, also provides him with intellectual insight and artistic talent; thus Tik-Tok is an extreme type of

Romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...

anti-hero. Sladek's love of word play is apparent: the book contains 26 chapters, and the first word of each chapter begins with a consecutive letter of the alphabet. Also, the first three words of the book are "As I move", a reference to Asimov.

Publication history

''Tik-Tok'' so far has seen five editions in the English language, spread over three different publishers:

Gollancz Gollancz may refer to: * Gollancz (surname), a Polish-Jewish surname * Victor Gollancz Ltd, a former British publishing house, now used as an imprint by the Orion Publishing Group See also * Gołańcz Gołańcz (german: Gollantsch) is a town ...

(who published the 1st edition and two later editions); DAW Books (1985) and Corgi (1984). In 1985 ''Tik-Tok'' was translated into the German as ''Tick-Tack'', published by Ullstein-Verlag, and into the Italian as ''Robot fuorilegge'', published by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore. In 1988 it was translated into the Finnish as ''Tik-Tok'', published by Karisto oy. A French translation followed as ''Tik-Tok'' (1998), published by Éditions Denoël.

Reception

Dave Langford reviewed ''Tik-Tok'' for '' White Dwarf'' #49, and stated that "a murderously funny romp through yet another Sladekian satirical future." Dave Pringle reviewed ''Tik-Tok'' for '' Imagine'' magazine, and stated that "Tik-Tok murders little children. among others, and yet somehow Sladek keeps us laughing."

Reviews

*Review by Faren Miller (1983) in '' Locus'', #275 December 1983 *Review by Chris Bailey (1984) in '' Vector'' 118 *Review by Brian Stableford (1984) in ''SF & Fantasy Review'', March 1984 *Review by Joseph Nicholas (1985) in ''Paperback Inferno'', #52 *Review by Richard E. Geis (1985) in '' Science Fiction Review'', Summer 1985 *Review by Don D'Ammassa (1986) in '' Science Fiction Chronicle'', #79 April 1986 *Review renchby Richard Comballot (1987) in ''Fiction'', #382 *Review by uncredited (2001) in '' Vector'' 216 *Review by Simon Ings (2001) in ''

The Third Alternative ''Black Static'', formerly ''The 3rd Alternative'', is a British horror magazine edited by Andy Cox. The magazine has won the British Fantasy Award for "Best Magazine" while individual stories have won other awards. In addition, numerous stories ...

'', #27 *Review by Stephen E. Andrews and Nick Rennison (2006) in ''100 Must-Read Science Fiction Novels''

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Rennison, Nick and Stephen A. Andrews. ''100 Must-Read Science Fiction Novels''. London:

A & C Black A & C Black is a British book publishing company, owned since 2002 by Bloomsbury Publishing. The company is noted for publishing '' Who's Who'' since 1849. It also published popular travel guides and novels. History The firm was founded in 18 ...

, 2007. .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tik-Tok (Novel) 1983 American novels 1983 science fiction novels American science fiction novels Fictional robots Victor Gollancz Ltd books