Told from the point of view of Professor Bill Reynolds, a scholar in the then-fictitious discipline of micropaleontology, this novel is set in the 24th and 25th centuries, when the Solar System has been colonised.

During this time, Carlton and his owners, Alex Muscroft and Lewis Ashby get caught up in a series of disasters including loss of work, parental responsibility and close scrapes with terrorists, the law, other entertainers, and a refugee crisis.

Carlton seeks to understand the nature of comedy and human laughter, and attempts to describe humor as a mathematical formula.

Alex Muscroft: The comedian who bought Carlton, and sees him like a person much more than most of the human cast, having a concern and affection for him not commonly shown towards robots.

The Road to Mars received positive reviews, being described as "a joy to read" by Devon Thomas in Library Journal.