In The Lives of Puppets Published by Tor Books on April 2023
Genres: Adult Fiction
Pages: 432
Format: eBook
Source: Publisher
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In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots--fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They're a family, hidden and safe.
The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled "HAP," he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio-a past spent hunting humans.
When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio's former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic's assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming.
Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached?
In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots--fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They're a family, hidden and safe.
The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled "HAP," he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio-a past spent hunting humans.
When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio's former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic's assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming.
Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached?
I will admit, I am not a fan of the story Pinocchio, but it’s T.J. Klune and I will basically read whatever he writes.
What makes us human? What is humanity? These are some of the questions Klune sets out to answer in his book about robots and humans and a robot run world.
Victor is on a quest to save his father Gio, who has been taken by the machines. See, Gio is also a machine with a very dark and secretive past, but he’s also Vic’s father. And Gio might be reprogrammed and forget all about Vic, and Rambo and Nurse Rachet. And so Vic, a real boy, sets out on his adventure with his family and newcomer Hap, who doesn’t remember where he’s from but may have an important role to come.
I love love love Rambo and Nurse Rachet. They added so much comic relief. I think I’ll miss them the most. Can we get a short story with just the two of them??? They are my favorite!!!
The world Klune built is fantastical and scary. All of the different robots they meet on their journey are intriguing side characters. There’s a lot of imagination in this book, with houses that shift and change shape and mechanical hearts. There’s a lot of love between these pages.
And hope.
Kimberly majored in Songwriting and currently works full time in the music industry. When she's not listening to music, knitting or writing, you can find her outside reading her favorite genres: Young Adult, Adult Fiction, Mystery, and Romance.
