In a hidden home amongst the trees, a human named Victor lives peacefully with three very different robots. Their life is turned upside down when they rescue a mysterious android, uncovering a violent past that puts them in danger. When one of the robots is captured, Victor and the others set off on a journey across a strange unknown world to try to save him before he is destroyed or reprogrammed.
In a bit of a change to our recent reads, this month’s book was the quirky In the Lives of Puppets. A sci-fi novel and a retelling of Pinocchio, which several readers admitted they would not have picked themselves, what did we think of it?
The same words came up again and again from different readers – ‘enjoyed it’, ‘really enjoyed it’, ‘really enjoying it’.
Giovanni Lawson, android and inventor, is the father of Victor, a 22 year old human. Victor spends all his time in the scrapyards that surround their treehouse, making robots. It is here that Victor discovers HAP (Hysterically Angry Puppet) and changes all their lives forever.
The characters were popular, with a special mention for the endearing sidekicks ‘Rambo’ (an anxious Roomba who is looking for affection – and things to clean) and ‘Nurse Ratched’ (the Registered Automaton To Care, Educate and Drill – somehow more human than her counterpart in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest).
We had a discussion about how realistic Victor’s background actually was [no spoilers] and whether this was feasible. Several thought that it probably was, given technological advancements, but the concept on the whole seemed bleak, albeit interesting.
Another point that made us think was the idea of robots wanting to enjoy leisure time. The Coachman, a character they come across on their travels, has a museum of things which previously belonged to humans (slightly reminiscent of the ‘ancient artefacts’ in Robert Harris’s The Second Sleep) and robots queue up to see them. This concept was a bit mind bending, and was repeated in the short story at the back of the book Reduce! Reuse! Recycle! Those of us who read the short story said that we’d happily read a book version of it.
One member mentioned that they enjoyed the twists and turns of the plot, while another felt that the journey to rescue Gio did sometimes feel a bit disjointed. A reader said that they had felt the sense of jeopardy throughout the novel, and liked it. However another reader commented that it had reminded them of a combination of Blade Runner and the Wizard of Oz, which we understood.
TJ Klune has mentioned in interviews and in the book information that this wasn’t the story he planned to write, and he had to make changes. There is a lot of discussion online about what the original book would have been like, which we briefly mentioned in the group.
So what did we think of this unusual cosy sci-fi take on robots, humanity and the concept of family? We scored it 4/5
Our next meeting is on Wednesday 24th June at 1pm when we will be discussing Abroad in Japan by Chris Broad.
When Englishman Chris Broad landed in a rural village in northern Japan he wondered if he’d made a huge mistake. With no knowledge of the language and zero teaching experience, was he about to be the most quickly fired English teacher in Japan’s history?
Spanning ten years and all forty-seven prefectures, Chris takes us from the lush rice fields of the countryside to the frenetic neon-lit streets of Tokyo.
With blockbuster moments such as a terrifying North Korean missile incident, a mortifying experience at a love hotel and a week spent with Japan’s biggest movie star, this is an extraordinary and informative journey through the Land of the Rising Sun.
Copies are available to borrow from the Education Centre Library at Warwick Hospital.
As always, you are more than welcome to borrow a copy even if you can’t make the meeting – we appreciate thoughts shared by email and in person
Previous book reviews are now up on the Library Blog