Joanna
I could not put this book down. I was unprepared for how moving it would be.
There is an undeniable depth of character and emotion here that pulled me in. Palmer has a way of writing her characters - AI robots and hybrid robot animals, no less - and having them explore the meaning of their lives that feels more human, and complicated, and true, than humans. I guess in that sense there’s the opportunity to distil the essentials of humanity in artificial life, without the messiness humans bring. But I don’t feel this is the case here - rather, Palmer presents artificial life as its own entity, weighed by but also mirroring their creators, while defining their own way of being. That the created do, in fact, have agency, history, relationships, and ambitions, even if that doesn’t present as humans expect or want.
Atticus got to me. I loved Atticus. His relationship with Be just clutched at my heart. He was a little bit Donkey to Be’s Shrek, and I loved it.
There was one element I felt a bit ho-hum about: the remaining US military and Sawyer’s character. I felt this could have been given a bit more nuance through the story, particularly with Sawyer’s character and her capitulation at the end to wrap things up. But my issue with this is minimal.
The cover art by Jeff Langevin is also amazing.
I loved this - highly recommend!
Thank you to Suzanne Palmer, DAW Books, and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.
I could not put this book down. I was unprepared for how moving it would be.
There is an undeniable depth of character and emotion here that pulled me in. Palmer has a way of writing her characters - AI robots and hybrid robot animals, no less - and having them explore the meaning of their lives that feels more human, and complicated, and true, than humans. I guess in that sense there’s the opportunity to distil the essentials of humanity in artificial life, without the messiness humans bring. But I don’t feel this is the case here - rather, Palmer presents artificial life as its own entity, weighed by but also mirroring their creators, while defining their own way of being. That the created do, in fact, have agency, history, relationships, and ambitions, even if that doesn’t present as humans expect or want.
Atticus got to me. I loved Atticus. His relationship with Be just clutched at my heart. He was a little bit Donkey to Be’s Shrek, and I loved it.
There was one element I felt a bit ho-hum about: the remaining US military and Sawyer’s character. I felt this could have been given a bit more nuance through the story, particularly with Sawyer’s character and her capitulation at the end to wrap things up. But my issue with this is minimal.
The cover art by Jeff Langevin is also amazing.
I loved this - highly recommend!
Thank you to Suzanne Palmer, DAW Books, and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.