Author: Adam Christopher
Genre: Science Fiction/Historical/Mystery
Length: 240 Pages
Release: November 2015
My Rating: 3/5 Stars
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher Tor through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Review
This novel follows Ray, a robot detective turned hit man, in 1960s Los Angeles. Being the last robot has it's perks.
The thing that I enjoyed most about this novel was the setting and Ray's robot detective work as he tried to solve a mystery surrounding Hollywood's elite A list stars. The entire premise of the story was just interesting. I was immediately intrigued and I'm glad that I read this novel because it was fascinating.
I haven't read very many novels with robots, but I like the way it was presented here. Ray is the last robot still in operation during the events of the novel (for reasons I won't go into as they would be spoilery). His creator is gone, there are no other robots, and the only "person" Ray has to rely on is his super computer Ada, who sets up his jobs and takes care of him. Ray's visualizations of Ada are one of the things that fascinated me most about this novel. These descriptions were such an interesting addition, particularly since you knew the entire time that she was a computer and had no body.
The setting and mystery within the film industry in the 1960s was a nice touch. The robot stories that I'm more familiar with tend to have a more modern setting and I enjoyed the fact that this was different and brought in historic events. Since this is going to be a trilogy I'm interested to see what direction things will go in. The historic aspect, particularly there in the '60s, definitely has a lot of potential. I just wonder if any of my ideas will pop up in the future stories.
While I really enjoyed this novel there were some things that I would like to see differently. The explanations about Ray and his robotic memory and how all of that worked, while touched on enough to be satisfying, could have used more explanation. I also didn't feel particularly invested in any of the characters, even Ray. Although I did enjoy his first person narrative and thought he had an interested perspective, I didn't feel like I knew him enough to really get invested in the story. Part of that might have to do with the fact that he doesn't even really know himself. Not sure.
This was an enjoyable and very entertaining read. I will definitely look out for the next novels in the series as they are released as I would like to follow Ray on more journeys. I think this would appeal to anyone who enjoys science fiction and robots.
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