Another tour de force from TJ Klune.  I'm beginning to think this writer can do no wrong for this reader.

This is a story of a "found family" living in the middle of a forest, hiding from the things that have taken over the world: robots.  Giovanni lived alone for a long time, eventually acquiring an abandoned baby who grew up to be his beloved son, Victor; and the two of them found a couple of robots who became part of their family after they were repaired.  There is little backstory about what has happened to the world and why the family is hiding in a forest.  We get a bit of detail fed to us just a bit at a time.  The little family is happy and stable until the day that Victor found a broken, but still alive, android in the junk yard that he raids from time to time for parts.  Bringing the android home didn't seem to be any more dangerous than it had been bringing home little Rambo, a vacuum robot, and Nurse Ratched, a medical robot, to be repaired.  And they worked out just fine.  So his father's frightened reaction was a bit of a surprise.  But Giovanni knows more about the origins of the android than he's willing to share…or even admit to knowing.

The new android, Hap, struggles to understand himself since he has no memories.  He also struggles with his growing attraction to Victor.  Victor, being a young man who's never seen other humans, has no frame of reference on how to react to the android attentions.  And Giovanni's concerns about whether Hap's presence is going to draw attention to them keeps increasing.

So, of course, once the robot "authority" figures out a human was in their scrap yard and starts hunting them, things get super-serious real fast.  What bewilders Victor, Rambo and even Nurse Ratched is the speed at which Giovanni implements safety protocols that none of them knew were in place.  Locked underground but with a camera feed of what happens to their beloved home above, they can do nothing as they watch Giovanni captured and led away.  Then, shock upon shock, Nurse Ratched suddenly finds she has access to a file that she was unaware she had; a final message from Giovanni to Victor.  But instead of protecting him, it galvanizes him to launch a rescue mission with the very enthusiastic support of little Rambo, and the grouchy cynical support of Nurse Ratched.  They figure out pretty quickly that to enter the robots' central city and rescue one person is going to need someone who has intimate knowledge of the city - Hap.  Since Hap is pretty sure it's his presence that triggered the search, he is reluctant to endanger his new friends.  But his growing dependence (affection?) on Victor propels him into the mad scheme.

Along the way (think: yellow brick road) they meet strange robots with a disconcertingly human way of behaving.  But with a little help and, in some cases, a touch of blackmail, the little troupe actually finds themselves within reach of Giovanni.  But the key to access comes at a high price when the robot "underground" (those robots who don't subscribe to the central authority) explain what they require for their help.  And what they require may cost Victor everything to get his father back.

This was such a delightful story, I couldn't put the book down.  Klune has a deft hand in creating charming characters.  The story is plot and character driven.  There isn't much world-building as they are moving through a forest that we (the readers) would easily recognize.  The descriptions of the robot city are fun but really only serve to confuse the reader's expectations of what a robot-dominated city would look like.  The plot is pretty simple actually: boy sets out to rescue father against overwhelming odds assisted by eccentric and funny companions. Along the way he discovers just how much he loves and depends on all his companions, even Hap, regardless of their origins.

What makes this so delightful begins with the robots.  Klune posits a world with sentient robots and androids and imbues the little vacuum robot with the personality of a hyper-active terrier.  The nurse robot is worth a chuckle time and again as her crotchety personality changes whenever she announces that she is turning on her empathy.  And the explanation behind their names still tickles me when I think on it.

And while the plot sounds relatively familiar, it works because of the characters.  The final resolution seems inevitable in hindsight but I sure didn't see it coming.  In fact, by the time we got there we had learned so much about the state of the world, I couldn't foresee any happy ending for anyone.  And whether the gentle reader will agree with me or not, it was the best ending Victor could have gotten, considering.

While everything I've read from Klune includes gay love (not gay sex), this story had to have a different take.  I never found anything in his writing offensive, he has a very gentle touch with his characters' feelings.  So I wasn't surprised with how he handled Hap and Victor and the plot line was intrinsic to the resolution.  I didn't mention the dialogue which was superb, the pacing was perfect; overall, this book was perfection.  As I've said before, Klune should be required reading for intolerant minds.  ~~ Catherine Book

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