Book Impressions - The Inevitable by Daniel Hope

This is a fantastic read. It tells the story of Tuck, the last working bot in the galaxy. He has survived for over 150 years by scraping together spare parts and delaing with dodgy characters. He's offered the chance to do a job and will then half all the parts he needs not only to rebuild himself, but to keep maintained indefinetly.

The old adage that if something sounds to good to be true then it probably isn't comes into play and we follow Tuck's quest as he is forced into more extreme measures to keep surviving. The story unfolds at a decent pace and keeps you guessing until the end what the outcome is.

While the story is good, it isn't the part that really stood out for me. The real strength is in Tuck's character (and his history, the flashbacks to some of his earlier memories were the most interesting part for me, I would happily have read more of these!) and that of the supporting cast. Most only have minor parts but the AI ship in particular was touching to watch the development of.

Development is the key word for this book, it's about how Tuck (and to an extent the other characters) develops with his interactions not only with humans, but with himself as well. The quality of the writing is excellent with a crisp clean style that doesn't labour the point, but allows it to sink in as you progress.

As I said at the beginning this is a fantastic read, one I can happily recommend to readers who like their science fiction with a bit of thought and a bit of heart thrown in.

 

Tuck is on his last legs, literally. He is the last functioning bot in the galaxy, a broken machine that used to look like a man. Now he wanders between planets, searching for spare parts that can keep him running for a few more years. But he's out of parts, and he's nearly out of time.

He's a valuable relic of a bygone era when bots were a luxury on Earth, back before they were hunted down and destroyed. More and more collectors want Tuck, damaged or not, as the centerpiece of their collections. They'll do anything to get him, but Tuck will do anything to stay free and functional.

The truth is, Tuck is afraid to die.

He was originally programmed to value human life, even if they don't value his, but he can't ignore his own need to survive, at any cost. That's why Tuck is haunted by memories of the sixteen people he has killed over the last 150 years.

After a particularly dangerous run-in with a collector, Tuck meets a mysterious man dressed in white who offers a solution. In exchange for some help in a less-than-legal business venture, he'll give Tuck what he really wants: immortality. It's a bad idea, and Tuck knows it, but he can't ignore it.

Even if it means killing again.

The Inevitable is available from Amazon (and is a fantastic read)