From New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune,In the Lives of Puppetsis a queer retelling of the Pinocchio tale, inviting you deep into the heart of a peculiar forest and on the extraordinary journey of a family assembled from spare parts.
‘A deeply stirring journey through a world of extraordinary robots’ – Chuck Tingle, Hugo-shortlisted author ofCamp Damascus
In a small home, built into the branches of a tree, live a human named Victor and three robots. These are a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, a small vacuum desperate for love and attention, and a fatherly inventor-android named Giovanni Lawson. Together they’re a family, hidden and safe.
Then Vic salvages an unfamiliar android labelled ‘HAP’. He learns that Hap and Gio share a dark past, where they hunted humans. And Hap unwittingly gives away Gio’s location. Before they know it, robots from Gio’s former life arrive – to capture and return the android to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams.
The rest of the unconventional family must travel across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommissioning. Or worse, reprogramming. Along the way, Vic must decide if he can handle his feelings for Hap – even if they come with strings attached.
Inspired by Carlo Collodi’sThe Adventures of Pinocchio,In the Lives of Puppetsis a masterful standalone fantasy adventure from the author who brought youThe House in the Cerulean SeaandUnder the Whispering Door.