Official Review: The Inevitable by Daniel Hope

gali · Post by **gali** » 31 Jan 2014, 02:05

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Inevitable" by Daniel Hope.]

"The Inevitable" is well written science fiction book with an unique premise and a fresh voice. The protagonist is a bot, a robot with self-awareness, no less. Although narrated in the third person tense, the Bot's voice is coming out loud and clear and I loved the way the author managed to make him comes alive. As a fan of the science fiction genre in general and robots in particular, I like to discover new talents in the genres. This is a well done debut novel and I had a great joy reading it.

Meet Tuck, the last functioning bot in the entire galaxy. A bot is sort of an android, a robot in a human skin so to speak. Well, he used to look like a human anyhow, but now our Tuck isn't in a mint condition. He is a little worse for wear, to put it loosely, and he wanders around the universe, looking for spare parts and trying to survive in a world gone mad. Since the Bot's revolution, bots and parts are rather scarce. Being the last bot makes him valuable and collectors are after him trying to add him to their collections. Tuck has managed to avoid capture so far and his life is dedicated to prolonging his life at any cost. He is afraid of dying, so when Gerad, a ruthless wealthy business man, offers him a deal he can't refuse, Tuck reluctantly accepts and all hell breaks through.

What make Tuck unique, except his self-awareness, are his moral values and his colorful personality. During 150 years of existence, Tuck developed a conscience and a strict moral code. He tries to avoid killing people, given the choice, and keeps records of all the people he has killed either by accident or in self-defense. Tuck has a good companion, an AI on his ship which he greatly cares about. He also befriends aboard Gerad's ship a woman named Maze and a security guard named Lim. As Tuck is getting sucked more and more into Gerad's net, he discovers that some things are worth dying for.

I enjoyed reading the book and found it fresh and thought provoking. This is a book about friendship, the meaning of life, love and much more. The plot alternates between the present time and the far past in the form of memories. Tuck's memories has supplied background of Tuck and made him understood, but I found them less interesting, though touching, than the present time story.

The main characters are well drawn and each has his own unique personality. Tuck is a complex protagonist and I found him more human than most people I know... I liked him, rooted for him and could relate to him and his struggles in the grey areas of life. Every good book needs a blacken character and we have that in Gerad. Between the two opposites (Tuck and Gerad) we have other characters who struggle with right and wrong concepts. The author managed to lay bare the souls of the characters, flaws and all.

The plot was engaging with a spot of philosophical questions thrown in for a good measure. I liked the fact that the science details were not that many and clear to the lay person. At a time there were too many details about the past and such and a bit of tightening of the plot would make this book a brilliant one. Saying that I still enjoyed the story so I rate the book 3 out of 4 stars. I highly recommend this book to all lovers of the genre and look forward for more books of this talented author.

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