The Mad Scientist's Daughter

May 19, 2014
Caterina Novak's life changes completely the day her roboticist father brings home Finn, a startlingly lifelike android. As Cat negotiates high school, university, marriage, and motherhood, Finn becomes her tutor, her best friend, and her first love. Of course, loving an android isn't simple in a near future where android rights are hotly debated, and Cat has much to learn about her and Finn's place in the world. Supporting characters are sometimes hazily sketched, and Cat's occasionally unsettling love for Finn is only questioned by characters clearly meant to be villains. However, Clarke's writing is elegant and often deeply moving, placing the reader's sympathies firmly with her star-crossed lovers.

October 15, 2016

The mad scientist of the title is cybernetics engineer Daniel Novak, who brings home a one-of-a-kind advanced android named Finn and assigns him the role of tutor to his daughter Cat. At first Finn is Cat's only friend, but as she matures their relationship changes. She grows to love him, even if she can't quite admit her feelings. As time goes on, robots are increasingly granted civil rights, but Finn's place in the world remains unsure. The futuristic setting is one where Earth has mostly recovered from a climate disaster and androids with truly human consciousness like Finn are an anomaly. The sf elements are always secondary to the relationships, however. Clarke does a great job with Cat, showing her careless in her affection for Finn until it is almost too late. VERDICT Cat's lack of agency in her own life might be frustrating for readers at times, but her emotional journey rings true. An unusual love story, to say the least, from the author of Our Lady of the Ice.--MM

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.