C. Wedgelock – Short Circuit

S.A.I.N.T is the most sophisticated robot on the planet, capable of doing everything from fixing a drink to wiping out armoured troops by the dozens. When a lightning storm lets off its charge in Number 5, the last and best of these robots, it goes off course and escapes into the countryside. As the Nova organisation moves in to reclaim Number 5, Stephanie, who found Number 5 rattling around in the back of her catering van, won’t give him up easily. They think they need to disassemble him in order to figure out what went wrong, but won’t the robot die if they do that? Afterall, something that tells you that stars are beautiful and ties your shoelaces together for a joke can’t just be A.I…can it?

It seems as though the three main characters of this book go through a journey of discovery, learning about the extent of the ‘humane’ morals and concepts that don’t seem to always apply. The credibility of the main human characters is based in reality, but this book was written based on a screenplay, and therefore the characters act in the somewhat predictable way that movies tend to roll along with. Number 5 however, is a fantastic, quirky and loveable character that only the grumpiest of people could not warm to.

The novel flowed nicely, concentrating more on the action of the story rather than lots of the laborious desctiptions that commonly occur. This kept it rolling along at a decent pace. It seems to be written in a very light-hearted and humorous fashion, enabling an ‘easy read‘.

A thought-provoking and heart-warming tale, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and ended up doing so in one evening, unable to put it down. It isn’t necessarily a page-turner, and not what most would assume to be a holiday read, but it’s definitely a book to keep an eye out for, if only for the light-heartedness of the way it’s written. If you’ve a sense of humour it’s sure to put a smile on your face at the very least.

Audience: 12+