As charming and delightful as a speculative fiction/scifi novel can be, J.P. Lacrampe’s Valet is a lighthearted and breezy read that covers a concise and effective story about androids, their human owners, and a lot of fun shenanigans in between. Full of witty humor and sharp yet cheeky social commentary, this book effortlessly blends its lighthearted absurdist tone with unexpectedly heartfelt and effective character writing, telling a story that’s far more human than robotic. Mixing together relevant cyber topic discussions with a snappy and well-crafted story of an attempted corporate succession turned tech hostage negotiation, Valet is an excellent and fun read that’s as intelligent as it is whimsical. Following an advanced robotic scientific assistant turned personal butler assistant, Cy is an aging Verified Artificial-Learning-Enhanced Techbot seeking to please his owners and raise his operating utility score, a benchmark that determines whether he gets future feature programming updates or is retired to manufacturing facility monotony. Once the esteemed assistant to the CEO of Ai+, the developer of cutting-edge robotic technology, he is tasked by the late CEO’s widow Mrs. St. Claire to right her son Grayson’s wayward life, lack of motivation, and to marry him off. Unlike his CEO sister…
