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In the Lives of Puppets

Published
May 2023
Main Genre
Fantasy Fantasy
Rating
Pages
480

About This Book

A NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY TIMES AND INDIE BESTSELLER!

New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune invites you deep into the heart of a peculiar forest and on the extraordinary journey of a family assembled from spare parts.

Most Anticipated from BookPage • Goodreads • The Nerd Daily • Paste Magazine • LitReactor • OverDrive • LGBTQ Reads • Tor.com • LibraryReads • more

"An enchanting tale of Pinocchio in the end times." —P. Djèlí Clark


In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots—fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They're a family, hidden and safe.

The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labeled "HAP," he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio–a past spent hunting humans.

When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio's former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic's assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming.

Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached?

Inspired by Carlo Collodi's The Adventures of Pinocchio, and like Swiss Family Robinson meets Wall-E, In the Lives of Puppets is a masterful stand-alone fantasy adventure from the beloved author who brought you The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door.

★ "An epic quest of rescue and discovery [with] the author's trademark charm, heart, and bittersweetness." —Library Journal, starred review

Praise for TJ Klune's previous work: "Like being wrapped up in a big gay blanket." —V.E. SCHWAB • "Very close to perfect." —SEANAN McGUIRE • "Utterly absorbing." —GAIL CARRIGER • "It will renew your faith in humanity." —TERRY BROOKS • "It healed me." —CASSANDRA KHAW • "Compassionate." —RYKA AOKI

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

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Mar 2024 Tor ISBN 1250217431
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Apr 2023 Tor Trade ISBN 125089445X
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Mar 2024 Tor ISBN 1250339979
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Mar 2024 Pan Books (UK) ISBN 1529088046
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Hardcover

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First Edition May 2023 Daw ISBN 125021744X
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Tor ISBN 1250340373
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Apr 2023 Pan Books (UK) ISBN 152908802X
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May 2023 Daw ISBN 1250889537
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eBook

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Apr 2023 Daw ISBN 1250217423
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Apr 2023 Tor UK ISBN 1761266640
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