Echo Boy by Matt Haig
Book of the Week: 28 June 2015
Many books tell a story using two different characters as narrators but how many of them describe the action from the point of view of a robot? The Echo boy of the title is called Daniel, an Enhanced Computerised Humanoid Organism. He is employed by Alex Castle, the hugely rich and powerful owner of Castle Industries, a kind of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates character, who takes in his niece Audrey after the death of her parents. Audrey has a deep fear of Echos, with good reason because her parents were murdered by a rogue humanoid called Alissa who worked for her family. Her father had been a well-known campaigner against society’s over-reliance on technology and artificial intelligence. He encouraged Audrey to read old books and wanted her to be taught by humans rather than androids. This was no easy task because the future where the book is set is one devastated by climate change and shortages. Technology seems to be the only tool that will provide a comfortable life. Following her parents’ deaths Audrey goes to live with her uncle, his brattish son Iago and a house-full of Echoes, but she never feels at ease. Is Uncle Alex as well-meaning as he appears and why does she feel there is something strange and compelling about one of the Echoes?
Echo Boy is a thoughtful look at what it means to be human as well as being a gripping science fiction thriller.