The Inevitable - by Daniel Hope (Paperback)

About the Book

"Do robots live forever? Tuck is on his last legs, literally. He's the last functioning bot in the galaxy, a broken machine that used to look like a man. Long ago, bots were a luxury on Earth, back before they were hunted down and destroyed. Now he wanders between planets, searching for spare parts that can keep him running for a few more years. But he's out of parts, and he's nearly out of time. He was originally programmed to value human life, even if they don't value his, but he can't ignore his own need to survive, at any cost. The truth is, Tuck is afraid to die. That's why he's haunted by memories of the sixteen people he has killed over the last 150 years. After a particularly dangerous run-in with a collector, Tuck meets a mysterious woman dressed in white who offers a solution. In exchange for some help in a less-than-legal business venture, she'll give Tuck what he really wants: immortality. Tuck knows it's a bad idea, but he can't ignore it. Even if it means killing again"--

Book Synopsis

Tuck reminded me more of what matters about the human condition than I learn from most of the humans I know. "Lidia Yuknavitch, author of Thrust and The Chronology of Water

Tuck is a charismatic robot grappling with a very human conundrum, the meaning of life and death. He is the last bot in the universe after surviving the Bot Riots on Earth by escaping into space. He is grieving the loss of his family and forced to wander between planets looking for parts of himself that need replacement in order to stay functional, risking exposure even as collectors are hunting him. He alleviates his loneliness by adopting an abandoned AI integrated into a spaceship and naming it David after the boy he took care of on Earth. The two meet Maze, a genetically modified, escaped lab experiment who, like Tuck, has super-human speed and strength. Maze serves as first mate on a ship owned by a billionaire, who offers Tuck the parts he needs in exchange for assistance with her corporate raid against her main rival. Tuck finds renewed purpose in his life through Maze and quickly becomes devoted to her. Together they must survive in a world where they are at once misfits and precious commodities. The Inevitable examines the value of life in a technologically advanced society, the definition of humanity, and the complex relationships that arise in the gray area between AIs and humans.

Review Quotes

The first time I read Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun I bawled my face off. Daniel Hope serves up a similar creature, a humanoid robot named Tuck, and quite quickly in the story, Tuck began to remind me more of what matters about the human condition than I learn from most of the humans I know. Love stories are not what we've been told. A humanoid robot named Tuck reminds us how to build connections and be ever-giving in the face of death and loss. Lidia Yuknavitch, Author of Thrust

It's not every day a robot moves me to tears. But that's what Daniel Hope has done in The Inevitable. This is a miraculous novel, part sci fi, part thriller, and all heart and soul. The Inevitable is destined to be a classic, the kind of gem that readers will talk about for years to come. Rene Denfeld, Bestselling author of The Child Finder

Hope shows off his worldbuilding chops in this action-packed space romp that grapples with the conundrum of mortality. But between scrappy spaceships, concealed ray guns, and fledgling AI's, Hope doesn't lose sight of what really makes a grand story: character.
- Jonah Barnett, author of Moss-Covered Claws and filmmaker