For fans of Kevin Wilson and Andrew Sean Greer, a helper robot and his thirty-five-year-old ward embark on a madcap adventure to save the fate of the family company in this whimsically speculative ode to Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster.
Cy wants nothing more than to be useful, raise his utility score, and receive the next update for his operating system. But that’s easier said than done when he's tasked with helping his owner’s thirty-five-year-old son ‘get out of his funk.’ Grayson is nothing like his go-getter, CEO sister Charlotte. He didn’t inherit the family robotics company when their dad passed last year, he doesn’t have a master’s degree, and he just can’t seem to figure out the San Francisco dating scene. He’d rather eat synthesized mozzarella sticks and make pottery at his studio, Kilning Time.
When Grayson learns of Charlotte’s plan to sell the company to a tech conglomerate, he panics. It’s not just the family business at stake, it’s all the technology—like Cy—their dad invented over the years. So he does what anyone would do: he steals the flash drive with his father’s most important work stored on it and plans a corporate takeover. If only he knew what that meant.
To make matters worse, a fellow VALET deserts his owner and asks Cy to help him hightail it out of town, Grayson’s first real date—and her dog—keeping showing up at inopportune times, and the behemoth tech company wants this deal closed yesterday. Grayson, Cy, and their trusty golden retriever, Sasha III, must go on the lam until they figure out exactly what to do, and whom to trust.
A hilarious, madcap adventure that is as tender as it is insightful, Valet asks not just what it means to be human, but what it means to be family.
Genre: Science Fiction
Cy wants nothing more than to be useful, raise his utility score, and receive the next update for his operating system. But that’s easier said than done when he's tasked with helping his owner’s thirty-five-year-old son ‘get out of his funk.’ Grayson is nothing like his go-getter, CEO sister Charlotte. He didn’t inherit the family robotics company when their dad passed last year, he doesn’t have a master’s degree, and he just can’t seem to figure out the San Francisco dating scene. He’d rather eat synthesized mozzarella sticks and make pottery at his studio, Kilning Time.
When Grayson learns of Charlotte’s plan to sell the company to a tech conglomerate, he panics. It’s not just the family business at stake, it’s all the technology—like Cy—their dad invented over the years. So he does what anyone would do: he steals the flash drive with his father’s most important work stored on it and plans a corporate takeover. If only he knew what that meant.
To make matters worse, a fellow VALET deserts his owner and asks Cy to help him hightail it out of town, Grayson’s first real date—and her dog—keeping showing up at inopportune times, and the behemoth tech company wants this deal closed yesterday. Grayson, Cy, and their trusty golden retriever, Sasha III, must go on the lam until they figure out exactly what to do, and whom to trust.
A hilarious, madcap adventure that is as tender as it is insightful, Valet asks not just what it means to be human, but what it means to be family.
Genre: Science Fiction
Praise for this book
"With grace and humor, Valet grapples with the major question of our times: how do we live up to our full potential in a world where AI outperforms us all? Wise, witty, big-hearted, hilarious, and totally brilliant! J.P. Lacrampe's robot narrator stole my heart - and reminded me what it means to be human. 10/10! A marvel!" - Mary Pauline Lowry
"With the anxiety of AI and tech at an all-time high, J.P. Lacrampe's VALET is the breather we need to slow down and laugh at the absurdity of the moment, while digging deep into the questions that really matter - what it means to be human and, perhaps more importantly, what it means to be family. Written with intelligence, wit, and tremendous (robot) heart, VALET is a debut for our age." - Lysley Tenorio
"Valet is a hilarious and bracing examination of the near future, where Cy, a techbot servant, must navigate the complexities of humans to maintain his utility score. What makes this such a winning and openhearted novel is that J.P. Lacrampe goes beyond the initial premise by looking at the universal anxiety of family, of being tied to people with whom you will rise and fall, either toward a new update or into obsolescence." - Kevin Wilson
"With the anxiety of AI and tech at an all-time high, J.P. Lacrampe's VALET is the breather we need to slow down and laugh at the absurdity of the moment, while digging deep into the questions that really matter - what it means to be human and, perhaps more importantly, what it means to be family. Written with intelligence, wit, and tremendous (robot) heart, VALET is a debut for our age." - Lysley Tenorio
"Valet is a hilarious and bracing examination of the near future, where Cy, a techbot servant, must navigate the complexities of humans to maintain his utility score. What makes this such a winning and openhearted novel is that J.P. Lacrampe goes beyond the initial premise by looking at the universal anxiety of family, of being tied to people with whom you will rise and fall, either toward a new update or into obsolescence." - Kevin Wilson
Visitors also looked at these books
Used availability for J P Lacrampe's Valet