A review by wsu_tech_library
In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

TJ Klune is an amazing storyteller! This story of a dystopia in which the robots are both the instigators and the victims seems especially prescient as we explore what large language model AI can do and be. In the Lives of Puppets has distinct parallels to The Wizard of Oz as a group of three non-humans and a human travel to a distant city to find their way back home. It also owes a debt to Becky Chambers's Wayfarers series in which sentient robots who experience human emotion form familial and romantic attachments with humans. 

Available at the Wichita Public Library.