#12AngryRobotsOfChristmas ‘The Mad Scientist’s Daughter’ by Cassandra Rose Clarke

About the book…

“Cat, this is Finn. He’s going to be your tutor.”

Finn looks and acts human, though he has no desire to be. He was programmed to assist his owners, and performs his duties to perfection. A billion-dollar construct, his primary task is now to tutor Cat. As she grows into a beautiful young woman, Finn is her guardian, her constant companion…and more. But when the government grants rights to the ever-increasing robot population, however, Finn struggles to find his place in the world, and in Cat’s heart.

Published in 2013 by Angry Robot Books, ‘The Mad Scientist’s Daughter’ is available in paperback and e-book !

“It’s impossible to love something you know’s made out of wire and metal.”
“You talk about him like he’s a computer.”
“He is a computer,” said Dr Condon. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you.”
“It’s not flesh and blood,” she said. “It’s not normal.”

Cat lives in a dystopian, post Disasters America, where relics from our days (books, fabric, hand made things) fill antique shops in less salubrious parts of town.

Her mother is a cybernectics expert whilst her father is known as a ‘mad scientist’, so therefore, Cat is known via her familial associations to the engineering of automata. They existed, pre-Disaster, but were shell like constructs whereas Finn, the almost human like creation who works with her father, in his basement, is a one of a kind creation.

In a riff on the Frankenstein trope of delving into things which should maybe be left alone, Cat is introduced to Finn as a young child, initially taking him for a ghost. She runs wild in the woods around her home, struggles with maths and science whilst literature and arts are what makes her soul spark. Finn is to be her tutor, and when she manages to move past his more than human appearance, they begin to develop a relationship of trust and learning.

Is Finn the experiment, or is it Cat? It is hard to gauge as Finn is being kept as almost a secret, with her dad, Daniel’s, reputation as being mad, creating a useful cover for his work. Her mother is slightly less keen on a relationship between Cat and Finn, but you get the feeling that they are in a petri dish of evolution where Finn is more than just a servant.

As Cat grows older, she is sent away to school which launches her headlong into the world of teenagers, society and rules which she has never been exposed to before. And in the background, ready to get her out of trouble or to be a sounding board for her worries, dreams and fears, is Finn. He extracts her from several dangerous situations, and , eventually. Cat begins to wonder , what their relationship could grow into. The death of one of her parent’s escalates her into a physical relationship where, ironically, she comes alive and can actually feel something.

The contrast between Finn, who is programmed to know a certain level of things and Cat, who struggles to fit into the anticipated mould which her parents made for her, is highly emotive and sensitive. How these two individuals came to find each other as they did, as well as the issues of consent, manipulation and emotion in the constraints of this relationship is very interesting, as the society they live in begins to incorporate automata into the lives of more and more families.

Is there a hierarchy amongst robots? If they are becoming increasingly more human like in action and word, should they have rights and a certain level of protection, as they have been created to be almost perfect? And what will happen as Cat grows older and Finn does not?

Cat and her interest in physical arts such as weaving and knitting, her job rolling cigarettes in a kiosk to provide a uniquely hand made situation, her relationship with a human named Richard who is developing androids himself….the layers which she creates of her life in a world which seems at odds with itself , are so rich and well developed. Her voice is an engaging one, she and Finn make a couple in one  corner and in the other is what is expected of her-marriage, wealth and privilege.

And yet it is Finn she returns to again and again begging the question, is she really in love with him?

Where does Finn’s autonomy come into the equation?

And if someone were to find out exactly how far Cat and Finn have gone, what will the consequences be?

Lyrical, beautifully deep and resonant with finely drawn characters, this is the kind of book which hypnotises you and pulls you into a future landscape where nature and nurture are constantly repelling and attracting each other. It is a fascinating source of dystopian contrasts-the handmade cigarettes that Cat sells, the personal touch in the distribution of things which will kill you, the sophisticated robot hidden in the woods- make ‘The Mad Scientist’s Daughter’ a highly readable slice of science fiction, and an unforgettable work of art.

About the author…

Cassandra Rose Clarke is a speculative fiction writer living amongst the beige stucco and overgrown pecan trees of Houston, Texas. She graduated in 2006 from The University of St. Thomas with a bachelor’s degree in English, and in 2008 she completed her master’s degree in creative writing at The University of Texas at Austin. Both of these degrees have served her surprisingly well.

During the summer of 2010, she attended the Clarion West Writers Workshop in Seattle, where she enjoyed sixty-degree summer days. Having been born and raised in Texas, this was something of a big deal. She was also a recipient of the 2010 Susan C. Petrey Clarion Scholarship Fund.

Links-http://www.cassandraroseclarke.com/

Twitter @seeorsea @angryrobotbooks