In the Lives of Puppets

A NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY TIMES AND INDIE BESTSELLER!

New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune invites you deep into the heart of a peculiar forest and on the extraordinary journey of a family assembled from spare parts.

Most Anticipated from BookPage - Goodreads - The Nerd Daily - Paste Magazine - LitReactor - OverDrive - LGBTQ Reads - Tor.com - LibraryReads - more

"An enchanting tale of Pinocchio in the end times." --P. Djèlí Clark

In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots--fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They're a family, hidden and safe.

The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled "HAP," he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio-a past spent hunting humans.

When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio's former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic's assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming.

Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached?

Inspired by Carlo Collodi's The Adventures of Pinocchio, and like Swiss Family Robinson meets Wall-E, In the Lives of Puppets is a masterful stand-alone fantasy adventure from the beloved author who brought you The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door.

★ "An epic quest of rescue and discovery [with] the author's trademark charm, heart, and bittersweetness." --Library Journal, starred review

Praise for TJ Klune's previous work: "Like being wrapped up in a big gay blanket." --V.E. SCHWAB - "Very close to perfect." --SEANAN McGUIRE - "Utterly absorbing." --GAIL CARRIGER - "It will renew your faith in humanity." --TERRY BROOKS - "It healed me." --CASSANDRA KHAW - "Compassionate." --RYKA AOKI

Publisher: Tor Books
Published: 03/12/2024
Pages: 480
ISBN: 9781250217431

About the Author
TJ KLUNE is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling, Lambda Literary Award-winning author of The House in the Cerulean Sea, Under the Whispering Door, In the Lives of Puppets, the Extraordinaries series for teens, and more. Being queer himself, Klune believes it's important--now more than ever--to have accurate, positive queer representation in stories.