Synopsis (from Goodreads)
Pages: 279
Publisher: Bonnier Zaffre
Released: 2nd of January 2018
When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild island. Why is she there? Where did she come from? And, most important, how will she survive in her harsh surroundings? Roz's only hope is to learn from the island's hostile animal inhabitants. When she tries to care for an orphaned gosling, the other animals finally decide to help, and the island starts to feel like home. Until one day, the robot's mysterious past comes back to haunt her....
Publisher: Bonnier Zaffre
Released: 9th of August 2018
Shipwrecked on a remote, wild island, Robot Roz learned from the unwelcoming animal inhabitants and adapted to her surroundings--but can she survive the challenges of the civilized world and find her way home to Brightbill and the island?
What I Have to Say
(slight spoilers for The Wild Robot in the first two paragraphs, spoilers for both in the third)
So this has got to be both the weirdest book I have ever read and the most fun I have had in a long time. It starts with a robot massacre with otters playing with a severed robot head complete with pictures. It goes on to see Roz adopt a gosling (after accidentally killing it's family) a fact that is never addressed even after he finds out he's adopted. Roz talks to animals, climbs up and down cliffs and builds a house for her and her adopted baby goose to live in. I thought this would a kind of cute story about a robot learning to adapt to an environment with no humans but instead it
was this strange, quite disturbing story of inter-species adoption and mass death.
I'm being way too harsh. It's really fun to joke about this book, but actually I think it would be great for a kid. I think they would love Roz and Brightbill and really engage with their adventures. I did wonder while reading it whether the death, both of the robots at the start and of various animals and robots throughout the book might be a bit much, so maybe read it before giving it to your kid. But really, it would be fun for a kid to read on their own or with an adult. Plus it's great fun for adults to read and laugh at, sorry, but I gave my friends and running commentary as I read it and enjoyed it immensely.
It was also very philosophical. It really looked deeply into what it would be like for a robot to learn how to live away from civilisation, how the AI would develop for self-preservation. The second book goes even deeper into the issue, showing Roz missing her family on her island and trying to get back there. Though it was a lot slower than the first book. It seemed really strange to me that Roz was being so slow at planning her escape. I definitely preferred the first book.
As I said, a great book for early readers or reading aloud with a child, fun to laugh about if you're an adult.
My thanks go to Netgalley and Bonnier Zaffre for providing me with this copy for review.
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