The lastling by Victor Kelleher

Guido is a humanoid robot, the last of his kind, all the others hunted down and destroyed as commanded by supreme ruler Brother John. Verne is a young highly accomplished thief taking on missions for unidentified clients. Although separated by the passing of years, strangely their disparate paths cross after Verne is sent to steal the last remaining laser weapon still kept by the Enforcer tasked with eliminating Guido.

This is a future world, humanoids are wiped out, but there are sophisticated helibirds and trackers to search out fugitives. Verne knows she is in danger and must keep moving, but she doesn’t know why both the Enforcer and Brother John are so determined to retrieve the weapon she stole.

The action is fast-paced, the moves like a chess game, each side trying to outwit the other. At the heart of the story is the question of what makes us human, and when does artificial intelligence cross that line. Can a human and a robot enter a truly caring and trusting relationship? Could we call it friendship, even love?

Young readers will find this story totally gripping. It has the same tension as Kelleher’s acclaimed earlier YA books, the futuristic Wanderer (2022) and The cave (2024) set in the Paleolithic past; all three books share concerns for the natural world, and raise questions about where we are heading. The lastling is another scary adventure story, but also a warm exploration of friendship between very different kinds of beings.

Themes: Quest, Robots, Artificial intelligence, Friendship, Trust, Adventure.

Helen Eddy