Book Review

Days of Allison

by Eric Shapiro

This review was written by Mike Wever, the editor of Wanderings. The novel is available now in paperback through Amazon.

Days of Allison starts with the well-used story of a man named Louis who finds his new robot companion, Allison, is defective because she thinks too far beyond her programming. Once you get past the rather generic opening, however, you find that Eric Shapiro manages to bring new questions (and intriguing answers) to the concept. The story ends with a pair of twists – one fairly predictable and one you surely won’t see coming – but the real treat in this novel is Shapiro’s thoughtful examination of issues both ethical and practical regarding how a robot that is indistinguishable from human would function in human society.

The story is heavy on narrative, and sometimes goes so far in trying to relate Louis’ plight it seems the author is rubbing the reader’s face in it. Within all this intricate description, though, are some very well developed characters and a few truly memorable moments. Allison’s first “malfunction” sets the story on its ear and the first of the two twists is so well revealed that I enjoyed reading it despite the fact that I’d been expecting it for some time.

Overall, Days of Allison works as a science fiction story with more meaning and resonance than the genre often provides. Fans of such deeper science fiction should thoroughly enjoy this book.