What does it mean to be human?
That's one of my favourite questions about life. What makes us... us? What is the soul? Stories that deal with this concept via not-quite-human characters are some of my favourites. Bladerunner, Ex Machina, Detroit: Become Human, Humans... the list goes on! If you look like a person, you think like a person, and most importantly feel like a person... what truly separates you? The development of empathy, hope, and longing in non-biological human forms is so compelling in these stories. And Klara and the Sun is no different.
Klara is a solar-powered Artificial Friend who patiently waits in the shop to be bought by a human child. When she gets paired with her human, she spends the rest of the novel developing mentally and emotionally under the servitude of her friend.
What lengths will she go to to protect her human friend? And why does she go to those lengths? Programming, or something more? Something that brings together her developing belief system, hopes and dreams?
If you enjoy light sci-fi and questioning what makes up a soul, this is the book for you.
See ya!
Ana (The Grove Librarian)