Today’s my stop on the ‘Runaway Robot’ blog tour and I have a sneaky peek at the opening of the story AND a copy to giveaway to one lucky person! (Find out how at the bottom of this post.)

The inspiration for Frank’s newest story came after a visit to the robot exhibition at The Science Museum. He learnt about Eric, the first ‘robot’ to ever exist who miraculously escaped one day and never returned!

The story centres around Alfie, who is off school following an accident he can’t remember but in which he definitely did lose one of his hands.

One day, Alfie is feeling lonely and bored but doesn’t fancy going to the Limb Lab to practise controlling his bionic hand solely through the power of thought, so hops onto one of the automated driverless bus and heads to the airport. It’s there that’s Alfie finds Eric, a one-legged robot who claims to be an ‘obedient servant’ but is really anything but! It’s here that the adventure begins; following a ban on humanoid robots Alfie must keep his new friend hidden or risk him being taken to the scrapyard!

Will rebuilding Eric help flip the switch to Alfie’s missing memories and mend the ache in his heart?

Here’s a peek at the opening pages:

A brilliantly observed and sensitively written story about two unlikely best friends who help rebuild each other.  I loved the setting of our world but where useful robots are commonplace in the home and the workforce.

As well as being an excellent story, it also provides the perfect prompt for discussing the role robots might play in our world in the future. What robots would you have working in your home? Would trust a driverless vehicle? Should robots be allowed to look like humans?

There were plenty of moments which really made me chuckle but also some shocking reveals and scenes which made my bottom lip tremble a little. I would definitely recommend it for readers aged 8+.

To win your own copy to enjoy, comment on the post with which job you’d like your own house robot to perform – mine would be the laundry! (U.K. only, enter by 9pm Tuesday 7th May.) Additional entries are available on Twitter: @BookSuperhero2

Library Girl.

*Thanks to Amber at Macmillan for sending me this title to review and organising the giveaway*