I received a review copy of
this book for free and am leaving this review voluntarily.
Man in a Box is the fourth
installment of a series of stories in the Companion Chronicles by Joshua Todd
James. The story is told from the point of view of the principal character
Jacob Kind, a manufactured artificially intelligent being known as a Companion.
Jacob is on a seemingly impossible search for justice as he navigates his way
through a world that offers no protection against man's inhumanity to his kind.
In the opening to the series, Jacob witnesses the murder of his mentor, Sylvia,
and when police arrive on the scene, they immediately jump to the conclusion
that Jacob is the perpetrator. He is then forced to go on the run to not only
prove his own innocence, and also try to bring Munson Tolliver, the actual
murderer, in to pay for his crime.
Companions are carefully
crafted to follow the robotic law that no artificial being will harm a human
being, but out of necessity, Jacob has learned to break through that law in
order to defend himself and others.
Once again, the author has
penned an incredible and fascinating story. This fourth book goes deeper into
the darkness, exposing the evil that men do, not only to the Companions, but to
each other as well. Everything about this story is fascinating. It invoked true
feelings in me as I read; I was hopeful, discouraged, sad, happy, and disgusted
all at the same time. The characters are incredibly well developed and jump off
the page, becoming real people. This book, along with the first three in the
Companion Chronicles series, is an amazing look into both the upside and the
downside of humanity.
After escaping New York with
several other Companion refugees, Jacob is being held captive by a trio of evil
human brothers who enslave and train companions to fight in organized
gladiatorial matches in ‘The Box.’ These matches are held in a box placed in a
pit in the ground. The contestants battle to the death and are appallingly
brutal while onlookers bet sizeable sums on the outcomes of the matches.
Companions who perform well in these spectacles are rewarded, those who don't
perform well are treated as fodder for training, or are made to serve as
examples to motivate better performance.
Jacob is a special case. He has
learned to survive by whatever means necessary, including breaking the
programming preventing Companions from harming humans. In this story, Jacob has
just two options: either he cooperates, or he will be killed. Of course, he
appears to cooperate, but the entire time, he plots to escape to continue his
search for the man who killed Sylvia.
All seems hopeless for Jacob,
as plans are made and thwarted before they can be executed. The brothers and
their appointed overseer are very skilled at keeping slaves. It is going to
take a lot of perseverance for Jacob to survive in this story, but the sense of
hopelessness is overwhelming, and I had doubts whether he would survive.
In the previous books, Jacob is
a compassionate being who will help those who are in need. It doesn't matter if
they are other Companions, or if they are humans who are biased against his
kind, he will help if he can. But in Man in a Box, Jacob's character takes a
dark turn. He becomes willing to use others to achieve his own ends. One can
understand how this happens when one considers how he is surrounded by beings,
both human and artificial, with no redeeming qualities whatsoever.
Jacob is truly alone in this
story and has to set aside his mission, and his nature, just to survive. There
are several instances in this tale where there is no certainty he will come out
of this unscathed, or even alive, to move forward in his search for Sylvia's
murderer.
Personally, as a reader, I was
fearful for Jacob throughout my entire journey through this story.
My favorite point of plot is
how the author plumbs the depths of just how far the characters will go to
achieve their goals. All the characters have their goals. Some, the humans
particularly, are beyond redemption. They are only concerned with
self-gratification and will stop at nothing to achieve it. The Companions
mostly are just concerned with survival, but for many, the only way to do that
is to be a ruthless as those who enslave them for their own nefarious purposes.
What I take away from Man in a
Box is the old theme of how in the battle between good and evil, good often has
to become evil in order to triumph. Jacob is forced to think and act like an
ugly parody of the worst of humanity just to keep his life. He does have
regrets as he does this, but he has no other choice. I felt bad for him being
forced into the position of going against his nature.
I give Man in a Box, as well as
the rest of the books in the Companion Chronicles series, my highest
recommendations for those who enjoy a good humanist story to make one think
about the darker side of humanity. This series will make the reader think about
one's own implicit bias. Joshua Todd James is a fine writer and a deep-thinking
individual whom I have come to admire through his work.
I feel it is necessary to
mention that this story contains some brutal descriptions of violence and bloodshed.
It is a necessary part of the story and in no way did I find it gratuitous.
Jacob's story should be read in
order and the author has recently offered the first three volumes in a
compendium. It can be purchased for a reasonable price and is also available on
Kindle Unlimited and can be found HERE. My reviews of Some Animals, Minority of One, and Freedom Run are available by clicking the titles.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
His books include The Companion
Chronicles which detail the adventures of synthetic person Jacob Kind in the books
titled Some Animals, Minority of One, Freedom Run, Man in a Box, Renegade, and
Domo Arigato, Mr. Robato.
You may join Jacob's chase for
justice on the author's website: Joshua Todd James.
Well, there it is...
Qapla!
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