Publishers Weekly
06/22/2020
A humanoid bot specializing in dentistry becomes an unlikely fugitive when he discovers the ability to feel emotions in Stephenson’s lighthearted sophomore novel (after Let Not the Waves of the Sea). By 2054, “the Great Crash” has locked humans out of the internet forever, New Zealand has been nuked by North Korea, and, though bots are productive members of society, they are forbidden from having feelings by the Bureau of Robotics and painted as villains in most pop culture. After a movie unexpectedly moves dentist bot Jared to tears, his human office mate encourages Jared to further explore the complexity of human emotion with the aid of a “Feelings Wheel.” When Jared receives a recall notice from the Bureau of Robotics, he decides to hightail it to Los Angeles, hoping to write his own screenplay and change the narrative surrounding bots with feelings. Of course, nothing goes as planned. But Jared’s mechanical coming-of-age brings to the forefront the things that make life worth living as Stephenson delivers an amusing commentary on logic, love, and feeling. This entertaining and surprisingly poignant story is a charmer. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
"Laugh-out-loud funny...readers will find themselves left with..the universal desire to be acknowledged and appreciated."—Washington Post
"Science fiction satire in the Vonnegut mold."—Cory Doctorow
"Set My Heart to Five is about as funny as any book I can remember reading, but it's also so much more than that: a manifesto for those of us who've always felt a little different, and a meditation on the profound connections that make us human. Stephenson's voice is hilarious, truthful, and wholly unique. I promise that you'll fall in love with Jared from his first, enthusiastic "Hi!" and that you'll never want to let him go."—Grant Ginder, author of The People We Hate at the Wedding and Honestly, We Meant Well
"Set My Heart to Five is one of the most original, funny, and heartwarming stories I’ve read in years. This novel has it all—humor, insight, social commentary, romance, Hollywood, the end of society as we know it, old movies, and classic cars. Jared may be a bot, but he feels emotions more acutely than most humans. I loved following him through the pages of this clever and poignant novel. Set My Heart to Five will set your heart well past that. It certainly did mine."—bestselling author of The Bookshop of Yesterdays
"Both whimsical and lyrical, Set My Heart to Five is an astounding examination of the human condition and all the things that make it up: curiosity, duty, art, dreams, and — of course — love. It is, much like its hero Jared, made up of both laughter and tears, and one of the most unique books ever crafted."—Mike Chen, author of A Beginning at the End
“A beautiful, funny, heartfelt analysis of what it means to be human.”—Simon Pegg
“A funny, original, thought-provoking debut…It’s wistful and sharp, particularly on what it really means to live.”—The Daily Mail (UK)
"Follows in a great literary tradition of satire…It's rare for a novel to be genuinely funny and truly touching, and also raise significant philosophical questions. You should read this with unadulterated pleasure."—Scotland on Sunday
“Jared’s mechanical coming-of-age brings to the forefront the things that make life worth living as Stephenson delivers an amusing commentary on logic, love, and feeling. This entertaining and surprisingly poignant story is a charmer.”—Publishers Weekly
“Delightful and profound… a sweet confection for readers of Graeme Simsion and Gail Honeyman.”—Booklist
Library Journal
08/07/2020
Jared introduces himself as a bot, a being engineered from a human body with computer elements, including his brain. Because this future society sees bots as less than humans, he must always introduce himself in this way. They've been created and imported to do the jobs that humans do not want to do. For example, Jared is a dentist. Bots are denied many rights and even feelings in this future world. Any bot who "malfunctions" and openly exhibits feelings runs the risk of being "wiped" or "incinerated." When Jared begins to notice he is malfunctioning, his office-mate, a psychologist, introduces him to old movies, and explains some of the mysteries of emotions. When the authorities send Jared a recall notice, he runs away to experience adventure, life, emotion, and to become a screenwriter. VERDICT Stephenson's (Let Not the Waves of the Sea) novel will appeal to fans of Philip K. Dick or Isaac Asimov. Through frequent allusions to movies and novels, the story is also made accessible to almost anyone who enjoys romance, intrigue, or outsider tales.—Elizabeth Masterson, Mecklenburg Cty. Jail Lib., Charlotte, NC
