LOVE IN THE AGE OF MECHANICAL REPRODUCTION by Judd Trichter

Narrated by Luke Daniels

     Spoiler Alert: Man Loves Robot…

…Man Loses Robot. Man Gets Robot.

It took a while to get going but when it did this book became very engaging. It is clear that Judd Trichter is a natural story-teller. He makes you care about the characters and utilizes interesting situations to develop the plot to a satisfying climax. Close scrutiny, however, reveals some quirky story elements. I’ll just mention two: First: Somehow, in the very near future, mankind will be able to make self-aware mechanical men with emotional empathy that is the equal to that of humanity. This requires the listener to willingly suspend their disbelief in a big, big way. Second: The most modern robots have personality storage that is centralized in their cranial cavity, but the robot that the protagonist, Elliot, falls in love with have her personality distributed over all her constituent parts. This is essential to the plot because it requires Elliot to go onto a quest to round up all of her parts, from about a dozen different sources, instead of just finding her brain. This in no way detracts from what is an exciting, fast-paced, action adventure story. I also give Judd Trichter kudos for managing to give his story a sort of Jack Spade, film-noir feel to this future thriller. It is an all-around rollicking good time to be had by all.

Allow me to get up on my soap-box for a minute to mention what I see as hypocritical inconsistency on the part of Judd Trichter when it comes to gun-control versus gun-play.  In several places he makes his political affiliations clear. At the 2:35 mark he comes down on Talk Radio and a Right-Wing press for spurning political unrest. At the 3:40 mark he mockingly excoriates Right-Wing politician for going to the slums for photo-ops to promote Second Amendment gun rights. Then at 3:49 Trichter employs gun use by his protagonist as an, effective, plot device. His character Elliot says, “What a strange effect it has on a man’s attitude when one points a hunk of metal at his face.” Elliot then goes on to intimidate a reluctant clerk into giving him a necessary piece on information using the power of the gun in righteous persuit of his love motivated quest. In another scene at 4:38 he pens a dramatic scene where Elliot’s gun speaks to him, even personifying the gun as the agent giving him the necessary impetus for doing the right thing by using his gun, even possibly doing God’s will , to save a woman from certain death. I find it fascinating how a writer with supposedly liberal politics finds it necessary to take a few jabs at his polar political opposites, mock them for their support for the Second Amendment, and then go on to use gun violence as an essential element in his plot. In all this, his character, Elliot, is never condemned for using gun violence to accomplish his mission for the cause of love. In fact, at the end of it all, he is rewarded with happiness. So what is Trichter’s intended message? Guns are bad, but sometimes, in the persuit of a good cause, they are justifiable means to a noble end?

Luke Daniels is wonderful. I can tell you that Daniel’s performance alone should be motivation enough for any audiobook lover to listen to this novel. He takes this already good story and lays on his emotional pitch-perfect unique character voices, great pacing, and perfect use of comic timing, and suddenly a good story becomes great entertainment. If you enjoyed Luke Daniels’ performance here go on to listen to the Frontlines series by Marko Kloos.