Today I am Carey
by Martin L. Shoemaker
Trade Paperback March 5, 2019
Baen
ISBN: 978-1-4814-8384-1
Today I am Carey is an expansion of the Nebula-nominated short story “Today I am Paul.” The novel is a near-future tale spanning some eighty years in the life of an android designed to be a caregiver and a companion. Over time, Medical Care Android BRKCX-01932-217JH-98662 becomes a member of the Owens family, while it continuously struggles to understand its place in the world.
In choosing to tell this story from the point of view of the android, Martin Shoemaker has accomplished an extraordinary thing–as you read the words, the thoughts, of the mechanical main character, you will have all the feels. You will cry. More than once. It’s an incredibly intense experience.
As each section of the book builds on the last, as another episode comes to a climax and the book skips through time (it’s just not possible to talk about every single thing over that time period without ending up with something the size of War and Peace), I kept wanting to know what happened in the time skipped. I felt like a part of the family, and I didn’t want to miss out. A few times, I croaked out “No!” when I realized what had happened in the interval–like the perennially late kid who just misses getting a piece of birthday cake.
In some ways, this book is like an onion. As time passes, the world expands from the center, the core of the onion, moving from layer to layer, new stratum larger than the last. Each richly detailed episode added to my understanding of the android’s growing family and expanding world and skills, adding layers and emotions as I watched it find new ways to be useful, to be fulfilled. Everything that makes life meaningful is filtered through new eyes: death, birth, art, travel, nature, culture–described with consummate ease–as everything old is new again.
The tale of the humanoid robot looking for humanity is almost as old as Pinocchio, yet this latest take is surprisingly fresh. Shoemaker wrings every bit of sensation out of each interaction he writes. The nuances of this future —like our own, yet not, close enough that it’s as easy to slide into as a well-worn favorite flannel shirt—make for an exceptionally comfortable read. There are self-driving cars! And insurance. There are airports and passports and visas! And the equivalent of TSA. There’s a cast of complex characters to meet and get to know–warts and all, they act like, well, us.
The allure of the story refused to let me put it down for very long–I finished it in a single day and looked up at the end, disappointed that there wasn’t more–it’s a mere 320 pages in trade paperback. It’s not that it doesn’t end–it does, I just could have kept on reading. I guess I’ll just have to hope there’s a sequel (hint, hint).
Recommended for fans of Asimov, classic science fiction, and anyone who just enjoys a well-told tale.
