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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Futuristic novel full of suspense and adventure, September 7, 2004
Gavin and Fleur Bell live in a house that wakes them, watches them, protects them, and feeds them. It's the end of the 21st century in England, and EAGER is full of fascinating details of life in the future: clothes and rooms that change color, wristwatch telephone/computers called "jinns," houses that rearrange themselves, and much more. Yet people remain similar to today, with the same emotional makeup.
The Bell family's robot butler, Grumps, is no longer working properly. He's an older model and is wearing out, serving the family tomato soup for breakfast and otherwise acting oddly. Unfortunately, he's not repairable. Grumps tells us in a poignant scene what it's like to have the house tell him that his family wants to replace him. Fleur and Gavin wonder what kind of new robot they'll get: will he be a tall Greek goddess-like BDC4? Or a soft speaking "monk" model?
Mr. Bell works for the most important agency in the world --- LifeCorp, a company providing transport, food, water, learning centers, and other necessary functions. Technology eases the lives of the people. Robots do most menial work. However, technology also threatens people since robot workers cause many human workers to be unemployed.
Professor Ogden, a friend of Mr. Bell's, gives the Bells a robot named EGR3. "Eager" is the professor's latest invention, and he'd like it to be in a family setting. Eager will actually be Grumps's assistant. The two robots are completely different. Eager thinks for himself, is curious, feels emotions, and is intellectual. The Bells' new robot realizes humans "kill" robots they no longer need; he becomes obsessed with death.
In the meantime, Gavin learns of an underground movement against the all-controlling LifeCorp, while Fleur's best friend replaces her with a robot pal. Gavin, Fleur, and Eager notice advanced robots called BDC4s holding secret meetings and otherwise acting strangely. Of course, they must investigate.
This is a stunningly good novel with a quick plot. The characters --- human and techno --- are believable and sympathetic, raising intriguing questions about robots and morality. A thread of ominously building suspense makes the book hard to put down. If we're lucky, there will be a sequel to EAGER. Very highly recommended!
--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon (terryms2001@yahoo.com)
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
21st, December 18, 2006
A Kid's Review
Eager a new robot, developed by Professor Ogden, one of Gavin's friends. What Eager was made for, trying to find out what it means to be alive.
12-year old Gavin Bell and his father are taking the hover bus to Gavin's friend Professor Ogden's house. When they arrive Professor Odgen greets them. He takes them to his science lab and shows them his latest invention. Eager.
A few weeks later Fleur (Gavins sister) calls her friend Chike in Nigeria. He says LifeCorp's (a company that builds robots and other stuff) new line of robots; the BDC4's are locking people in their own home. Fleurs friend Marcia owns a BDC4. It has just locked her parents in her house! Fleur, Gavin, Eager and Marcia go to LifeCorps headquarters and find out what is wrong with the BDC4's while Eager finds out what it means to be alive.
Eager is a really great book. Be sure to read the sequel: Eagers Nephew!
Eager a new robot, developed by Professor Ogden, one of Gavin's friends. What Eager was made for, trying to find out what it means to be alive.
12-year old Gavin Bell and his father are taking the hover bus to Gavin's friend Professor Ogden's house. When they arrive Professor Odgen greets them. He takes them to his science lab and shows them his latest invention. Eager.
A few weeks later Fleur (Gavins sister) calls her friend Chike in Nigeria. He says LifeCorp's (a company that builds robots and other stuff) new line of robots; the BDC4's are locking people in their own home. Fleurs friend Marcia owns a BDC4. It has just locked her parents in her house! Fleur, Gavin, Eager and Marcia go to LifeCorps headquarters and find out what is wrong with the BDC4's while Eager finds out what it means to be alive.
Eager is a really great book. Be sure to read the sequel: Eagers Nephew!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
To please, July 13, 2005
I have a weakness for children's books that take place in the future. Usually I prefer them to be post-apocalyptic, but once in the while I cave in and read a bit of nice sci-fi kiddie lit involving robots. It calms my nerves. "Eager" is my latest read, and while it's nothing we haven't seen before, it has a sweet edge to it. It its worst it feels like a novelization of "Millennium Man". Fortunately, this is rare. By and large, new British author Helen Fox has penned a particularly nice book involving floating spheres, rubberized limbs, and tomato soup breakfasts.
The Bell family has a problem. For years and years they've been served by their faithful old robot, Grumps. Grumps isn't a particularly fancy model, but he gets the job done. Lately, however, the old robot's timer has been off. He has a great deal of difficulty separating night from day and often serves the wrong meal at the wrong time. The family decides it would be best to get another robot to help Grumps, and their prayers are answered by an entirely new (if somewhat unattractive) prototype named Eager. Eager is the first robot to learn like a human, a fact that sometimes serves him well and sometimes ill. The family has mixed feelings towards their new acquisition. On the one hand, son Gavin grows fond of the little guy quite quickly. On the other hand, daughter Fleur (a popular name in children's literature these days) would much prefer one of those expensive and sleek BDC4s on the market. Of course, something particularly strange is happening to the BDC4s. And as Gavin, Fleur, and Eager investigate, their situation grows more and more perilous.
The book commits the particularly heinous crime (perpetuated by more children's books than I can name) of creating its own futuristic slang. Particularly bad futuristic slang, no less. Instead of "cool" people say "euphoric". When someone is being a doofus they are (I kid you not) put down with that most intimidating of insults, "You moonrock". For a book that acts so intelligently on so many topics, the use of the term "moonrock" (better fitted to an episode of "The Jetsons" than a contemporary kids' book) jars horrendously. For better future jargon, try reading "Feed" by M.T. Anderson instead. Unlike "Eager", "Feed" is very concerned with how humanity can lose its freedom over time. "Eager" touches on this idea briefly, but doesn't really explore it any further than a sentence here and there.
As you read this book you'll undoubtedly see characters and scenes from other sources flash before your eyes. Grumps resembles nothing so much as a slightly cheerier version of Marvin the android from "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". There are intimations of Bradbury and (more directly) Asimov on every other page. The whole concept of a robot being introduced to a family and the machines in that family appeared first in one of the great Diana Wynne Jones's short stories (now found in her wonderful collection entitled "Unexpected Magic"). And then, when it comes to robots being imbued with human memories and questioning their own freedoms there's the best of all go-to robot sources, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick (better known to cinephiles as "Blade Runner"). So while "Eager" is quite a readable book, it isn't going to win any points for originality.
Fortunately, kids will love the book. What's not to adore about the idea of robots palling around with children? Most of the loose ends of this tale are cleaned up by the end though not all, sadly. For example, several attempts are made on Eager's life without there being any concrete explanation of who ordered these attacks and to what end. Aside from this detail, however, Fox is very good at bringing together plot points that could easily have remained forgotten by the end. Some adults reading this book will also get a kick over Eager's choice of personal philosopher.
Admittedly, it's very difficult to think of good robot stories for kids right off the top of your head. Teen tales? Piece of cake. Adult stories? You could fill a library with them. But for kids it's different. That's why it's so nice to find a book like "Eager". It's not going to knock you over with its prose or philosophical insights, but it's a fun little title with a nifty plot and plenty of action.
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