Lifeform Three

by Roz Morris

'Beautifully written; meaningful; top-drawer storytelling in the tradition of Atwood and Bradbury' League of Extraordinary Authors

Misty woods; abandoned towns; secrets in the landscape; a forbidden life by night; the scent of bygone days; a past that lies below the surface; and a door in a dream that seems to hold the answers.

Paftoo is a 'bod'; made to serve. He is a groundsman on the last remaining countryside estate, once known as Harkaway Hall -- now a theme park. Paftoo holds scattered memories of the old days, but they are regularly deleted to keep him productive.

When he starts to have dreams of the Lost Lands' past and his cherished connection with Lifeform Three, Paftoo is propelled into a nocturnal battle to reclaim his memories, his former companions and his soul.

Includes an appendix of suggested questions for reading groups.

'An extraordinary novel in the tradition of the great old school literary sci-fi' - NYT bestselling author Joni Rodgers

About the author
Roz Morris's fiction has sold more than 4 million copies worldwide, although you won't have seen her name on the covers as she ghostwrote for high-profile authors. She is now writing acclaimed fiction under her own name. She is a writer, journalist, fiction editor and the author of the Nail Your Novel series for writers. Her first novel as herself was My Memories of a Future Life.

Genres: Science Fiction, Audiobook, Fiction, Speculative Fiction

266 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 17, 2013

About the author

What do I read? Fiction that cares about characters AND plot. Although I'm a sucker for beautiful language, I like a story too, dammit. I'm a slow reader because I'm easily trapped by lovely sentences and ideas, and when I enjoy a book I'm reluctant to leave its world behind.
I live in London with my writer husband, and our house is mostly decorated with bookshelves - so much so that different rooms are devoted to different categories, like a shop. My study, where I'm writing this now, is the fiction room - and when I look up from my keyboard it's a pleasure to see the spines of novels that have been important to me.

I'm a journalist, ghostwriter, editor and writing coach, and I'm also coming out from behind the ghosting curtain with novels of my own.

I've got eight books in circulation (books that I can admit to, that is!) Four are about writing - the Nail Your Novel series. I also have three nailed novels. My Memories of a Future Life is a contemporary reincarnation story with a twist that asks as many questions as it answers. Lifeform Three is a science fiction fable in the tradition of Ray Bradbury. Ever Rest is an exploration of how we live after we lose the most important person in our world. And I have a book of true travel tales, Not Quite Lost: Travels Without A Sense of Direction.
Ever Rest will be published on 3 June 2021.

Sign up for my newsletter https://tinyurl.com/rozmorriswriter

Reviews

[A.C. Flory · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Lifeform 3, author Roz Morris has created a masterpiece, and I don’t say that lightly. The story is deceptively simple, as is the prose, all held in perfect balance to allow the characters to shine. And what characters!

Before I talk about Paftoo, and Pea, Tickets and Pafnine, however, I have to set the scene, just a little. Imagine our world some time in the future. It has become a world of back-to-back cities with podcars that drive themselves while their human occupants sleep. It is a world of rampant consumerism and jaded appetites. It is a world where animals, especially wild animals have become a tourist attraction.

In this world, animals are categorized according to the order in which they were domesticated – dogs are lifeform 1, cats are lifeform 2 and horses are lifeform 3. And yes, that was a clue.

Now imagine a crumbling manor house set in acres of land, a tiny pocket of nature tucked away in a sea of concrete. This is Harkaway Hall, or what’s left of it. Dubbed the ‘Lost Lands’, the estate has become a tourist destination, and is maintained by a small army of bods, humanoid robots with shaggy purple hair and Manga eyes.

Enter Paftoo. Paftoo is a bod, but he is not quite like the other bods. During the day he collects the poop dropped by the animals that roam the Lost Lands, but at night, while the other bods switch off, Paftoo dreams. He dreams of lifeform 3′s galloping across the fields. He dreams of himself riding a lifeform 3.

That is the mystery underlying the story. How and why has this one bod become so different? And why would it dream of horses? Deeper still, though, is a darker theme about intelligence and self-awareness, aspirations and freedom. Paftoo is not human, yet he is not just a machine either, and in his journey we can see a reflection of ourselves. That is what makes this story so utterly wonderful.

For those interested in such things, Lifeform 3 is technically science fiction, but as far as I’m concerned it’s science fiction literature.

Did some of you cringe? Did your eyes glaze over?

Please don’t be put off by the ‘L’ word. Lifeform 3 is not arty farty. It doesn’t use obscure vocabulary just for the sake of it. It doesn’t bore you to tears with pages of flowery descriptions, and it does not go round in circles contemplating its own navel!

Lifeform 3 is science fiction literature because it tells the perfect story. Nothing is missing. Nothing is superfluous. Everything fits, and flows as if it could not possibly be any different. Yet despite that, it’s not predictable.

As a writer who reads a hell of a lot, I often find myself re-writing sentences in my head as I read them, or mentally questioning some part of the plot or characterization. It goes with the territory. With Lifeform 3, however, there was not a single moment when I stopped to re-read a sentence or passage because it had jarred me out of the story. Didn’t happen, not even once. That is the sign of a truly good story.

So… Would I recommend Lifeform 3 to you? You bet I would! Using my own, personal star rating system, Lifeform 3 gets 11/10, and joins a select list of novels that I think will still be wowing readers in a hundred years’ time. That, by the way, is another thing it has in common with real literature – it lasts.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Welcome to the Lost Lands of Harkaway Hall, intrepid guests! The Lost Lands is one of the last nature conservancies in the world. See life forms in their natural habitats. Like them, even name them if you wish. Our helpful bods will sing and dance for you when they’re not keeping the Lost Lands in pristine condition. Want a rainbow? Our bods will make it happen.
Roz Morris has created a wonderful fable with Lifeform Three. The protagonist is one of the aforementioned bods, or robots, but there’s something different about him.
While the other bods desire nothing more than to redo, or clean, racking up scores as if poovering (vacuuming animal waste from the lawns) was a video game, Paftoo has other likes, ones that he must keep secret.
Paftoo (all the redo bods are paf-number, and while it’s never stated in the novel, paf could be an initialism standing for personal automation form or something similar), does not shut down at night like the other redo bods. He dreams. He also has memories that fight their way back into Paftoo’s consciousness despite sharing.
Sharing is a form of bod maintenance and the other bods crave it like a drug while Paftoo fears sharing will rob him of what he holds most dear: his memories of riding a life form three, a horse, his horse, Storm.
Morris asks questions with her tale: what makes us different, unique? Does being unique mean that we can never truly be part of a community? What happens when our uniqueness is threatened? What happens if our memories are taken from us? Can enforced conformity change who we are?
There are other issues woven through the tapestry, as well: what happens if humanity’s waste of natural resources continues unchecked? What if nature becomes a commodity, a property to be bought and sold, tailored to the tastes of its users? It is said that history is written by the victors of battle, but what if those victors are corporate heads, rewriting history continually based on what will sell best?
Lifeform Three is a tasty novel, reminiscent (for me) of the works of Ursula K. le Guin, or Sherri S. Tepper.
My highest recommendation.

[Ruby Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Are we human, or are we dancer?

It’s been a long, long time since I read a science fiction novel. Maybe thirty years. The closest I’ve come to doing so was the futuristic part of My Memories of a Future Life by the same author. I knew from MMOAFL that Roz Morris was a lyrical writer and I trusted her when I requested and received an advance review copy of Lifeform Three. My consternation in realising I had picked up a dystopian novel, and that the MC Paftoo was a synthetic lifeform, only stayed with me until the end of the first page, and then I realised the magic had begun.

Lifeform Three is a totally believable, some might say inevitable, scenario. Global warming, lands lost to rising sea levels, increased urbanisation and total reliance upon interactive technology. Synthetic bods manage theme parks based upon historical artefacts. When the sun goes down, the power goes off. Except something is different about Paftoo. To paraphrase the blonde who asked “Do dogs have brains?” the reader is soon thinking “Do synthetic lifeforms have souls?”

Then things start to get creepy. Paftoo has been here before, we’ve all been here before. Groundhog Day. But there’s learning to be had, precious learning that can be tragically erased by a group “Sharing”. After a few chapters you’ll be begging the story not to put Paftoo through a Sharing.

Morris does a fantastic job attributing characters to these near identical androids. Although Paftoo is the one who breaks the rules, my favourite character is the enigmatic Tickets. Part ballerina, part nightclub bouncer, he holds the key to the story. He knows where that missing door on the cover of this book is.

Lifeform Three doesn’t give us all the answers. It leaves plenty of room for the imagination. I really didn’t want this book to end, it’s that good. The emotional involvement reminded me of Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, but Lifeform Three is much more joyous and less tragic.

It wasn’t until the end of the book that I realised there’s no sex in it. None at all. If you’re looking for rampant robot sex then you’ve come to the wrong place. If you’re looking for a gripping read, at times tender, uplifting and hopeful, then Lifeform Three is the one.

[Jessica Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Eloquently written. Story line engrossing. Those of you who believe literary fiction is boring, read this book. Your mind will be changed forever.

I am tempted to compare Roz Morris's style to Margaret Atwood's. But I'm not sure that will do it justice. Though this book has a similar "feel" to Atwood's science fiction novels, because of its literary nature, the comparison is still weak, because Morris is a writer in a class of her own.

This is a remarkable novel. And Paftoo, the main character, really stole my heart. I will remember him always. As if he was a very close friend. I am so sad this book is over. And I CANNOT WAIT, until Morris writes another.

[Bandit · Rating 1 out of 5]

Occasionally a publisher submitting an ARC to Netgalley can shoot themselves in a foot with messed up formats and so on. I’ve come across a bunch of those, Endeavor and it’s penchant for messing up separations between words, Dutton and its peculiar letter F deficiency are two that come to mind. All that is annoying, but Kobo Writing Life (whoever they are) has gone further than that, they have effectively crippled this novel by omitting actually parts of sentences as in a sentence that originated at the bottom of the page often did not end on the next page, vanishing instead. Imagine reading that, it’s like talking with someone whose every other thought trails off into the ether. Had this been a great novel, it would have been fairly devastating, for a mediocrity that this is, it’s merely tedious. The basic plot involves a bod (in an attempt to originality, not bot, although a mechanical being) who, while spending his life in a service of a recreated attraction of a bygone world, dreams of being free and an equestrian. Apparently the author meant for this dystopian vision to be profound, you can tell by the added book club readers’guide, but that’s just overly ambitious. The author has been around as a ghostwriter and writing coach, so naturally you would expect more. And yet, while the book itself isn’t terribly written per se, it’s just so bland, it reads like a screenplay stylistically and content wise. The purported profundity has been obscured by the dreamy but stilted narrative, repetitions and yes…abysmal formatting. The spectacular reviews this book has gathered on GR are inexplicable, unless the author’s professional contacts and students had weighed in. Artificial intelligence questioning its existence and sentience and meaning in a dystopian world is a terrific premise, one to which this waste of time does a terrible disservice. Again, this is a reminder to myself to stick with known authors or at least known publishers. Thanks Netgalley.

[Paul Grieve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Roz Morris is a figure who is hard to miss by authors doing their homework about the business. While she's better known for her consulting services and her how-to book Nail Your Novel than she is for her fiction writing, one of her claims to fame is that books she's ghostwritten have sold a cumulative 4 million copies worldwide. One would think that a writer with such an impressive track record would certainly be able to get published under her own name. But traditional publishing is not a meritocracy, it's a "marketocracy" and having written something with more literary punch than a garden variety teen-vampire-romance, Morris eventually gave up querying a book that was "too unconventional for the market" and published the first novel written under her own name, Memories of a Future Life. I haven't yet read it, but judging by the quality Lifeform Three, I should endeavour make time for it.

The central character of Lifeform Three is Paftoo, a mis-fit among a crew of hyperactive and rather effeminate farm-tending androids (readers familiar with the original Star Wars can picture a manga-faced, blue-skinned C3PO wearing overalls and sporting an unruly mop of purple hair). Without knowing why, Paftoo realizes he is different one night when, while the other "bods" are idly recharging, he awakens from a dream in which he envisions himself riding one of the horses he tends. Investigating further, he explores the lands of the park and discovers that prior to his last "sharing" (a process which erases his memory), he had in fact managed to befriend and ride one of the horses.

The relationship that develops between Paftoo and "Pea" the horse is central to the growth of the bod's nascent personality, as is his burgeoning friendship with his robotic mentor, "Tickets." The arresting eloquence with which Morris describes Pea's gradual acceptance of Paftoo's enthusiastic attention highlights the difference between nature-loving Paftoo and his efficiency-minded colleagues, on whom the value of bonding with other lifeforms is lost. Unfortunately for Paftoo, his cliquey android brethren are programmed to extinguish any sign of non-comformity among the "redo bods" and any member not deemed worthy of membership in "the red points group" is destined for a memory-killing "sharing".

Paftoo's desperate yearning to explore the park and indulge his passion for riding will strike a chord with those of us who dream of exotic adventures beyond the monotonous drudgery of our daily lives. For some people, that yearning is no more than a faint whimper deep within, easily overridden by commodified "interests" and a paranoid fear of exclusion. This book is not for them. Its for those of us whose yearnings are not so easily satisfied in the paint-by-numbers world in which we have little choice but to live.

Indeed, how like Morris' rangebound android are the world's would-be painters, singers, filmmakers and writers, breathing stale air in tiny cubicles under fluorescent lights, bluetooths attached to their ears as they tap away at keyboards to pay their bills while they dream of what truly inspires them. Just like Paftoo, such people know that the possibility of realizing their dreams depends on their ability to keep up appearances and maintain the charade that they truly belong where they are and wouldn't bolt away (like Pea did in the story) the minute the opportunity presented itself. Also like Paftoo, many harbour an unexpressed disgust at the distastefulness of their predicament and rightly fear that doing too good a job keeping up the charade will only lead to greater pressure to conform. At the risk of reading too much into the narrative, I'd say Paftoo's fear that he'll end up like the road-cleaning bod with the painted on smile or the disembodied "poover" bods bolted permanently to machines that clean manure off the fields echoes our concerns about the increasing mechanization of the workplace and the relentless drive toward efficiency.

Whether that's what Morris had in mind is a matter I'll let readers to decide for themselves. What I will say
is that Morris as a writer seems a lot like her character: competent, unique, original and inclined to push the boundaries. If that's the kind of storytelling you like, Lifeform Three will not disappoint. The story is gripping, the central character and his grumpy robotic mentor are sympathetic and writing is… I'll say it... literary. Achieving remarkable descriptive depth with an economy of words, Morris' lyrical prose evidences the polished grace of a veteran novelist. Apart from a somewhat perturbing reliance on a handful of effusive adverbs like "chewily" and "stickily" to denote how characters delivered their remarks, her writing is accessible enough to appeal to a YA readership without coming across as simplistic.

Unfortunately, from a sales perspective,it seems the originality of the story and quality of the writing haven't made up for the absence of teenage vampires (at the time I wrote this review, the book was ranked 458,822 on Amazon). Perhaps that's what the publishers were thinking about when they rejected the manuscript. If so, it demonstrates how tragically mercenary publishers have become. In Morris' own words:

"One of the problems is that marketing strategies are steering editorial decisions... My own agent tells me he’s had plenty of phenomenal novels from first-time writers that reached the editorial board and were rejected because they didn’t fit with what sells. Obviously there’s no simple answer, but this pressure is squeezing out the original, unusual books written by people who dared to be different, the game-changing novels that will be the classics of the future." (Reference)

In other words, the industry is hostile to the Paftoos of the writing world. Go figure. But if that's the case - and it is - thank goodness for the evolution of self-publishing. If Amazon, Smashwords, Barns and Noble and other online retailers make it possible for talented writers like Roz Morris and books like Lifeform Three to find an audience, that's a win for everyone.

[Awesome Indies Book Awards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome Indies Book Awards is pleased to include LIFEFORM THREE by ROZ MORRIS in the library of Awesome Indies' Badge of Approval recipients.

[Ashen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only one of those bods ...

A surreal, humorous and entrancing Sci-fi fable about memory and what it means to be human. The story is set in a theme park, Harkaway Hall, run by the Lost Lands management as a preserved enclave of old countryside in a world that has shrunk though rising sea levels. Enter the world of bods, robots designed to love serving. For efficiency, a ritual sharing has been devised during which the bods' memories are regularly erased … a trouble shared is a trouble deleted.

The numerous P letters on the page (each bod’s name starts with Paf, followed by a number,) puts the reader into a stimulating trance that helps to access the confused mind-set of the protagonist, a bod whose name falls out of line as Paf-too rather than Paf-two. Aware he is unlike other bods – has dreams that stir memories, deviates from pointless instructions, has creative thoughts and acts out of turn upsetting the bod-order – he muses about his existence. The minimal present-tense writing style serves to keep the reader enthralled.

Human Intrepid Guests, the visitors of the theme park, are no less mindless than the average bod, only slightly different kinds of servants – consumers, goaded through electronic gadgets tied to games and a network anticipating their every need. They despoil this precious plot of green knowing that bods will clean up after them – re-do the grass, remove droppings from life forms, good old cows, sheep and horses (life form 3s,) or undo real rainbows that disturb the aesthetics of planned artificial ones. Each bod has a visible cloud above their heads, showing texts that boast of their achievements, and record their interests.

Paftoo is damaged, due to a kiss of lightning. His energy does not switch off after sunset, so he can move about at night, and also dreams, haunted by the passion of his past relationship with a horse. He makes connections. He sees the possible predicament of bods welded to machines, and is not keen on ever being used for operating the Rubbish Digester. In a scene highlighting the tragic comedy of events throughout, Paftoo records a disfigured bod’s flat acceptance while being dragged away by the dreaded black-clad Disposal bods.

An old part of Paftoo’s mind slowly recovers memories from five years back, before he was struck by lightning. A smooth operator, he hides his otherness, filling his visible mind-cloud with interests expected from bods. To have his memories erased becomes occasionally tempting. No troubling conflicts, no need to evaluate, no need to make decisions … freedom has its price.

Paftoo’s fellow bods go about their mechanical choreography, contained by simple instructions and dawn chorused promoting treats for Intrepid Guests. There is enthusiastic Pafnine, whose ardent interest is a strong team, Pafseven, a bit of a spoilsport, Paffoursix, who after a glimpse of memory panics and can’t get into the sharing suite quickly enough to erase his mind to blank. He could represent anyone afraid of the unknown.

There is a twist regarding the sharing ritual, which I’m not giving away, like the moon, which at some point in the story has a sideways smile.

I enjoyed the mystery character called Tickets, half gate, half girl, designed to resemble the elegant former daughter of the Harkaway estate, and employed to guard the entrance booth of the theme park. Strapped to the booth, she is a mess to look at, but has memories, and encourages Paftoo to regain his.

Paftoo’s sensitive and intimate negotiations with a horse (life form 3,) which he tames, are touching and delightful. Any horse lover will appreciate these scenes to the full. The relationship stands out as the very heart of the story.

[Marni Scofidio · Rating 5 out of 5]

In high school we learned a type of ink wash painting called sumi-e. The goal was to create a picture in as few brushstrokes as possible. Once a line of ink was laid down, that was it; we were not allowed to paint over that line twice.

This memory came to mind while reading Roz Morris’ brilliant new novel, Lifeform Three, the literary equivalent of sumi-e. In an unspecified future where mankind, surprise, surprise, has gone and bollixed it up, stands a nightmarish theme park. Once a stately home, it’s now maintained by machines and robots called ‘bods’,’made to serve’ and do the scut work.

Everything is geared towards the punters, ironically named Intrepid Guests, who bumble about, eating and generating rubbish, stitched to their Pebbles, defined by their monosyllablic clouds, bombarded by insidious singing and advertising. (Frighteningly, not all that futuristic.) But things are about to change when bod Paftoo meets Lifeform Three…

Morris takes familiar themes - as readers we all have our favourites and find ourselves continually drawn to them - and spins them into a highly original work. Tropes are shattered, melted down, and re-fashioned. Powerful messages and questions emerge without the reader being repeatedly coshed or made to feel guilty.

Will what makes us human survive mechanisation and supertechnoeficiency? What does make us human, anyway? And will life, like Kahlil Gibran’s children, always long for itself?

Honestly? I don’t know about life, but I’m jealous of the way Morris can, in so few words, illuminate a scene or a character, sometimes heartbreakingly so, as with an excluded character metaphorically wiped away in a brave new world where, sadly, the old hierarchies continue.

I have not read speculative fiction of this calibre since Ray Bradbury was in his prime. And though not as High Gothic, Morris’s work also reminds me of Mervyn Peake, himself a creator of unforgettable words and worlds.

As to whether this is a work of science fiction or fantasy: the artist Ben Shahn once noted, ‘If artists were asked to choose a label, most would choose none.’ Lifeform Three is one of those books that not only transcends, but possibly transforms, genre. Its appeal covers a broad spectrum. The young, drawn in by the Mangaesque main characters and the deceptively simple prose, would enjoy the novel as much as us elders, and everyone inbetween.

There is so much more I want to say about Lifeform Three. But that would only delay you purchasing it. Please experience Morris’s wonderful novel for yourself - you will be the richer for losing yourself in this haunting word-painting, of dreams, of longing, of life, of love.

[Harley · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent science fiction novel which considers the question of what it means for a robot to develop consciousness. It made me think about what it meant for the first humans to develop consciousness. I highly recommend this book for all lovers of science fiction.

[Melanie Faith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paftoo is a hero to root for, and what an amazing description of this last countryside estate!

Roz Morris' tale of Paftoo's struggle to recover his memories and his former acquaintances reminded me of the best of Ray Bradbury, H.G. Wells, Kurt Vonnegut, and Steven Spielberg. It's the same kind of compelling tale that carries the reader or listener (I enjoyed this book as an audio book) into the world Morris has constructed masterfully, making us care deeply for Paftoo and to wonder what we, too, would do in Paftoo's shoes.

Highly recommended for readers who want a compelling story and a vivid protagonist. Especially recommended to readers who love science fiction and fantasy stories.

[Grigory Ryzhakov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lifeform Three is a unique story in the genre of speculation fiction. It centres around an android, or a bod, called Paftoo, who is mysteriously different from other bods. By day, Paftoo cleans a holiday park along with other bods, by night he explores the surroundings in search of his horse.
I found Paftoo's passion for horseriding and his delicate treatment of the horse, Pea, very touching. The authour clearly has a background in horseriding and a great knowledge of equine psychology. The story is rather simple, yet the situations it presents make you think of complex questions. Can you follow your dreams when you are expected to do something else, stick to your duties? Can you dream at your peril? what is the connection between memory and soul? Is it possible that an android with an extensive experience, i.e. memory, that goes beyond its programming, can acquire a soul? Paftoo's and his friend Ticket's final selfless deeds are juxtaposed to the greed of people managing the park in the story. It's merely a metaphor, but it reminds us about things that actually make us human.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, this is a simply written fable, about themes that have been explored before. Yes, it's in the ubiquitous, annoying, present tense. But, in "Lifeform Three", there is a good reason for that narrative choice. Paftoo, a bot, may be remade any minute, his memories taken from him. Without memory and will, what are we? Morris lets us consider these questions as Paftoo himself considers and explores his world. Because he's been struck by lightning, he is defective; he cannot shut himself off at night, and he can't help observing and questioning the world around him. When he does sleep, he dreams. In his dreams, he is riding a horse - a lifeform three - who has a name, and who knows and loves him. Is it just a dream, or did it happen?

The twists toward the end were wonderful, and, in one case, heartbreaking. The book this most reminded me of was Lois Lowry's "The Giver". It asks similar questions about individuality, memory, and the transformative power of love. It's quite an accessible story and older kids and teens might well enjoy it as much as their elders. Nicely done!

[Montanna Wildhack · Rating 4 out of 5]

A less violent and less sexy version of Westworld. Charming characters.

[Jude · Rating 5 out of 5]

How would one define Lifeform Three? Scifi? Dystopia? Fantasy? Or perhaps, all of the above? In her second novel Morris introduces the reader to a future world, very different from the normalities and comforts of today. Paftoo is a ‘bod’, a creature made to serve the ‘intrepid guests’ of the last remaining countryside estate of which he is groundsman, the once grand Harkaway Hall. At first glance Paftoo seems much like the other bods around him, the renew bods, the dispose bods, and many other bods besides, all built with one purpose, to serve. Look closer, however, and there is something about Paftoo which makes him different, something which sets him out from the rest of the group. He seems unable to contend himself with the life of servitude offered to bods. When Paftoo begins dreaming, of times past, nightly rides through the woods and mysterious messages, he begins an incredible journey. Paftoo nightly antics aid him on the path of rediscovery of his memories, his passions, and most of all, his beloved lifeform three.

The world Morris has created within the pages of Lifeform Three is an interesting one. The book is set, almost exclusively within the grounds of a crumbling manor house, the little that remains of a once grand estate, which now serves as a tiny spec of greenery in a vast concrete jungle. The estate now serve as little more than a theme park for the inhabitants of the desolate plains which exist outside. These ‘guests’ are so much more unresponsive than those we live amongst today. They speed around in cars which drive themselves, forever glued to the screens of their ‘pebbles’. This world, which favours efficiency over tradition and production over nature, and in which animals are categorised according to the order in which they were domesticated, is the result of intensive industrialisation and capitalism:

‘The sea levels rose. Once people had liked to live on the coast or by a river, but now the waves came and licked their homes away. The government built flood walls and the population retreated inland. They needed new cities, factories, farms and power stations. Places to live. Bypasses to drive there more directly. Between the roofs and roads there was no room for countryside.’

I love a dystopia – and I would call this a dystopia – which plays on very real current fears. Like the New York City presented in Harry Harrison’s Make Room, Make Room, these kinds of worlds are all the more real, and terrifying, because there is a very real possibility such a world becoming a reality.

Now I would like to introduce you to our main character, Paftoo. Paftoo as you will already know is a bod, but he is different to the other bods though, and I think the first clue in this is in his name. The other bods are numbered, Pafonenine Pafseven, and so on, but he is Paftoo, not Paftwo. Does this suggest that he is different to the others? I like to think he is named this way because he is extra, not the second bod, but an additional bod. His differences extend beyond the variation in his name, while during the day he picks up the rubbish left behind by intrepid guests, cleans up after the animals which roam the Lost Lands, he also thinks, and feels unsatisfied with his life:

‘To Pafnine and the rest, there is no future beyond the tally of scores at the end of each day. And then another day, numbingly the same.’

The bods are made to serve, and at the end of the day, when the sun sets and the intrepid guests go to wherever the intrepid guests go, the bods shut down. I found the idea of this quite disturbing, the thought of the robots just stopping, not sleeping or recharging, just staying where they are, open to the elements, is really quite sad. It seems much more pleasant to think of the grandmother in Ray Bradbury’s film Electric Grandma, who, at the end of the day plugs herself in to charge, sits down in her rocking chair and closes her eyes. This seems so much more compassionate to me. The bods are made to seem human, they are all different, with different haircuts and facial features, and yet they are not even given a place to be put away. And of course this is even worse when seen through the eyes of Paftoo, who himself does not shut down, but continues to roam the lost lands by night. The bods, standing around him in the darkness, or lying crumpled on the floor, wet and covered in leaves, is a horrible and depressing sight to imagine.

Paftoo does, he eventually discovers, have another reason for living other than serving the intrepid guests. A desire he must keep hidden for fear of being forced into a ‘sharing’ with the other bods – a ritual which promises to ‘make things better’ by deleting memories and rendering the bod a blank canvas, ready to question the meaning of life once again. When Paftoo beings to dream at first he is confused, but slowly, as he begins to uncover his lost memories, he realises what is missing from his ‘life’ – his lifeform three, Storm. The bond between Paftoo and Storm is unbreakable, so much so that the idea of being without him, even when he has only just discovered his existence, is enough to send him to the sharing suite:

‘Soon it will all be gone. He won’t have to worry about anything but the team and the chores.’

This brings me nicely onto my next point. What is it that makes us human? It is said that a robot is born to serve, and this is very much the case with Paftoo and the rest of the bods. But Paftoo has a decidedly human quality to him, his existence does not seem limited to a life of servitude, and he himself understands this:

‘If Paftoo’s cloud showed his true interests there would be only one; to look after Storm.’

The other bods do not have this self-awareness; they are not ‘interested’ in anything other than cleaning and achieving quotas. I’m reminded slightly of the house in Ray Bradbury’s There Will Come Soft Rains. There is something deeply saddening about a robot made to serve, which knows nothing other than what it is programmed to do. The bods care nothing for the decaying mansions left behind, just as the house in There Will Come Soft Rains remains oblivious to the fact that the people he was made to care for have been turned into piles of ash. While Paftoo can see the world changing around him, he understands that might lose his memories and it terrifies him:

‘The sharing has ripped something out of him. It robbed him of the individuality that mattered. It took away his memories of storm. Instead it gave him the empty routine the others call a life.’

I could go on, I would love to go on, but I feel as though I have already said too much. If I have piqued your interest enough to read this far, you should really read the book. Needless to say I really enjoyed it, and would highly recommend it. I am a little obsessed with dystopian fiction, and for me Lifeform Three ticked all the boxes. I found Morris’ style incredibly captivating, and the story itself had me reading on at the end of every chapter.

Originally posted on Jade the Obscure

[Aaron Fortune · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a brilliant book. I devoured it in a couple of nights and it was one of those stories I simply didn’t want to end. The characters haunted me for months afterwards, so much so that I have recommended it numerous times and now feel compelled to leave a brief review. I read a lot of science fiction, but often think of it as a guilty pleasure and feel the need to read a “classic” novel every third or fourth book, usually one I was supposed to read at University, just to keep my mind sharp and assuage any of that guilt. I simply find myself unable tolerate poor writing and that rules out most “popular” fiction, especially science fiction, and often find myself limited to a much smaller group of modern and classic authors who’s command of English I believe to be superb and who also have the unique ability to spin both an interesting and novel yarn. Roz Morris’ Lifeform Three is just the type of book I relish. It’s quirky, original, thought provoking to the point of being somewhat disconcerting, and very well written; like the best books, the story stays in one’s mind for weeks afterward and crops up every now and then years later. I’ve even recommended Lifeform Three to readers whom I know are not fond of science fiction, because while the main character is an android named Paftoo and it’s set in the future, the book focuses on universal themes of freedom, identity and purpose; the science fiction elements seem almost incidental and the characters and setting are easily relatable, even to people who believe they don’t care for sci-fi. I highly recommend this book. Once you start reading about Paftoo, his horse and his bleak, mysterious world, you won’t be able to stop reading, and once you finish the book, his story and his fate will linger in your mind, perhaps forever.

[Audrey Driscoll · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are almost no human characters in this book. The few that appear are nameless and not important, although there are hints of humans in the background who make decisions about the primary characters, who are machines and animals. The machines are "bods," humanoid robots who maintain a theme park called the Lost Lands, built on the ruins of a country estate called Harkaway Hall. The bods work all day at various jobs, such as landscaping, as well as collecting the manure produced by 'lifeforms," the cows, sheep, and horses whose function is to give visitors to the theme park something to photo, tag, and comment on.

The bods are machines, but they have personalities and even memories. Their memories are unstable, due to periodic resets called "sharings." And one bod, named Paftoo, is struck by lightning and starts to dream. He dreams of horses (who are labelled Lifeform 3), and eventually manages to make his dreams real.

This is an original and thought-provoking book. Some of the bods, especially Paftoo, are engaging and likeable characters. Point of view is limited but fascinating. Inter-bod dynamics are interesting, and the fate of bods who are damaged or misbehave is disturbing and even terrifying, when Dispose bods make an appearance. The last few chapters are tense and engrossing.

One thing I wondered about is what powers the bods. There is never any mention of charging, batteries, solar panels, or any sort of power source. Most of the bods go dead at night, wherever they happen to be, and start up again at sunrise. They are tireless and need neither air, water, or food, but it's not clear what makes them go. Also, I thought the ending, although satisfying, was somewhat abrupt. I expected to find a sequel, but there does not appear to be one. Which is too bad, because I would like to read it.

[Jean Gill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant, original eco-fantasy

Paftoo’s world is an expanse of countryside destroyed by a futuristic theme park, in which he and his robotic co-workers do menial maintenance tasks and entertain the soulless visitors. Like all the best sci-fi and fantasy, this novel shows you aspects of the world we live in and makes you fear for its direction while reflecting on what really matters. I am totally in tune with Roz Morris’ fears and loves, which are presented in a story of page-turning paranoia as Paftoo struggles to regain his memories and evade the Big Brother style authorities.
What makes this story so different is the passion and knowledge about horses, ‘Life Form Three’ in a world which has lost all contact with nature. Paftoo’s grief for Storm, the horse he lost, his patience in bonding with the wild and badly named ‘Pea’, the details of training, are all portrayed with such love I’m sniffling at the memory. For me, it’s dogs rather than horses but what moved me was the importance of that human-animal bond.
Paftoo struggles with the memory loss imposed in ‘sharing’ and our society struggles with the bigger loss, of contact with nature itself. Beautifully, beautifully written, with head and heart.
For anyone who enjoys dystopian fiction and a must if you love animals, especially horses.

[D.B. MacInnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t read a lot of science fiction but I found this novel an engaging read. It helped that it is written in a literary style using clear, simple prose which flows sentence to sentence. Some have likened Morris’s style to Bradbury and Atwood and I would add Orwell’s 1984 to that list.

I liked that we’re enclosed (like the protagonist Paftoo) in the domain of the Lost Lands theme park visited by the faceless (human) Intrepid Travellers and from early on like Paftoo we’re occupied with the themes of deep loss and the possibility of escape.

Paftoo is a ‘bod’, one of the many android workers in the theme park and what was fascinating was that he and others offer more in the way of human qualities than the human managers of and visitors to the park. There’s a suggestion that at one time these AI robots were allowed to develop to a state beyond their usefulness to the economy and since that realisation their brain function has been reduced by regular ‘sharings’. The dystopia that Morris describes is chilling because many of its aspects echo the way in which our society is already going.

A book which will resonate in my mind for some considerable time. Recommended.

[Alison Cubitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine the world in the not too distant future where all the land is gobbled up by housing, and the last remaining scrap of countryside is turned into a manicured theme park.
This park is tended by androids, known as 'bots', who clean up after the animals, (known as 'lifeforms') for the benefit of Intrepid Guests (visitors).

Paftoo is one such bot, but one who has memories, which have to be deleted to keep him compliant.
But no matter how many times he's reprogrammed, he just can't let go of the past. And the key to that past is his relationship with the particular lifeform three of the title, a horse called Pea.

As much a love letter to the countryside as it is a compelling story, this novel begs the reader to consider just what we as individuals will have to do to save our green and pleasant lands so that future generations can enjoy them.

Beautifully taut and well-crafted writing, with complex characterisation, Lifeform Three will appeal to readers who enjoy literary speculative fiction and thought-provoking environmental fiction.

[Andy Fletcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having enjoyed Roz Morris’ debut novel, My Memories of a Future Life, I quickly moved onto her second novel, Lifeform Three. A well written, haunting piece of work, which takes themes from her first book and expands upon them. It’s an interesting take on what it means to be human and the author manages to imbue the narrative with a dreamlike quality, whilst cleverly creating empathy with the protagonist and noble eponymous creature, in giving them more character and humanity than the faceless humans that make occasional appearances in the background.

The first acid test of how good a book is (in my opinion) relates not just to the quality of the prose but whether it leaves an indelible mark in the memory. The second acid test is whether a book gets read again. Given it’s been a few years since I read Lifeform Three, I wouldn’t have been able to leave this review if the first box hadn’t been ticked, and I intend to tick the second in the near future.

[Elizabeth Lancaster · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first foray into science fiction and I’m so glad I made the leap. I listened to the audio version of Lifeform Three and from the opening sentence was immersed in a near-future world, where bods or humanoid robots maintain the last vestiges of a natural environment as a tourist attraction for humans.

The protagonist, Paftoo, is unlike the other bods, and is on a quest to find out why. There is a mystery at the heart that drives the narrative forward in Morris’s spare, compelling prose. This is a layered story with themes of friendship and the role of memory, as well as issues of environmental degradation due to the profligate waste and carelessness of humans.

I’ll be on the lookout for more by Roz Morris.

[Kavita Favelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evocative, haunting, exhilerating, heartbreaking... these are not usually words I expect to write about a sci-fi novel (and I don't say that to be dismissive, it's my favourite genre). But, oh my goodness, Lifeform 3 is so beautifully written, it's so unexpectedly moving...
Others have summarised the plot, all I can say is that I found it fascinating, insightful, moving and ultimately uplifting, despite the dark picture it paints of mankind's future.

[Keren Krinick · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Lifeform Three" by Roz Morris is an interesting and imaginative story of a world where all realities are different than expected. I really appreciated the originality of setting up such a world, and the great way it was revealed to the reader. Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

[Annalisa Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not a huge reader of sci-fi, but the cover alone tells you this isn't a traditional sci-fi novel, so I was all in. The world building is fabulous, the characterisation of the bods was great, and the prose draws the reader in. There's tension, mystery, and friendships which overcome having memories wiped and starting over. I'm glad I picked this novel up.

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some writers can craft amazing stories when the stakes are low. This is an example of why that's such a difficult undertaking.

You'd think the premise of menial labour robots gradually gaining sentience while working on a historical estate would have endless possibilities for exploring various themes and unique takes on character development. Unfortunately, this author decided to go down the path of human-adjacent intelligence within the robots who happened to have shockingly similar desires to meaning-starved people. And so what we ended up with was a story that felt painfully similar to most of the artificial sentience takes in the sci-fi space.

The convenient amnesia did most of the heavy lifting within the central mystery element, which only went on for as long as it did thanks to characters withholding information for plot reasons.
This also meant that the little character development didn't feel gratifying due to the sense that we were simply getting back to a previous state.

It wasn't all bad, though. Some of the twists were handled well, and there was enough creativity to keep me on my toes regarding where the story was headed. I wouldn't have predicted the outcome, but I can't exactly say the outcome was that great either, so.... 2 stars it is.

[C.J. J Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting little book, set far in the future where little robots take care of everything for humans. That is until a bod called Paftoo starts thinking for himself.

[Amie McCracken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emotional ride

I felt a very deep connection to Paftoo. This world is engrossing and I would love to see other sides to it, but Paftoo's story alone was beautiful and complex.

[RK Wallis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful clean prose with a satisfying climax.

[Jeff Carpenter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too sci-fi and kind of ragged prose.