Customer Reviews

Robopocalypse: A Novel

5 star:		(71)
4 star:		(80)
3 star:		(52)
2 star:		(41)
1 star:		(31)

 

 

There are enough similarities present for Daniel Wilson's mayhem infused novel "Robopocalypse" to draw the inevitable comparisons to Max Brooks' sublime "World War Z." This association can be both a bad thing and a good thing. "World War Z" (itself a riff on Terkel's WWII opus "A Good War") is at the peak of the zombie pack---it is where the horror novel meets literature. Ambitious, eloquent, intelligent, emotional--Brooks' tale flawlessly told of the rise of zombies, the human resistance, the virtual destruction of the world, and the evolution of man's survival. Pieced together from various tales from across the globe, this series of fictional essays was as powerful and vivid as anything you're likely to read. Now take the same essential story and the same essential structure and substitute rogue robots for the zombie menace. That's "Robopocalype." By itself, this is a entertaining and fast read--but it lacks the raw, devastating, and real power of the predecessor that seems to have inspired it.

There was little character overlap in "World War Z," however, and that's a primary difference. Wilson charts the same individual survivors in escalating chapters of disaster. It doesn't always fit his predetermined structural theme--the tale is recounted from a historical archive so it seems unlikely that the same piece of equipment would be loaded with the random escapades of this select few across the globe with all that transpired through the years. I know that Wilson wanted to limit his focus, but the connectedness of the characters and overlap seems a bit convenient (some of the heroes are even related--a father in Oklahoma and his son in Afghanistan both happen to be one of the six most significant members of the world population?)--an effort to simplify the plotting for mass appeal. But given the limitations of the set-up and the fact that it doesn't ring true based on Wilson's own plot construction--it is still easy to overlook the inconsistencies of the technical narrative and enjoy the story.

And, I suppose, the most important question is whether or not I enjoyed "Robopocalypse" and I certainly did. The novel will undoubtedly be under some scrutiny as it has already been optioned as a feature film by no less than Spielberg, and I think most will have fun with this tale of woe, perseverance, and humanity. Several years from now I won't be proclaiming it a masterpiece (as I am with WWZ), but its a fast paced excursion combining elements of horror, sci-fi, and action. The characters are appealing and as their opponent is machinery, they are given a unified villain in master computer form. Appropriately brutal, oftentimes hopeful--the novel strikes the right blend of emotions and is singularly entertaining. If this all sounds appealing--I myself crave end of the world type destruction!--give it a shot. A solid genre entry that stands up well on its own feet--but if you haven't read WWZ, please please please check it out as well! KGHarris, 4/11.

I think most readers are going to either love this novel or be disappointed with it. Daniel Wilson is a mimic of Max Brooks, only with robots instead of zombies. The storytelling style of Robopocalypse is almost identical to World War Z. If you didn't like it there, you won't like it here.

While the author's background in robotics is impressive, his fiction writing leaves something to be desired. There are some really compelling scenes -- tense, raw. Genuinely thrilling. Very visual, I can actually see how it would translate into a big-budget popcorn flick. But in non-action scenes the prose is uninspiring at best and just plain boring overall.

I feel like the beginning diffuses most of the tension in the story. The reader is told right off that humanity wins. Any discerning reader would metagame that to be the ending, but I'd rather be kept guessing throughout the novel. Most people have seen Terminator and Maximum Overdrive, nothing original on that front, and this one mixes in some Independence Day too.

Each chapter is a separate vignette recorded during some portion of the robot war. Each is in a different style and point of view, some that feel more like a script than a novel. Sometimes people recount what happened after the fact. Sometimes all the reader gets is a fast-paced action scene. Early on as a result of this, world building is incorporated into characters' dialogue (people randomly explaining things they wouldn't be doing in conversation), making the dialogue itself weak and artificial.

I personally dislike this style of storytelling. I don't think it was the best way to tell this story. The character development is poor. Wilson bounces back and forth between too many different characters so fast the reader is never quite able to connect to any of them. It builds no empathy for any of the characters, and the robots (Archos in particular) had no convincing motive for being evil. He's online for 15 minutes and the first thing he wants to do is destroy humanity. Really?

Part One (almost the first hundred pages) is very boring. It's only when the reader gets to Part Two that the pace really picks up, and it quickly turns into a sprint to the climax. After the intense build-up, the final confrontation with Archos is really weak.

Conclusion: Don't be fooled by the catchy title, beautiful cover, or the author's robotic credentials. The book is nothing more than some flashy action scenes fleshed into a weak novel with disposable heroes. If you enjoyed the style of storytelling in WWZ, you'll like this novel. If not, might want to pass and wait for the movie.

Having not read the other book some reviewers say this is similiar to, I found this a fast-paced, fun intelligent and original sci-fi thriller. Here were it's ups and downs for me to help you decide if it's for you.

SHORT SUMMARY: A very smart computer/robot goes on a mission to destroy the human race and take over the world using robots. As the war ends, one man, Cormac Wallace, recounts the history of the fight to protect mankind through the tales of an ecletic group of folks from all over the world who ultimately unite in their mission.

1. Intelligently crafted: The idea of focusing on such an interesting eclectic group of characters to convey the story is clever and providing a nice, big look at an apocalyptic level tale. There's a Congresswoman and her kids from DC, a former telephone hack in England, a Japanese engineer w/ a special love and affinity for robots, an Indian sherriff, a once travelling photographer... and the list goes on, but all of their stories weave together - and kept me totally engaged.

2. Well-written, though I did occassionally get that "movie script" feel: It's hard to believe this is Wilson's nonfiction debut - because he does write the story in a way that kept the tension going and the pages turning. Yet, I do admit - in the latter part of the book to feeling a bit like it was a movie script - just moving from one big action scene to another for the biggest visual effect. Still, I might have been swayed a bit into that by knowing it's actually being made into a Speilburg movie.

3. Even so, I never had to force myself to suspend reality: The book sucked me in with it's premise and kept me there throughout the long war w/o me ever saying "Oh, there's just no way.". It probably helped that the writer really is an expert on robotics, and it also helped that he'd set up a believable world of robots and how they started to turn against human early on.

BOTTOM LINE: IF you like interesting sci-fi premised thrillers - this book delivers. It's an enjoyable, well-crafted fantasy trip to another world - w/ huge stakes, interesting characters and lots of page-turning action. It's rare for movies to be better than books - and in this case, I can say the book is well worth the read now - even if you eventually see the movie later.

I find it surprising that anyone liked this book. From a literary standpoint, it is not a good read. It's full of plot holes, and it appears the book lacked what the movie industry calls a "continuity person" -- sometimes things in the book don't agree with what was written shortly earlier. (In one example, a character who had not been heard from for several chapters suddenly reappears, without explanation, with a group that the book had never even said he was with.) The way the book is written, with several tangentially related stories happening around the world, makes it hard for the author to really develop any characters' personalities.

I'm not an avid reader or watcher of science fiction, but when I do, I like to ask, "If we accept the feasibility of the main fantasy aspect (in this case, evil robots), is the rest of the story credible?" In this case, it's clearly not. Often, I found myself asking, "Now how could that happen considering what we know about the robots from previous chapters?"

A saving grace for an unexciting science-fiction book would be if the author had broken new ground, that is, written about a scenario no one had envisioned before. But "the machines take over" is a cliche in the genre. This book's premise is little different then that of the "Terminator" movies, that crummy robot movie with Will Smith or even the "Y2K" Halloween episode of The Simpsons when Homer gets attacked by the ice-cube maker.

When ROBOPOCALYPSE was tauted as being the 'it' book of the summer --- I rushed to pick it up. When I heard that Spielberg bought the film rights --- I was doubly excited. After plodding through this dreadful novel I realized it is the perfect example of a book that will make a far better movie.

Though it takes place in linear chronological order, each chapter of this novel is written from a different characters point of view. That is not necessarily bad, but Daniel H. Wilson does such a poor job at character development that you know nothing about any of the main characters (human or robotic) and care even less about them as a result. Wilson clearly knows his robotics, but the comparisons to a young Michael Crichton probably have Mr. Crichton jumping in his grave right about now.

I cannot even see even the geekiest sci-fi fan enjoying this as the evil robot uprising has already been done many times before and far better in works like "I,Robot" by Asimov and even "Terminator" by James Cameron. Absolutely no tension or suspense makes for a book even a robot will struggle to finish. Anyone who tells you otherwise should be checked carefuly to make sure they're not an android!

First, you should know that I enjoyed this book through its audio format, so I had the benefit of an above average book reader who could give life to characters.

The premise is familiar - robots, taking advantage of our complacency, have taken over the world and are now bent on our extermination.

I enjoyed this book a great deal despite its flaws (which I will highlight shortly). The pace was quick and engaging and, unlike many vignette-style novels, I had no trouble flowing from one person's story to another. And I like how the author gave a great deal of thought to how learning machines would choose to kill humans. No Terminators with shotguns; rather, they find new and different ways to exploit our soft, fleshy, vulnerabilities (in one example, they shoot a dart into you that travels up your circulatory system and explodes in your heart).

I suppose I should lay some criticism, though. I felt that the humans were, overall, too successful. In each of the vignette and that while the war had a death toll of billions, each battle seemed to be won with a certain amount of ease. In other words, I never got the "how will they make it out of this one?" feeling. The characters were also very 1-dimensional. This may be because the story was focused on the conflict, rather than the people in it; but I would have appreciated a little more characterization.

One character I did like quite a bit was the elderly japanese man (whose name I cannot remember) who, by rights, saves the entire world.

Dont worry, that isn't a spoiler

At the end of the day, I am glad I gave my time to this book. You should give it a shot too.

Robopocalypse is a familiar story. Man creates robots, robots get smart, and robots rebel against their forced servitude. Though this story has been told too many times to count in almost every media form, Robopacalypse offers a little more than most other stale iterations. It is told in the style of an oral history. But be warned, if you read World War Z and are looking for an exact clone, you will be sadly disappointed. Though it seems that the author had Max Brooks popular title in mind while he was composing this thriller/sci-fi/military fiction, he makes many changes to the formula.

In a subterranean facility, a scientist creates Archos, the most acute form of Artificial Intelligence to date. It knows what it is and what it wants. It promptly escapes its confinements and goes about seeking world domination in one form or another.

Let's look at the good, the bad, and the ugly:

THE GOOD

Some of the details are interesting. The evolution of the robot's ability to hunt down human survivors proved to be one of the most fascinating aspects of the novel. As the humans would learn to deal with certain robotic strategies, Archos would have to find more ways to hunt them down. How does a robot traverse a verdant forrest? How does a robot climb rubble? There is an evolution race between the humans and the robots and seeing the fundamental limitations of each was fun.

THE BAD

Wilson does a poor job of utilizing the dynamic "oral history" story telling device. Whereas this sort of device is designed to give great depth to the world that the story takes place in, Wilson fails to adequately populate his world of robotic rebels with the much desired variety that a struggle like this would certainly have. He follows roughly six different characters at different stages in the war. Each of these characters becomes very important to the war effort, so it is nice to know what they are up to, the problem is, that's all we get. So really, at the end of the day, it achieves neither the character development and intimacy of a conventional story, nor the grandness or depth of an oral history. It falls in between and ultimately becomes forgettable.

THE UGLY

Some of the plot points are almost laughable. I don't want to come off as arrogant or unnecessarily mean, but there were moments in the novel that made it hard to keep going. The most glaring plot hole is Wilson's inability to give Archos a reason for doing anything that it does. Does it want to exterminate humanity? Certain elements of the story seem to indicate "no." Does it want to protect humanity? Probably not considering all the devastating atrocities committed against humans during the war. Does it want to create an egalitarian, half robotic, half human society? Maybe, but its doubtful. Is it looking to create a human robot hybrid? Possibly, but it isn't totally clear. It is unclear what Archos is fighting for and what humans are trying to prevent.

That is just the main one. There are many others including the strange connections many of the characters have to each other, the inclusion of many unnecessary characters and the telling of stories that are somewhat unhelpful in unfolding the main plot.

Also, it is mind-boggling how some of the different chapters are composed.

Whereas in World War Z, the story is composed of interviews taken from a direct source (which always provides a clear perspective), robopacalypse takes a more muddled approach.

The "author" finds a piece of technology hidden by Archos that contains the stories of different humans labelled as "hero." This device includes information about these men and women and it is supposedly the primary source of material for the author. I found this to be contrived on the one hand (far more convenient than it should be) and insufficient on the other (unable to account for many of the details included in the chapters). The product is section where you are not sure who's perspective is speaking. Certain parts are far worse than others, regardless, it is extremely distracting.

Finally, Wilson just isn't that compelling of a writer. Few moments are packed with the intensity and sharpness needed to create a good read. Characters seem mostly the same. The point is elusive.

Bottom Line: Probably should skip this one, especially if you are looking for another World War Z.

I'll preface this review by saying that I love sci-fi and that I'm in no way the originality police. I don't mind a little homage here and there, nor would I fault an author for trying to make World War Z with robots. On the contrary, what's not to love? Robots and apocalypse fiction. Chocolate and peanut butter, says I!

There's just this one giant problem: really poor writing. Every character sounded like every other character, sentences were awkwardly constructed, clichés were in overabundance, and similes were just plain dumb ("All her professional poise drops, like snapping off a heavy tool belt."). And good grief, don't get me started on the endless single sentences for dramatic effect.

They got old.

Real old.

There were some fairly good ideas and individual scenes here, but the mediocre writing invalidated the whole lot of it for this reader. I commend the author for the attempt, but condemn the editor for letting this out as a final draft.

There were a couple of chapters in this book that will probably make for good intense movie scenes, but, otherwise this reads like something a 12 year-old whose seen all the Terminator movies would write. I felt like the author was describing the movie he wanted this turn into, rather than writing a fully fleshed out novel. The writing, dialogue, and characters were all flat.

I feel embarrassed to have been sucked into this hype machine and wish I had read something else. Oh well. Consider yourselves warned.

This novel is the story of a future robot uprising. A scientist makes the mistake of creating Archos, a superhuman artificial intelligence who becomes dedicated to removing the human infestation from the planet Earth. Archos infiltrates computer networks worldwide, spending time learning how to control each major type of computerized machinery. Once he has full control of planetary systems, he launches a systematic, coordinated attack on humans around the world (known as "Zero Hour"). The initial wave of killing is concentrated mostly in the large population centers, which gives the remaining humans an opportunity to mount an effective resistance and eventually retake their homeland.

The plot of this book is pretty formulaic. Nothing in it really surprised me; there were a couple of interesting plot twists in the last part of the book, but even those were pretty predictable for me. Still, "Robopocalypse" makes an entertaining read. Daniel H. Wilson, the author of this book, holds a PhD in robotics. He has clearly spent a great deal of time pondering what a cybernetically enhanced future might look like, and this shows in his writing. I thought the structure of the novel (jumping back and forth between a small number of characters in different locations) really painted a fascinating picture of the global scale of the disaster.

I would say my biggest criticism of this book is that the result is essentially revealed from the beginning. The introduction more or less states that the robots had been defeated, and that this book is merely a recording of the events that had happened in the war. This really takes the suspense away. I know on some level (especially since this book will be made into a Hollywood movie) that the humans are going to win in the end. Even so, it felt like a spoiler to learn that at the beginning. The journey from Zero Hour to resistance to human victory was a bit less exciting to me this way.

All told, I did enjoy the book. It has a great concept and interesting characters, but lacks that extra something that separates a good novel from a great novel. I am looking forward to the film adaptation. There's plenty of material in here for Spielberg to create a very entertaining movie.