Twisted Metal (Penrose series) [Paperback]

Tony Ballantyne (Author)

Book Description

Series: Penrose series | Publication Date: April 1, 2012

The first in a new hard science fiction series set in a futuristic world of robots and fierce conflict

 

Penrose is a world of intelligent robots who have forgotten their own distant past, a world where all metal, even that of their own wire-based minds, is fought over—a valuable resource to be reused and recycled. Now full-scale war looms, as the soldiers of Artemis sweep across the continent of Shull, killing or converting every robot to their stark philosophy. Only the robots of Turing City stand in their way, robots who believe that they are something more than metal. Karel is one such robot—or is he? Karel finds himself conscripted into the Artemisian army and sent toward the frozen kingdoms of the north, and toward the truth about the legendary Book of the Robots, a text which may finally explain the real history of this strange world, and perhaps of his own mind. In a completely alien but brilliantly realized landscape, here is a powerful story of superb action, barbaric cruelty, and intense emotional impact.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Written in a deceptively simple style, Twisted Metal is not only highly readable, but surprisingly thoughtful."  —Times

"An original work with a distinctive voice. It works not only as a thrilling action adventure, but as a thought experiment exploring free will, independence and totalitarianism."  —Guardian

About the Author

Tony Ballantyne is a science fiction novelist known for his debut trilogy of novels: Recursion, Capacity, and Divergence.

Product Details

• Paperback: 482 pages
• Publisher: Macmillan UK (April 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0330478869
• ISBN-13: 978-0330478861
• Product Dimensions: 4.4 x 1.6 x 7.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,307,341 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great introduction to a new series!, July 6, 2009

By 

Glenn R. Bell (Virginia Beach, VA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Twisted Metal (Penrose 1) (Hardcover)

I have been very impressed with the character development and the storyline to date. It's a quick read and I'm looking forward to hopefully any future installments. Very well done!

4.0 out of 5 stars A creative first of three, June 19, 2011

By 

W. Lancaster - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Twisted Metal (Penrose series) (Paperback)

Twisted Metal is a tough book to review because it's so subjective. Your either going to really like this book, or your going to find it boring as dirt so I wasn't sure whether to give it four stars or two stars. In the end I went with four stars because of it's unique premise and themes.

Like the older Science Fiction this novel is an idea book rather then a story book. It's strength is that it looks at technology and another culture and then quietly reflects on the human condition. Consequently, the world building in this book is extreme and detailed. There is a lot of emphasis on how the robots think and how that reflects on their society. To it's credit it never becomes an encyclopedia though and stays away from simply telling the reader rather then showing the reader through action and dialogue.

The downside is that the characters and the plot are just vehicles (In one case Literally) for the worldbuilding. All of the characters are observers rather then actors and at no point do they really get a choice on how to effect their fates. It's hard to emphasis with characters who don't make choices and grow as characters. To be fair, this is also part of the world building in that we find out that all the robots are programed at birth, they really CAN'T make choices but it does make it harder to emphasis with them.

The plot relatively fragmented. This is not a whole story, this is the first third of a story. Now this is a trilogy but I am of the philosophy that each book in a trilogy should have a beginning, middle, and conclusion irrespective of the greater story line. This book just a beginning.

I'm not going to comment much on the philosophy but readers should be warned that it comes across as a little bit pro-fascism and pro-fanaticism though that could be because the first book is setting up the conflict. I'll have to read the entire trilogy to form a better opinion.

So, if you like creative world building and thoughtful stories this is a book you'll like.

5.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly deep and thought provoking fable, June 6, 2011

By 

Kavity Killer (denver, colorado United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Twisted Metal (Penrose series) (Paperback)

I read this based on the blurb from Neal Asher, but this isn't Asher-ish. Not "hard" sci fi, or space opera, or over the top action. This is more like the great classic science fiction...technology and action are there, but they take a back seat to profound sociological, political commentary and analogy. Profound because they are complex, not just bad robot, good robot. Very worth a read for sci fi fans, totally overlooked and underappreciated based on the fact that I'm just the second reviewer.