top of page

Robot Uprisings - Check your pants

I picked up a copy of this book as soon as it came out. I'm a recent fan of Daniel H. Wilsons and really apprecaite his take on the possible path our future with technology may take. His previous books Robopocalypse and Amped were two I enjoyed greatly, even if it does sometimes seem the author has more sympathy or compassion for his robot characters than his human ones!

Personally, despite being raised on Terminator....or maybe because I was raised on Terminator, when I thought of the A.I. moment that would signal the end of mankind, I always pictured a cyborg. I'd never actually imagined the various ways in which our lives could be completely taken over by the little things we walk past every day. Two examples shown in this anthology, that forced me to question my mindset, include the machines that make our foods adding small trace elements of additives that makes us slow and forgetful or cars that are completely controlled by their GPS system. The fact that one is passive and non threatening whilst the other could not be a more horrifying way to go only shows how wide open we have left ourselves.

You think not? Imagine receiving a panicked phone message from a loved one telling you to meet them somewhere, an elevator imploring you to evacuate the building due to fire and then dropping you, or a child's favourite toy suddenly deciding it does not like being played with. Each story in the collection examines a different element of this techno uprising and there are enough to ensure you'll never walk past a electronic billboard or drink machine without double checking behind you.

This is a fantastic lead in to Wilsons next book Robogenesis which is due out in a months time. If you are looking forward to this release you can order a signed first edition through VJBooks for about $30.

Charlie Hopkins

Featured Review
Tag Cloud
http://charliehopkins.wix.com/areadingmachine/feed.xml
bottom of page