[rating=5]
Based on Robopocalypse [Kindle Edition] Daniel H. Wilson
I wasn’t entirely sure what I was getting into when I started reading this. It came from a mention on IO9, and shortly into that, I decided to stop reading the article and just read the book. A few minutes later, I had the eBook (Damn you Kindle! You make it too easy to spend money! đŸ˜‰ ). Turns out, it’s kind of an oral history of the Robot war, with a similar kind of feel as World War Z (another great book).
It’s set in a world that’s more advanced that this one, with bipedal robots out there. Fairly primitive ones, but ubiquitous. Introduce a super intelligent AI, and bam, skynet time. Just no nukes. I guess the Matrix backstory has similarities too.
It’s broken into a whole series of vignettes, spread over the timespan of the war, with a little commentary at the beginning of each. It’s a technique I like, giving an overview that’s hard to get with a more focused story. Sure, there are times where I wondered ‘Where did they get that?’ but it worked well.
This isn’t the robot war of the Terminator. This is the robot war when all your little conveniences turn against you. Where your auto drive car runs people down, then destroys itself in a head on collision, while you’re trapped inside. A hell of a lot more disturbing, if you ask me.
It’s a good read, and while a little more expensive right now, I think it was well worth it.