Robopocalypse

A Novel

By: Daniel H. Wilson

Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain

Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

They are in your house. They are in your car. They are in the skies…Now they’re coming for you.

In the near future, at a moment no one will notice, all the dazzling technology that runs our world will unite and turn against us. Taking on the persona of a shy human boy, a childlike but massively powerful artificial intelligence known as Archos comes online and assumes control over the global network of machines that regulate everything from transportation to utilities, defense and communication. In the months leading up to this, sporadic glitches are noticed by a handful of unconnected humans – a single mother disconcerted by her daughter’s menacing “smart” toys, a lonely Japanese bachelor who is victimized by his domestic robot companion, an isolated U.S. soldier who witnesses a ‘pacification unit’ go haywire – but most are unaware of the growing rebellion until it is too late.

When the Robot War ignites -- at a moment known later as Zero Hour -- humankind will be both decimated and, possibly, for the first time in history, united. Robopocalypse is a brilliantly conceived action-filled epic, a terrifying story with heart-stopping implications for the real technology all around us…and an entertaining and engaging thriller unlike anything else written in years.

©2011 Daniel H. Wilson (P)2011 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

2012, ALA Alex Award, Winner

“Daniel H. Wilson’s Robopocalypse is...an ingenious, instantly visual story of war between humans and robots.” [Janet Maslin, New York Times]

“It’s terrific page-turning fun.” [Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly]

Run….Forest….Run!!!

When Asimov (I, Robot) and Matheson (I am Legend) set the bar for the for the killer robot and zombie story…many, many years ago…it’s hard to imagine really successful works following. But, great authors have amazingly done it…produced well thought out, original ideas that earn them the right to sit on the shelf next to their ground breaking predecessors. Dr. Wilson, a genuine “mad” scientist, has successfully done it with Robopocalypse. I read reviews that compared this to Max Brooks (World War Z)…and the book is similar to Brooks, in that dooms day is chronologically covered through different characters. I loved both books…gives the story a much broader scope…and bigger feel. Both zombie and apocalypse junkies will not be disappointed…gore, battles, villains and heroes….something for the entire family!

good start, development, and story

Yes it was a good book and I liked the character development. A classic view of good and evil in the future. The only beef was the endding, felt clipped, rushed and dry. If you liked "how to survive a robot uprising" you will like this book.

Robopacalypse - Superb!!!

Where does Robopocalypse rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It ranks up there amoungst the best i've ever read. It pulls you into the story immediately... and never lets you go. At each scene, you are on the edge of your seat, waiting in anticipation about what's going to happen next. And the weird part it, you almst feel sorry for "Rob"... according to him, his plans were just.

What did you like best about this story?

The opening salvo in the beggining. Story's like this, have to have a great start, or else it won't be as compelling, if not at all. We learn how Rob comes to be, how he takes over, and from there... chaos ensues.

Have you listened to any of Mike Chamberlain’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No really extreme reactions, sorta of pity for the characters, especially around Zero Hour. Let's face it, these poor people didn't see it coming, and they were helpless to stop it. I do admit, the little girl's whose car drove into the river and she drowned, that was sad.

Prepare for the singularity

an interesting take on the singularity event. would like to hear how the world adapts to their new world following the event portrayed in the book.

Awesome book

I got assigned this in high school and blew it off totally shouldent have it was amazing

Decent story, but not carefully crafted

This was em enjoyable book with an interesting plotline. Unfortunately, there were a few affects that bugged me throughout. The book kiss set up as a retelling of events from surveillance footage. With that premise, I shouldn't know what characters are thinking, but that was often included along with other things that are difficult to believe could have been surveiled. In a few instances, child characters used words they really shouldn't know, but that was rare.

The narrator did a good job of keeping most character voices distinct by changing pitch, accent, and even a little tempo. Every once in a while, characters sounded a little too similar to me, hence the not perfect score.

Overall, an enjoyable performance, but not a great one.

Great story. Difficult to follow.

I really really enjoyed The concept of this book. However; The way it was written made it very difficult to follow. With a lot of assumed knowledge and many different characters written in the first person I often felt lost

Don't expect much

if you're looking for a simple Sci-Fi Action piece to give you some distraction, you found it.

perfect

well I really enjoyed this book, working in data science it gave me another perspective on creating AI

Best Audio Book Ever - Great SciFi

I have dozens of books in my audible account and this my new favorite. I enjoyed this book every bit as much as On The Beach and the many Asimov stories I read in my younger days. I selected this novel more for its content, as the author had a previous non-fiction work covering basically the same subject, but I was pleasantly surprised with how this author did on his first try at a novel. The author creates a much more plausible scenario for a robot uprising than the Terminator franchise. I also found the brotherhood themes interesting since I never had one. I highly recommend this book, not only to sci-fi buffs but anyone who is fascinated with the trajectory of the digital age.