How to Survive a Robot Uprising

Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion

By: Daniel H. Wilson

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki

Length: 3 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

How do you spot a robot mimicking a human? How do you recognize and deactivate a rebel servant robot? How do you escape a murderous "smart" house, or evade a swarm of marauding robotic flies?

In this dryly hilarious survival guide, roboticist Daniel H. Wilson teaches worried humans the secrets to quashing a robot mutiny. From treating laser wounds to fooling face and speech recognition, outwitting robot logic to engaging in hand-to-pincer combat, How to Survive a Robot Uprising covers every possible doomsday scenario facing the newest endangered species: humans.

Based on extensive interviews with prominent scientists and including a thorough overview of cutting edge robot prototypes like humanoid walkers, insect, gecko, and snake robots, this one-of-a-kind audiobook makes a witty yet legitimate introduction to contemporary robotics.

©2005 Daniel H. Wilson (P)2006 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Humorous and informative...this nifty little guide to surviving the inevitable robot apocalypse may have you reconsidering purchasing that 'smart' (read: insidious) refrigerator." (Publishers Weekly)

Great!

Loved it's tongue and cheek humor, the robotic scientific tidbits, and other useful information on survival.

Good, not great

This is a none-to-subtle rip off of The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks, which I cannot recommend highly enough (see also World War Z).

That being said, it's well-read, well-written, and successfully sneaks interesting information about robotics to the listener.

Scary funny

Enlightening, historically and scientifically accurate and comedically precise. Every point made was backed up by real-world tech, research and/or direct citations; every tongue in cheek joke landed like a DARPA directed energy EMP blaster. Fifty years from now, instead of muttering, “Who’s John Galt?” after every newsworthy event, we’ll be saying, “Remember that robot book?” The only issue is that I had to set the playback to 1.3x due to the narrator’s pacing. Overall, I loved this book.

...info-tainment lol

informative and entertaining. I subtracted 1 star for the goofy sound effects.

Great Listen...Just Drags On A Little

Any additional comments?

The research that has obviously gone into making this book is amazing. The author thoroughly goes into pretty much EVERY situation one might come across or look out for during your inevitable battle between man & machine.
I'd compair this book to "The Zombie Survival Guide" in the way he goes into so much depth and seriousness regarding the somewhat tongue-in-cheek subject material of the text. LOTS of great audio clips/quotes regarding robots.
My ONLY complaint of this book would be concerning the fact that it comes across as somewhat dry during some points strictly due to the fact that the author goes over EVERY little detail with a fine toothed comb. This might be a plus to some, (especially in the paper edition) but I just happened to find some parts pretty dull.

Entertaining and educational

If you want a crash course in robotics advances and a bit of humor with it, this is a fun listen. Not only does this cover the humorous "what if" scenarios of robots one day trying to rise against humans, but it covers many of the capabilities that robots currently have (sensors, mobility, communication) in the world today.

I got this one as kind of a guilty pleasure (surrendering to my geekier side) and found myself learning a lot as well as laughing. Those that enjoy sci fi movies will find lots of references to pop culture movies (Star Wars, Terminator, I Robot). I found it particularly amusing to hear these movies referred to more as historical documents rather than "way out there" movies.

The narration can be a bit monotone, but it kind of goes with the dark overtones of the humor in the book.

If you take things in life really seriously, you probably will find this annoying and purile. If you are willing to give into your inner geek and inner child, I think you are in for a few enjoyable hours of audio.

Fun Book

Its a well read and humorous listen. There really isn't much to say, listen to this book to get some info about robotics and laugh while you do it and who knows, maybe, just maybe, if the revolutions comes soon enough, this book will save your life.

the future is not for the timid

A very curious and entertaining way to introduce some "way cool" technological advances with an educated guess at the techno future-scape... or a nut job's look to the future with some less than practical advice on dealing with the requisite paranoid delusions that accompany overthinking. In summary, a great book. I laughed out loud and learned some too.

Great for nerds

You have to be a bit of a techie (e.g. nerd) to appreciate this book. The humor is well-placed throughout the book and the narrator makes it even better. I bought the audiobook for a long flight and it was a GREAT listen. Although, I'm sure the person next to me had to wonder why I was snickering every so often...

Tongue-in-cheek

This book is fantastic. It's funny, engaging, and fairly factually based. The author does a good job of incorporating recent advances in robotics into a fun and entertaining book about how to beat back the robot hoardes. I recommed this short book for a good laugh.