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]

Thanksgiving Day is never going to be the same me.

I just adore this book. I like the way the story is delivered to you. I will agree the first listen it was a little slow to get into, but that is because you land right in a battle scenery. I have read this .... sorry listen to this book a couple of time. I do skip to certain parts sometimes. If you like the style of WWZ you will like. there are parts that i was glued to & even thought i was there. I loved the delivery of the story. The only problem i can see it not with the book or story. It will be with the movie that is set to come out, now granted this will make an awesome movie. However, it is not a family movie(which you know they will make) Some scenes in this book are a little graphic & i don't see how you could film them and not be "R" or even NC-17.
I would like to thank Mr. Wilson for now making me a little edge on Zero Hour a/k/a Thanksgiving Day.. 8-)

Good Book, Great Narration

Just before writing this review I thought no one else realized that this book shared a really similar feel to Max Brooks' World War Z (not to mention Max also wrote a book called the Zombie Survival Guide and Daniel H Wilson created a book called How to Survive a Robot Uprising). It seems as if others here did indeed notice this as well. As a matter of fact there were points in the book I just felt like the whole plot was lifted and re-purposed. Okay so with all this aside...

The book was actually quite good. The story is essentially a re-telling of how a computer program named Archos found a mind of its own and in pretty short order decided to go to war with the humans. The story took place somewhere in the near future which made some of the story a bit easier to believe.

My 3 stars are really because there are many unanswered questions. So many unanswered questions in fact that I believe there must be another book in the works. There was so much ground to cover in so many years, you really wanted to know more about what was going on. Without giving anything away, I will say I kept thinking "What was Archos' strategy and why did he do some of the things he did?"

Perhaps the best part of this book was Mike Chamberlain who read the book perfectly. Perhaps one of the reasons for why I wanted to learn more about Archos was the fantastic voice Mike used for him. Anytime Archos spoke, I got that weird creepy feeling that added some real entertainment.

Enjoy the book but be aware it feels like it was designed for a movie more than a good book. Perhaps that is why Steven Spielberg is directing it :-)

Good but not great

I think the book was ultimately good, but I kept having issues with the dialogue. It felt like it was supposed to be real dialogue and things people would say in a conversation, but it never happened. It felt more like someone was reading was was written as opposed to having a conversation. This was not the narrators fault. Its totally an issue with how things were written.

Ultimately it was still a decent book though.

Mixed Feelings

The overall story is a good one that, given the style, is excellent in an audio format. However, the glaring problem with this book is the numerous occasions of very campy dialogue and poor character decisions. It seems that any character that is not a "Rob" or the main protagonist is poorly written.
That being said, the overall concept is great and every narration from the perspective of the antagonist and hero are extremely well done. Although I may not read/listen to this book again I would definitely look into other books by this author especially if they are set in the world written about here.

Terminates the Terminator!

This book was recommended by a Co worker of mine and didn't disappoint at all. Great graphic detail of every scene. This narrative has vivid and unique details to the action along with characters who you see develop.

Mikes narration is solid. A bit of the east coast accent comes through here and there but a bit of personal touch is cool I suppose.

What I didn't like is that I was waiting for a big reveal at the end....a set up for a sequel....some type of cliffhanger. (Spoiler alert This does not end like an Avengers movie)

Will this be made into a film....probably. You should be one of those people who "Read the book...it was much better" and really get that internal dialog that film can't convey.

Great book for the Geeks!

Author does a great job describing every scene, very intising! Hopefully Steven Spielberg produces this movie.

This book will open your eyes!

this is an amazing book!! great story, narration, and progression. I read it in my family book club and traumatized my whole family but every single one of them loved the book and read the 2nd one!!

Terrific spins on classic storyline

I Don't have time for a long review. Basically this is a somewhat overdone genre but there are enough original ideas and interesting characters to make this book really work. It's not without flaws but definately enjoyable. Narration was excellent - and I'm picky.

Overall, I was sad when this story was over and think if you like sci-fi and clever characters, you probably will too.

great garbage sci-fi

story focused on creating feeling moments less on what AI could be possibly capable of.

Killer Robots and a good story

This story is written in an imaginative way that works well. Each chapter is a report written after the fact with the actions weaved into the delivery of the report. The story runs like an investigation and a study of the unfolding events.
All that aside...the story is delivered well with characters developing in a credible way. The robot part isn’t a crazy or silly accident gone wrong but is aligned with an Isaac Asimov scenario of robot evolution. Believable premise. A very fine read (listen) with the narrator playing the parts well.
The ending was wrapped up too fast with a few story elements left dangling. Or perhaps a segue to a second novel...I hope.