Review: Robopocalypse

Good day all, this is the Angry Systems Administrator with a book review. Today I’m going to review Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson.

The story revolves around the creation of a true artificial intelligence, (A.I.) and how it escapes from the lab and decides to go Skynet ((Skynet)) on the Human Race. Unlike the movie Terminator, this AI doesn’t want to use nuclear weapons. Instead it takes over all the robots in use and have them annihilate all the humans on earth.

The novel revolves around a number of people and how they survive and fight back. Actually, if you read World War Z, you would recognize the style. To be honest, substitute robots for zombies and you have the same basic story only World War Z was better written.

I’m not going to say this book is as bad as the one the Angry Webmaster reviewed last week, but the author might have put a bit more effort into developing the storyline. Some of the problems is when this is supposed to occur. The robots the author writes about do not exist and won’t for a minimum of 20 years. Another issue I have is how the military loses control of their systems.

It’s safe to say this can’t happen. The military is paranoid about securing their hardware and having it function even if the “Bells and Whistles” should fail or be destroyed. While they are looking at automation, they have no intention of taking the human out of the loop, especially when it comes to firing weapons. There will always be a human finger on the button making the shoot/don’t shoot decision. After that decision is made, then some automation will happen and be required. ((See missile defense systems))

There are a number of problems like this throughout the book. The AI, Archos, manages to have its self hidden in an old underground nuclear weapons test crater in Alaska. Hello! There were only three tests done in Alaska and they were done on Amchitka Island ((About Amchitka Island)) in the Aleutian islands. If the Author has done a little research he would have known this.

Another issue is power for the AI and the robots. How do they recharge? One group of bots walks to Alaska with the intent of destroying Archos. According to the book this trek takes months in the middle of no where. This shows another problem for the author.

Logistics.

He also has an “Army” marching north to confront the AI and he makes no mention of how the hell they actually get there. The book gives the appearance that they walked there.

Yeah, right, I don’t think so Tim! ((Urban Dictionary: I don’t think so Tim))

So do I recommend the book?

Not the hardcover. It’s not worth the price. I wold wait for the paperback and if the Kindle version is cheap enough, maybe that version. Basically, I give it 2 ½ stars out of 5.

So disappointing. I fell for the hype. 🙁

~The Angry Systems Administrator~

(2 votes, average: 1.00 out of 5)

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