- The Good: Diverse dystopia; action-packed robot fights
- The Bad: Limited character development
- The Literary: Journalistic style in a traditional science fiction narrative
In a not-so-distant future, when nearly all cars are self-driving and robots help us in the home, an AI assumes control over the global machine network and turns against humanity. Small incidents leading up to the uprising impact a small number of unconnected humans, but most are unaware until the Robot War truly begins and most of humankind is killed.
Often likened to World War Z because of the far-reaching unconnected stories, I like Robopocalypse better because 1) robots are cooler than zombies, and 2) the characters have their own memorable arcs. The stories leading up to Zero Hour are suspenseful and entertaining, but once the robots begin to decimate of the human race and force the rest into concentration camps, the story morphs into an engaging horror thriller. I’m impressed by the huge scope of time and space the novel encompasses alongside the thrilling stories of the individuals who sfight back.
The seat of the resistance against the robots begins in the insular Osage Nation, an outpost of human life without robots. There’s conflict between the Osage and the Cherokee, until entire families of starving white people appear on the reservation seeking asylum.
Fast-paced and action-packed, you’ll enjoy the little girl modified with robot eyes who becomes an important part of the resistance, the independent freeborn robot, the elderly Japanese warehouse worker who fell in love with his robot companion before she became sentient, and of course, Archos, the AI who gains control of robots worldwide and begins the war.