Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson

The Blurb On The Back:

People should know that, at first, the enemy looked like everyday stuff: cars, buildings, phones. Then later, when they started designing themselves, Rob looked familiar but distorted, like people and animals from some other universe, built by some other god.

In the near future, a massively powerful artificial intelligence called Archos is created and cannot be contained. In those early months, only a handful of technological glitches are noticed by humans, as Archos starts to take over our cars, aircraft guidance systems, military robots and computer networks – enslaving the entire global system that runs our lives.

Then comes Zero Hour. The robot war suddenly ignites and as all the dazzling technology that runs our world turns against us, the human race is both decimated and for the first time in history, united.

In the devastation that follows, humankind must destroy its own civilisation to survive.

We will not be exterminated.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Daniel Wilson’s SF apocalyptic novel mashes I, ROBOT with WORLD WAR Z but the result is a dull and leaden affair, held back by two-dimensional characters, world-building that doesn’t convince and a plot that plods along at a deathly pace. An expert in robotics, Wilson clearly knows his subject but for me he failed to turn what should be a fascinating premise into an engaging story. I’m not sure whether I’d rush to read more of his fiction based on this, I would be interested to read his non-fiction.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster for the free copy of this book.