Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson

Title: Robopocalypse

Author: Daniel H. Wilson

Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 60920

Description: Two decades into the future, humans battle for their survival after a powerful AI computer goes rogue, leading all the machines on Earth to rebel against their human controllers.

Rubric Rating: Level 4: Love It

Why I Read It: My husband scooped this book up first and highly recommended it.

Lori's Notes: This was a fantastic read.  The book begins at the end and through the "Hero Archive" we see how Cormac Wallace and the "bright boy squad" have ended up in remote Alaska battling the AI - Archos.  The story is very well put together.  By using the Hero Archive, Cormac is able to piece together the stories of the various "heroes" Mathilda Perez, Takeo Namuro, Lonnie Wayne and Paul Blanton, Nine one Two, and the many others who were indispensable to human survival.  The events take place all over the world and by telling the story in retrospect we are able to be in all places seeing how all the pieces of the story fit together.  I liked how the story is set up in the stages of the war - Isolated Incidents, Zero Hour, Survival, Awakening, and Retaliation.  And having a character quote begin each chapter makes it easy to follow the different story lines. The writing is fast paced and engaging.  There is swearing - but it wouldn't be considered out of place for the situation.

Recommended Readers: I would recommend this book for senior high school students, adults and advanced readers.  Because of the swearing in the novel and some of the violence I would recommend it for mature readers.  This book should appeal to anyone interested in science fiction, robotics, and artificial intelligence.  Grade 11 and up.

Favourite Passages:
"The human beings who appear in the data, survivors or not, are grouped under one machine-designated classification: Hero. These damned machines knew us and loved us, even while they were tearing our civilization to shreds." (Page 7)
"Everything that was needed for you to come here has existed since the beginning of time.  I just hunted down all the ingredients and put them together in the right combination." (Page 14)
"It was like the robot woke up from a nap and decided not to take orders anymore." (Page 49)
"The technology that supports humankind in its masses will rise up.  A new war will begin." (Page 96)
"Maybe I've lost my mind.  I hope I have.  Because I believe that something is in our technology.  Something evil." (Page 114)
"How much change can a person absorb before everything loses meaning? Living for its own sake isn't life.  People need meaning as much as they need air." (Page 210)
"'What can you see Mathilda?' 'I can see inside the machines,' she says" (Page 226)
"Worse yet, the machines are evolving...The machines are now designing and building themselves." (Page 264)
"Mysteriously, these machines chose to defy Archos's orders and did not join the battle" (Page 276)
"It kills me to think how economical Big Rob has been for this whole war.  In the beginning, he took away the technology that kept us alive and turned it against us.  But mostly Rob just turned off the heat and let the weather do his work.  Cut off our cities and forced us to fight each other for food in the wilderness." (Page 319)
"We don't know it yet, but we have reached hell - and as a matter of fact, it has frozen over." (Page 320)
"'All the pieces needed to make you were available. I simply put them into the right combination.'" (Page 340)
"Human beings adapt.  It's what we do.  Necessity can obliterate our hatreds.  To survive, we will work together.  Accept each other.  The last few years have likely been the only time in human history that we weren't at war with ourselves.  For a moment we were all equal.  Backs against the wall, human beings are at their finest." (Page 346)

Themes: Artificial Intelligence, Man vs. Machine, War, Survival, Robots

Cross-Genre Links:
Movie: Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
Movie: I, Robot (2004)
Movie: Eagle Eye (2008)
Music: Mr. Roboto by Styx
Music: I Robot by Alan Parsons Project
Wikipedia Article: Cybernetic Revolt

Possible Discussion or Essay Topics: 

• "The true knowledge is not in the things, which are few, but in finding the connections between the things.  There are many connections, Professor Wasserman.  More than you know." (Page 15)  Describe some of the connections between characters in Robopocalypse.
• Do you think Lonnie and Paul Blanton both survive and were they able to reunite?
• Do Cormac and Cherrah meet Mathilda?
• Where do you think Nine oh Two goes at the end of the novel?
• How do you think humankind will recover after the Robopocalypse?
• Do you trust technology?  In what ways do we trust technology too much?

Other Support Materials:
Robopocalypse on Playaway Audio

Other Titles by Daniel H. Wilson:
How to Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion
A Boy and his Bot
Amped