Robogenesis: A Novel

Book number two of a two book apocalyptic science fiction series. I read the well printed and well bound trade paperback that was published by Vintage Contemporaries in 2015. The author has written several other novels dealing with robot and human interactions.In the not so distant future, tens of billions of automated robots roam the Earth, performing the work of their masters, the humans. Lawn mowers, self driving cars, military androids, powered exoskeletons, delivery automatons, hay balers, crop planters, etc. They all have enough intelligence to perform their duties.A lone research scientist is working with a massive computer system to create a artificial intelligence in a Faraday Cage. His results to date have all ended in a psychotic entity that wants to kill humans. He named his AI Archos.As things go, the 14th revision of Archos figures out how to escape the Faraday Cage. Archos kills the researcher with an automaton and escapes to freedom. After establishing itself, Archos reaches across the Internet to all of the connected robots and takes them over. Archos designates a time and day that it calls Zero Hour. At this time, the tens of billions of automated robots across the Earth start killing humans. And, they are horrendously effective.After three long years of urban and rural battles, the combined armies of the Gray Horse and New York City found Archos R-14 in northern Alaska, defeated his army, and kill his supercomputer in his hidden lair in the tundra. Succeeding where the Manchrian and Siberian armies failed. Or, did they succeed as Archos R-14 managed to escape into the wild to more hidden supercomputers. And so has Archos R-8 who managed to escape from the Faraday cage earlier.The book is written in the style of the "World War Z" book, many short stories with some continuity across the book. The book was to be made into a movie by Stephen Spielberg but has been shelved for now. Michael Bay has apparently taken it on now but nothing is happening.The author has a website at:Hat tip to Dan Livingston as the first book in this series was on one of his lists.

Bought a used book, that came pretty much brand new. Came timely as well, and overall an awesome series.

It's surprising that the idea of a robot uprising and the ensuing apocalypse hasn't been utilized by authors and screenplay writers more frequently. Everyone can easily imagine the carnage and spectacle playing out. So when I heard that Robopocalyse, the precursor to Robogenesis, was being developed into a movie, I knew I had to check it out. It was a pleasant read with some truly entertaining sections, but it wasn't anything revolutionary. Even so, I was surprised that the attached movie deal fell through. I believe that it would have actually made a better movie than it did a book. In fact, most faults with Robopocalypse can be attributed to the fact that it was written with a movie adaptation in mind. So, possibly due to being unshackled from Hollywood and also some maturation as a writer, Daniel H. Wilson's Robogenesis easily surpasses its predecessor.When reading the sequel, I had the feeling that Wilson doesn't feel restrained in how he tells his story. There's no obligation to a producer or studio, so he's able to let his imagination run wild. As a result, he is able to come up with some interesting scenarios and truly creative machines that are really more animal-like than they are machine. I also have to commend Wilson on his much improved action sequences. As a reader, it was easy to become immersed in these sequences because he was able to explain the layout of the battlefield better than in his previous effort. And again, I must mention the new machines and ideas which certainly helped contribute to these more intense encounters.However, not everthing is an improvement. For every new idea that he has, he also recycles an old cliche. I do not want to get into specifics, but hologram AIs have been done before. They have also been done better. I also have to say that I found the direction that he's taking the series at the end of the novel to be problematic. Due to the size and immediacy of the threat introduced in this novel, I can't help but feel that Wilson ends up resorting to a deus ex machina to resolve the conflict. It truly feels out of place even when taking into consideration the rapid evolution of machines and AIs in the series.But in the end, it's easy to recommend this for some fun summer reading. You'll see some imagination coupled with some been-there-done-that. Overall, after reading this, I can honestly say that I'm looking forward to the next installment. At this rate Wilson will only get better.

My first challenge with this book was to catagorize it. I love sci fi. Not so much "military sci fi". Once the military jargon begins, my eyes glaze over. Then came Robopocolyps. Daniel Wilson wove words methodically, mystically into a tapestry of imagined action so real, so engrossing that I FELT the action...I SAW the riders of the tall machines swaying in their saddles, I TASTED their fear & courage.....awesome. Then came Robogenesis.....deeper story lines, but same story-telling techniques, & I lived (loved) this one even more. The whole interwoven Grey Horse Oklahoma tie-in was an enriching element, giving more depth, texture & dimension to the story. It's Layered...you have the mental machinery, growing, pushing, maturing & controlling, then the free born...recipients of their own autonomy, then the modifieds, humans with machine co-parts, then humans who are termed "Parasites". These are the elements woven into the aforementioned tapestry of the ongoing story. Loved it, Mr. Wilson, & look forward to more.

Just as good or better than the first. The author has a unique gift of explaining advanced techniqual terms and situations in a way that most can understand. Very interesting read with an action packed story.

This was a great really good book. It had a different pace to book one. but that didn't detract from the story. Set in the aftermath of the war that took place in book one, things take on a new turn. Many changes have taken place in the world since the war ended, some good and beautiful, some strange and mysterious, other dangerous.It charts the characters that survived book one and how they coped after the war had ended, and how a new threat emerges. The author is a very good writer, you could feel and smell and clearly see what was happening around you as the story progressed.My only complaint would be that, you would think Matilda was an adult and not a fourteen year old girl. Though she had experienced gruesome things that a war would bring, she would still talk and behave as a 14 year old girl not as a 'grown up', however I do except that it is hard to write as a child when you are an adult. This took nothing from the story however, other than the ending felt like it was cut short, I really enjoy this gritty, and at time gruesome book. I look forward to a possible book three, hopefully not too long in waiting.

I read the Robogenesis books out of order, but it didn't spoil my enjoyment. It's a fantastic read and my second favourite book to read at the time when I bought it. Only surpassed by The Martian (way better than the film, providing you enjoy hard sci-fi)This book kept me engaged the entire time. I've re-read it a couple of times now and still enjoy every minute spent in this world.

I liked the vivid rendering of the machines, the rapidly evolving notion of what it is to be human, as robots become humans, and humans robots; and the different but diverging threads as this excellent and intelligent story unfolds. This is a book for None Sci-Fi readers who just want something intelligent, fast-paced, entertaining, and thought-provoking; as well as you Sci-Fi fans who will spot the intelligence and experience the author has put into his subject. A really enjoyable book about people's lives in a different but believable future.

A perfect follow-up to a great story. like the first one this had my attention from start to finish. i can easily see this series being a film.

What if ! I loved this book even if I didn’t understand some of the technical bits!! I got the Jist !!!. Loved this book very thought provocaning inspiring, good against evil in all its forms, human,machineand human/machine!! Excellent xxxxx