Sign in with Facebook
Apatt's Reviews > Robopocalypse
Robopocalypse (Robopocalypse, #1)
by
by
Robot uprising, killing people all over the shop, with this kind of premise what could go wrong?
Robopocalypse is often compared to Max Brooks' World War Z and the Terminator movie franchise for different reasons. The former comparison is because the story concerns a global attack on the human race by non-human creatures and is episodic structure. The difference is that the enemy of mankind in Robopocalypse is not a horde of homicidal robots but a single AI entity controlling masses of mindless unaware robots which come in all shapes and sizes including intelligent cars, elevators, photocopying machines etc. Robopocalypse has a limited cast of characters that the narrative repeatedly return to regularly and even a protagonist who frames the individual episodes and also appears in many of them. IMO the closest comparison is to the much maligned Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (the one with the sexy supermodelesque terminator).
On the whole I find the book to be poorly written, even chapters which are supposed to be a first-person narrative by a robot totally fail to convey the robotness of the narrator. For example the robot narrator describes the sound of a bullet's impact on metal as "PING!". Never mind artificial intelligence where is the natural intelligence in this? Characterization is also not a strong point in this book. Characters (including the protagonist) are generally flat and uninteresting (OK, may be except for Matilda the cybernetically modified little girl, and a perverted Japanese roboticist).
The book is mostly action packed and fast paced though I feel somewhat disconnected from it, which is why I took weeks to finish it in audiobook format. It has already been optioned for a film and I suppose it can be made into a fairly entertaining blockbuster sci-fi movie. At least the audience won't have to read the clunky prose and worse dialog. For my money, PKD's similarly themed Second Variety is far superior.
Robopocalypse is often compared to Max Brooks' World War Z and the Terminator movie franchise for different reasons. The former comparison is because the story concerns a global attack on the human race by non-human creatures and is episodic structure. The difference is that the enemy of mankind in Robopocalypse is not a horde of homicidal robots but a single AI entity controlling masses of mindless unaware robots which come in all shapes and sizes including intelligent cars, elevators, photocopying machines etc. Robopocalypse has a limited cast of characters that the narrative repeatedly return to regularly and even a protagonist who frames the individual episodes and also appears in many of them. IMO the closest comparison is to the much maligned Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (the one with the sexy supermodelesque terminator).
On the whole I find the book to be poorly written, even chapters which are supposed to be a first-person narrative by a robot totally fail to convey the robotness of the narrator. For example the robot narrator describes the sound of a bullet's impact on metal as "PING!". Never mind artificial intelligence where is the natural intelligence in this? Characterization is also not a strong point in this book. Characters (including the protagonist) are generally flat and uninteresting (OK, may be except for Matilda the cybernetically modified little girl, and a perverted Japanese roboticist).
The book is mostly action packed and fast paced though I feel somewhat disconnected from it, which is why I took weeks to finish it in audiobook format. It has already been optioned for a film and I suppose it can be made into a fairly entertaining blockbuster sci-fi movie. At least the audience won't have to read the clunky prose and worse dialog. For my money, PKD's similarly themed Second Variety is far superior.
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
Robopocalypse.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
Comments Showing 1-33 of 33 (33 new)
date
newest »
newest »
I can't imagine Ursula Le Guin or even Asimov writing PING! The author is a bit of a hack I think.I read WWZ, kinda like it but too fragmented for my taste. At least it is well written.
I'm gonna try to read Jonathan Strange and Mrs Whatshername next, I will have to split it and read other books in between, that is how I read 1000+ pages novels now :)
At first I thought robopocalypse was the authors first book because of how badly and shallowly it was written, then I looked and saw he had written several other books. It seemed like he was just trying to capitalize off of world war z's fame.
Do you remember reading that "PING!" part I mentioned? That is so laughable! :DHis other books seem to be non-fiction humorous stuff, I wonder if they are funny, the humor in Robopocalypse is pretty weak.
Let me know when you're gonna start Jonathan Strange-- I'll start Freedom & Necessity (coming in at 443 pages but the fonts are so freakin' small my eyes will probably bleed by second paragraph T^T)You're really in a fat book frenzy! Pandora's Star and now Jonathan Strange. when I read something longer than 500 pages I always felt like I should be getting extra points or better yet Goodreads should start giving out monetary incentive :D
Hmmm... may be I'll try "The Handmaid's Tale" first, it's been in my reading list longer.That Freedom & Necessity looks interesting.
JonSnow wrote: "I COMPLETELY agree with the Subpar prose... I'm doing a degree in English (soon to be an honours degree), and there were so many times where I shook my head in frustration at horrible metaphors and..."Glad you agree with me Jon. I look forward to read your review. The most that can be said about this book is that some of it is fun. It's a pity Hollywood don't pick better sf books than this to make movies from.
Thanks for helping me avoid this one, Apatt. (Someone should have helped me miss World War Z for lack of characters as well).
Michael wrote: "Thanks for helping me avoid this one, Apatt. (Someone should have helped me miss World War Z for lack of characters as well)."Always happy to divert money away from Mr. Daniel H. Wilson's wallet Michael!
Now looking to try some Stephen Baxter, where shall start?
JonSnow wrote: "I hear Stephen Baxter is good!! You must confirm whether such rumors are indeed true Apatt, haha"Difficult to manage my TBR pile!
Apatt wrote: "...Now looking to try some Stephen Baxter, where shall start? ..."I've only read 3, but I really liked The Time Ships (which I see you have as TBR already). He has a lot of far future novels, but I was very satisfied with Moonseed, a contemporary tale of NASA heroism in the face of an apocalyptic threat to Earth. Not much with character development but lots of fun for a disaster story with lots of tech stuff.
Michael wrote: "Apatt wrote: "...Now looking to try some Stephen Baxter, where shall start? ..."I've only read 3, but I really liked The Time Ships (which I see you have as TBR already). He has a lot of far futu..."
Thanks Michael. Would you say that Baxter writes as well as fellow scientist/sf authors like Clarke, Asimov, Brin and Reynolds?
Apatt wrote: "Michael wrote: "Thanks Michael. Would you say that Baxter writes as well as fellow scientist/sf authors like Clarke, Asimov, Brin and Reynolds?" Those are gods (along with Heinlein, Niven, Stephenson, Varley, LeGuin, Bujold), so Baxter for me is in the next level down-- with writers like Poul Anderson, Banks, Bear, Benford, Gibson, Hamilton, Pohl, Sawyer, Scalzi, Silverberg, etc). Which is great company to be in. Good luck to Daniel Wilson. Maybe Buekes will get there for me. So much good stuff out there.
Michael wrote: " Good luck to Daniel Wilson. ..."Poor chap, probably crying all the way to the bank!
Who is Buekes?
Apatt wrote: "Poor chap, probably crying all the way to the bank! Who is Buekes?"Misspelled Lauren Beukes, a talented young South African sci fi/fantasy author.
Michael wrote: "Misspelled Lauren Beukes, a talented young South African sci fi/fantasy author."Ah! Now I remember, I even commented on your review of her Zoo City book!
"Michael wrote: ...BeukesApatt wrote: Ah! Now I remember, I even commented on your review of her Zoo City book!"
Just noted how broad your sci fi readings are getting. You are fooling around with Robocalypse when you could have been reading your first Varley (a gap I see).
What time of day is it in Bangkok. I am sorry you find Burdett to render a false portrayal of Thailand. Like his stories and am fascinated with a Buddhist cop.
Michael wrote: " "Michael wrote: ...BeukesApatt wrote: Ah! Now I remember, I even commented on your review of her Zoo City book!"
Just noted how broad your sci fi readings are getting. You are fooling around wi..."
I read some John Varley decades ago, I seem to remember liking that Gaea Trilogy of his, wish I could remember something about it though. I also read Millennium which was adapted into a bad B-movie in the 80s...
Thailand is GMT +7, about +11 or 12 hours from most US cities. Night and day difference!
Apatt wrote: "I read some John Varley decades ago, I seem to remember liking that Gaea Trilogy of his, wish I could remember something about it though. I also read Millennium which was adapted into a bad B-movie in the 80s..."HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT!?
It had Kris Kristofferson! All movies with Kristofferson are, by definition, great (though "Heaven's Gate" manages to stretch the definition of "great").
I remember watching Millenium on TV, and saying to my wife "I'm pretty sure I have that book. It was by Ben Bova." I went to check my shelves, and sure enough I had Millennium, but it wasn't anything remotely like the same story. It took me quite a while to discover that I also had Millenium which was actually quite similar to the movie.
Derek wrote: "Apatt wrote: "I read some John Varley decades ago, I seem to remember liking that Gaea Trilogy of his, wish I could remember something about it though. I also read Millennium which was adapted into..."Did Kris Kristofferson have a hit with Doly Parton? Or is that a different bearded chap?
They have performed together, and he played her husband in a movie, but you're probably thinking "Islands in the Stream" with Kenny Rogers.
That is, Dolly and Kenny; not Kris and Kenny...
Derek wrote: "That is, Dolly and Kenny; not Kris and Kenny..."Ah, I thought that was Kenny Everett, he had a beard...
Kenny Everett was the one in the Dolly Parton wig...
Derek wrote: "Kenny Everett was the one in the Dolly Parton wig..."😃As I recall it was done in the best possible taste!
Carmen wrote: "Great review!"Thanks so much, Carmen 😊
I read this. It wasn't as good as I had hoped, but I enjoyed it over all as I recall. Sure the robots didn't talk like robots, but I just shrugged things like that off because who knows what an AI will talk like in the future. In fact, it may talk very much human, since we are ever striving to make humanoid AI. I'm really surprised you gave this a 2 star. I would have thought a 3 at least. My rating was a 3.7, because it was kind of fun to read. Perhaps you would have had a different opinion if you had read it, rather than audio-booked it. I often wonder about audio book reading reviews. If the reader isn't your style, but the book on its own is good, but the book reader has say, a bland way of reading.... this could negatively affect the experience resulting in a lower rating than if say, a person had read it on their own with their own internal voice.
This book did take me a while to read as well, because I wasn't 100% into it at all times, but when I think 2 star, I think... really bad... like really really really bad. LOL.
I'm curious if there was more to it than what you wrote which you found disappointing.
It didn't strike me as a book meant to be taken too seriously, was my other opinion, so I didn't really internalize it as a serious book. It was more, just for kicks.
JonSnow wrote: "It didn't strike me as a book meant to be taken too seriously, was my other opinion, so I didn't really internalize it as a serious book. It was more, just for kicks."I don't need books to be taken seriously, I just didn't like this one! Here is something similar that I like much better: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I don't think I'll be reading this, but I'm interested in the possibility of a film. Often, mediocre books make pretty good films, imo!
Cecily wrote: "I don't think I'll be reading this, but I'm interested in the possibility of a film. Often, mediocre books make pretty good films, imo!"Somebody should make a film called "Midieocre Book, The Movie". 🤣
have you read World War Z ka? it's one of my faves:D (but be prepared for some zombie silliness)