'Robopocalypse' is another in the list of dystopian fictions that are wildly popular right now. Set in the near future, it is the story of what happens when the robots we created become smart enough to want to get rid of us (Cue AC/DC's 'Who made Who'). Focusing on a few people in different locations around the planet, 'Robopocalypse' is written as a supposed series of first person narratives, collected and transcribed by a third party.
First, let's talk about the name. It's dumb. The story, though... that's a different story. I found 'Robopocalypse' to be an entertaining, enjoyable read, from the first page to the last. Though it's structure is clearly modeled on Max Brooks' zombie apocalypse novel 'World War Z' (soon to be a film with Brad Pitt, and a fine book in itself), it is not a clear derivative. Where 'World War Z' kept fairly stringently to a third person omniscient point of view, 'Robopocalypse' is far more personal in the narratives of each person. In fact, that damages the conceit of the novel, the device of the stories having been harvested by a robot and transcribed by a single individual--how would either come up with the very personal points of view of each story? It would have been better to have dropped that idea and just gone with a series of interlocked first person narratives (which these are, anyway), without the 'outside voice' of the transcriber.
Never mind that though (I just tuned it out eventually). It becomes unimportant as the novel steams along. It's entertaining as hell! I don't know if plans are already in motion, but if the rights to this novel isn't bought by a studio by the end of the year, I will be very surprised. Wilson creates both characters and storylines that kept me eagerly reading and wondering... is this possible? He makes a convincing argument. I really enjoyed 'Robopocalypse'. If you like dystopian fiction, so will you.
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