Waking Gods (Themis Files #2) / Sylvain Neuvel / 320 pgs

I read this book in less than 24 hours. That's how much I enjoyed it and how quick of a read it is. This is the second book in the Themis Files series, the first being Sylvain Neuvel's debut novel Sleeping Giants. After the first novel, which was mostly a race to recover all of the parts of a giant 20 story tall robot, found buried deep all over the planet, this book deals with more robots materializing instantaneously in major cities all over the world. Are these new robots friendly? Can the first robot, Themis, piloted by Kara, a former soldier, and Vincent, a French-Canadian linguist, prevent any of the threats these new robots pose? Will the Earth survive an alien invasion?

The book is presented in the same way as Sleeping Giants through a series of interview transcripts and e-mails. The writing style is very reminiscent of World War Z. For those into science fiction and action, and want something quick and easy to read, I highly suggest starting with the first book and then reading this one.

Humans, Bow Down / James Patterson / 373 pgs

This was my first James Patterson book. Of course, we all know that James Patterson doesn't actually write his own books, so take that for what it's worth. Unless I read one of his Alex Cross novels, I doubt I'll ever know how *he* actually writes. I was curious about this book because I like a good dystopia novel, and I thought it would be nice to read one that wasn't explicitly teen-oriented.

To be honest, I don't know what I just read. The book is over 370 pages long, and yet it has a bunch of pictures, nearly one on every page, depicting the characters and actions going on. I feel like I'm reading a kid's book. The font is quite large. The main characters, Six and Dubs, act like teenagers, but at one point, they're described as "not yet having reached their third decade" which makes me believe they're adults. At the same time, Six, our kick-ass female heroine, remembers events occurring not yet a decade ago, back when she was just a six year old kid. So, color me confused.

The story involves human-made robot hybrids that nearly succeeded in wiping out humanity in a three day war a decade before. Most remaining humans are "reformed" and live as servants to their Hu-Bot overlords, but many others live in refugee camps outside of Denver, in squalor, with little food to eat or other resources. We never hear of what is going on in the rest of the country, or the world, with the story really only taking place in Denver and the mountains around it. When Six and her friend, Dubs, steal a sports car from a Hu-Bot in the city, they bring down the terror of the Hu-Bots upon themselves and the rest of their human friends. Meanwhile, one Hu-Bot, MikkyBo (I am not making that name up), finds herself starting to feel empathy towards the humans. Furthermore, Mikky's brother (yes, Hu-Bots have families) is dealing with some sort of "glitch" which gives him gender dysphoria. An LGBTR relationship that emerges in the last few pages feels really forced too. And yes, I meant to tack on an "R" at the end of LGBT. If you make it to the end of the book, you'll see why.

I can see this becoming a series by the way it ended, but I honestly don't plan on reading any more if there are sequels.

I, Robot / Isaac Asimov / 225 pgs

I just finished listening to I, Robot. This is the first time I've listened to the book, but I believe I have read it at least twice before. This is one of those old favorites of mine that I turn back to now and then. If you have only seen the movie, you have no idea what the book is about. The book follows three characters across nine short stories. Two of the characters are the subjects of the first few stories, Mike Donovan and Greg Powell. They help test new robots as they are used in various ways when humanity first starts exploring the solar system. The third character, and arguably the most important character is Susan Calvin, a robo-psychiatrist.

The stories span decades from the earliest years of the 21st century to about 2060 AD, and they trace the development of artificial intelligence to a conclusion that is completely logical once you get to it. Asimov published these stories together in I, Robot in 1950 and although science did not progress nearly as quickly as he envisioned, the stories still resonate today. My favorite stories are "Robbie," "Liar," and "Evidence." The Three Laws of Robotics are within every story, but how the robots interpret these laws are extremely interesting. I highly recommend this sci-fi classic!

Robopocalypse (Robopocalypse #1) / Daniel H. Wilson / 368 pgs

I picked up this book because I heard that it was a lot like World War Z but with robots. That's true in some sense. Archos is the first sentient robot in a near future where robots are used in the military, for domestic work, and for factory work. Archos quickly kills the scientist who makes him and sets about with the destruction of mankind. The book is written from the perspective of a man, Cormac Wallace, who was there when Archos is finally defeated. He finds a box that contains video and audio from several different humans who were instrumental in bringing about the defeat of the robots. Cormac transcribes everything he sees and hears in order to create a record of the war for future generations.

I think in the end, I wasn't as impressed with the book as I had hoped I would be. Perhaps my hopes were too high? A book about an unstoppable force that the humans must try to stop in order to survive, written in the style of interviews and action caught on camera a la "World War Z" sounded pretty awesome, but that's pretty much where the comparison has to stop. There are too many mistakes in this book. It was sloppily written. If one decided to write down in a book everything they saw and heard from a box that recorded so much human and robot interaction, you would not write it down in the present tense. Also, if you are transcribing a person who was talking, that person would not be using SO MANY FREAKING ADJECTIVES in their speech. It just wasn't realistic. Unlike zombies, the idea of robots taking over the world is not nearly as far-fetched, so I wanted some realism. The only time I really felt like I got it was in the first chapter when Archos becomes sentient and interacts with his creator. After that, it was all downhill. Asimov remains the King of Robots, in my opinion. I won't be reading the sequel.

Sleeping Giants (Themis Files #1) / Sylvain Neuvel / 320 pgs

I am so impressed with the debut novel by Sylvain Neuvel. Like "World War Z" the novel is in interview form, where a story is being told completely through dialogue between the major characters and although it is no longer a completely unique form of storytelling, it still captures my attention in a way that some traditional format novels do not.

Sleeping Giants is about a huge project consisting of finding pieces of a huge statue scattered through out the world. The team tasked with this is made up of a couple of military helicopter pilots, a physicist, and a linguistics expert. Throughout the book, a mysterious man who seems to have extensive intelligence contacts keeps the task force on track, including even giving relationship advice, which seems to go against his blunt personality. I don't want to say much more for fear of giving away the whole plot.

I love that there are still some mysteries at the end of the book. This is apparently the first in a series, but the fact that we still do not know exactly who the mysterious interviewer in the book is, or who he represents, is really exciting to me. I highly recommend this book and eagerly await its sequel.

Ungifted / Gordon Korman / 288 pgs / 6 discs

                     WARNING!!! DO NOT LISTEN WHILE DRIVING A CAR.
     Donovan Curtis is your normal middle school kid with a tendency toward outrageous pranks. He gets into spitball wars with his best friends, broadcasts limericks over the school's PA system and (the best one yet) skips out of detention and whacks the school's statue with a branch only to watch part of it detach and roll down the hill and crash into the school's gym. With shattered glass showering most of the student body, Donovan learns he might have gone too far. The superintendent marches him into the office and begins The Lecture only to be interrupted by the arrival of the fire department. Donovan is told to leave and the discussion will continue tomorrow. Only it never does and in the meantime his family receives a letter notifying them he has been accepted into the gifted program.
     What the perfect place to hide! The Academy of Scholastic Distinction is for kids with IQs in the stratosphere. The classwork is way over his head and he isn't too sure what a pneumatic schematic is but Donovan brings the robotic team together in a way that might win the championship. But he cannot out run the consequences of his past actions. What happens next pure chaotic fun.
     I thoroughly enjoyed this Truman Award winning novel. The audio is done by several people but it does not detract from the story. Donovan reminds me of several guys I knew growing up so maybe that is why I connected with the story so quickly. The gifted students are portrayed with unique personalities that are endearing but shows how much pressure they feel in their lives. Does Donovan learn his lesson? Well, what do you think?

     Six Degrees of Reading: The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate, Jake by Audrey Coulombis, Slob by Ellen Potter.
     

Mobile Suit Gundam 00 vol. 1 / Kouzoh Ohmori / 162 pgs

I've heard about "Gundam" and everyone always follows up with "its soooo good, you should watch it"; so I thought I would give this series a shot.  Not knowing where to start I just randomly grabbed this book off the shelf since it's vol. 1.  I don't really know where this lands in the "Gundam Universe" and even if this book is considered "canon", but here it is:

In this series, there are four young pilots, also referred to as "Gundam Meisters" since they pilot the large battle robots called Gundams.  These pilots are part of an organization called "Celestial Being" whose purpose is to use the Gundams to attack the other World Organizations in order to stop the current Worldwide War and bring peace.  Make sense?  Yeah, I'm not sure Gandhi would agree with this strategy either. 

The storyline is basically one action sequence after another.  It shows off the individual Gundams' special features and powers as they battle in various skirmishes.  It gets a bit confusing to tell from the illustrations what robot is fighting and whom and what is happening.  Perhaps it looks better on the tv series or maybe the graphic novel would have been better if it was printed in color since in black and white all the robots look about the same to me.