Robopocalypse

I, for one, welcome our new overlords! (You know you're getting old when you feel you need to explain that H.G. Wells is actually behind a super-popular The Simpsons reference.) Do you like the terminator? Do you like Max Brooks' World War Z? If so, you'll love Daniel H. Wilson's Robopocalypse, where robots in the future are part of our day to day lives, assisting us to making living easier. Written as a series of firsthand accounts in a World War Z kind of manner, Wilson tells the story of a scientist who inadvertently unleashes a super intelligent robot called Archos, who is self-aware and begins an immediate takeover of the world. Before Archos launches its attack on humanity, it infects electronic devices with 'the precursor virus' launching attacks that look like malfunctions, while it assesses its strategies and human responses. When Archos launches its all out world to preserve Earth, a group of Native Americans lead the defensive, using their reservation as a base and a group including robot-human hybrids. Ironically, a robot sides with the humans and breaks the communication between Archos and electronic devices and robots. The robot smashes Archos' central computer and ends the war. A film adaptation of Robopocalypse is in the works, with Steven Spielberg at the helm, and Chris Hemsworth and Anne Hathaway cast in lead roles. Aside from being a New York Times best seller with this novel, Daniel H. Wilson also has a PhD in robotics, and can claim Stephen King and Clive Cussler as fans.