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Community comment are the opinions of contributing users. These comment do not represent the opinions of Vancouver Public Library.
Jun 23, 2018wnoack rated this title 1.5 out of 5 stars
I really wanted to like this book. Off the top - the format is the most unique aspect of Dr. Wilson's novel. I enjoyed that every chapter was a 'recount' told from a different character perspective from around the globe - from different backgrounds, classes, cultures, and so on. The set-up for the coming robot war is very cool as well - it seems like a formidable foe is on the horizon. However, that's as far as my enjoyment went. Once the robot war begins, the novel ends up focusing on only a few characters in the war, completely disregarding the set-up of being able to tell the story from a wide variety of perspectives. What was the point of this unique format if it was all going to whittle down to a few select characters? I feel like this was a missed opportunity to give us a grander scope of this transformed world. My other criticism regarding the story is that halfway through, the novel stops being about a robot war and becomes a generic battle between humans and their enemy. I say 'enemy' and not 'robots' because by this point in the book, it doesn't really matter that their adversaries are robots or not - they're completely generic with no real motives or goals. Think Star Trek's 'Borg' but with no goals, ability to assimilate or personality... and I think that's saying something. Lastly - the writing. While the dialogue's fine and characters have their own distinct voices, Dr. Wilson has a great deal of trouble conveying imagery and action. Most of it is confused and unclear. One chapter was dedicated to describing a photograph, and I couldn't help but think 'Why didn't they just opt to including an actual illustrated photo in lieu of this awkwardly-written chapter?' Only one battle scene towards the end of the novel stood out as well-written in terms of visual description, but that's the only time I thought that while reading. Some great ideas, enemies, and a unique format set-up the first third/first half of this novel, but the book completely betrays all of that by the end, and overall ended up as a general disappointment.