Amped (Vintage Contemporaries)

Many books I've read come up short in some respect. Poor editing, cheesy dialog, outlandish plots, just to name a few. This is the first book I have digested that wasn't riddled with such flaws. The plot is reasonably and intelligent. It appears to have been flawlessly edited and free from obvious errors. Dialogue is appropriate and handle realistically. Most important to a good book is entertainment value. This novel has that covered too. I enjoyed this great sci-fi and loved reading the story. At therisk end of the day, the story is the thing. This author tells the story with the finesse of a journeyman of his craft. Thanks for the great novel!

This is a dark, and entirely convincing post-apocalyptic sci-fi piece, which is probably why I didn’t like it as much as Robopocalypse. Call me goofy, but I insist even my End Times dramas come with some cheeky humor and unforgettable one liners, if only to break the monotony of the otherwise dark and dreary world being portrayed with relentless, grim determination. Something the author gave us in spades in Robopocalypse but fails to do here. Maybe he thought by losing the sense of humor the world would be just that much more terrifying, or that we’d take him that much more seriously. Ironically, I didn’t find it to be so. I found the world certainly that much more depressing, and something I didn’t want to escape to even for a few hours, far less live in indefinitely. And maybe that was as intended. Maybe considering the gravity of the subject matter the author felt it more important to wake us to eff up from our somnolence about a future that we’re sleepwalking into that if we could wake up for a moment, would surely run the other direction from. But for such a tale to be truly effective, you have to want to finish the story. And I found doing so this time around more of a chore than a truly enjoyable undertaking. But I may not have been the right audience for this book. If you like things dark and humorless, then by all means jump in (most people would insist that it’s the only way to dine on post-apocalyptic fare.) On the plus side, the author is wrestling with very real and important issues, far more real and important than anything which makes the headline news. The latter seems if anything like a smoke and mirrors distraction from the real issues of our day. Things such as the ongoing, ever-expanding loss of jobs to automation, robotics, self-service IVRs and websites, and of late, Watson stepping in to do what even most doctors and highly educated people can’t. I guess it’s too scary and too depressing that people face the prospects of being made entirely obsolete in their own lifetime, surpassed and outclassed by AI in every way. And then, to add insult to injury, after being demoted from the top of the food chain, they come to find out their even more dire fate may well be to simply be eliminated from the food chain. Yeah, maybe with that in mind, I can see why the powers that be try to distract people from the issues that really matter. Hats off to this author for at least keeping things real, and for that he deserved my rounding up to four stars and my getting over myself regarding his story being a bit less fun of a read than I’d have liked. If, after all is said and done, he paints a picture of the future that seems that much more realistic and inescapable, can he really be blamed if that future isn’t something we want to live in? Or does that blame fall more properly on the rest of us too busy playing ostrich with our heads in the sand to insist these near-future concerns be front and center in the public forum?

Amped has a fascinating concept, and one that is going to be a pressing issue in the real world in the next 10-20 years if predictions are correct. The book is, in some ways, an examination of the social and ethical issues around what will happen when human beings start to merge with computers. This event, often called "the Singularity," will create a new class of human different from any that has ever lived. The book explores in depth the reaction to this new, faster, smarter human, and from that perspective it is a fascinating read. Unfortunately, the execution is not what it could have been. Unlike in Robopocalypse, Mr. Wilson fails to deliver in-depth characters that involve the reader. Although some of the characters are interesting in passing, they never really grow or develop past what they are in the beginning of the story. Without seeing that happen I found myself only mildly involved in their fates. I never really grew attached to anyone, and although the book does have some "woot" moments, my reaction upon completing the book was: "well, that was nice" instead of "wow." In its favor, the book is a quick read and there was enough action and intrigue to keep me turning pages. I did want to know what happened by the end but that, along with the aforementioned general premise, were really the only two things going for Amped.

This was a very well written novel (AND well edited, which is becoming more and more rare), and I was captivated right through the end. Most of the characters were complex and subtly depicted; I noticed some reviews disliking the main character, but i think perhaps this is due to him not being the flashy two dimensional superhero type we have been inundated with lately! A warning, though: when read against the background of current events (particularly BLM and the counterprotesters in Portland, for example), this novel is downright chilling on its parallels. I found it especially compelling because of this, but if you are feeling particularly anxious or overwhelmed in this regard, it could be very uncomfortable to read. I definitely recommend this book to thoughtful readers.

Though Daniel Wilson made the big time with his previous novel, Robopocalypse, making the NY Times bestseller list and getting a film commitment from Steven Spielberg, he was treading ground that has been pretty well trampled, and though the story was deservedly popular, his writing was still choppy and the ending rushed. But he's a fast learner. "AMPED" is better on all counts. This time the tech is brain-implanted humans who've scared the sense out of the "Reggies," regular human types, because the Amped are smarter, faster, and way more focused than they are, making the outcome of man versus superman a foregone conclusion, unless numbers count. The story follows the emergence of a mass movement to stamp out Amped humans by conservative factions on the one hand and the awakening of the modified humans to their potential and their identity as a group. The central character is Owen, a former schoolteacher and the son of an implant researcher, who thought his implant was just there to correct his epilepsy, but discovers that it's actually much more than that. The story follows his journey of discovery, and offers a much more cohesive storyline, than Robopocalypse did, along with an engaging cast, including Owen, Nick, the hyper-smart ten year old, and the faces of good and evil presented by an Amped up ex-special forces type and his beautiful, stray collecting twin sister. It's not like this is the first story ever written about augmented humans, from Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron" to Nancy Kress' "Beggars in Spain" trilogy, or even Daniel Keyes' classic "Flowers for Algernon," which the author references early on. It is, however, a fresh look at the subject on what is probably the day before it becomes reality, and Wilson throws some very interesting twists into the mix, like government programs which offered the technology to the economically/educationally disadvantaged, winding up with a much broader cultural mix than these stories usually wind up with. Wilson's growing as an author, and Amped deserves much of the hype I'm sure it's about to receive. Ernest Lilley SFRevu Editor Emeritus

I am not always a sci-fi reader, but this was recommended and I gladly put down all my sad memoirs and nonfiction books for a well-deserved break. This book had me hooked from the beginning and kept me on the line the entire read! Summary for people like me (No spoilers) - Main character (Owen) is a high school teacher. He has a device to control his epilepsy. Implanting "amp" devices is common practice in the future. In fact, Owen is one of the few people who got the device purely for need. The government was practicing giving "amps" to all underprivileged children to make them smarter and competitive in schools/jobmarket/etc. Soon Owen finds out that lobbyists are trying to take away the rights of "Amps," as people with devices like this are called, and round them up, lock them up, Holocaust-era stuff. Owen also finds out that his device isn't like any others and is military grade, so he must step up and become a hero. I'm sure you can find a better synopsis elsewhere in the reviews.

I was very skeptical about reading this book. From start to finish this book wraps you in to the world that's not at all too far in the future for us. The main character Owen is an average guy in most sense of the word except for his implant. For a good portion if the story he just wants to be left alone until everything that was left of his life begins to dissolve and he's given the choice. Either he must use his implant to it's fullest potential and make things better or use his abilities to make things worse. There's no option to walk away because there's no here to go. Great story.

The premise is interesting and I am sure with the new technologies coming down the pike we will see more of this. I felt the author did not give enough credit to the American people as to how they would handle this situation. Also The government did not react in the fashion consistent with how I believe they would based on recent decisions that have been made / not made. The writing style is fluid and easy to follow and the character development is also well paced. I feel with these "doom and gloom portents of the future" type novels that they lack a certain degree of intelligence and the net cast over society tends to be a bit simplistic. However that being said it was a fun read and it kept me interested throughout.

I'd read Robopocalypse by the same author and loved it and so I thought I'd give this a try. I found it un-put-down-able! If you like your Sci-Fi 'real' - no spaceships, aliens and galaxy-spanning tales - then you'll love it too. The technology is just 'there' and not the centrepiece, as it is in real life, and the story is about people's relationship with technology. Buy it now and read it now. If you haven't read Robopocalype, then buy that now and read it now too. Catch you later, G.

Haven't read it yet but have enjoyed book 1 in this trilogy so much that I am looking forward to reading it.

While the story world it creates is absolutely mind boggling and very relevant today, and most characters are great, I thought the twists of the actual storyline were a little predictable at times, and also the antagonist(s) were a bit on the cliche side. Still a great read and it does have a philosophical layer as well as being an excellent tense thriller.

Definately a page turner. Was glued till the end. (Aww, it's over...) Seems almost like a prequel to robogenisis. Excellent book.

I always like to try new sci-fi authors, and reading the first few pages I was hooked. A great idea on what technology might throw up in the future - but from then on the plot becomes more predictable, and I found it an effort to finish the last few pages.