Robot Uprisings by John Joseph Adams

8/10

Robot Uprisings is an anthology that looks at what might happen to us if the continuing robotic revolution takes on a sinister edge. The seventeen stories contained within are edited by Daniel H. Wilson and John Joseph Adams (of whose work I am great admirer) and all explore a robot uprising from a different angle.

I did not initially warm to this anthology as none of the early stories really interested me overly. They were okay, up to the high standard one would expect from such talented authors, but they just didn’t hold a tremendous appeal to me, and did not intrigue me.

However, later in this anthology are four stories that warrant the purchase price alone: Epoch by Cory Doctorow, The Robot and the Baby by John McCarthy, We are All Misfits in the Aftermath of the Velveteen War by Seanan McGuire and Spider the Artist by Nnedi Okorafor.

One of the many reasons I read anthologies is in the hope that I read an author that blows me away, leading me to their novel length works. Seanan McGuire has done this previously in the Wastelands and The End Is Nigh/Here/Come trilogy and once again really impresses here. Nnedi Okorafor is an author I intend to read more of and I will also be seeking out the works of John McCarthy.

The stories contained within Robot Uprisings are:

• Complex God by Scott Sigler
• Cycles by Charles Yu
• Lullaby by Anna North
• Eighty Miles an Hour All the Way to Paradise by Genevieve Valentine
• Executable by Hugh Howey
• The Omnibot Incident by Ernest Cline
• Epoch by Cory Doctorow
• Human Intelligence by Jeff Abbott
• The Golden Hour by Julianna Baggott
• Sleepover by Alastair Reynolds
• Seasoning by Alan Dean Foster
• Nanonauts! In Battle with Tiny Death-subs! by Ian McDonald
• Of Dying Heroes and Deathless Deeds by Robin Wasserman
• The Robot and the Baby by John McCarthy
• We are All Misfit Toys in the Aftermath of the Velveteen War by Seanan McGuire
• Spider the Artist by Nnedi Okorafor
• Small Things by Daniel H. Wilson