Friday, January 16, 2015

Review Me Twice: Robogenesis by Daniel Wilson


Do you ever read a book with such impeccably worded sentences that you actually have a favorite sentence from the book, and you can remember it when you're done reading? "The calliope begins." The context for that sentence is horrifying and visceral and perfectly summed up in those three words. I won't spoil anything for you, but I really needed to mention that a great writer can make a simple sentence with a perfectly selected word depict so much. In this case, words speak much, much louder than pictures ever could.

I make a lot of facial expressions when I'm reading, if I'm into it. Robogenesis (and Robopocalypse, as I recall) gave my face such a workout. One moment, I'm disgusted and horrified because something unspeakable has happened. Then, I'm tortured by the possibility that a great character died. Then, I'm gleeful because I was wrong and the character is totally fine. Repeat times one billion. And noticed that I didn't say that I'm grossed out, sad, and happy. I'm horrified, tortured, and gleeful. You don't feel normal feelings when you're reading a great book. You feel intense versions of normal feelings.

If you like Robopocalypse, you'll like Robogenesis. Wilson's writing style doesn't change a bit, which is good when you're using the same characters and the time frame has barely shifted. Sure, we're after the New War now, but we're basically picking up where the first book left off. And rest assured... if you start the book and you're wondering where certain characters are, they're coming. The book is divided into parts that only cover a few characters at a time. They're all there, just keep reading.


Sequels are funny things.  They can be either really amazing, or they can be dismal.  This one is AMAZING.  I mean, I was literally a few chapters into this book and Wilson absolutely blew my mind.  He just completely changed my perspective on the characters and his world and even his first book!

It's very much the style of the first book, but that's ok because it pretty much directly picks up after the war ends.  Wilson's writing is AMAZING and his sentences just... draw you in.  I listened to the audio and honestly, it was fantastic.  The guy knows how to write.  There were times that I could SEE what was happening so clearly!

And I got so attached to so many of the characters.  I really liked Matilda Perez in the last book, so much so that I wish that we got to see more of her, and Wilson really delivered in this book I think.  We got to see her grow up a little, really get involved in the war, experience life and loss and see her come into her power.

It was just a FANTASTIC book, and if you read the first one, you should read the second one.  If you have read the first one... well, you need to do that already!

No comments:

Post a Comment