Book Review - THE ROBOTS OF GOTHAM by Todd McAulty

(Title: The Robots of Gotham / Author: Todd McAulty / Publisher: Houghton Mifflin / Publication Date: June 19, 2018)


I have a thing for robots.  Before that is taken completely out of context and used against me in a future Presidential run, allow me to please explain.  For those who have taken the time to read my brief bio in the right column of my blog, you know that the author who I hold singularly responsible for my love of reading is Isaac Asimov.  And the specific book I cite for this is The Robots of Dawn.  I fully admit to somewhat unfairly holding every book that features robots in it up against that ridiculously high standard because to me, the quintessential books about robots will always be written by the master Asimov.  

That doesn't stop me from searching out and reading any and all robot stories I can get my hands on since by and large, I still enjoy them even though I know they most likely will never move me the way that Asimov's creations did.  THE ROBOTS OF GOTHAM by Todd McAulty is a book that has had considerable positive buzz associated with it in recent months.  I am a bit late to the party on this one but was able to obtain a copy from the publisher a few weeks ago.  When I found out that the story focused on robots that attack and take over certain countries in the world and even areas of the United States, I immediately had thoughts of the movie The Terminator. I was extremely excited to try this book out to see if it would live up to the heaping of praise from many reviewers.  And so I began reading with the fervent hope that THE ROBOTS OF GOTHAM would scratch that omnipresent robot itch that I have constantly carried around with me since my early teenage years.

THE ROBOTS OF GOTHAM begins with the description of a world that has been overrun and threatened by evil fascist machines.  The United States is no longer united with much of the eastern seaboard having been taken over by the brutal machine armies.  Manhattan in fact, has been annexed by a robotic monarchy of sorts and is now a no-go zone for civilians living in the surrounding areas.  Other states in the country have sued for peace and established treaties with the occupying forces that enable them to remain semi-autonomous, but that peace is very fragile indeed as open attacks begin to occur with more regularity in the neutral zones. 

The American resistance has been subdued somewhat but there are still pockets of freedom fighters who remain and organize secretly in an attempt to come up with some sort of plan to combat the machine threat and regain America's independence.  The robots are brutal however, and are intent on rooting out and crushing any resistance wherever it is found.  The main character of ROBOTS OF GOTHAM is Canadian businessman Barry Simcoe.  Mr. Simcoe is caught in a hotel in Chicago during one very violent machine attack and is subsequently taken into custody by the local authorities.  There he meets a Russian medic named Sergei who is stationed with the occupying army and a battered robot also in custody named 19 Black Winter.  Black Winter is not a part of the robot takeover and soon becomes a friend of Simcoe's in his quest to find out what is happening with regard to the robot takeover.  

As Simcoe becomes more persistent in looking for answers, he uncovers a conspiracy to release a plague on the American populace to be perpetrated by the machines in a final act of subjugating the United States under the heel of the machine overlords once and for all.  It is now incumbent upon Simcoe, Sergei and 19 Black Winter to expend all effort to attempt to make contact with the shadowy resistance and to thwart the robots' plan of a weaponized extinction event unlike any other.  As they scramble to get this done, they eventually stumble across a robot colony living underground that may or may not be friendly to their cause.  Why they are there is a mystery and what secrets they harbor could end up tilting the balance when the ultimate disaster plan is put into motion.  Through it all Simcoe is persistent in his belief that humanity can and will be saved, no matter what he has to do to make that dream a reality.  Add to that the fact that other countries in Europe are beginning to fall one by one to the fascist robot aggression, and it becomes even more urgent than ever to stop the machines from gaining more of a foothold.  The rebellion must begin and end in the United States where there is still a sliver of hope to throw off the chains of the robot oppressors  What secrets will be revealed in the meantime will shock Simcoe and his friends to the core before all is said and done.  

This book started off with a bang for me and kept going at a feverish pace until about the 25% mark.  It was then that the action settled down a little and the story became more of a technical read for large sections.  This is understandable when you consider that author Todd McAulty earned his Ph.D.  by using supercomputers to solve huge real life data problems.  So to say that he is a smart cookie would be a vast understatement.  And there is a lot of techno-speak in this book, make no mistake about it.  I really did think that the plot itself was quite intriguing and at times, the story of the robot takeover of certain parts of the world was very well done and compelling.  

I thought that if more information was given on the background of why the robots rose up to become this aggressive occupying army, it would have made this book a much better read.  However, the lack of historical context and more specifics on the back story made this a very good popcorn fun book, but ultimately caused it to just fall short of being a truly incredible one in the end.  Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy ROBOTS OF GOTHAM quite a bit, I was just let down somewhat by the focus being more on the applications and technology aspects of the robots as opposed to their particular origin and motivations. There were times when the book really engaged me and I lost track of time, and these were the times when it really sucked me in.  I liked the way that the occupied United States were handled as well, with many of these states broken out into different territorial zones.  The robot plan of dividing and conquering is something that has interesting connotations for what could possibly take place in our own society.  

The confusion and chaos that would engender would simply be incalculable, so it is interesting to ponder the ramifications of what would occur in that kind of scenario, albeit not caused by robots but say with cyber attacks or an attack on our power grid.  in the end, I would definitely recommend THE ROBOTS OF GOTHAM to anyone who is looking for a cool robot apocalypse story with loads of technical jargon and characters who persevere through the direst of situations. Weighing in at 688 pages, it is also a tome that you can really sink your teeth into and enjoy for a long period of time. I found it to be a fun and entertaining read that barely missed delivering fully on a very promising premise.  But that can always be rectified in book 2, which I will be sure to pick up when it is completed.  Overall, a very good Science-Fiction book.


(My Rating: 8/10)

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