Robopocalypse

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

A 2011 Novel by Daniel H Wilson. It follows the lives of several characters who become pivotal to the human victory during a Robot War. Set Twenty Minutes Into the Future.

A film version to be produced by Steven Spielberg was scheduled for release in 2013 but has since been postponed indefinitely.


Tropes used in Robopocalypse include:
  • A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Archos, full-stop. Freeborn Squad later in the novel, though they fight with the good guys.
  • Apocalypse How: Class 1 -- by robots.
  • Black Dude Dies First: Tiberius.
  • Creepy Doll: Baby-Comes-Alive.
  • The Film of the Book: July 4th weekend 2013, courtesy of Steven Spielberg.
  • How We Got Here: Starts immediately after the destruction of the final A.I. bastion, then flashes back to the creation of that A.I. and the start of the robot war.
  • Magical Security Cam: The entire narrative is seen through the footage the Rogue A.I. has collected, raising the question why the humans would be monitored but not killed.
  • Nicknaming the Enemy: Robots are referred to as "Rob".
  • Our Zombies Are Different: Human corpses reanimated by robotic parasites, used for psychological warfare against the humans.
  • Unwilling Roboticisation: Done to several people by Rob, including a young girl who has her eyes taken out. Comes back to bite the robots late though.
  • X Meets Y: There is no review, preview or description of the book, including the cover, that didn't compare it to "World War Z for the Robot War".