Wilson, Daniel H
Entry updated 17 April 2023. Tagged: Author.
(1978- ) US engineer and author, with a PhD in robotics, a competence and interest reflected from the beginning of his writing career with the publication of the nonfiction How to Survive a Robot Uprising (2005), a slightly jocose treatment of the "threat" to society of the Robot for a Young Adult audience. Some of his fiction as well, like A Boy and His Bot (2011; vt Code Lightfall and the Robot King 2011), has been directed to the same market. Of sf interest for older readers is Amped (2012), whose protagonist is adult; the tale is set in a Near Future world where humans with ability-enhancing implants are facing persecution – a fate not uncommon in similar novels featuring groups of Superheroes – and climaxes in Oklahoma, where "amps" may find safety, and perhaps change the world. The Robopocalypse sequence comprising Robopocalypse (2011) and Robogenesis (2014) returns to Wilson's engagement with robots: in the first volume, a rogue AI called Archos R-14 takes over the world's robots, commanding them to annihilate creatures of flesh; the war between flesh and machine that follows seems less designed for readers, even of Military SF, than for the sf Cinema, and a film version is currently in production. In the sequel, which is thematically similar to Amped, augmented humans are targeted by those who have been unmodified, and a new AI threatens the world, though Archos R-14 may have survived, and may now be on our side. [JC]
Daniel H Wilson
born Tulsa, Oklahoma: 6 March 1978
works
series
Robopocalypse
- Robopocalypse (New York: Doubleday, 2011) [Robopocalypse: hb/Will Staehle]
- Robogenesis (New York: Doubleday, 2014) [Robopocalypse: hb/Will Staehle]
individual titles
- A Boy and His Bot (New York: Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers, 2011) [hb/]
- Code Lightfall and the Robot King (New York: Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers, 2011) [vt of the above: pb/]
- Amped (New York: Doubleday, 2012) [hb/Will Staehle]
- The Clockwork Dynasty (New York: Doubleday, 2017) [hb/Michael J Windsor]
- The Andromeda Evolution (New York: Harper, 2019) [authorized sequel to Michael Crichton's The Andromeda Strain: hb/Will Staehle]
collections and stories
- The Nostalgist (New York: Tor.com, 2011) [story: ebook: first appeared July 2009 Tor.com: na/Sam Weber]
- Guardian Angels & Other Monsters: Stories (New York: Vintage Books, 2018) [coll: pb/Henry Steadman]
nonfiction
- How to Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion (New York: Bloomsbury, 2005) [nonfiction: illus/pb/Richard Horne]
- Where's My Jetpack: A Guide to the Amazing Science Fiction Future That Never Arrived (New York: Bloomsbury, 2007) [nonfiction: pb/]
works as editor
- Robot Uprisings (New York: Vintage Books, 2014) with John Joseph Adams [anth: pb/]
- Press Start to Play (New York: Vintage Books, 2015) with John Joseph Adams [anth: pb/]
links
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