Reviews

Amped by Daniel H. Wilson

ajrobbie's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

3.0

brock111's review against another edition

4.0

This is not my favorite genre, but I enjoyed this book. It gives you a lot to consider when technology that was invented to improve life morphs into something else.

beautifully_broken's review against another edition

3.0

After reading Robopocalypse was looking forward to reading Amped, but after the first chapter I couldn't help but wonder how the two could possibly share an author, other than a common mechanical future, the two were indiscernible as stories from the same mind. How Wilson could do such an incredible job writing a book from a handful of peoples perspectives yet fail so miserably at writing from a single voice I will never understand. Amped could have been great, with an original story line, a strong main character and hints of love and intrigue what more could you ask for. Well for starter less random information in lieu of actual description would have been nice. It was a long and tedious journey to get though this book. It never really hooked me. Every time I picked it up, it was a chore. As much as I wanted to enjoy this book it just never captivated me the way its literary brother did.
I gave Amped three stars simply for what it could have been.

starknits13's review against another edition

4.0

So Humans create tech to fix problems like epilepsy and ADD and insert them into kids and other people who need it. The technology evolves and people get them inserted to be smarter, faster and the military gets involved...
Then everyone freaks out and get legislation to pass making discrimination against people with this technology legal. A war is planned. Everything goes crazy.
I liked this book.

itsthebrojoe's review against another edition

5.0

I have recently discovered that I can conquer more books at the same time if I listen to audiobooks. Besides the fact that I love hearing the characters voices I also seem to retain more information from the audiobooks. That being said, even though I finished “Amped” by Daniel H. Wilson months ago the story and the characters have stuck with me. So now I'm going to do a review about it.

I also want to comment on the main complaint against this novel. That complaint being that people are say that the idea is "to far fetched". Are you kidding me? So you will accept all matters of fantasy but realistic technological enhancements are where you draw the line. Right.

So I picked up this book because I was on a huge technology kick. I had not previously read "Robopocalypse", another one of Daniel's works, but that did not lessen the fun I had with this novel. The story felt very natural to me. Very X-Men like. Humanity bans together to stand against the things they don't want to accept, thus, causing a rip in humanity as a whole. The Amps versus the Non Amps. Amps describing anyone with a tech modification of some sort.

Enter our main character, Owen, who was a school teacher until he was fired for being an Amp. His device is only to stop him from having seizures, yet he is looked down upon all the same. He loses his job, his apartment, his possessions, and even his father to the fear that is building up around him. And whether he likes it or not he gets thrown into the conflict.

His Father gave him something special, something that could help him protect people who could not protect themselves. Yet in order to unlock the secrets of his Amp he has to enlist the help of a crazy cowboy who only wants a war. Humans vs. Amps.

Saying that I enjoyed this book would be the understatement of the year. I picked it up and did not want to put it down until the very end. I loved it every time Owen activated his Amp and went thoroughly beast mode. The imagery in the novel is spot on. However, I do agree that some of the other characters needed a lot more fleshing out. The Cowboy needed more story. I wanted to know all about him.

If you have not checked out "Amped" I sincerely suggest that you do. It is a thrill ride through territory that normally doesn't get cover. It is not Man vs. Machines per say. It is more like Man vs. Man with the help of Machines. Either way it is awesome. 5/5. I do consent.

saursi's review against another edition

2.0

The interesting premise couldn't save the book from flat characters. In addition, while futurist Daniel Wilson may have an interesting grasp of technology, their grasp of legal matters pulled me out of the story and made the crux of the conflict moot.

ehausl4484's review against another edition

challenging hopeful

3.75

peteo's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

5.0

I had to check the date this was written.  After the rise of disinformation, Qanon, Jan6, this book was really nailed the polarisation of the population

All mixed with the awesome roboticiness of Daniel H Wilson

mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition

5.0

A great read but also one that fits my favorite genre of sf - near future with basically one change in this case the ability to have an amplification chip put in your head both to solve medical issues as well as physical/mental enhancement - and then extrapolate how society will handle/react to that change. A quick read worth discussing. And a book that will hopefully be a finalist a year for now for the Endeavour Award.

uncannyvalerie's review against another edition

4.0

Really great mesh of technology and humanity. A must read for sure.

Read my full review a href="http://www.ifyoulikebooks.com/2013/01/amped-by-daniel-h-wilson.html">here.