As he did in Robopocalypse, Daniel Wilson masterfully envisions a frightening near-future world. In Amped, people are implanted with a device that makes them capable of superhuman feats. The powerful technology has profound consequences for society, and soon a set of laws is passed that restricts the abilities—and rights—of "amplified" humans. On the day that the Supreme Court passes the first of these laws, twenty-nine-year-old Owen Gray joins the ranks of a new persecuted underclass known as "amps." Owen is forced to go on the run, desperate to reach an outpost in Oklahoma where, it is rumored, a group of the most enhanced amps may be about to change the world—or destroy it.
Once again, Daniel H. Wilson's background as a scientist serves him well in this technologically savvy thriller that delivers first-rate entertainment, as Wilson takes the "what if" question in entirely unexpected directions. Fans of Robopocalypse are sure to be delighted, and legions of new fans will want to get "amped" this summer.
As he did in Robopocalypse, Daniel Wilson masterfully envisions a frightening near-future world. In Amped, people are implanted with a device that makes them capable of superhuman feats. The powerful technology has profound consequences for society, and soon a set of laws is passed that restricts the abilities—and rights—of "amplified" humans. On the day that the Supreme Court passes the first of these laws, twenty-nine-year-old Owen Gray joins the ranks of a new persecuted underclass known as "amps." Owen is forced to go on the run, desperate to reach an outpost in Oklahoma where, it is rumored, a group of the most enhanced amps may be about to change the world—or destroy it.
Once again, Daniel H. Wilson's background as a scientist serves him well in this technologically savvy thriller that delivers first-rate entertainment, as Wilson takes the "what if" question in entirely unexpected directions. Fans of Robopocalypse are sure to be delighted, and legions of new fans will want to get "amped" this summer.
Critiques-
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April 23, 2012
Owen Gray is an ordinary 29-year-old high school teacher implanted with a medical chip that controls his epilepsy. When the Supreme Court rules that “Amps,” people whose chips give them enhanced abilities, are not a protected class shielded from discrimination, Owen’s father, who’s also his neurosurgeon, reveals that Owen’s chip is “something extra,” and Owen is now in danger from “pure pride” activists. He takes off for an Oklahoma trailer park called Eden where chip designer Jim Howard lives alongside other implantees whose only protection now is each other. Most just want to live normal lives, but ex-soldier Lyle Crosby intends to exploit their enhancements to start a war, and Owen is thrust into the fight. Wilson keeps the action and fear-based prejudice ever-present without sacrificing depth. The story’s heart is the moral quandary Owen faces once he knows his implant only responds to his deepest thoughts, keeping the reader wondering how far he will go and how much he is willing to sacrifice. Agent: Laurie Fox, Linda Chester Literary Agency. -
June 1, 2012
In the near future, a schoolteacher with a cranially implanted "amp" must master an array of hidden talents when a wave of bigotry against those like him threatens to tear the country apart. A few decades ago, the government began installing "amps"--small devices, generally designed to aid in concentration and mental focus--into the brains of underprivileged and otherwise challenged children. Now, a political movement led by a rabble-rousing Senator seeks to strip "amps" (as implanted individuals are derogatorily called) of their basic rights as citizens based on the argument that they are no longer truly human. Teacher and amp Owen Gray, troubled after witnessing the suicide of an amp student, learns from his scientist father that the implant he received as a teen is something rather more than the anti-epilepsy device he'd always thought it was. Gray leaves moments before an explosion kills his father and destroys his lab. Following his father's last advice and fearing for his life, Gray heads for an amp haven--a trailer park in Oklahoma called Eden. There he meets Lyle Crosby, an amp whose military-grade Zenith class amp makes him a super soldier. As Lyle helps Owen unlock the hidden powers bestowed on him by his supercharged amp, Owen must decide how far he's willing to follow the charismatic but unpredictable and often violent Lyle, as tensions between amps and non-amps come to a head nationwide. Wilson delivers a thoughtful, well-written novel, which, like his previous novel Robopocalypse (2011), deals with the often tense interplay between machines and humans. Unfortunately, while he nails the machine part, the human part falls a little short. The characters lack depth, and a crucial romantic relationship feels forced and unearned. The plot is thin, too, hewing too closely to archetype. Wilson, whose prose is always a step above the norm, is at his strongest creating amp-augmented action sequences and in conjuring situations which explore the boundaries between humankind and its technological creations. Provocative, with strong action sequences, but weak in character development and plotting.COPYRIGHT(2012) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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May 15, 2012
In Robopocalypse (2011), the author told the story of a self-aware artificial intelligence that unleashes an attack on mankind, reducing the human population to small groups of survivors. Many of that book's themesespecially the notion of approaching the concepts of racism and bigotry from fresh perspectivesare carried over to this new novel, in which society is torn apart, with amplified humans (people with neural implants that augment brain activity and offset certain medical conditions) declared to be unentitled to basic human rights and legal protections. Owen Gray, an amped schoolteacher (the device was put into him to control seizures he experienced when he was younger), finds himself suddenly cast out of society and winds up in a trailer park in Oklahoma, where the leader of a community of amped people pulls Owen into his plan to strike back against the oppressors. Steven Spielberg is turning Robopocalypse into a movie, guaranteeing lots of publicity for this compelling new novel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.) - The Wall Street Journal "A fast-paced narrative, not too far away at all from everyday experience, that treats an unsettling question: How long will tolerance last once you can buy a better brain? Mr. Wilson recognizes that, in the modern world, the battlegrounds would be legal and political, not just physical."
- Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing "Wilson's latest novel is AMPED, a post-apocalyptic high-tech apocalypse set in the same mold as his spectacular debut, Robopocalypse. Wilson is a roboticist by trade and he combines his background in space and engineering with a knack for fast-paced narrative. Wilson has done a very good job with AMPED. [He] taps into something primal with AMPED, some of the deep questions about medical ethics, the social effects of technology, and the way that class and politics make technological questions much harder to resolve."
- Richmond Times-Dispatch "With AMPED, Wilson has taken another step to claiming the late Michael Crichton's crown as the public's sci-fi thriller writer of choice. Wilson hits all the notes in the right order and the book's pace is relentless. And perhaps best of all, he leavens his cautionary message with good-sized dollops of fistfights and gunfire. AMPED might have a commendable message about tolerance and civil rights, but Wilson doesn't let the message get in the way of our fun."
- Wired's Geek Dad "Fast-paced...fascinating...for hardcore sci-fi readers, AMPED offers plenty of juicy details to savor. As he showed in his bestselling thriller Robopocalypse, Daniel H. Wilson can write. The Carnegie Mellon-trained roboticist has a voice and style very much like Stephen King. But unlike King, Wilson also has the chops to base the weird beings in his stories on hard science. "
- The Onion A.V. Club "Entertaining...propulsive... AMPED [is] a gripping story of a community of Amps trying to make it in the middle of a prejudiced Oklahoma, where regular humans strike back at anyone with a telltale port on their temple. A piece of trenchant political science fiction about how we mistreat those who are different. "
- I09.com "Thrilling...First he gave us helpful advice for the robot uprising, then he wrote the robot war novel Robopocalypse. Now Daniel H. Wilson is turning his attention to the plight of cyborgs and posthumans with his dystopian new novel AMPED."
- Tulsa World "Wilson's newest novel, AMPED, shares with its predecessor [Robopocalypse] a solid basis in current scientific technology -- in this case, neural implants that treat a variety of conditions. AMPED imagines a not-too-distant world, when these 'superabled' people -- made stronger, smarter, faster by the devices in their heads -- are perceived as a threat to unaltered or 'pure' humans. "
- Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star "A fast-paced, futuristic thriller that'll make you think, especially about the dangers of us-versus-them demagoguery."
- Fantasy & Science Fiction "This is a terrific book on any number of levels, doing what sf has always been able to do best: showing us a possible future so that we can not only attempt to avoid it, but we can also look at its echoes as they already exist in our own time."
- Publishers Weekly "Wilson keeps the action and fear-based prejudice ever-present without sacrificing depth. The story's heart is the moral quandary Owen faces once he knows his implant only responds to his deepest thoughts, keeping the reader wondering how far he will go and how much he is willing to sacrifice."
- Kirkus Reviews "Provocative...A thoughtful, well-written novel which deals with the often tense interplay between machines and humans. Wilson, whose prose is always a step above the norm, is at his strongest creating amp augmented action sequences and in conjuring situations which explore the boundaries between humankind and its technological creations."
- Portland Mercury "Absorbing...Wilson is no stranger to exploring the intersection of technology and humankind. In AMPED, certain individuals have technology embedded under their skin. These humans are smarter and faster than norms -- and because most of the federally funded upgrades went to the needy, the formerly dumb and afflicted 'amps' are scaring the 'pure' h
