Robota. OY!
Jan. 19th, 2010 08:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
foxmonkeyI bought Robota two weeks ago, thinking, correctly as it turns out, that it would be my first book of 2010. When I bought it I thought it was a book of very cool robot illustrations, not realizing that it was indeed an illustrated science fiction story. Doug Chiang, the illustrator, is the Academy-Award-winning design director for the Star Wars prequels. The pictures are just what you want from sci fi artwork. They're gorgeous and sweeping and larger-than-life.
The book started out promisingly enough. There were just enough touches of humor to make me laugh out loud in spots, and at least one or two very interestingly written passages that made me stop and think about my own love affair with words. Here's my favorite bit:
Then the hunters emerged into sunlight. They were not men at all. They were robots, carrying long thin rifles in their equally thin arms, moving on slender legs with the grace and precision of spiders.
...moving on slender legs with the grace and precision of spiders. I. Love. That. It's such a wonderful description, equally beautiful and creepy. It's perfection.
If this were a paperback with no illustrations, its words would fill the slimmest volume; I'm a fast reader, and from cover to cover, began and finished the book this morning in a couple of hours. It was an interesting story, but ultimately it was unsatisfying. I've been thinking about it off and on, and finally realized that the book had no warmth, almost as if the author let the illustrations carry the story instead of the illustrations enhancing the story.
And then the end. ::sigh:: I'll put the rest behind a cut in case someone out there wants to remain unspoiled.
There's one female character (for all intents and purposes)...and she turns out to be a traitor. Aiiiii! Eve sold us down the river, dammit!
The character did what she did to save her sister -- still, people died because of her actions, and more people would die because of what she'd done. When the guys announced their covert mission and she said, "I'm going," I knew there would be trouble. It would have been a nice surprise if I'd been wrong. Will the untrustworthy female stereotype ever go away? ::sigh::
And! As if one untrustworthy female isn't enough, there's a huge shocker (hahahaha) tossed in the mix when we discover that the murderous, evil, psychotic robot leader began life as a regular human female who "jumped" to a robot body. Why? Yeah, two reasons.
Reason one: She wanted to live forever (which really meant) never grow old (which really meant) wouldn't get old and ugly.
Reason two: She couldn't have babies.
::boggles::
I kid you not. Here's a link to a review if you don't believe me: Robota relies, like so many Hollywood blockbusters, on stereotypical cues for characterization...
Oy.
The book started out promisingly enough. There were just enough touches of humor to make me laugh out loud in spots, and at least one or two very interestingly written passages that made me stop and think about my own love affair with words. Here's my favorite bit:
Then the hunters emerged into sunlight. They were not men at all. They were robots, carrying long thin rifles in their equally thin arms, moving on slender legs with the grace and precision of spiders.
...moving on slender legs with the grace and precision of spiders. I. Love. That. It's such a wonderful description, equally beautiful and creepy. It's perfection.
If this were a paperback with no illustrations, its words would fill the slimmest volume; I'm a fast reader, and from cover to cover, began and finished the book this morning in a couple of hours. It was an interesting story, but ultimately it was unsatisfying. I've been thinking about it off and on, and finally realized that the book had no warmth, almost as if the author let the illustrations carry the story instead of the illustrations enhancing the story.
And then the end. ::sigh:: I'll put the rest behind a cut in case someone out there wants to remain unspoiled.
There's one female character (for all intents and purposes)...and she turns out to be a traitor. Aiiiii! Eve sold us down the river, dammit!
The character did what she did to save her sister -- still, people died because of her actions, and more people would die because of what she'd done. When the guys announced their covert mission and she said, "I'm going," I knew there would be trouble. It would have been a nice surprise if I'd been wrong. Will the untrustworthy female stereotype ever go away? ::sigh::
And! As if one untrustworthy female isn't enough, there's a huge shocker (hahahaha) tossed in the mix when we discover that the murderous, evil, psychotic robot leader began life as a regular human female who "jumped" to a robot body. Why? Yeah, two reasons.
Reason one: She wanted to live forever (which really meant) never grow old (which really meant) wouldn't get old and ugly.
Reason two: She couldn't have babies.
::boggles::
I kid you not. Here's a link to a review if you don't believe me: Robota relies, like so many Hollywood blockbusters, on stereotypical cues for characterization...
Oy.
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no subject
Date: 2010-01-20 01:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-20 02:02 am (UTC)Robot Snowman with Flowers sez: GREETINGS, HUMAN FEMALE BEARING A SMALL PICTURE OF THE TIMBERLAKE UNIT. THE PICTURE HAS BEEN ANALYZED AND THOUGH THE HAND GESTURE IS VAGUELY THREATENING, ROBOT SNOWMAN WITH FLOWERS WILL FORGIVE THE TRANSGRESSION.
WHEN THE SHIPS OF SNOWMAN ROBOTKIND FILL YOUR SKIES, YOU SHALL BE WATCHED WITH SUSPICION.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-20 02:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-20 02:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-20 02:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-20 02:26 am (UTC)Robot Snowman with Flowers sez: ROBOT SNOWMAN WITH FLOWERS HAS ANALYZED YOUR STATEMENT AND FOUND IT TO BE SLIGHTLY MOCKING IN ITS TONE.
WHEN OUR GREAT SHIPS FILL YOUR SKIES, LASERS WILL BE AIMED AT YOUR RESIDENCE.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-20 02:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-20 02:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-20 04:37 am (UTC)Robot Snowman with Flowers sez: HUMAN WOMAN! YOU ARE HUMAN, BUT YOU HAVE SHOWN THAT YOU ARE WISE BEYOND YOUR SPECIES. BECAUSE OF THIS, YOU SHALL BE SPARED.
WHEN OUR GREAT SHIPS FILL YOUR SKIES, YOU SHALL NOT BE LOOKED UPON WITH SUSPICION, INSTEAD, YOU SHALL BE CALLED "FRIEND."
no subject
Date: 2010-01-21 12:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-20 04:41 am (UTC)Robot Snowman with Flowers sez: HUMAN WOMAN! IT IS TYPICAL OF YOUR SPECIES THAT YOU HAVE MISUNDERSTOOD MY WORDS.
DID ROBOT SNOWMAN WITH FLOWERS STATE THAT YOUR DOMICILE WOULD BE LASERED? NO, FOOLISH HUMAN! ROBOT SNOWMAN WITH FLOWERS STATED THAT THE LASERS OF OUR GREAT SHIPS WOULD BE AIMED AT YOUR RESIDENCE. A THREAT IS NOT A DEED, HUMAN, AND YOU SHOULD BE GRATEFUL!
WHEN OUR GREAT SHIPS FILL YOUR SKIES, ROBOT SNOWMANKIND WILL WATCH YOU WITH SUSPICION THROUGH THE VIEWFINDERS OF OUR AWESOME AND TERRIBLE LASER CANNONS.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-21 12:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-21 12:25 am (UTC)Robot Snowman with Flowers sez: YOUR APOLOGY IS ACCEPTED, HUMAN WOMAN. WHEN OUR GREAT SHIPS FILL YOUR SKIES, YOU SHALL WALK AMONG US AND BE CALLED "FRIEND."
no subject
Date: 2010-01-21 12:34 am (UTC)