Twisted Metal
3.5/5
()
About this ebook
On a world of intelligent robots who seem to have forgotten their own distant past, it is a time of war as the soldiers of Artemis City set out to conquer everything within range on the continent of Shull, killing or converting every robot they capture to their philosophy, while viewing their own wire-based minds as nothing but metal to be used or recycled for the cause.
Elsewhere, the more individualistic robots of Turing City believe they are something more than metal, but when the Artemisian robot Kavan sets out on a determined crusade to prove himself, even Turing City can't stand against him. Increasingly tied up with Kavan's destiny is Karel, a Turing robot with elements of Artemis's philosophy already woven into his mind ... as well as Karel's wife Susan, and their recently created child..
Following the inevitable violence and destruction, Artemisian ambition focuses elsewhere and a journey begins towards the frozen kingdoms of the north ... and towards the truth about the legendary 'Book of Robots', a text which may finally explain the real history of this strange world ...
In a completely alien but brilliantly realized landscape, here is a powerful story of superb action, barbaric cruelty and intense emotional impact.
Tony Ballantyne
Tony Ballantyne has contributed regularly to SF magazines, and lives in the Manchester area.
Read more from Tony Ballantyne
Disputed Histories: Imagining New Zealand's Past Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMicrocosms Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMidway Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Twisted Metal
Titles in the series (2)
Twisted Metal Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Blood and Iron Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related ebooks
Black Amazon of Mars Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsQueen of the Martian Catacombs Anthology (Golden Age Space Opera Tales) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Peril of Rast Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAdvenae Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKaradas: The Veiled Realm: Dawn of Desolation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dragon-Queen of Venus Rescaled Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Effigy Engine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5PLANET STORIES [ Collection no.3 ] Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFirst Evil Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlack Amazon of Mars Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Resonics: Revelations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlood and Iron Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Light of Burning Shadows: Book Two of the Iron Elves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Passage at Arms Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black Amazon of Mars (SF Classic): Sci-Fi Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Variable Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black Amazon of Mars: Sci-Fi Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFireflies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dragon Queen of Jupiter Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlack Amazon of Mars (Sci-Fi Classic) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAge of Chaos Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Valkyrie Chronicles: Titans Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Rising Dancers: Dark Dancer, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dragon Queen of Venus Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Friendly Ambassador: The Beginning of the End Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWind Reapers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Leigh Brackett SF Collection (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGateways Book Seven: What Lay Beyond Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Private Eyes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlack Amazon of Mars Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Science Fiction For You
Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Annihilation: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silo Series Collection: Wool, Shift, Dust, and Silo Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shift: Book Two of the Silo Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Camp Zero: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stories of Ray Bradbury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wool: Book One of the Silo Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Is How You Lose the Time War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flowers for Algernon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Institute: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Am Legend Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frankenstein: Original 1818 Uncensored Version Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cryptonomicon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sarah J. Maas: Series Reading Order - with Summaries & Checklist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Who Have Never Known Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Warrior of the Light: A Manual Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England: Secret Projects, #2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bradbury Stories: 100 of His Most Celebrated Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alchemist: A Graphic Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Troop Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dust: Book Three of the Silo Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Perelandra: (Space Trilogy, Book Two) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blindsight Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Time and Again Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How High We Go in the Dark: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Light From Uncommon Stars Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Psalm for the Wild-Built Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Twisted Metal
25 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Initially, I was inclined to put this one down and forget it, but there is something strange in Ballantyne's novel, a kind of twistedness that held me as he gradually hints at and then unveils surprising (but consistent) plot developments. Clearly, this is the first of a series, and it's pretty good.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This was an interesting book which was not at all what I was expecting it to be. The publishers seem to have marketed it as a rip-roaring action adventure with warring robots. Well the war is there and so are the robots, but so are a great deal of ruminations on determinism vs. free will, totalitarianism vs. individualism, the meaning of life, evolution, and parenthood.The setting is Penrose, a world inhabited by robots. Counter-intuitively, the technological level of the robots is somewhere around Earth's in WW1 - with railways the primary means of transport. On the continent of Shull, a totalitarian state is gradually taking over the continent, state by state, stripping each state of of its precious resources (metal) and using them in fueling their war machine. The last surviving city-state is Turing City, where the people are confronted with the choice of building the minds of the next generation of children either in the traditional individualistic manner of the city or in a manner closer to the totalitarian philosophy of Nyro who put the state above all else and declared that all robots and their minds are just metal to be used in the service of the state.The robot societies are vivid and imaginatively described. At times, the author inserts myths and allegorical tales which form the common basis of the robotic cultures of Shull, which gives the book a far less technophillic tone than one would expect of such a setting and is at times almost fantastic or mythical in tone. The story unfolds from shifting point of views of different male and female characters from the various city-states who are caught up in the war. In their depictions Tony Ballantyne succeeds in making them both alien and oddly human at the same time. I won't get too much into the story here, but it certainly gripped my attention throughout, mostly because I wanted to know what happened to the characters next. The ending was a little unsatisfying, but is obviously setting things up for the next in the series (a planned trilogy I believe).Overall, an entertaining and engaging read which is very different in feel and tone to most other contemporary SF.