Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Twisted Metal
Twisted Metal
Twisted Metal
Ebook449 pages6 hours

Twisted Metal

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

()

Read preview

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.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherPan Macmillan
Release dateJun 18, 2010
ISBN9780330528252
Twisted Metal
Author

Tony Ballantyne

Tony Ballantyne has contributed regularly to SF magazines, and lives in the Manchester area.

Read more from Tony Ballantyne

Related to Twisted Metal

Titles in the series (2)

View More

Related ebooks

Science Fiction For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for Twisted Metal

Rating: 3.379999984 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

25 ratings2 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Initially, 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 stars
    4/5
    This 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.

Book preview

Twisted Metal - Tony Ballantyne

b`book_preview_excerpt.html}ےF寠Y%YQH1Uz߂@FIQO{sջk6"A ï/zspmT}_2_fePV]]_KОTqK]umyRǥZ; [s?^9]s2ԷNå?yʻW޾eqB!B}eѾ_ݛ3g'g>Ivg~x;~ƪ_KZL6YyV:@'_]\Srqc$XK߷gcqr=Uǵ]%ăi8_7gActЋ"4"f՘6f/h=#K_n wes1h=N/k^'cf]Zei;U],D*tڲ~6$Q9TIb!G>fQaSN Mz&龾N@6DS)I朽Ub+)3$);' qx.K$mU;ħJ~"z[Ds$Lnyt-~8]a ꍚ3 d__ՋW' Z{ǯ">M_Rf<_., 9:BfJar`)G?pY47NLOמ 34)o]|G3(p7R}>:qHy x~\>eWwurcUO>;`> i8TpB;39@=cWOQm>#UEO}Zu#_x8e;4Aza?WqBimʅ> BݨJ:&V%OzxdTKV,G-<ݩefq|!>WNS58$R!*3|rg%bz2كH'#h4KXC ܨ]‚^Dz=ܭm99w<( \e(wN?"iy|ݍVUC|Wz,oޔ,$⪅m; >^xnB=aW 95 (T<Ʀ .jȏ^(*3o/nxFHУV68q[ЫB:*ˮkDKsΈk^8{/;;-8U8rWj`Uh:vيޞ ՋNj؉ *׾q]E[--6QG wN`9l{L2qh\= f_-VJ\[\I6) N_y?9"2wԘwm0K r/ ڢL4mR7Hd*<#m:mTRt/Fo1UJ83bA, 䌿3E~"bzaL ~69G1=4M^~,iaъc~jś'ͳJP ߸^]E;w E{pbPwcs }B<a/ kdED&"SLD&PV5@&z*ٻD?@ f t `!P eRnJ6 ,INcЬBޜr=BNƺ^'G%{a#}6iøקI?DS Xz?I3NR'l[!kS©,-S/2ArQY ϠݍX t2YFMQgKhv"o5dG/1DO_-R d9Jܓl`^-{x+Tuʐn D{oGh&PyÌy?AUFzi\XoɄt|F6:$,ߎxr#VYgdǿypugo'gk|'@gGhƸrSlONԖ}aҴpmOuG̐?6RcFQ(fTAy=dN`ڼ$3RO9C%$aPOB a5 ksK?Fn"JoP+ACk [3/@ {QFчܘe}`] g-daqCCQKEsB0gQ'f(I>}/Q*Q@}U- Ҭ DOL .N]:Ao&ܳMnσJ+m <[+4לIɟAEPrω83Hгj-kű%D.&g(|7#Ă609,ƄΝ: l uD]1u*'kTPHKݘtbX8vĔcg4C#ϒ3>J 3E[cZY2EuPя{n0TPκ.e!a \Ịy>WsOy/'7#V)6&&X`#ṉ0^Jwy Dz%`Z.\Zʐ \ʥ(= xԟjts*d:QNfBs?t) W8F.Γyc'_D?}s6F=si'q6{?G67S oMrnHRAl胊e 9|9TD7Ɣ2P+ 1݉>tJ*,of fu4j,=" Qܓ±M%GX qDƲXyۛ\|2֖(țSXSig.뉺i;'8W(F!F+]ab[[Թ giv?[\H R3qb %N"&=iDY*baJ}[%ꠜLQ-AtL/#8 I X8FYpY- %Rx6Tv`xxge Da55fm,fת1$TH\FQ؀ KHB^*--41IjX@T.,18Iݬe<# ("o &D[daF .ބkSx&Bo\P)&LC.-@4:6V!Pp@]<7 TgCg2ȃ}֞Okq`2#{aDH =7^c:%mVzIY{IhZQA]C\7 4oOLWw4o/k/515cS8O+"Շ3 )}R)&ˇ-1baX<:c ՠS2xA_D& 6Y n[I<*`bK_ΨwK,;lȀX%:V=o@^Eg͋UI5'諒[M9dY9se4ȏf=ۧa\lZ#sdA!1P㊂#;^P8A:VVaG~ 9gnjA2q^dhCeaf#!Y ^ۦ ", AR_6AlS2a];wL2ūzL֗Mq-N?`Q ءg9AjFbWh;1\DuYj?Dz'Zrn$v۰E`f/Rz3@'mDS3:&(jv)jo|0D7ٌF⚹'Ie9g9#r5EzhuΈGbs) Y;RM lajOQUgdPƣH\) Q+fm B6e0'1LEsvֳ@ 8X\A`DJ2F)3$!LDnQ:}nX8BC2xd%B(2sY6,_5muf5T-ep[SSu,PjӉ{Frlt:PPMЭBy6?,2nv}9F=3Mk*`70p!'GcT[=v._Z#/ DNӠ82;F7:xL0^C>\eՎo|< |G"lsXⓚAln#;4ecH4i^[500 (h3;wǎ^6L+ cMO C7ƹIOw=RWٙrÆ>CNC9zTȨ7!_İƙX>ݍQX6o¼\r4k]ps4&&&OIbNԣJ|XN].,nQVu|o!t9oloC*\ѡeEMv9>#z"|QO~:6k܎Ikc({_Pufz;"wmu:T7T4Y%9bk 6UP.9d׾3ƀ=Gӌb4HQtu)Qˉ %KFQ各5o/Xh*إ!{M+Ծ ~$wqALXc9$TضE!9 ڵ/1ԜK4t  eIZ'a၀JuFC]22& v=q]ҥIHЁAߠHYZO" <VZ"wIioC/ ^1G0MjɰiP˱XD"Vlwg\gޢ5b 0}_i@0 ByRҜ+DS6X%MUD-҅yy^d!Dq=*Rrj:J!ӪCtn!w@ Z8Yz8f}ʍL''iv-=+[V"'G%9ȠcI k)t-}K@ =vF8shcINx:u0q!(汇XVK0n!yQxsW2&"Im6x.WwDЉ]ƹE,X#YojAsyCGR847kjpʢw|U_X \q]7V *X*XT#;wUBex;4ݥm/5hUb=ې=2zhG{vj೔3/&/%KV,-xofR=C ti:t$"hMI_9fn^;VzD#W& 6-:*D՘pr̿'eȋCCỏB%yhs0%"+ Gi>Q XbҎOaA}x@U/0ьe栅IQJ6^PuТL 4=F(4`;+rm\*'S'̵K lC lrx:i]xq?ZC[EB>8asVzpجy9\aJuEݝYOBZL8Vgv3/ 25hgt"2?h]f 嚢Hw_) Q/ ^#6]Vqs1,9}* Z8}gY񨲔 ژJms7M3VҶgܶ.bڣ]^F_SԤ4. :igRjm$4iK|. 〬P?ůsl.kCl@c\TߌE ʆ8(f[S :2Ot #, WoFqr0uc@q=nA# s)rgx]JhUH>9 - *)qgt4-0Fi{d?3^ܴ\92?5-2͇3;Xt bfzU0V/H5x_CKYl W_ݳ*1c^ S3OCw!SK ֗=sLW,Kt!,Bӌ[^Ww/[& MUG>@U@ޢohCoҼ둈.,܌8#oU#.\7u"˧S0pyhB4j~d6V+=a͜gY{^:~.( \<.O]Ht\Kk6vh yY΃yٓx+\8ƉHMChYwFC!͐X@ZHn퐬#湤b4~M΄aiNơB!òtQivz%kn:F푧e U=6؈rq#κa~+>D[Iz:Nbc)< ],gt9"b0~8+*& 62vR!|'D|OWw7C7/ͯ\bsF^ /Ӊt#H ޒ
Enjoying the preview?
Page 1 of 1