Review: Amped by Daniel H. Wilson

by:  Daniel H. Wilson
published by:  Knopf Doubleday Publishing/Random House Audio
publish date:  June 5, 2012

Technology makes them superhuman. But mere mortals want them kept in their place.

I had thought that Amped was going to be a continuation of Robopocalypse but it wasn't, it was a completely different story.  Amped takes place in a near future where small devices implanted in the brain can fix problems from blindness to autism.  Not only did it cure these problems it made these people almost superhuman.  The government passed laws that dictated that the "Amps" weren't considered human anymore and therefore not afforded the same rights.

Amped is a book to make you think.  How far should technology go?  Where is the line between human and machine?  The book is told from the viewpoint of 29 year old school teacher Owen, who is an Amp.  When he was young, he was involved in an accident that left him with epilepsy.  His father, a doctor, implanted him with a medical amp to control the epilepsy.

The day the Supreme Court upheld the laws that Amps were less than human Owen went on the run in search of Eden after getting a cryptic message from his father that his implant might be more than it seems.  Amped follows the struggles of the country trying to get a grip on the clash between the "regular" majority trying to keep down the super-intelligent few.

I thought it was a good read.  Was it really deep and meaningful?  No, not really.  I'd categorize it more in the fun summer read area.  It throws enough in there though that it makes the reader wonder "what if it really does happen?"  I liked Robopocalypse.  I liked Amped.  I'll be reading whatever else Daniel H. Wilson puts out there.  Check out Hilary Jordan's When She Woke if you liked this book.