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speculativebecky 's review for:
Guardian Angels and Other Monsters
by Daniel H. Wilson
Guardian Angels and Other Monsters by Daniel H. Wilson is a sci fi short story collection, heavy on the robots. Some stories are spooky, some are just smart and interesting, and running throughout is a strong theme of characters who are driven by love.
Right off the bat this book almost made me cry with Miss Gloria, a story about a robot who jumps between bodies to protect the young girl in his charge after she’s abducted. Then, in The Blue Afternoon that Lasted Forever, an astronomer rushes home to be with his daughter when he discovers a chilling astronomical event is occurring. My many other favorites stories include The Executor, about a man trying to get the robot executor of his ancestor’s will to award him money for the medical care of his daughter; Helmet, a haunting story about a boy in a world where a tyrannical government is empowered by robot servants; Blood Memory, the creepiest story in the collection, about a woman coping with fear of her daughter after she was born via teleportation; The Nostalgist, about a boy and his grandfather in a slum where trademarked Eyes and Ears allow the inhabitants to experience the world as clean and safe; and God Mode, which I won’t explain, as the unfolding of the story is perfectly mysterious and again almost had me in tears.
The only story I didn’t really care for at all in this collection was the tie in story to Wilson’s other writing in the Robopocalypse series, which I think would have been more enjoyable, and made a lot more sense, if I were familiar with that work. The other tie in story, to his Clockwork Dynasty setting, was a more successful stand alone.
This collection was full of stories that were exciting to read, building on cool ideas for technologies and characters I connected to immediately. Overall I recommend this collection very highly to fans of science fiction as a delightful dip into Wilson’s many creative ideas and obvious love of robots. I’m so excited to read more of his work!
Right off the bat this book almost made me cry with Miss Gloria, a story about a robot who jumps between bodies to protect the young girl in his charge after she’s abducted. Then, in The Blue Afternoon that Lasted Forever, an astronomer rushes home to be with his daughter when he discovers a chilling astronomical event is occurring. My many other favorites stories include The Executor, about a man trying to get the robot executor of his ancestor’s will to award him money for the medical care of his daughter; Helmet, a haunting story about a boy in a world where a tyrannical government is empowered by robot servants; Blood Memory, the creepiest story in the collection, about a woman coping with fear of her daughter after she was born via teleportation; The Nostalgist, about a boy and his grandfather in a slum where trademarked Eyes and Ears allow the inhabitants to experience the world as clean and safe; and God Mode, which I won’t explain, as the unfolding of the story is perfectly mysterious and again almost had me in tears.
The only story I didn’t really care for at all in this collection was the tie in story to Wilson’s other writing in the Robopocalypse series, which I think would have been more enjoyable, and made a lot more sense, if I were familiar with that work. The other tie in story, to his Clockwork Dynasty setting, was a more successful stand alone.
This collection was full of stories that were exciting to read, building on cool ideas for technologies and characters I connected to immediately. Overall I recommend this collection very highly to fans of science fiction as a delightful dip into Wilson’s many creative ideas and obvious love of robots. I’m so excited to read more of his work!