Amped Audiobook

" In Amped, Wilson explores the line between humanity and technology. As he says in the beginning of the book his narrator, Owen Gray, says that we are our tools, and that is probably true. From sharpened rocks to pacemakers, technology makes a difference in our individual lives as well as our position on the planet. Owen Gray is an "amp", an individual with a brain implant that his father installed to cure Owen's epilepsy at a young age. Many other amps have medical purposes, but some allow people to just be smarter. Wilson begins his narrative with a judgment from the Supreme Court saying students with these implants are not protected under the 14th amendment and have no right to an education. This sets off a series of events in which "reggies", people without implants, and amps are set against each other. Reggies are being urged on by Senator Joseph Vaughn, who wants to preserve the country for "Pure" humans. Thrown into the mix are Zeniths, members of the army who were implanted with amps that basically made them supersoldiers. The whole book leads up to the question of whether amps and reggies will go to war. The book is reminiscent of Jim Crow, apartheid, and the current rise of the American Christian right. Owen's father tells him an amp doesn't make someone good or bad; a person has that inside and the amp allows him or her to leverage their internal abilities. Or something, I don't even know. I found the action a bit uneven, with several twists and double crosses that seemed pointless. There was a lot to work with with the different kinds of amps and advanced prosthetics, and I felt Wilson didn't really explore it as fully as he could have. And the romance? Don't even get me started. This book is a perfect example of why there are good and bad romance novels. Shakin' it off....I thought the ideas here were great, but the execution not what it could have been. "

" Reads like a YA novel and will most likely become a movie, but the idea behind it is thought provoking on so many levels. "

" Interesting concept, but falls flat a few times throughout. Characters still don't seem well-developed, and the story was rushed. Didn't stop me from enjoying, but won't go so far as to call this a fav. "

" interesting idea. easy read. so-so execution. "

" I enjoyed the look into how the world could react to people with implants that increase their abilities. However, I felt that the relationships were rushed in a way that wasn't believable and the ending didn't sit well with me. Without giving too much away, the person that was behind everything didn't seem to really have any motivation for it. Why did he do it? The explanation given behind who his accomplice was and how that came to be didn't seem to have enough information or be plausible to me either. Still a decent read, but could've been better. "

" Fast moving thriller examining what might happen if some humans were technologically enhanced, for medical and then increasingly for elective reasons in ways that make them smarter or more athletically gifted than most of the populace. How might society and politicians react? The author's PhD in robotics lends a nice credibility to the technology concepts. Owen, a schoolteacher with a neural amp in his head that controls his seizures and that he learns has the capacity to do more, gets caught up in an incipient war between the amped and nonamped, or Pures. 3.5 stars, because I am a picky reader. "

" Not as good as Robopocalypse, but not bad. Amps are amplified humans. Storyline was good, if somewhat predictable. It will be memorable as my first cover-to-cover e-book (w/ Kindle) "

" This book made me stay up to late... "

" Ehhh... not that great, written more like a michael Bay screenplay for Hollywood. "

" Not very well written. Characters poorly developed. Plot had many, many holes in it. "

" I'm about half way through this book & so far it's been pretty good. A little bit like X-Men. "

" The first cd of this book was good and then it went downhill from there. I made it through 3, maybe 4 cds before I decided I was wasting my time. "

" I was very surprised by how much I liked this book! A really great near-future exploration of discrimination and how quickly society can tear itself apart out of fear and feelings of unfair advantages. Would definitely recommend. "

" Wilson's second offering and also excellent. More conventional writing style and much more character development in this one. Uses science fiction as a platform to explore social issues. "

" This novel was an interesting allegory for the politics of envy. The premise is that you have a class of people that have extraordinary abilities as a result of technological implants. These people are then discriminated against by ordinary humans who begrudge their abilities and wish to keep them handicapped as a result. It's not exactly a story that hasn't been told before by better authors but it's an interesting new take on the idea and worth a listen. "

" Fun sci-fi from a talented author whose last work (Robopocalypse) greatly impressed me. I enjoyed this one quite bit and it made me think which is a sign of good sci-fi in my opinion. "

" This would probably make a pretty good movie. The plot moves a bit slowly in places but it's good fun overall. It's not a brilliant novel by any means but it's good enough for a fun summertime audiobook. "

" I only gave it 3 stars because I loved the premise of it so much. I felt like the plot was really choppy and inconsistent and I didn't really feel attached to any of the characters. Overall, this book was extremely disappointing to me. "

" This was a great idea for a book but unfortunately it needed a better writer to pull it off. There are too many glaring plot holes to keep track of and the writing is generally sub-par. Very disappointing. "

" An intriguing concept and excellent execution by this gifted author. This is modern sci-fi at its finest. "

" Good, but almost no female characters and a piss poor love story make this too imperfect to herald from the heights. Still, it was good enough that I had to finish it and FAST. "