Audio Review: Amped by Daniel H. Wilson

Let me start off by announcing that the genre of science fiction is NOT my forte. I put science fiction in the same category as I put things like Family Guy, knitting, baked potato chips, and the Kia Soul hamster commercials: all very popular at some time or another, but not particularly interesting to me.

Sometimes I feel guilty about this. Anytime a student comes to me talking about a science fiction novel, especially a well known one like Hitchhiker’s Guide, 2001, or Ender’s Game, I embarrassingly hang my head and admit that no, I have never read it and no, I haven’t seen the movie either, and no, I don’t even have an copy on the bookshelves in my classroom. But hey, I have lots of Meg Cabot and John Green!

Amped, by Daniel H. Wilson, is the first audiobook I ever listened to and probably one of the first true science fiction books I’ve read in a long time (not including 1984, which I feel is very different from technology robot space fiction).

And that’s pretty much what Amped is. Human robots and technology. “Amps” are a nickname for neurological implants that are inserted into people’s brains to fix problems like down syndrome, deafness, blindness, and birth defects. They also increase a human’s processing speed, which means that “amps” can be faster and smarter than normal humans.

This fact, that human can become almost superhuman, upsets parents of “normal children” and an ethical dilemma of who is truly human and who is not erupts onto the national stage. The Supreme Court decides that amps, no longer being regular humans, therefore do not have the same rights as other citizens do . And this is where the trouble begins for our main character Owen.

Owen has an implant to control his epilepsy… or so he thinks. When the Supreme Court ruling passes, Owen discovers his implant possesses powers he never imagined. But will he use his powers for good or for evil? To help his people or destroy them?

Why you might like this book: There’s a cool political element that you see in this book with the government and the lack of support they are giving to implants, even though oftentimes the government itself gave these people the amps in the first place. Even though I probably won’t read another science fiction book for a while, I liked the realistic element of this story. The audio reader for the book did a great job too.

Why you might not like this book: Lots of vulgar language and lots of violence.

Similar Titles I’ve Read: None. Absolutely none.

I would recommend this book to: Fans of science fiction of course, but also those interested in ethical dilemmas associated with the human brain and medical advancements.

This book, although admittedly not in my comfort zone, still made me think about technology and the potential for neurological implants to become a reality. It’s a whole ethics question: does the use of medical advancements make us less human? Or does it allow us to truly reach our potential as humans?

Deep stuff! Happy Friday, everyone!