Robots are doing wonderful things in the world right now. They can replace limbs of amputees, perform surgery, and even vacuum your floor...kind of. This is all fine and good, but at some point we have to start addressing the serious problems. Like aliens, zombies, and pirates!

How to Build a Robot Army is a guide that teaches you how to do just that, and just like How to Survive a Robot Uprising it falls a little short of my expectations. The issue with both books is that Daniel Wilson is that they want to be humorous, but the author is actually very knowledgeable about the subject and offers lots of technical information about modern robotics. I actually appreciate this greatly, and would be happy to read a serious nonfiction book on the subject, but in this case it drags down an otherwise lighthearted read. The result is something that is too dry to stand up to other books in the humor section and too casual to be taken seriously as a robotics nonfiction.

The best section was towards the end, the Robots Vs. The Universe section, in which the author actually imagines how different kinds of robots could combat different types of invaders. The feeling evoked by this section is what I was expecting the whole time, but unfortunately it's contained to only a couple dozen pages. ( )

Wacky and fun. This little faux manual, complete with shiny cover and page edges, contains "tips on defending planet Earth against alien invaders, ninjas, and zombies." And yes, Daniel Wilson really does hold a PhD from the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University. There's a surprisingly large amount of actual scientific/technical information hidden in these ridiculous scenarios, and overall I had a blast reading through it. Pick anywhere to start! Read it aloud to your friends! 5 out of 5, where 5 equals, "now I know how to harden anything against EMP attacks, and I had a really good laugh!" ( )