Weapon

Weapon-Solo #1

by Robert Mason

Equipped with telescopic, microscopic, and infrared vision, the strength of thirty men and reflexes beyond those of any Olympic athlete, Solo also has a brain. Bill Stewart, the gawky co-owner of Electron Dynamics, has created the thing most computer engineers only dream a machine can learn.

Sent on a trial in Costa Rica with Bill and General Clyde Haynes, Solo monitors a Pentagon transmission ordering him shipped back to Florida for reprogramming. In a helicopter chase beneath the jungle canopy, Solo crashes his chopper, crawls out of the wreckage and, as his batteries begin to run out, escapes across the border into Nicaragua.

Robert Mason, author of the New York Times bestselling Vietnam War memoir, "Chickenhawk", enters entirely new territory in a smashing fiction debut.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Thriller, Military Fiction, Action, War

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Mark Hartman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read Weapon in paperback back in 1990. I enjoyed the book and read it’s sequel, Solo. Both are very interesting about a robot the government is developing for combat. Solo becomes self aware and defies his makers. This was after The Terminator and Short Circuit movies had come out which I am sure sparked my interest in this book. The idea that AI could possibly be the end of mankind like the Terminators or like Johnny 5 and be against killing. Very well written I had no idea this and it’s sequel, Solo, we’re the only two fiction books written by Robert Mason until now. With AI rapidly advancing beyond fiction it makes a person wonder if it’s a road we should be going down. I look forward to reading this book again. I liked the book so much that I bought a used hardback of Weapon and it’s sequel Solo. If you like The Terminator and Short Circuit and books about AI, Robots and Robot books by Asimov you will enjoy this book.

Update: started reading the book again and I think it is as good as I did when I first read it in 1990. I zipped right through the first 58 pages. Well written and entertaining. Worth reading if you haven’t before and worth reading again if you have. Some books I read back then I found to be not as good as I remembered them being but not this book. Finished and it’s as a good a book as I remember. Don’t know why he edited the first page to remove a word that’s still in the end of the book. Well written and worth reading again.

[Robert Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Patience Mason, Bob's wife. I love this book. Vietnam vet writes book about Department of the Army Research project that won't obey orders... So ironic.
Solo is a very interesting person but Bob is probably the only guy who would have the robot arguing with a priest about weather or not it has a soul...
Humor, violence, friendship, idiot government guys, lovely jungles, jungle rescues...
If this sounds good please read and review.
I have read it about 10 times.

[Darrin Turner]

Was okay. Not exactly a page turner but was okay. Not great not bad.

[Vulco1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really good. Made you think a bit. Pretty good action and characterization. Better than the movie. Looking forward to book two.

[Douglas · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author posits a self-aware robot created as a prototype weapon and tested in cold war Nicaragua. The weapon, named Solo, realizes that its makers are likely to wipe out its personality and so it goes AWOL and befriends villagers fighting to protect their homes from U.S. back insurgents. The U.S. cannot allow this technology to fall into enemies hands and so conflict is inevitable.

The author tells an intelligent and straight-forward story. There was only one item I took issue with- Solo is super intelligent and so it seemed odd that he did not realize quicker what the U.S. operatives sent to retrieve him were up to. Still, all I did was wonder at that and it did not detract from my enjoyment of the story.

[Curmudgeon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot fictionalizes weaponizing artificially intelligent robots.

The technology perspective (ca. mid 1980's) already feels dated, and the philosophical angle lacks the profundity of, say, "The Forever War", which covers some similar terrain (the military establishment equating warriors/individuals with machines) and which remains more topical despite having been authored at least a decade earlier.

The book is clearly reaching for a WOW! moment, but fails, at least comparatively, in both scope and depth.

It's a quick and entertaining airplane or beach read.
But if I had to do it over, I'd re-read Haldeman's "Forever War", or, more likely, give "Armor" or "Old Man's War" a try.

[Mirroralice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm fascinated with stories about AIs discovering themselves, humanity, and life; SOLO, the robot protagonist, is an endearing character and definitely likeable enough to carry the whole book on his own. A good read.

One major warning: both this book and its sequel contain explicit rape. I was personally put off by the fact that a detailed rape scene was the defining backstory of the only two important female characters in both books, so keep that in mind when reading. You could skim those pages and the book would probably be better for it.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A.I is an interesting topic and most of the time the authors don't make the subjects ones you wish to be free. However, in Weapon, Mason does an excellent job of getting the reader to root for the A.I. Robot, Solo. Some of the scenes in this book are riveting and throughout the book I thought that this could be an amazing movie. I have been told that it is a movie, Solo, but it is extremely shitty. Oh, well. It is a good book and a quick read

[Katrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good Reads Win: Really interesting story about AI. I loved how the soldier became him and got his own self. This series has a lot of violence and profanity so if your not into that stay away. I do recommend this to everyone that isn't easily offend by violence and profanity. A good read, something I probably never would have come across

[Seth Heasley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm curious if the author was influenced by Eando Binder's Adam Link stories. Maybe I'll ask him for the podcast I'm doing on this book and its movie adaptation...

There's also some common DNA here with Frankenstein, and the chilling way one of the characters refers to Solo as basically Skynet with limbs was pretty great.

[Bryan457 · Rating 3 out of 5]

pretty good story about the creation of an artificial intelligence, a robot soldier who develops a mind of his own.

I enjoyed it. You might want to steer clear if your political sensibilities would be offended by stupid military, and raping murdering Contras.

warning: violence and profanity.

[David M. Kirchoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Weapon delivers techno-science near future in a tropical battle zone.

The pace of this techno-thriller keeps you engaged to the last page. The "man machine" , Solo, becomes a near device presence on the page.

[Joe West · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great story about humanity and artificial intelligence.

If you like anything to do with artificial intelligence this is definitely a must read. I thoroughly enjoyed this. The thinking you do with Solo and even the army characters is well thought out and intriguing.

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great, on the surface it is a great thriller with fantastic pacing, exciting action and an endearing central character.
Also though, it’s an interesting study of artificial intelligence, war, and human barbarism.
Overall just proper good.

[Vulco1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was good. Action, adventure, philosophy... it's got it all. Felt almost like a Robert Ludlum novel.

Seeing Solo hatch his schemes and make his play to escape *chef's kiss*.

This was definitely better than the movie.

[Ron Holmes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book I have read by Robert Mason. It is very interesting to see what a robot that is built as an intelligent weapon can do when it starts to think.

[James Pedler · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bit old but was a favourite of mine when I was younger.
About a terminator like cyborg that is trained to kill, but realises he doesn't actually want to.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though the book was written in the 80's,the storyline was good. I enjoyed the book and the character. would reccommend it

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really beautiful story about the emergence of intelligence in a machine, deceptively hidden in a story about politics and the military.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was much more philosophical and enjoyable than I expected. It’s basically a cross between Rambo and Terminator, but with an anti-war, pro-intellectual flavor.

[Marko]

I have the german edition: Killer Maschine