Battle of the Bots

Robots Rule! #3

by C.J. Richards

Thanks to the eleven-year-old robotics whiz kid George Gearing and his best buddy, Jackbot, the evil Dr. Micron is finally behind bars. But life is hardly back to normal. With TinkerTech closed down for investigation and the townspeople abandoning their own beloved robots, things in Terabyte Heights have taken a turn for the worse. Even George himself is in trouble. Despite finally knowing the truth about Project Mercury, he's still no closer to being reunited with his parents. There's only one person who can save them. But if George enlists his help, who will save everyone else when the battle of the bots begins?

Genres: Childrens

240 pages, Hardcover

First published November 3, 2015

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not know that this was the final book in this trilogy. Yet, I was able to still read this book and grasp the concept of the trilogy. After what I did read, I do want to go back and read the first two books. The robots featured in this book were fun and full of personalities. George is the type of boy that my nephews and other young readers can get behind as a leader. He is smart. Jackbot is also the type of companion that you would want in a robot. For being the final book, it did have a good storyline and a nice ending to the trilogy.

[Riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the final book in Robots Rule series. This time George is trying to get his mom and dad back. In the first book, he thought his parents had died, but he found out they were trapped in a computer! George and his friend, Anne Droid (hahaha), have battle Dr. Micron and his clones to find the truth about his parents. This book was an excellent way to end the series!

[Colette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will be showing our students this book after reading Whoosh!, Ads's Violin, and Follow the Moon Home next year. Perfect followup to using engineering skills for real in a fiction world.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our hero, George Gearing is back at work trying to retrieve the digitized forms of his parents from where they are trapped inside the equipment in their secret laboratory. Since much of the equipment was damaged or destroyed in the fight with Micron (see the second book, Lots of Bots, for details), George is forced to piece together replacements for many of the devices and he only has the contents of his uncle's junkyard to use for materials. Even being a child genius has its limits and when Micron contacts him and offers to help restore his parents to prove he has turned over a new leaf, George is terribly tempted.

I can't say much more about the story without giving away important plot points, but I can tell you that this final installment of the series is full of twists, turns, and surprises. The names of the characters always make me laugh - Mr. Cog, Dr. Droid, Mrs. Glitch, Principal Qwerty, Patrice Volt and the other residents of Terabyte Heights all tickle my funny bone with their tech-related names. And I love George's friends - his faithful robot companion Jackbot and his best friend Anne Droid. Together with Anne's robotic dog Sparky I think the kids could take on anything and come out on top, although a little help from grownups like Uncle Otto is always nice.

If you enjoy stories with robots and technical gadgets, cool stories about kids being able to work together and stand up to evil, or stories where a gigantic mechanical spider is terrorizing a town and vaporizing the citizens, then you should read this book right away. For those who haven't read the earlier books in the series, you have missed out on a treat and should indulge yourself with them to make up for it.

I read an advance copy provided by the publisher for review purposes.

[Lorie · Rating 3 out of 5]

George works feverishly on the technology to bring his parents back from the binary code world in which they have been stored for eight long years. Meanwhile, the rest of the population of Terabyte Heights is ditching their personal robots at his uncle’s junkyard in a panicked response to Professor Micron’s attempt at mind control. When his work reaches an impasse, George turns to the only person who can help him make that final leap to returning his parents… Professor Micron.

C.J. Richards brings the Robots Rule trilogy to a satisfying conclusion in this final book of the series. Middle grade readers will delve into the futuristic, fun and quick-paced science fiction series. Richards includes an interesting section at the end of the book that discusses how most of the futuristic technology used in the stories is based on technology used today like robots, artificial intelligence (AI) and prosthetics. There is also recommended websites that help the reader find more information online on things like AI and coding.

I would recommend this title and the entire series to any school of public library for purchase.
This book was provided by the publisher for professional review by SWON Libraries.

[Bethe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Extra star for the back matter - part 3 of a series, doesn't' stand alone. Great quote on page 144 that could be a solution to social problems of today (sarcasm font) "...be zapped into binary oblivion! Who needs prisons when you've got hard drives? You don't have to feed ones and zeros, and ther's no way to escape!"

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the ending of a trilogy of interest to inventors, coders, and robotic engineers. It offers a challenge to consider different possibilities. A stretch for 3rd graders - it'll be better at the end of the year.

[emyrose8 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harder to get into than the previous two books in the series. Still very good. And the ending is wrapped up nicely.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another great read with my son. Highly recommend reading this whole series with your kid who loves robots.