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Bot Wars #1
Bot Wars
For use in schools and libraries only. In a futuristic world where humans and robots are at war, a boy goes on a search to find his missing military father.
356 pages, Library Binding
First published March 21, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
August 1, 2025
An entertaining story, but…
It’s kind of awkward when you find yourself siding with the bad guys. No, I don’t think robots should have the same rights as humans. I’m a little concerned that there might be people out there who think they should. 😬
It’s kind of awkward when you find yourself siding with the bad guys. No, I don’t think robots should have the same rights as humans. I’m a little concerned that there might be people out there who think they should. 😬
March 19, 2020
VIDEO REVIEW: https://youtu.be/gVgzlUP-R28
This book was so COOL...AMAZING...words are too hard to come by!
Trust me when i say, I did NOT at all think I was going to come here to review a book that is Middle Grade and my first ever Sci-Fi saying all of the above - but it's TRUE! I'm even HIGHLY considering reading the sequel!
CONS
1) There is a plot convenience that occurs 3/4ers of the way through the book that I didn't appreciate. I assume that Middle-Grade (MG) books are filled with the Plot-Convenience Cliche, it was just something that - for me - I did not like as I didn't think it was necessary.
2) Words are used in place of every day jargon - such as:
'Jam' instead of Damn.
I get that it's MG and that we can't use certain words, but to replace it with a spreadble such as 'Jam' was not ideal for me. (Again, I assume this comes up a lot in MG) - so I'm not saying that it's 'not holding true to the age range', I'm just saying that 'on a personal note' I found it distracting and it didn't work for me (Maybe next time write 'oh dear' or something along those lines).
'Butter my gears, that was wrenched!'
This is another example of 'MG Sci-Fi' lingo used in place of 'Dude! That was Awesome!'. This took some getting used to before I could recognise which 'MG Sci-Fi' words meant what.
3) Nadda. As in Nah...Dah! Absolutely nothing else was a 'Con' about this book! (And I don't have ANY reviews on Good Reads for 2020 that do NOT have all 3 Cons filled - so well done J.V. Kane!).
PROS
1) This book takes a good look into the 'Missing Father' trope (this is not a spoiler, it's the first line of the blurb) - which I so LOVED! To go through the protagonists thoughts and feelings during this tough time was just so cool! (Yep, 'cool' is the best way to put it).
My Mum and Dad Split when I was 7 and while my Dad wasn't 'missing' physically - he WAS metaphorically for me. Sharing this experience with the protagonist was so 'closure-ing' for me. J.V. Kade hit the nail right on the head with this one. On a personal note J.V. Kade...I thank you.
2) The plot was so much FUN!
(Direct quote from the author when discussing writing MG: "the only difference between YA and MG that I’ve found is that you just have to have a little more fun with MG").
JV Kade - you hit the nail on the head with this plot! It was fun from page 1 through to the end!
3) The Characters (on the side of good - for all intents and purposes lets say there's 'good and evil' characters in this book. I'm referring to the good ones) were AMAZING! From the Protagonist's journey, to his new friend Vee (Very reminiscent in personality to Bay Kennish from 'Switched at Birth' - who I also love), to the ADORABLY CUTE Scissors! (God love her!!!!).
Guys, I'm not an MG reader at all really. In fact this is my first MG for the year (and I've read - now 11 - books so far for 2020). I am also not a Sci-Fi reader (this is my first EVER Sci-Fi book) - so I came into reading this (literally to expand on the current genre's I read) thinking - at best - I'd say 'eh..It was...ok. Not my genre, but I can appreciate it for what it is'.
BUT NO!
This book fully, wholly and completely deserves it's 4 STAR RATING (Unofficially 4.5 and that's only because of the 2 incredibly MINOR cons listed above, but Good Reads doesn't allow '0.5' for a rating - COME ON GOOD READS!)
I had LOADS of FUN from START to END and am seriously SERIOUSLY considering reading book #2 Meta-Rise.
J.V Kade - from the bottom of my being - I thank you!
This book was so COOL...AMAZING...words are too hard to come by!
Trust me when i say, I did NOT at all think I was going to come here to review a book that is Middle Grade and my first ever Sci-Fi saying all of the above - but it's TRUE! I'm even HIGHLY considering reading the sequel!
CONS
1) There is a plot convenience that occurs 3/4ers of the way through the book that I didn't appreciate. I assume that Middle-Grade (MG) books are filled with the Plot-Convenience Cliche, it was just something that - for me - I did not like as I didn't think it was necessary.
2) Words are used in place of every day jargon - such as:
'Jam' instead of Damn.
I get that it's MG and that we can't use certain words, but to replace it with a spreadble such as 'Jam' was not ideal for me. (Again, I assume this comes up a lot in MG) - so I'm not saying that it's 'not holding true to the age range', I'm just saying that 'on a personal note' I found it distracting and it didn't work for me (Maybe next time write 'oh dear' or something along those lines).
'Butter my gears, that was wrenched!'
This is another example of 'MG Sci-Fi' lingo used in place of 'Dude! That was Awesome!'. This took some getting used to before I could recognise which 'MG Sci-Fi' words meant what.
3) Nadda. As in Nah...Dah! Absolutely nothing else was a 'Con' about this book! (And I don't have ANY reviews on Good Reads for 2020 that do NOT have all 3 Cons filled - so well done J.V. Kane!).
PROS
1) This book takes a good look into the 'Missing Father' trope (this is not a spoiler, it's the first line of the blurb) - which I so LOVED! To go through the protagonists thoughts and feelings during this tough time was just so cool! (Yep, 'cool' is the best way to put it).
My Mum and Dad Split when I was 7 and while my Dad wasn't 'missing' physically - he WAS metaphorically for me. Sharing this experience with the protagonist was so 'closure-ing' for me. J.V. Kade hit the nail right on the head with this one. On a personal note J.V. Kade...I thank you.
2) The plot was so much FUN!
(Direct quote from the author when discussing writing MG: "the only difference between YA and MG that I’ve found is that you just have to have a little more fun with MG").
JV Kade - you hit the nail on the head with this plot! It was fun from page 1 through to the end!
3) The Characters (on the side of good - for all intents and purposes lets say there's 'good and evil' characters in this book. I'm referring to the good ones) were AMAZING! From the Protagonist's journey, to his new friend Vee (Very reminiscent in personality to Bay Kennish from 'Switched at Birth' - who I also love), to the ADORABLY CUTE Scissors! (God love her!!!!).
Guys, I'm not an MG reader at all really. In fact this is my first MG for the year (and I've read - now 11 - books so far for 2020). I am also not a Sci-Fi reader (this is my first EVER Sci-Fi book) - so I came into reading this (literally to expand on the current genre's I read) thinking - at best - I'd say 'eh..It was...ok. Not my genre, but I can appreciate it for what it is'.
BUT NO!
This book fully, wholly and completely deserves it's 4 STAR RATING (Unofficially 4.5 and that's only because of the 2 incredibly MINOR cons listed above, but Good Reads doesn't allow '0.5' for a rating - COME ON GOOD READS!)
I had LOADS of FUN from START to END and am seriously SERIOUSLY considering reading book #2 Meta-Rise.
J.V Kade - from the bottom of my being - I thank you!
October 18, 2019
Simply horrible novel, reading it was actually painful... Throughly unlikable and uninteresting main character. The world is half-built and almost every character is a walking cliché with cliché lines. The writing is simply bland. I am not one who often abandons a book, but in this case i could not waste another minute of my time reading this, as much as I tried.
February 28, 2013
In full disclosure I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
I must admit I was somewhat concerned with the fact that in the books description it is compared to Percy Jackson, I loved the Percy Jackson series, but I am always very skeptical of books that compare themselves to popular series as it always seems that they are just trying to get attention by doing this and often fail to meet the bar that they set themselves. I needn’t have worried as this turned out to be an excellent book.
The story and characters were very good, I don’t think it was like Percy Jackson, but if you liked that series you will probably like this one as well.
The language in the book is very interesting, there is a lot of slang words that the characters use, these are words specific to the world for example things can be “notched” or “cracked” or “go nuclear” and people can “gear out” or be a “drain clogger” or “totally wrenched”, what was clever was that the sentences are always written so you know what a word means, without the need for it to be artificially explained to you.
I thought the descriptions were a little lacking, most of the time we are given just a short description of how things look, it is probably okay as this book is aimed at a middle-grade audience. It was just missing great descriptions that would have made this a five star book. The short descriptions did make it a nice fast pace though. The lack of good descriptions was probably most noticeable on the robots as I found it hard to visualise what each of them looked like.
The build up at the start of the book was nice, there was enough time spent introducing the characters and the world before it went into the adventure part of the story, but it didn’t spend too much time doing this and it soon turned into an exciting story. This continues throughout the book with a great balance between world building, fast action and more thoughtful scenes.
I liked the presentation of the book, there is a circuit board design on the page numbers and chapter headings, there should be a map but it wasn’t included in the ARC edition and would probably help see how the territories are divided. There was a minor problem with the left hand pages being slightly misaligned, but this was probably due to it being an ARC edition.
Overall I thought this was a great story with excellent characters, in particular I enjoyed the world building and world language. I also liked the balance between world building, character development and action sequences. The biggest problem I had was the lack of detailed descriptions particularly when the robots were concerned.
I must admit I was somewhat concerned with the fact that in the books description it is compared to Percy Jackson, I loved the Percy Jackson series, but I am always very skeptical of books that compare themselves to popular series as it always seems that they are just trying to get attention by doing this and often fail to meet the bar that they set themselves. I needn’t have worried as this turned out to be an excellent book.
The story and characters were very good, I don’t think it was like Percy Jackson, but if you liked that series you will probably like this one as well.
The language in the book is very interesting, there is a lot of slang words that the characters use, these are words specific to the world for example things can be “notched” or “cracked” or “go nuclear” and people can “gear out” or be a “drain clogger” or “totally wrenched”, what was clever was that the sentences are always written so you know what a word means, without the need for it to be artificially explained to you.
I thought the descriptions were a little lacking, most of the time we are given just a short description of how things look, it is probably okay as this book is aimed at a middle-grade audience. It was just missing great descriptions that would have made this a five star book. The short descriptions did make it a nice fast pace though. The lack of good descriptions was probably most noticeable on the robots as I found it hard to visualise what each of them looked like.
The build up at the start of the book was nice, there was enough time spent introducing the characters and the world before it went into the adventure part of the story, but it didn’t spend too much time doing this and it soon turned into an exciting story. This continues throughout the book with a great balance between world building, fast action and more thoughtful scenes.
I liked the presentation of the book, there is a circuit board design on the page numbers and chapter headings, there should be a map but it wasn’t included in the ARC edition and would probably help see how the territories are divided. There was a minor problem with the left hand pages being slightly misaligned, but this was probably due to it being an ARC edition.
Overall I thought this was a great story with excellent characters, in particular I enjoyed the world building and world language. I also liked the balance between world building, character development and action sequences. The biggest problem I had was the lack of detailed descriptions particularly when the robots were concerned.
September 11, 2016
I'll start by saying this: I've never been a huge fan of robots. Sure, I loved the 80's film, Short Circuit, (Number 5!) but who didn’t? I thought Real Steel was an awesome movie (robot boxing!) and C-3PO (the feistiest little droid) is one of my favorite movie characters, but that was the extent of my robot admiration. Until I read J.V. Kade’s BOT WARS.
Two brothers searching for their missing dad in a world where robots have been declared terrorists, and are destroyed or banished to their own district, can only lead to one thing. An adventure. A crazy, non-stop adventure full of heart and hope and danger and twists and ROBOTS. Just wait until you meet LT, my favorite bot of all.
I’d be a total bolt-head if I didn’t mention how awesome the humans are, too. Kade nailed the brother dynamic with Trout and Po (how great are those names?) and Dekker and Vee are the kind of characters we all want by our side. BOT WARS doesn’t just take you on their journey. There are times when you feel like you are Trout. And what a journey it is!
Be on the lookout for THE META RISE, the sequel to BOT WARS, coming in July 2014.
Two brothers searching for their missing dad in a world where robots have been declared terrorists, and are destroyed or banished to their own district, can only lead to one thing. An adventure. A crazy, non-stop adventure full of heart and hope and danger and twists and ROBOTS. Just wait until you meet LT, my favorite bot of all.
I’d be a total bolt-head if I didn’t mention how awesome the humans are, too. Kade nailed the brother dynamic with Trout and Po (how great are those names?) and Dekker and Vee are the kind of characters we all want by our side. BOT WARS doesn’t just take you on their journey. There are times when you feel like you are Trout. And what a journey it is!
Be on the lookout for THE META RISE, the sequel to BOT WARS, coming in July 2014.
November 5, 2014
The book Bot Wars, by J.V. Kade, is a very inspiring and adventurous story. The story starts out when humans create robots for work, but they become so advanced, they start to demand for more rights. That caused the Bot Wars. 12 year old Trout St. Croix us a boy that lives in the United District. About 2 years ago, his father went missing while fighting in the Bot Wars. Trout always trusted the United Districts government until he posts a video about his missing dad that goes viral. Then a few days later, his brother Po also goes missing. The United District tries to come and take Trout but a bot named LT comes and travels with him into Bot Territory. There Trout finds his dad but not his brother. There, there is many bots and a few people that like the bots. The United Districts does not like Bots so the Bots and the bot supporters were forbidden to cross into United Districts territory. I think the characters are credible because all of the characters act and are very realistic. I find this book very amazing and has a lot of action involved through the whole book. If you like the Hunger Games or the movie Real Steel, then you'll really like Bot Wars, by J.V. Kade.
March 29, 2013
Originally posted here: http://nothingbetterthanabook.blogspo...
This book was awesome! If you know me at all, you know that that means a lot. Pretty much all I read are books that have lots of romance in them. So, for me to LOVE a book about robots, with almost no romance, you know the book has to be really good.
The plot was very fast paced, and I never wanted to put this book down. There was never a spot in the book where I got bored, or felt like I had to make myself keep reading. I think a big part of that was the fact that it took place in the future. It was kind of like the world in Cinder where everything is just more advanced. That was cool and very intriguing. I loved how the author incorporated robots into this world. Instead of saying things like "that's so cool!!" they would say "that's wrenched!" Just little things like the different words they used, made the story seem even more real. I was completely drawn into this world and loved every minute of it.
I received this book for free in return for an honest review.
This book was awesome! If you know me at all, you know that that means a lot. Pretty much all I read are books that have lots of romance in them. So, for me to LOVE a book about robots, with almost no romance, you know the book has to be really good.
The plot was very fast paced, and I never wanted to put this book down. There was never a spot in the book where I got bored, or felt like I had to make myself keep reading. I think a big part of that was the fact that it took place in the future. It was kind of like the world in Cinder where everything is just more advanced. That was cool and very intriguing. I loved how the author incorporated robots into this world. Instead of saying things like "that's so cool!!" they would say "that's wrenched!" Just little things like the different words they used, made the story seem even more real. I was completely drawn into this world and loved every minute of it.
I received this book for free in return for an honest review.
August 25, 2014
5 stars for this excellent scifi YA book.
So... my 10 1/2 year old son read this, loved it, and recommended it to me. He's been doing that a little more often lately, and I love when he does. So I read it, because he has good taste in books and because it gives us another point of connection. He was right: this is an excellent book.
The storyline is outstanding, with an excellent mix of information and mystery to drive you through the story and never want to put it down. There was humor throughout, and wonderful imagined technology that would appeal to anyone, but probably *especially* to pre-teen and teen boys. Tension, action, and STILL characters who are real, well-rounded, grow in response to their environment. That's what makes it for me.
Was there anything I didn't like about the book? Well, I really don't believe in children saving the world. But that's the target audience and the genre. I accept it for what it is.
I think I'm going to have to introduce my son to the term "dystopian." Who knew there was dystopian sci fi that he would like this much?
So... my 10 1/2 year old son read this, loved it, and recommended it to me. He's been doing that a little more often lately, and I love when he does. So I read it, because he has good taste in books and because it gives us another point of connection. He was right: this is an excellent book.
The storyline is outstanding, with an excellent mix of information and mystery to drive you through the story and never want to put it down. There was humor throughout, and wonderful imagined technology that would appeal to anyone, but probably *especially* to pre-teen and teen boys. Tension, action, and STILL characters who are real, well-rounded, grow in response to their environment. That's what makes it for me.
Was there anything I didn't like about the book? Well, I really don't believe in children saving the world. But that's the target audience and the genre. I accept it for what it is.
I think I'm going to have to introduce my son to the term "dystopian." Who knew there was dystopian sci fi that he would like this much?
August 16, 2016
Bot Wars - review
Twelve-year-old Aiden (Trout) St. Kroix lives with his older brother Po. Their father disappeared two years ago while fighting in the Bot Wars—a devastating conflict that began when robots became so advanced that they revolted and took the lives of thousands of people. When the government banned and declared all bots terrorists, Trout didn’t question a thing. In the end, all he wanted was to find his dad. Desperate, Trout posts a video to the internet seeking help with his search, unwittingly unleashing a storm of danger as his brother is suddenly abducted and he is labeled a terrorist and a criminal himself. Trout goes on the run to seek answers, but it turns out that nothing is what it seems—not the government, not the bots, and not even his own father.
- from Amazon
This is a fun book. Kids will enjoy the action and the dangerous situations Trout finds himself in.
Recommended to:
Sci-fi fans in grades 5 and up.
Twelve-year-old Aiden (Trout) St. Kroix lives with his older brother Po. Their father disappeared two years ago while fighting in the Bot Wars—a devastating conflict that began when robots became so advanced that they revolted and took the lives of thousands of people. When the government banned and declared all bots terrorists, Trout didn’t question a thing. In the end, all he wanted was to find his dad. Desperate, Trout posts a video to the internet seeking help with his search, unwittingly unleashing a storm of danger as his brother is suddenly abducted and he is labeled a terrorist and a criminal himself. Trout goes on the run to seek answers, but it turns out that nothing is what it seems—not the government, not the bots, and not even his own father.
- from Amazon
This is a fun book. Kids will enjoy the action and the dangerous situations Trout finds himself in.
Recommended to:
Sci-fi fans in grades 5 and up.
July 23, 2013
I think the premise for the book is really good, and I was hoping there'd be some good Asimov references... but I got really turned off by all the weird names like "Trout" and "Lox" and "Bims" ... and then references to technology that wasn't really that innovative, just things we have nowadays with different names. There's a lot of recycled material from virtually every robot novel out there.
The characters and plots are pretty bare-bones and not very realistic. I'm sure this is a great read for sci-fi loving kids, but maybe not so much for adults or their parents.
The characters and plots are pretty bare-bones and not very realistic. I'm sure this is a great read for sci-fi loving kids, but maybe not so much for adults or their parents.
November 9, 2016
Awesome premise and great story! Really likable characters too. Lots of twists and turns. Can't wait to read the sequel!
August 31, 2017
Very suspenseful book. It's super awesome! The little details keep you focused on the book. Totally get this book!
January 9, 2025
Wow. I did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did but I flew through it! I read it all mostly in one sitting, it was just so fast paced and FUN to read. I can see why this would be compared to percy jackson in a distant sort of way, though I think these characters were not as well developed as that series, they didn’t have much of their own personalities, more so cliché surface level ones, but honestly I didn’t mind that too much. It worked for the book, as well as how loosely everything was described, I would have enjoyed it more if we got some more world building and atmospheric settings put in here and there to really immerse myself into this world, but regardless I still really enjoyed the entire plot, prose and world!
One of my favourite things about the book was the relationship with the side character bots and the kids, I thought the humour from LT and scissor was really funny, and actually made me laugh at some points, their personalities were really fun for me and will be the main reason I decide to read the next book in this series!
One of my favourite things about the book was the relationship with the side character bots and the kids, I thought the humour from LT and scissor was really funny, and actually made me laugh at some points, their personalities were really fun for me and will be the main reason I decide to read the next book in this series!
July 11, 2025
This was a thrift store purchase and only afterwards, found it was a YA novel. Still, I gave it a chance anyhow as a quick read. Turns out, it wasn't bad at all. The situation of the U.S. following the Bot War was kind of interesting, based around robots gaining sentience and desiring rights and conflict resulting when humankind rejected such a notion. Think the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. The plot is fairly simple and also pretty linear (go here, get this, do that...repeat). There was a review that said the lack of description and "fleshing out" of characters, locations, etc. was a negative. Speaking for myself, a long time sci-fi reader and writer, the minimal descriptions allowed me to see characters and locations in my mind's eye as I wanted to see them. The author provided the skeleton and I added the rest. It was pretty easy for me to do so.
So, I give it three stars and I do plan on seeking out the sequel novel, "The Meta-Rise".
So, I give it three stars and I do plan on seeking out the sequel novel, "The Meta-Rise".
November 3, 2025
Decided to pick this up because I wanted to read some easy-reading fiction. Started off a little slow and simple but I thought it picked up nicely. Fun, relatively quick read. It's written for kids, so there weren't any significant detours in the plot line, but I thought it still was pretty interesting.
May 11, 2017
Filled to the brim with action, this book left me rooting for Trout and Vee the whole time.
April 15, 2018
A juvenile in the Asimov tradition. Not bad but rather routine.
April 19, 2018
Cool gadgets. Interesting world.
May 6, 2018
Another book my 10 year old son just plowed through, when he got closed to the end he let me know to start looking for book 2
October 16, 2020
good book. Read 7 times cause I had nothing else to read or do on vacation.
Read
August 1, 2023it was good.
February 29, 2020
Very cool. Love the charecters.
February 2, 2015
It all started with the ThinkChip. Before that, robots were just machines integral to the economic and domestic life of the United States. But after the invention of the ThinkChip, robots started to reason and emote like humans, and went on strike for rights. Thus started the Bot Wars, a long battle that redrew the United States. It was during the Bot Wars that Trout St. Kroix's father went missing. Trout's grown up with his older brother Po in the United Districts, faithfully checking each week to see if his dad's ID has come back online. Eventually, Trout has the idea to put up a vid about his dad on the link and ask for help finding him. For a little while this brings all sorts of fame to the family Trout never expected, but after a few days his dad's ID suddenly comes back online and then Trout finds himself running from government officials who for some reason think he is a dangerous Bot sympathizer. Trout just needs to stay free long enough to figure out what in the world is going on.
Thanks to the hover boards and cars and the emotive robots, I couldn't help but view this in my mind as a mashup of Back to the Future and I, Robot. Which isn't a bad thing. It's a fun sci-fi/dystopia with enough new tech and slang to make it feel futuristic, but enough familiar stuff readers shouldn't feel lost. It got a whole lot more exciting than I expected from the blurb and the first few chapters, but still stays clean enough for the middle grade crowd. A great dystopia for kids who may be interested in Divergent but not quite ready for all the content of the YA dystopias.
(One random note: There was a misspelling of the main character's name on the dustjacket. It was St. Croix on the cover, but St. Kroix throughout the book. Not sure how that happened, and not super important but it bugged me.)
Notes on content: Just a few minor swear words. No sexual content. Some punches and lasers fired, but the ones who suffer the worst injuries on page have wires and shells instead of flesh and blood. A couple human injuries during the war are somewhat described in flashback, but no gory details.
Thanks to the hover boards and cars and the emotive robots, I couldn't help but view this in my mind as a mashup of Back to the Future and I, Robot. Which isn't a bad thing. It's a fun sci-fi/dystopia with enough new tech and slang to make it feel futuristic, but enough familiar stuff readers shouldn't feel lost. It got a whole lot more exciting than I expected from the blurb and the first few chapters, but still stays clean enough for the middle grade crowd. A great dystopia for kids who may be interested in Divergent but not quite ready for all the content of the YA dystopias.
(One random note: There was a misspelling of the main character's name on the dustjacket. It was St. Croix on the cover, but St. Kroix throughout the book. Not sure how that happened, and not super important but it bugged me.)
Notes on content: Just a few minor swear words. No sexual content. Some punches and lasers fired, but the ones who suffer the worst injuries on page have wires and shells instead of flesh and blood. A couple human injuries during the war are somewhat described in flashback, but no gory details.
June 2, 2014
What this book is about:
Trout lives in the United Districts, a place where all robots have been banned since the Bot War. Before the war, humans were creating robots to take over many of the lower level jobs. These same robots, over time, became sentient being. Soon they were demanding their rights to equal treatment and they revolted when they were denied these rights. Human declared the robots evil and a war ensued. Trout’s father disappeared during the Bot Wars and when Trout makes a video plea for help finding his dad, which goes viral, he soon realizes that nothing is exactly as it seems. Perhaps robots are not to be feared after all.
Why I love this book:
I thought this was a fun book. I quite enjoyed the idea of our dependence on robots and what would happen to society if they were to all go away. I actually liked the world that was created with and without robots. In these type of books I sometimes feel that the twists and turns get too complicated, but in this case the flow was good and the twists were right on point, without getting too convoluted. To put it simply, the story flowed nicely.
There was some interesting slang made up for the story. It took me a few chapters to get comfortable with it, but once I was in the groove it added to the mechanical/robotic nature of the story.
Who this book is for:
Great for kids who have an interest in robots. A nice action oriented book with plenty of near misses to keep kids on the edge of their seats.
Final thoughts:
A good start to a futuristic robot series! I know plenty of kids who will warm to this one immediately. Cover is nice too.
Trout lives in the United Districts, a place where all robots have been banned since the Bot War. Before the war, humans were creating robots to take over many of the lower level jobs. These same robots, over time, became sentient being. Soon they were demanding their rights to equal treatment and they revolted when they were denied these rights. Human declared the robots evil and a war ensued. Trout’s father disappeared during the Bot Wars and when Trout makes a video plea for help finding his dad, which goes viral, he soon realizes that nothing is exactly as it seems. Perhaps robots are not to be feared after all.
Why I love this book:
I thought this was a fun book. I quite enjoyed the idea of our dependence on robots and what would happen to society if they were to all go away. I actually liked the world that was created with and without robots. In these type of books I sometimes feel that the twists and turns get too complicated, but in this case the flow was good and the twists were right on point, without getting too convoluted. To put it simply, the story flowed nicely.
There was some interesting slang made up for the story. It took me a few chapters to get comfortable with it, but once I was in the groove it added to the mechanical/robotic nature of the story.
Who this book is for:
Great for kids who have an interest in robots. A nice action oriented book with plenty of near misses to keep kids on the edge of their seats.
Final thoughts:
A good start to a futuristic robot series! I know plenty of kids who will warm to this one immediately. Cover is nice too.
December 27, 2015
Dvanásťročný Trout žije vo svete, v ktorom ľudia vylepšili roboty natoľko, až sa stroje vzbúrili a ľudia ich "museli" zakázať, pretože sa nechceli zmieriť s tým, že roboty (respektíve už "roboti") myslia a cítia ako ľudia z mäsa a kostí. Ľudia však stále nejakú tú technológiu používajú - každý človek má v sebe zabudovaný čip, ktorý vysiela informácie o jeho polohe. Signál z čipu Troutovho otca pred dvoma rokmi zmizol. Čip by však vysielal, aj keby bol majiteľ mŕtvy, takže čo sa vlastne stalo? Trout sa rozhodne otca nájsť...
...sme momentálne asi v tretine knihy a ako je vidieť, veľa sa toho nestalo. Veľa sa toho nestane v celej knihe. Keby vlastne vynechám ten opis v úvode, zhrniem celý dej do jednej dlhšej vety. Bot Wars sú middle grade a dej vlastne pripomína animovaný film, na ktorý vezmete do kina malého súrodenca/dieťa, a zatiaľ čo vy sa unudíte na smrť, lebo ste tú dejovú štruktúru videli už miliónkrát, mladšia generácia bude výskať od radosti. To však hovorím len o filme.
Pretože spracovanie na literárnej rovine unudí na smrť aj cieľovú skupinu. Medzi knihou a čitateľom je akási dymová clona, ktorá neprepúšťa ani vizuálny obraz, ani hlas postáv, ani pocity, napätie, silu lásky a priateľstva a vôbec to všetko, čo potrebuje MG mať. Stránky obraciate s nulovým záujmom o to, čo bude nasledovať. Tam, kde by film aspoň hýril farbami a mimikou postáv, je kniha nudná a fádna.
6/10 dávam v podstate len preto, že nižšie hodnotenia dávam pri knihách, ktoré sa "previnia" väčšmi, než byť len nudné a nezaujímavé.
...sme momentálne asi v tretine knihy a ako je vidieť, veľa sa toho nestalo. Veľa sa toho nestane v celej knihe. Keby vlastne vynechám ten opis v úvode, zhrniem celý dej do jednej dlhšej vety. Bot Wars sú middle grade a dej vlastne pripomína animovaný film, na ktorý vezmete do kina malého súrodenca/dieťa, a zatiaľ čo vy sa unudíte na smrť, lebo ste tú dejovú štruktúru videli už miliónkrát, mladšia generácia bude výskať od radosti. To však hovorím len o filme.
Pretože spracovanie na literárnej rovine unudí na smrť aj cieľovú skupinu. Medzi knihou a čitateľom je akási dymová clona, ktorá neprepúšťa ani vizuálny obraz, ani hlas postáv, ani pocity, napätie, silu lásky a priateľstva a vôbec to všetko, čo potrebuje MG mať. Stránky obraciate s nulovým záujmom o to, čo bude nasledovať. Tam, kde by film aspoň hýril farbami a mimikou postáv, je kniha nudná a fádna.
6/10 dávam v podstate len preto, že nižšie hodnotenia dávam pri knihách, ktoré sa "previnia" väčšmi, než byť len nudné a nezaujímavé.
February 25, 2017
I finished Bot Wars and it was very...interesting. This is one of those books that I have a hard time figuring out how to write a review on. The best way for me, in these situations, to present my feelings about this is probably in a pros and cons list, so here we go, i guess;
PROS:
-Didn't drag-was very fast paced but not in a way that felt like they were summing up chapters in pages (I'm looking at you, The Neptune Project), but more like they didn't spend to much time elaborating on unnecessary details or adding in meaningless things.
-Characters were fleshed out pretty well. I was able to relate to and care about most of them.
-Um, the robots were cool?
-I liked the relationship between Po and our main character. Not so much with the father-son relationship.
-Although there weren't many, some of the twists were pretty good and did sometimes catch me by surprise.
CONS:
-Once again, the relationship between the dad and our main character was not my favorite. At first it was unnatural and awkward but it got a little better. But then, after a few chapters, the story just completely forgets about the dad and does things with the other characters.
-The pacing would jump around at times, especially during action scenes.
-Some of the characters were predictable at times
And I'm giving this one a 7/10 and 4/5.
PROS:
-Didn't drag-was very fast paced but not in a way that felt like they were summing up chapters in pages (I'm looking at you, The Neptune Project), but more like they didn't spend to much time elaborating on unnecessary details or adding in meaningless things.
-Characters were fleshed out pretty well. I was able to relate to and care about most of them.
-Um, the robots were cool?
-I liked the relationship between Po and our main character. Not so much with the father-son relationship.
-Although there weren't many, some of the twists were pretty good and did sometimes catch me by surprise.
CONS:
-Once again, the relationship between the dad and our main character was not my favorite. At first it was unnatural and awkward but it got a little better. But then, after a few chapters, the story just completely forgets about the dad and does things with the other characters.
-The pacing would jump around at times, especially during action scenes.
-Some of the characters were predictable at times
And I'm giving this one a 7/10 and 4/5.
September 7, 2016
August Jason Lee Block 2
Bot Wars
J.V Kade
Trout lives in a world of robots and some robots are good and others are evil. Trout’s dad disappeared in the Bot War. Trout’s mother died when he was very young. Ever since Trout’s dad went missing, he and his brother go to the health center every day to see if they can track their dad. Then Trout went to Tellie’s house to make a video about his dad. Then Trout gets kidnapped by a robot. The robot leads Trout to Bot Territory. Trout meets his dad, who is now a cyborg. Trout makes many new friends including the robot that captured him. Then Trout’s video became viral and the government wants to interview him. Then one of Trout’s robot friends gets captured by the government. Trout and a couple of his friends free him.
The main theme of this book is to be brave. This is the theme because Trout faces many threats and he did not let them scare him. Trout once faced the police in the book, but he did not tell the police secret information. All of the main characters went through scary times, but they stayed brave through it all. This is why I think the main theme of the book is to be brave.
Bot Wars
J.V Kade
Trout lives in a world of robots and some robots are good and others are evil. Trout’s dad disappeared in the Bot War. Trout’s mother died when he was very young. Ever since Trout’s dad went missing, he and his brother go to the health center every day to see if they can track their dad. Then Trout went to Tellie’s house to make a video about his dad. Then Trout gets kidnapped by a robot. The robot leads Trout to Bot Territory. Trout meets his dad, who is now a cyborg. Trout makes many new friends including the robot that captured him. Then Trout’s video became viral and the government wants to interview him. Then one of Trout’s robot friends gets captured by the government. Trout and a couple of his friends free him.
The main theme of this book is to be brave. This is the theme because Trout faces many threats and he did not let them scare him. Trout once faced the police in the book, but he did not tell the police secret information. All of the main characters went through scary times, but they stayed brave through it all. This is why I think the main theme of the book is to be brave.
July 3, 2013
Trout St.Kroix lives with his brother Po but wants desperately to find his father who went MIA after the Bot War. Po wants nothing to do with the search so Trout posts a video on the Net. All that does is bring the government of the United Districts down on both boys. Po is captured and tortured and Trout goes on the run with LT, a robot who has been sent to rescue him and bring him to his father. Trout is shocked to find out that the government has been feeding the populace lies about the robots. When a plan to rescue Po plays right into the government's hands, LT sacrifices himself to save the kids. This was a cute story with LT the robot being a better person than some of the real people. A lot of the gadgets the kids use in the rescue were cleverly described. The futuristic slang was probably appropriate but it was too distracting for me. I guess that's wrenched.
September 21, 2015
Kade, J.V. (2013). Bot wars. New York: Dial.
In this futuristic science fiction novel robots that were once an integral part of our lives have been banned. The government is tainted and it is up to a twelve-year-old boy named Trout, with the help of some of his friends, to make the public aware of the bad things that have been happening.
This book could be used with Social Studies classes to discuss geography (students could mark the locations mentioned in the book on a map), segregation and the government. I would recommend this book to middle school students who enjoy science fiction books.
Intermediate
Fromm Follett Titlewave: Reviews & Awards
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books 06/01/13
Publishers Weekly 01/28/13
Horn Book 11/01/13
School Library Journal 05/01/13
In this futuristic science fiction novel robots that were once an integral part of our lives have been banned. The government is tainted and it is up to a twelve-year-old boy named Trout, with the help of some of his friends, to make the public aware of the bad things that have been happening.
This book could be used with Social Studies classes to discuss geography (students could mark the locations mentioned in the book on a map), segregation and the government. I would recommend this book to middle school students who enjoy science fiction books.
Intermediate
Fromm Follett Titlewave: Reviews & Awards
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books 06/01/13
Publishers Weekly 01/28/13
Horn Book 11/01/13
School Library Journal 05/01/13
Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews