Daniel H. Wilson's creations can be the stuff of nightmares. His debut novel, Robopocalypse, chronicles a global robot uprising led by Archos, an insidious AI whose war against humanity has terrifying consequences. In his first short story collection, Guardian Angels and Other Monsters, Wilson taps a similar node of speculative technological horror grounded by sympathetic human stakes.
Guardian Angels begins with "Miss Gloria," in which a robot protector must rescue its young charge from kidnappers by transferring its consciousness from machine to machine as each of its bodies are destroyed. Tutor/babysitter/bodyguard Chiron's quest to free little Gloria is an oft-repeated theme in Wilson's collection--parents, lovers or siblings struggling against oppressive high-tech circumstances. The next tale, "The Blue Afternoon That Lasted Forever," is a stunningly imagined vision of astrophysics gone wrong, framed by a father's futile attempts to shield his daughter from danger.
Many of Wilson's stories do not have happy endings. His futures--some far, others near, a few allegorical--are grim places where the human spark is all too easily extinguished. "All Kinds of Proof" provides a little levity when a drunk is assigned to train a silent but endearing mail-delivery robot, and "Special Automatic" gives a mixed message of human empowerment via machine when a disabled teen builds his own invincible guardian.
Wilson's work is masterfully rendered, and his fans will find Robopocalypse and The Clockwork Dynasty tie-in entries. For newcomers, there are plenty of other sometimes dark, always engaging worlds to love. --Tobias Mutter, freelance reviewer