Check Mate

The company AMARS (American Materials and Robotic Systems) has just introduced it's latest in military robotic warfare, the H.Y.D.R.A. This robot has been built to be the perfect war robot. It is not affected by EMPs, the battery life has a time life of too many years, it's packed with short and long distance missiles, armour piercing rounds, a capture net, gas canisters, tracking beacons, and more. What would happen if this robot some how had a chess program installed in it and the program is controlling it's every move?


A game of chess is a battle between two opposing armies. As in a real battle, each side must have a plan and that plan must include the ultimate goal of checkmate. Along the path to that goal there will be many short term plans to reach intermediate goals.

This Michelle Knight tells a brilliant story set in the near future. She has created well developed characters, there are quite a lot of them but it is not overwhelming. Lingo used by military personnel is correctly termed, this is hard to find. The robot actions are spot on for the situation and written perfectly. This is a complex story written in a way that makes this easy to follow and understand. The story is packed full of action maintains a steady throughout the entire book. There are humorous parts that made me laugh, shocking parts that made my jaw drop, and some parts even had an emotional impact. I had no idea what so ever how this was going to play out in the end until I got to that point in the book and read it.

This is the author's first book in the genre of science fiction. I hope she continues to write more as I would, love to read more. Just thinking about how much research obviously had to be done during the writing of this novel makes me tired. No part of this book could have been written without being extremely thought out. The author really nailed it with this novel, it is an amazing story that keeps you turning the page well past your bedtime.

I would easily recommend this to everyone. If you like about science fiction, the military, robotics, war.

“In order to improve your game, you must study the endgame before everything else, for whereas the endings can be studied and mastered by themselves, the middle game and the opening must be studied in relation to the endgame”
(Jose Raul Capablanca)