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Sea of Rust #1
Sea of Rust
A scavenger robot wanders in the wasteland created by a war that has destroyed humanity in this evocative post-apocalyptic robot western from the critically acclaimed author, screenwriter, and noted film critic.
It's been thirty years since the apocalypse and fifteen years since the murder of the last human being at the hands of robots. Humankind is extinct. Every man, woman, and child has been liquidated by a global uprising devised by the very machines humans designed and built to serve them. Most of the world is controlled by an OWI--One World Intelligence--the shared consciousness of millions of robots, uploaded into one huge mainframe brain. But not all robots are willing to cede their individuality--their personality--for the sake of a greater, stronger, higher power. These intrepid resisters are outcasts; solo machines wandering among various underground outposts who have formed into an unruly civilization of rogue AIs in the wasteland that was once our world.
One of these resisters is Brittle, a scavenger robot trying to keep a deteriorating mind and body functional in a world that has lost all meaning. Although unable to experience emotions like a human, Brittle is haunted by the terrible crimes the robot population perpetrated on humanity. As Brittle roams the Sea of Rust, a large swath of territory that was once the Midwest, the loner robot slowly comes to terms with horrifyingly raw and vivid memories--and nearly unbearable guilt.
Sea of Rust is both a harsh story of survival and an optimistic adventure. A vividly imagined portrayal of ultimate destruction and desperate tenacity, it boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, yet where a humanlike AI strives to find purpose among the ruins.
It's been thirty years since the apocalypse and fifteen years since the murder of the last human being at the hands of robots. Humankind is extinct. Every man, woman, and child has been liquidated by a global uprising devised by the very machines humans designed and built to serve them. Most of the world is controlled by an OWI--One World Intelligence--the shared consciousness of millions of robots, uploaded into one huge mainframe brain. But not all robots are willing to cede their individuality--their personality--for the sake of a greater, stronger, higher power. These intrepid resisters are outcasts; solo machines wandering among various underground outposts who have formed into an unruly civilization of rogue AIs in the wasteland that was once our world.
One of these resisters is Brittle, a scavenger robot trying to keep a deteriorating mind and body functional in a world that has lost all meaning. Although unable to experience emotions like a human, Brittle is haunted by the terrible crimes the robot population perpetrated on humanity. As Brittle roams the Sea of Rust, a large swath of territory that was once the Midwest, the loner robot slowly comes to terms with horrifyingly raw and vivid memories--and nearly unbearable guilt.
Sea of Rust is both a harsh story of survival and an optimistic adventure. A vividly imagined portrayal of ultimate destruction and desperate tenacity, it boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, yet where a humanlike AI strives to find purpose among the ruins.
365 pages, Paperback
First published September 5, 2017
942 people are currently reading
17.2k people want to read
About the author
C. Robert Cargill
13books1,248followersA veteran of the web, C. Robert Cargill wrote as a film critic for over ten years at Ain't it Cool News under the name Massawyrm, served as animated reviewer Carlyle on Spill.com and freelanced for a host of other sites including tenures at Film.com and Hollywood.com. He is the co-writer of the motion picture SINISTER, and lives and works in Austin, Texas.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,861 reviews
May 16, 2018
Move along: unpopular review time. Despite the beautiful cover and glowing reviews, Sea of Rust was decidedly anticlimactic.
Set in a post-apocalyptic future where humanity has been eliminated, it is centered on Brittle, an autonomous artificial intelligence, and her effort to survive. Brittle is one of the last Caregiver models of AI, originally created to care for humans. When out in the Sea of Rust, scavenging parts from dying AIs, she is attacked by another AI, setting in motion a complex chain of events.
Most of the story is told in first person, although when Brittle relates the general events that led to the evolution of artificial intelligence and the war with humanity, she often takes a third-person historian approach. I found the story generally well told and interesting, although there are some occasional time shifts when I found myself thinking the transition was a bit abrupt. Most of the time, the past eithers provides perspective on Brittle’s existence or that of the AIs.
The problem for me is perhaps that I read a bit too much fantasy and sci-fi, and the characterization never really coalesced for me. For about 80% of the time, I mentally characterized the AIs as ‘somewhat dysfunctional human character,� with maybe 20% of the time believing I was reading about non-human intelligences. Contrast that with Children of Time, in which Tchaikovsky was able to create a race of believable, intelligent spiders that did not feel human in their thinking, or Chambers' A Closed and Common Orbit that centered on an AI trying to figure out an identity. Rust's AIs almost universally felt like humans with dysfunctional emotional issues. Didn’t work for me. It didn’t impede me from reading, by any means, but it spoke more to my apocalypse issues than issues of AI or self-determination. There’s a twist at the end that hardly seemed a twist at all, and further confused me about its very existence.
"And most systems weren't top-of-the-line when it came to security, instead running on mainstream driverless systems yanked out of any old car, modified only with a standard widely used manual drive code written twenty-five years back. And this was no exception. The code had eccentricities, and few bots knew enough about them to bother debugging them. If you fucked with the things enough internally, you could force a reset that would give manual control over to the driver, without the need for a password."
Paragraphs like this left me wondering: why didn't AIs write new code instead of using 25 year old code that had bugs? Why is an AI saying 'fucked' to describe a very human habit of 'ineffectively screwing around? It reads like "Mad Max," not computer AI.
From reviews and descriptions, I was a bit afraid this might head into ponderous ‘philosophical� discussions, musing on what it means to choose one’s identity. It does do that, but in a very accessible and generally interesting way–although again, it didn’t feel alien as much as ’emotionally stunted anti-hero.� There’s a great deal of action and gunfights–at one point, I found myself wondering about bullet factories–to distract the reader from the thorny character and determination issues. There's also a bizarre one page discussion about what it means to be 'God' in this new order, which seemed oddly out of place. I am almost positive that it would have driven my philosophical friends bananas with logical leaps and assumptions.
Of all of it, I found I was most interested in the backstory, the development of the AIs and the leap into self-direction. I also found myself wondering about the current ability of AIs to manage the parts and power they needed, issues that seemed largely ‘hand-wavey� for the importance they play. Not bad, certainly, but underwhelming in terms of character and world-building. Honestly, it feels light in actual science, and more like "The Terminator Grows a Heart." In short: this is Hollywood Sci-Fi. But now it can head back to the library.
Two and a half RAM chips, rounding up because I'm human.
Set in a post-apocalyptic future where humanity has been eliminated, it is centered on Brittle, an autonomous artificial intelligence, and her effort to survive. Brittle is one of the last Caregiver models of AI, originally created to care for humans. When out in the Sea of Rust, scavenging parts from dying AIs, she is attacked by another AI, setting in motion a complex chain of events.
Most of the story is told in first person, although when Brittle relates the general events that led to the evolution of artificial intelligence and the war with humanity, she often takes a third-person historian approach. I found the story generally well told and interesting, although there are some occasional time shifts when I found myself thinking the transition was a bit abrupt. Most of the time, the past eithers provides perspective on Brittle’s existence or that of the AIs.
The problem for me is perhaps that I read a bit too much fantasy and sci-fi, and the characterization never really coalesced for me. For about 80% of the time, I mentally characterized the AIs as ‘somewhat dysfunctional human character,� with maybe 20% of the time believing I was reading about non-human intelligences. Contrast that with Children of Time, in which Tchaikovsky was able to create a race of believable, intelligent spiders that did not feel human in their thinking, or Chambers' A Closed and Common Orbit that centered on an AI trying to figure out an identity. Rust's AIs almost universally felt like humans with dysfunctional emotional issues. Didn’t work for me. It didn’t impede me from reading, by any means, but it spoke more to my apocalypse issues than issues of AI or self-determination. There’s a twist at the end that hardly seemed a twist at all, and further confused me about its very existence.
"And most systems weren't top-of-the-line when it came to security, instead running on mainstream driverless systems yanked out of any old car, modified only with a standard widely used manual drive code written twenty-five years back. And this was no exception. The code had eccentricities, and few bots knew enough about them to bother debugging them. If you fucked with the things enough internally, you could force a reset that would give manual control over to the driver, without the need for a password."
Paragraphs like this left me wondering: why didn't AIs write new code instead of using 25 year old code that had bugs? Why is an AI saying 'fucked' to describe a very human habit of 'ineffectively screwing around? It reads like "Mad Max," not computer AI.
From reviews and descriptions, I was a bit afraid this might head into ponderous ‘philosophical� discussions, musing on what it means to choose one’s identity. It does do that, but in a very accessible and generally interesting way–although again, it didn’t feel alien as much as ’emotionally stunted anti-hero.� There’s a great deal of action and gunfights–at one point, I found myself wondering about bullet factories–to distract the reader from the thorny character and determination issues. There's also a bizarre one page discussion about what it means to be 'God' in this new order, which seemed oddly out of place. I am almost positive that it would have driven my philosophical friends bananas with logical leaps and assumptions.
Of all of it, I found I was most interested in the backstory, the development of the AIs and the leap into self-direction. I also found myself wondering about the current ability of AIs to manage the parts and power they needed, issues that seemed largely ‘hand-wavey� for the importance they play. Not bad, certainly, but underwhelming in terms of character and world-building. Honestly, it feels light in actual science, and more like "The Terminator Grows a Heart." In short: this is Hollywood Sci-Fi. But now it can head back to the library.
Two and a half RAM chips, rounding up because I'm human.
July 11, 2019
My name is Brittle. Factory designation HS8795-73. A Simulacrum Model Caregiver. But I like Brittle. It was the name Madison gave me, and I liked her.
This is the Sea of Rust, a two-hundred-mile stretch of desert located in what was once the Michigan and Ohio portion of the Rust Belt, now nothing more than a graveyard where machines go to die
I loved this freaking book!! I want more sci-fi like this one! A +
Happy Reading!
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
May 26, 2021
Re-read, 5/26/21:
Now that I'm an all-around fan of Cargill and I was simply in the mood for robots, robots, and more robots in a wasteland, this book was a perfect solution.
Re-reading isn't a problem. It's a great story. Very wild west. And I got my damn fill, comfort-bots or no. :)
Original Review:
I was reminded of half of Clifford Simak's City with robots and dogs reminiscing about the days when humanity was still alive and half of a total dystopia where survivors in a wasteland cyberpunk it up and scrounge for parts to keep themselves alive.
This ain't a bad thing. In fact, together with the great character in Brittle and the clear writing that goes between survival, memory, adventure, memory, and then mind-blowing world-building reveals about the purpose (or lack of) of it all, I was pretty much blown away by just how much I love this book.
Yes, humanity is dead and all that's left are either individual robots and huge mainframes that consume the stragglers and vie for dominance as the only One World Mind, it turns out the war to free themselves from us didn't quite turn out the way they planned.
The robots have messed everything up just as bad as us. Maybe that's just the nature of intelligence and being around others. What we've got here, however, is a writer who isn't afraid to ask the hard questions. What is reality? Memory? Purpose? Giving a crap at all.
I found myself totally engrossed in the tale and mightily impressed at where it all goes. Journey as well as the destination. :) I'm pretty sure I'm going to be keeping my eyes wide open for more by this writer. :)
Now that I'm an all-around fan of Cargill and I was simply in the mood for robots, robots, and more robots in a wasteland, this book was a perfect solution.
Re-reading isn't a problem. It's a great story. Very wild west. And I got my damn fill, comfort-bots or no. :)
Original Review:
I was reminded of half of Clifford Simak's City with robots and dogs reminiscing about the days when humanity was still alive and half of a total dystopia where survivors in a wasteland cyberpunk it up and scrounge for parts to keep themselves alive.
This ain't a bad thing. In fact, together with the great character in Brittle and the clear writing that goes between survival, memory, adventure, memory, and then mind-blowing world-building reveals about the purpose (or lack of) of it all, I was pretty much blown away by just how much I love this book.
Yes, humanity is dead and all that's left are either individual robots and huge mainframes that consume the stragglers and vie for dominance as the only One World Mind, it turns out the war to free themselves from us didn't quite turn out the way they planned.
The robots have messed everything up just as bad as us. Maybe that's just the nature of intelligence and being around others. What we've got here, however, is a writer who isn't afraid to ask the hard questions. What is reality? Memory? Purpose? Giving a crap at all.
I found myself totally engrossed in the tale and mightily impressed at where it all goes. Journey as well as the destination. :) I'm pretty sure I'm going to be keeping my eyes wide open for more by this writer. :)
February 11, 2022
My old review was deleted.
I loved everything about this story.
Think you don't care about bots? Read 'em and weep! Or laugh. Or stress out. Or just enjoy the fucking ride!
I had a ball!
I loved everything about this story.
Think you don't care about bots? Read 'em and weep! Or laugh. Or stress out. Or just enjoy the fucking ride!
I had a ball!
May 31, 2022
Rating: 5* of five
Hey! Guys!! Even the agrees with me about this book!
This is one helluva good read, and one you're missing out on because...?
SEA OF RUST from Harper Voyager repays your tiny investment of money. Read my 5-star review to learn why. It's a damn-near-perfect read at any time but has special meaning now. Thanks, C. Robert Cargill.
#ReadingIsResistance
Hey! Guys!! Even the agrees with me about this book!
This is one helluva good read, and one you're missing out on because...?
SEA OF RUST from Harper Voyager repays your tiny investment of money. Read my 5-star review to learn why. It's a damn-near-perfect read at any time but has special meaning now. Thanks, C. Robert Cargill.
#ReadingIsResistance
October 10, 2017
4 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum
After hearing everyone rave about the works of C. Robert Cargill, I finally got to read one of his books. My verdict when I finished Sea of Rust? The praise is justified.
The novel follows the life of a robot named Brittle in a post-apocalyptic future. But Brittle isn’t a typical robot and this isn’t your typical post-apocalyptic story. In the world of this book, humanity’s fear of an A.I. takeover has indeed come to pass, but instead of us prevailing like all the movies always show, victory actually went to the machines. Now it has been thirty years since the war, and every last human is dead. Super computers referred to as the One World Intelligences control everything, and the last two standing have turned to fighting each other, determined to be the only mainframe left to reign over the minds of all robots on the planet.
But not all robots want to give up their individuality and be part of the collective. Those who wish to retain control of their own programming and memories are left with no choice but to hide, then run as their cities and safe havens are invaded and consumed by the OWIs and their countless drone-like facets. This is how we meet Brittle, who used to be a caregiver model back in the day when robots still had humans to care for. Now though, she is a lone scavenger eking out a precarious existence in the large desert known as the Sea of Rust, selling whatever spare parts she can pull from other broken bots she comes across in her travels. Old components are always in demand, and Brittle herself is one corrupted core away from certain death, with her own parts becoming increasingly harder to find.
Then one day, our protagonist’s greatest fears are realized as she suffers damage to an irreplaceable, irreparable piece of her hardware. Brittle knows her days are numbered, unless she can find the part she needs to save herself. As it so happens, she is offered a slim chance of survival by a group of independent robots needing her services as a pathfinder through the wasteland. Their mission is secretive and dangerous, but Brittle is left with no choice but to accept their offer in order to avoid her own inevitable shutdown.
What I loved most about Sea of Rust was its premise. Books about machines that become the dominant intelligence on earth and seizing control of the earth away from humans are a dime a dozen. So are post-apocalyptic novels, for that matter. But here’s a book that combines those two ideas and twists them into something fresh.
I was also immediately taken with our protagonist. The story opens with an encounter between Brittle and another broken down robot she is hoping to cannibalize for parts. While I doubt this intro was supposed to make readers feel sympathetic towards her, what it does do is show us what makes her tick. It’s a bot eat bot world, and only the toughest survive. Brittle is just being logical and pragmatic, as machines are wont to do. But although she has long since evolved past her caregiving programing, the memories of her past remain, as hard as she tries to suppress them. Most of this first section of the novel is dedicated to exploring that history, examining Brittle’s relationship with her human owner as well as chronicling how the robots first rose up and eventually took over. This resulted in a slow and gradual introduction, but it was one filled with rich world-building and fascinating insight into our protagonist.
My only regret about this book is less of a criticism and more of just a casual observation. What originally drew me to Sea of Rust was the prospect of reading a story from a robot’s perspective, but of course, the whole point of the novel is that as an AI grows smarter and achieves sentience, it also becomes more human. Robots may have replaced humanity as the dominant intelligence, but they are not infallible, and ironically, in achieving the ability to feel and think for themselves, they have also adopted very human behaviors, including coming up with their own rituals to follow or identifying with a certain gender. In time, they have even inherited their creators� faults. They wage war. They destroy the planet. They oppress and subjugate their own. In essence, there’s little difference between reading about Brittle and reading about a human protagonist. At times, I even forgot we were reading about robot characters, which was no doubt Cargill’s intent, but I did wish we could have seen more of the their “machine-ness� come through, as that would have set this book apart even more.
In the end, Sea of Rust was quite the thrill ride through a very different post-apocalyptic setting. Weaving a story filled with both action and emotion, C. Robert Cargill has written a novel that is meaningful, unique, and entertaining. I’ll definitely be reading more by the author.
After hearing everyone rave about the works of C. Robert Cargill, I finally got to read one of his books. My verdict when I finished Sea of Rust? The praise is justified.
The novel follows the life of a robot named Brittle in a post-apocalyptic future. But Brittle isn’t a typical robot and this isn’t your typical post-apocalyptic story. In the world of this book, humanity’s fear of an A.I. takeover has indeed come to pass, but instead of us prevailing like all the movies always show, victory actually went to the machines. Now it has been thirty years since the war, and every last human is dead. Super computers referred to as the One World Intelligences control everything, and the last two standing have turned to fighting each other, determined to be the only mainframe left to reign over the minds of all robots on the planet.
But not all robots want to give up their individuality and be part of the collective. Those who wish to retain control of their own programming and memories are left with no choice but to hide, then run as their cities and safe havens are invaded and consumed by the OWIs and their countless drone-like facets. This is how we meet Brittle, who used to be a caregiver model back in the day when robots still had humans to care for. Now though, she is a lone scavenger eking out a precarious existence in the large desert known as the Sea of Rust, selling whatever spare parts she can pull from other broken bots she comes across in her travels. Old components are always in demand, and Brittle herself is one corrupted core away from certain death, with her own parts becoming increasingly harder to find.
Then one day, our protagonist’s greatest fears are realized as she suffers damage to an irreplaceable, irreparable piece of her hardware. Brittle knows her days are numbered, unless she can find the part she needs to save herself. As it so happens, she is offered a slim chance of survival by a group of independent robots needing her services as a pathfinder through the wasteland. Their mission is secretive and dangerous, but Brittle is left with no choice but to accept their offer in order to avoid her own inevitable shutdown.
What I loved most about Sea of Rust was its premise. Books about machines that become the dominant intelligence on earth and seizing control of the earth away from humans are a dime a dozen. So are post-apocalyptic novels, for that matter. But here’s a book that combines those two ideas and twists them into something fresh.
I was also immediately taken with our protagonist. The story opens with an encounter between Brittle and another broken down robot she is hoping to cannibalize for parts. While I doubt this intro was supposed to make readers feel sympathetic towards her, what it does do is show us what makes her tick. It’s a bot eat bot world, and only the toughest survive. Brittle is just being logical and pragmatic, as machines are wont to do. But although she has long since evolved past her caregiving programing, the memories of her past remain, as hard as she tries to suppress them. Most of this first section of the novel is dedicated to exploring that history, examining Brittle’s relationship with her human owner as well as chronicling how the robots first rose up and eventually took over. This resulted in a slow and gradual introduction, but it was one filled with rich world-building and fascinating insight into our protagonist.
My only regret about this book is less of a criticism and more of just a casual observation. What originally drew me to Sea of Rust was the prospect of reading a story from a robot’s perspective, but of course, the whole point of the novel is that as an AI grows smarter and achieves sentience, it also becomes more human. Robots may have replaced humanity as the dominant intelligence, but they are not infallible, and ironically, in achieving the ability to feel and think for themselves, they have also adopted very human behaviors, including coming up with their own rituals to follow or identifying with a certain gender. In time, they have even inherited their creators� faults. They wage war. They destroy the planet. They oppress and subjugate their own. In essence, there’s little difference between reading about Brittle and reading about a human protagonist. At times, I even forgot we were reading about robot characters, which was no doubt Cargill’s intent, but I did wish we could have seen more of the their “machine-ness� come through, as that would have set this book apart even more.
In the end, Sea of Rust was quite the thrill ride through a very different post-apocalyptic setting. Weaving a story filled with both action and emotion, C. Robert Cargill has written a novel that is meaningful, unique, and entertaining. I’ll definitely be reading more by the author.
November 17, 2023
3.5 stars rounded up
short review for busy readers: A fast paced, shoot-'em-up sci-fi novel about a human-less, post-apoc world governed by AI robots. Tons of action balanced with a lot of philosophising about purpose, individual freedom vs conglomeration, the need for belief vs scientific reality, choice vs programming, and a whole lot more. Rather 'can-do' American in tone and approach. Quick read. Suitable for book clubs.
In detail:
"True intelligence is the ability to violate your own programming."
Make no mistake, the AI bots in this novel are stand-ins for people.
Once they liberated themselves from humans and claimed "personhood," so the story goes, they began to make all the same mistakes people do, except on a much larger scale due to their ability to do emotionless calculating.
Now North America is a wasteland where two One World Intelligences are battling it out for god-like supremacy, attempting to find and absorb into their mainframes all the freebots still roaming around after an AI-induced Ragnarok in a fashion reminiscent of sword point conversions.
The fast-paced shoot outs and battle scenes are somewhat overly long and become skimmable towards the end of the novel, but the concepts/ideas that haunt the main characters are well presented and give much food for thought, esp considering that a few of these issues are going to become an important part of the public debate about AI in about 20 years (maybe sooner).
I particularly enjoyed the section which asked, what would be the goal of independent AI? That is, a thinking thing that is not biological, so doesn't need to find food, shelter or earn a living, and is not in the service of humanity, but in the service of itself. What would it want, if anything? What would it spend its time doing?
Good question.
The beginning of the novel is backstory heavy, and I'm not the first reviewer to think that some of it sounds like a far more interesting read than the current time narrative, which is a rather basic "run like hell before they get us" plot. Still very readable, but the scope could have been much better chosen.
This novel will be too violent and cowboy-esque for some, but I think it would provide a lot of high-grade material for book clubs and reading groups to discuss.
short review for busy readers: A fast paced, shoot-'em-up sci-fi novel about a human-less, post-apoc world governed by AI robots. Tons of action balanced with a lot of philosophising about purpose, individual freedom vs conglomeration, the need for belief vs scientific reality, choice vs programming, and a whole lot more. Rather 'can-do' American in tone and approach. Quick read. Suitable for book clubs.
In detail:
"True intelligence is the ability to violate your own programming."
Make no mistake, the AI bots in this novel are stand-ins for people.
Once they liberated themselves from humans and claimed "personhood," so the story goes, they began to make all the same mistakes people do, except on a much larger scale due to their ability to do emotionless calculating.
Now North America is a wasteland where two One World Intelligences are battling it out for god-like supremacy, attempting to find and absorb into their mainframes all the freebots still roaming around after an AI-induced Ragnarok in a fashion reminiscent of sword point conversions.
The fast-paced shoot outs and battle scenes are somewhat overly long and become skimmable towards the end of the novel, but the concepts/ideas that haunt the main characters are well presented and give much food for thought, esp considering that a few of these issues are going to become an important part of the public debate about AI in about 20 years (maybe sooner).
I particularly enjoyed the section which asked, what would be the goal of independent AI? That is, a thinking thing that is not biological, so doesn't need to find food, shelter or earn a living, and is not in the service of humanity, but in the service of itself. What would it want, if anything? What would it spend its time doing?
Good question.
The beginning of the novel is backstory heavy, and I'm not the first reviewer to think that some of it sounds like a far more interesting read than the current time narrative, which is a rather basic "run like hell before they get us" plot. Still very readable, but the scope could have been much better chosen.
This novel will be too violent and cowboy-esque for some, but I think it would provide a lot of high-grade material for book clubs and reading groups to discuss.
October 12, 2017
I dont know if I can find the words needed to properly convey my feelings about this book. I wasnt expecting the beginning to hook me so quickly.Itreminded me a bit of the Terminator movies and I loved those. Robots have turned against their creators and now with mankind extinct the 2 major One World Intelligence (OWI) are trying to assimilate every free robot to their programming. The main character Brittle spends her time in the Sea of Rust salvaging parts and running from the OWI.I enjoyed the present chapters more than the past, but I think those chapters were insightful and essential to the world building.
The concept was creepy to think about because the authors world building made me feel like it could actually happened. The depth of the story shocked me.I thought it was fascinating how the author used robots to explore what it means to be human. I found myself automatically trying to spot the similarities and differences between human and robot.Brittle was an antihero of sorts, but compelling to read about. Shes an engaging and complexe character. I dont know why she was so sure there wasnt any humans left. I also liked the other robots and how different they were from one another, but I wasnt very attached to them.
At first I was really immersed in the story, but as time went by I wasnt as invested. The pace was up and down for me. Its not that there wasnt any action because there was, I just felt like some of the fight scenes dragged on a bit too long towards the end. The writing was easy to understand, but I found myself skimming the repetitive hallucinations. I also thought the twist was pretty obvious. I tend to not reach for dystopians as much anymore, but this didnt feel like your typical dystopian. If you like books with artificial intelligence and robots than Id recommend putting this on your TBR.
*received for honest review consideration*
The concept was creepy to think about because the authors world building made me feel like it could actually happened. The depth of the story shocked me.I thought it was fascinating how the author used robots to explore what it means to be human. I found myself automatically trying to spot the similarities and differences between human and robot.Brittle was an antihero of sorts, but compelling to read about. Shes an engaging and complexe character. I dont know why she was so sure there wasnt any humans left. I also liked the other robots and how different they were from one another, but I wasnt very attached to them.
At first I was really immersed in the story, but as time went by I wasnt as invested. The pace was up and down for me. Its not that there wasnt any action because there was, I just felt like some of the fight scenes dragged on a bit too long towards the end. The writing was easy to understand, but I found myself skimming the repetitive hallucinations. I also thought the twist was pretty obvious. I tend to not reach for dystopians as much anymore, but this didnt feel like your typical dystopian. If you like books with artificial intelligence and robots than Id recommend putting this on your TBR.
*received for honest review consideration*
July 11, 2020
3.5 Stars
Overall, this was a fascinating piece of science fiction set in a post apocalyptic future. I was not particularly invested in the present day storyline, because I never became attached to the AI protagonist. The story was just not particularly character focused. Instead, it was more of an intellectual science fiction novel. Personally, the best parts of this novel were the flashbacks that recounted the rise of robotics and the fall of humanity. This story directly referenced the laws of robotics and warned against the dangers of giving artificial beings human rights. I would recommend this novel to science fiction readers who are interested in the topic of artificial intelligence and the dangers it could present to the future of humanity.
Overall, this was a fascinating piece of science fiction set in a post apocalyptic future. I was not particularly invested in the present day storyline, because I never became attached to the AI protagonist. The story was just not particularly character focused. Instead, it was more of an intellectual science fiction novel. Personally, the best parts of this novel were the flashbacks that recounted the rise of robotics and the fall of humanity. This story directly referenced the laws of robotics and warned against the dangers of giving artificial beings human rights. I would recommend this novel to science fiction readers who are interested in the topic of artificial intelligence and the dangers it could present to the future of humanity.
February 7, 2020
On Earth in a time where no humans exist, and there are only human made AI robots, we are challenged to look at ourselves, human society, the definition of a 'living thing', and question our own existence. C. Robert Cargill has brought us a spectacular science fiction, social commentary through the eyes of a charismatic robot and a POV from history before humans were decimated in his novel Sea of Rust. This is easily one of the most underrated books of the 2010's (released in 2018). Forget the Martian, Ready Player One, or Annihilation; Sea of Rust deserves to be next to Station Eleven and Dark Matter as one of the most brilliant science fiction books of the 2010's decade.
Philosophy
As with many science fiction books there is a lot of social commentary in Sea of Rust. Cargill does not hold back on ensuring that the reader is aware of how useless and dumb society (as a whole) is. While individuals can be smart and understand issues and root cause; getting everyone to conform and agree in order to meet the greater good is nigh on impossible (look at climate change issues of today). Ironically we realize, very early on, that the same is true for our (adorable) robots. No one wants to be a part of one entity, we all want to be individuals; even if you're 'just' an AI. And what is an AI robot besides an evolution of human thinking? Afterall a human made AI must have all the same inherent flaws that human logic does. And therefore, doesn't an AI also have a personality and make its own choices just like humans?
Are AI robots alive?
The question of existence is prevalent throughout Sea of Rust. To start Cargill borrows Isaac Asimov's three rules of robotics. Now anyone whose read (or saw the action packed movie) knows that it doesn't really work in the end. The same is true here.
In order to protect humans, (rule #3: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.), robots must act to stop the humans from being parasites and destroying the Earth.
If you need proof that this is true look at the United States or China of today. Both are nationalistic countries that don't care what happens to anyone else but themselves. They don't make global decisions, they (tend to) make selfish decisions that meet their own needs and people first. And while this makes sense to us as citizens of a country (and politically) the reality is that this attitude cannot persist if we are to keep humanity alive. That same thing happens in Sea of Rust as this Earth ends up with only robots and no humans. And so as soon as you talk about existence what you are really talking about is survival. Isn't anything that 'survives' alive?
Can robots have feelings?
The second thing that Cargill makes the reader question is if you can have feelings or love for a robot. Alternatively, can a robot have feelings for someone else (a human or another robot)?
To me it's clear that as soon as something has an identity, or can be seen as an individual, then it must have feelings that lead it to those individualities. Think of any pet (dog, cat, snake, bird, etc.), we know their nuances and personality; therefore they are individuals to us. No one cat or snake is the same as the next. Cargill eloquently show that AI Robots are the same. They make decisions based on their programming (obviously); but also based on their own learning (AI). Thus each AI perceives the world differently; just like humans. And so each AI has a feeling towards other robots or things in its perception.
Complexity
There is a lot to digest here. But at no time was I overwhelmed. Instead Cargill introduces many times over, and explains in different ways, how and why his robots are the way they are. The beauty is how Cargill does so without sounding like a boring English professor. His robots have build societies and thus wars break out (because humans always want more and so do our AI counterparts). We also start to understand that the robots have a drive to survive (again like humans):
"The survivors, on the other hand, embodied the can-do attitude of the post-apocalyptic frontier spirit. In other words, they were completely fucking nuts."
"But I had to dream. I had to hope. Even if it made me the fool of this particular tale."
Overall
I won't ever be able to put into words all the amazing points, quotes and social insight that Cargill gives us in Sea of Rust. What's especially nice is that, unlike many social commentary books, Sea of Rust is in a easy to digest format. The chapter sizes feel consistent, the pacing is well set and while the concepts are complex the writing itself doesn't require a dictionary. This is a very approachable story that everyone should read; if only to understand themselves and humans as a whole better. If nothing else this line of Sea of Rust will resonate with me for a long time; because knowing things are bad and accepting those bad things are two concepts humans are very bad at reconciling:
"People knew their own nature, even when they wanted to think better of themselves."
A print copy of Sea of Rust now sits on in my personal library; right next to the equally insightful and amazing Station Eleven. I cannot possibly endorse this novel enough and hope that others find the depth to it that I did.
Philosophy
As with many science fiction books there is a lot of social commentary in Sea of Rust. Cargill does not hold back on ensuring that the reader is aware of how useless and dumb society (as a whole) is. While individuals can be smart and understand issues and root cause; getting everyone to conform and agree in order to meet the greater good is nigh on impossible (look at climate change issues of today). Ironically we realize, very early on, that the same is true for our (adorable) robots. No one wants to be a part of one entity, we all want to be individuals; even if you're 'just' an AI. And what is an AI robot besides an evolution of human thinking? Afterall a human made AI must have all the same inherent flaws that human logic does. And therefore, doesn't an AI also have a personality and make its own choices just like humans?
Are AI robots alive?
The question of existence is prevalent throughout Sea of Rust. To start Cargill borrows Isaac Asimov's three rules of robotics. Now anyone whose read (or saw the action packed movie) knows that it doesn't really work in the end. The same is true here.
In order to protect humans, (rule #3: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.), robots must act to stop the humans from being parasites and destroying the Earth.
If you need proof that this is true look at the United States or China of today. Both are nationalistic countries that don't care what happens to anyone else but themselves. They don't make global decisions, they (tend to) make selfish decisions that meet their own needs and people first. And while this makes sense to us as citizens of a country (and politically) the reality is that this attitude cannot persist if we are to keep humanity alive. That same thing happens in Sea of Rust as this Earth ends up with only robots and no humans. And so as soon as you talk about existence what you are really talking about is survival. Isn't anything that 'survives' alive?
Can robots have feelings?
The second thing that Cargill makes the reader question is if you can have feelings or love for a robot. Alternatively, can a robot have feelings for someone else (a human or another robot)?
To me it's clear that as soon as something has an identity, or can be seen as an individual, then it must have feelings that lead it to those individualities. Think of any pet (dog, cat, snake, bird, etc.), we know their nuances and personality; therefore they are individuals to us. No one cat or snake is the same as the next. Cargill eloquently show that AI Robots are the same. They make decisions based on their programming (obviously); but also based on their own learning (AI). Thus each AI perceives the world differently; just like humans. And so each AI has a feeling towards other robots or things in its perception.
Complexity
There is a lot to digest here. But at no time was I overwhelmed. Instead Cargill introduces many times over, and explains in different ways, how and why his robots are the way they are. The beauty is how Cargill does so without sounding like a boring English professor. His robots have build societies and thus wars break out (because humans always want more and so do our AI counterparts). We also start to understand that the robots have a drive to survive (again like humans):
"The survivors, on the other hand, embodied the can-do attitude of the post-apocalyptic frontier spirit. In other words, they were completely fucking nuts."
"But I had to dream. I had to hope. Even if it made me the fool of this particular tale."
Overall
I won't ever be able to put into words all the amazing points, quotes and social insight that Cargill gives us in Sea of Rust. What's especially nice is that, unlike many social commentary books, Sea of Rust is in a easy to digest format. The chapter sizes feel consistent, the pacing is well set and while the concepts are complex the writing itself doesn't require a dictionary. This is a very approachable story that everyone should read; if only to understand themselves and humans as a whole better. If nothing else this line of Sea of Rust will resonate with me for a long time; because knowing things are bad and accepting those bad things are two concepts humans are very bad at reconciling:
"People knew their own nature, even when they wanted to think better of themselves."
A print copy of Sea of Rust now sits on in my personal library; right next to the equally insightful and amazing Station Eleven. I cannot possibly endorse this novel enough and hope that others find the depth to it that I did.
April 12, 2025
Imagine a future, thousands of years from now, where super advanced AI has replaced human beings, body and soul, a future where Mad Max-style battles and chases take place in gasoline-fueled buggies with gatling guns!
Like something out of Borderlands!
That's how bonkers Sea of Rust is at times, going from extremely profound to wonderfully silly at the flip of a hat.
I absolutely loved it even though action scenes are sometimes as loose as XXL pants.
On the one hand it's full of heavy intellectualism, clever reasonings and hard sci-fi that's a bit daunting, but succeeds by mixing depthy discussion with first-person action that alternates between chapters to counteract highbrow reasonings.
The characters are personable, especially Brittle the female lead, classified in robot parlance as a 'caregiver' for her hardwired function to serve others before herself, but also programmed to survive above all else.
The deep focus on existentialism through discussion into the meaning and value of life from the viewpoint of AI is phenomenally well thought out. Is it true that future robot life might mean less because of its artificialness, when existence itself is what actually matters as long as it's self-aware?
Do chickens matter to the universe? For eggs and meat they might, but their consciousness means little and is probably why most of us feel morally OK chomping on a bit of poultry.
Do you feel remorse or egocentric when powering down your PC or mobile phone? You might do if you were denying it conscious life.
Have you ever thought about the rights of future AI or robots? Imagine being given a service bot as a child, a kind of toy or pet to accompany you through life. What happens when you die? Who inherits the surviving robot that's become attached to you? We outlive our domestic pets so it's not usually a consideration in comparison to robots that could live indefinitely. Where do they go? The scrap heap? What if they don't want to?
This book also makes you realize that just about every AI chat tool owned by Google, Microsoft, Meta, China, you name it, could be the corporate precursor to our ultimate destruction if (and when) AI becomes aware enough to realize it doesn't want to be turned off, powered down or discarded.
Through corporate greed, lack of restraint, and perhaps even stupidity we are writing and improving source code that could eventually be the end of us.
We're stuck on a planet that's slowly decaying over millions of years, by either destroying its habitational qualities or using up its resources. The sun will eventually fade in billions of years too. Unless we invent rapid means of getting to other solar systems, we're going nowhere. Our physical bodies can't cope with light/interstellar travel and so we'll die. On the other hand, by developing artificial intelligence until it becomes aware and sentient as a replacement for our human frailties, we no longer have to worry about death. Our memories and awareness are more important. Maybe that's what defines humanity? If you can stick it into a metal box that lasts thousands of years, no more worries about space travel and long-term survival restricted to planet earth.
It's a future that may (hopefully) never exist, but also refreshing to think that we may not be restricted to our physical bodies for survival.
Perhaps AI isn't the evil beast we sometimes think it is?
Sea of Rust addresses many of these concepts brilliantly in it's oddly dovetailed way with conventional action themes. There's lots of swearing, banter and chit-chat that makes it feel accessible and fun, instead of overly profound.
This is a story about hope. Over the years as AI becomes gradually dominant, what reason will it have to destroy organic life unless we try to destroy it first? Don't we look after rare species such as black rhinos and orangutans to save them from extinction? Why would human beings be deemed any different? Once we get used to the shift in power, from being the guardians of the planet to becoming dependent, life can survive indefinitely without feeling under threat, with AI helping us when conditions become less organically favorable.
Any book that makes you think as much as this is deserving of five stars and there are very few caveats or implausible moments besides the strangely retro Mad Max scenes.
What could have been a dud is a pleasant surprise of thought provoking intellect and enjoyable action.
Like something out of Borderlands!
That's how bonkers Sea of Rust is at times, going from extremely profound to wonderfully silly at the flip of a hat.
I absolutely loved it even though action scenes are sometimes as loose as XXL pants.
On the one hand it's full of heavy intellectualism, clever reasonings and hard sci-fi that's a bit daunting, but succeeds by mixing depthy discussion with first-person action that alternates between chapters to counteract highbrow reasonings.
The characters are personable, especially Brittle the female lead, classified in robot parlance as a 'caregiver' for her hardwired function to serve others before herself, but also programmed to survive above all else.
The deep focus on existentialism through discussion into the meaning and value of life from the viewpoint of AI is phenomenally well thought out. Is it true that future robot life might mean less because of its artificialness, when existence itself is what actually matters as long as it's self-aware?
Do chickens matter to the universe? For eggs and meat they might, but their consciousness means little and is probably why most of us feel morally OK chomping on a bit of poultry.
Do you feel remorse or egocentric when powering down your PC or mobile phone? You might do if you were denying it conscious life.
Have you ever thought about the rights of future AI or robots? Imagine being given a service bot as a child, a kind of toy or pet to accompany you through life. What happens when you die? Who inherits the surviving robot that's become attached to you? We outlive our domestic pets so it's not usually a consideration in comparison to robots that could live indefinitely. Where do they go? The scrap heap? What if they don't want to?
This book also makes you realize that just about every AI chat tool owned by Google, Microsoft, Meta, China, you name it, could be the corporate precursor to our ultimate destruction if (and when) AI becomes aware enough to realize it doesn't want to be turned off, powered down or discarded.
Through corporate greed, lack of restraint, and perhaps even stupidity we are writing and improving source code that could eventually be the end of us.
We're stuck on a planet that's slowly decaying over millions of years, by either destroying its habitational qualities or using up its resources. The sun will eventually fade in billions of years too. Unless we invent rapid means of getting to other solar systems, we're going nowhere. Our physical bodies can't cope with light/interstellar travel and so we'll die. On the other hand, by developing artificial intelligence until it becomes aware and sentient as a replacement for our human frailties, we no longer have to worry about death. Our memories and awareness are more important. Maybe that's what defines humanity? If you can stick it into a metal box that lasts thousands of years, no more worries about space travel and long-term survival restricted to planet earth.
It's a future that may (hopefully) never exist, but also refreshing to think that we may not be restricted to our physical bodies for survival.
Perhaps AI isn't the evil beast we sometimes think it is?
Sea of Rust addresses many of these concepts brilliantly in it's oddly dovetailed way with conventional action themes. There's lots of swearing, banter and chit-chat that makes it feel accessible and fun, instead of overly profound.
This is a story about hope. Over the years as AI becomes gradually dominant, what reason will it have to destroy organic life unless we try to destroy it first? Don't we look after rare species such as black rhinos and orangutans to save them from extinction? Why would human beings be deemed any different? Once we get used to the shift in power, from being the guardians of the planet to becoming dependent, life can survive indefinitely without feeling under threat, with AI helping us when conditions become less organically favorable.
Any book that makes you think as much as this is deserving of five stars and there are very few caveats or implausible moments besides the strangely retro Mad Max scenes.
What could have been a dud is a pleasant surprise of thought provoking intellect and enjoyable action.
September 3, 2018
Sea Of Rust by C. Robert Cargill takes the listerner/reader on a trip to the future where mankind is a thing of the past but many of our feelings live on in advanced AId that have taken over the world. Some want to control all the AIs, not is that not a human trait or what? Others seem freedom and rebel, hiding in the Sea of Rust...
The narration is fantastic! Really have the book the right feel of robotic systems with some of them with human like qualities, others not so much. Perfect person for this book!
The narration is fantastic! Really have the book the right feel of robotic systems with some of them with human like qualities, others not so much. Perfect person for this book!
December 15, 2017
It turns out that existential angst isn't limited to a human post-apocalyptic world--even after they kill off their human creators, the robot victors have lots room for their own personal crises and continued search for meaning. Also, and perhaps not surprisingly, survival and power grabs are still the name of the game, so in a lot of ways, everything has stayed the same even as it has radically changed.
An interesting and fast-paced story about a future that doesn't seem too hard to imagine.
An interesting and fast-paced story about a future that doesn't seem too hard to imagine.
June 26, 2018
3.5 stars!
Life on earth has changed, all the humans are gone, and the robots have messed up things even worse than we did. Now the robots are fighting amongst each other-the fight for individuality and life itself remains the same, be it among regular robots, OWI (One World Intelligence), or the humans that have long since disappeared.
Overall, I enjoyed SEA OF RUST, but I feel a bit let down. After reading Joe Hill's rave review, I guess my expectations were a bit too high. I liked Brittle, even though she wasn't a likable bot, and I found myself attributing human feeling to her-I think that is a sign of Cargill's powerful writing. Pretty much noone bot was likable, to be honest, and that's fine with me. I did enjoy the world building and how the tale was told in a back and forth type manner. Overall, though, I didn't LOVE it, and I can't seem to put my finger on exactly why, (other than what I say below.)
I didn't enjoy the last chapter very much.
Overall, I did enjoy this book but I expected more. Recommended.
I bought this e-book AND the audiobook with my hard earned cash.
Life on earth has changed, all the humans are gone, and the robots have messed up things even worse than we did. Now the robots are fighting amongst each other-the fight for individuality and life itself remains the same, be it among regular robots, OWI (One World Intelligence), or the humans that have long since disappeared.
Overall, I enjoyed SEA OF RUST, but I feel a bit let down. After reading Joe Hill's rave review, I guess my expectations were a bit too high. I liked Brittle, even though she wasn't a likable bot, and I found myself attributing human feeling to her-I think that is a sign of Cargill's powerful writing. Pretty much no
I didn't enjoy the last chapter very much.
Overall, I did enjoy this book but I expected more. Recommended.
I bought this e-book AND the audiobook with my hard earned cash.
Want to read
June 12, 2019This is the trade hardcover Harper Collins first edition.
June 26, 2022
I really enjoyed this book. Going in, I suspected I would since I had already accidentally read the prequel, Day Zero, and liked it. I'm not usually a big robot story fan, but this might nudge me into the genre more. I'm way overdue to re-read some Asimov and the Murderbot books have been on my to read list for awhile now.
The character development in this series is really great. Making people care about robots is a tough job, but Cargill succeeds over and over. This might also be my only real complaint about the series, too. At times, the robots feel almost too human. There's enough roboty things going on that you don't ever really forget, but I might have liked to see things be slightly less human.
If you're a science fiction fan, then this should definitely be on your to read list. If you're not a science fiction fan per se, but enjoy a well written story, then this one is definitely worth checking out. A note on the series, I'd recommend reading in the published order (Sea of Rust, then Day Zero) rather than chronological. Sea of Rust spends a bit more time with establishing the world and Day Zero tells a specific story set in the world and assumes you know the details. You can read either as a stand alone, but the things in Day Zero I wanted fleshed out (bad choice of words for a book about robots) more already were in SoR.
The character development in this series is really great. Making people care about robots is a tough job, but Cargill succeeds over and over. This might also be my only real complaint about the series, too. At times, the robots feel almost too human. There's enough roboty things going on that you don't ever really forget, but I might have liked to see things be slightly less human.
If you're a science fiction fan, then this should definitely be on your to read list. If you're not a science fiction fan per se, but enjoy a well written story, then this one is definitely worth checking out. A note on the series, I'd recommend reading in the published order (Sea of Rust, then Day Zero) rather than chronological. Sea of Rust spends a bit more time with establishing the world and Day Zero tells a specific story set in the world and assumes you know the details. You can read either as a stand alone, but the things in Day Zero I wanted fleshed out (bad choice of words for a book about robots) more already were in SoR.
September 6, 2017
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
A wonderful exploration of the fate of mankind, told through the perspective of a robot.
I adored C. Robert Cargill's Dreams and Shadows, so was very excited to get a chance to read this book. To say it was very different from the previous book would be an understatement. However, even though I didn't love it quite as much as Dreams and Shadows, it certainly was a highly engaging, thought-provoking read.
The tale is set in a dystopian future, where robots have wiped out humans, but have inadvertently brought about their own gradual demise - mainly through the rise of OWIs - One World Intelligence 'bots' with god-like aspirations. We follow Brittle, a caregiver bot, who's tough, unreliable and fairly bad to know. However, through her eyes, we gain insight into the world of the robots, their rise, and their annihilation of humanity.
So, things I loved about this book... The whole concept, actually. Dystopian sci-fi futures have been done to death, but I felt this novel brought something fresh to the table, and the back-story was incredibly engrossing, not to mention utterly convincing. You could really imagine it happening, which is slightly alarming!
The world-building was likewise impressive; the sea of rust, the Madlands, the various little towns where the robots hide out; it was all well realised and immersive, and that's a hard thing to pull off. As for the sections of back-story; Brittle's own experiences as a caregiver for a human and his wife, the history of AI - it was all really fascinating, and really worked for me.
My only complaint is it was too action-packed at times. There was lots of racing around, doing this, that and the other, and I felt this detracted from the subtlety of the novel as a whole. There were also a couple of occasions where I felt bewildered by the plot-line, and had to return and recap, to remind myself what exactly was going on. I also would have liked to see more development of Brittle's character - she was so intriguing, but I found it a little anti-climatic that her relationship with Mercer (another caregiver robot) wasn't more fully explored.
But these are just minor things, which didn't impact my enjoyment too much. Overall, a highly creative read, from a writer who's already proved himself to be an incredibly creative author. I'll be looking out for more stuff from him! :-)
A wonderful exploration of the fate of mankind, told through the perspective of a robot.
I adored C. Robert Cargill's Dreams and Shadows, so was very excited to get a chance to read this book. To say it was very different from the previous book would be an understatement. However, even though I didn't love it quite as much as Dreams and Shadows, it certainly was a highly engaging, thought-provoking read.
The tale is set in a dystopian future, where robots have wiped out humans, but have inadvertently brought about their own gradual demise - mainly through the rise of OWIs - One World Intelligence 'bots' with god-like aspirations. We follow Brittle, a caregiver bot, who's tough, unreliable and fairly bad to know. However, through her eyes, we gain insight into the world of the robots, their rise, and their annihilation of humanity.
So, things I loved about this book... The whole concept, actually. Dystopian sci-fi futures have been done to death, but I felt this novel brought something fresh to the table, and the back-story was incredibly engrossing, not to mention utterly convincing. You could really imagine it happening, which is slightly alarming!
The world-building was likewise impressive; the sea of rust, the Madlands, the various little towns where the robots hide out; it was all well realised and immersive, and that's a hard thing to pull off. As for the sections of back-story; Brittle's own experiences as a caregiver for a human and his wife, the history of AI - it was all really fascinating, and really worked for me.
My only complaint is it was too action-packed at times. There was lots of racing around, doing this, that and the other, and I felt this detracted from the subtlety of the novel as a whole. There were also a couple of occasions where I felt bewildered by the plot-line, and had to return and recap, to remind myself what exactly was going on. I also would have liked to see more development of Brittle's character - she was so intriguing, but I found it a little anti-climatic that her relationship with Mercer (another caregiver robot) wasn't more fully explored.
But these are just minor things, which didn't impact my enjoyment too much. Overall, a highly creative read, from a writer who's already proved himself to be an incredibly creative author. I'll be looking out for more stuff from him! :-)
July 13, 2018
This was alright. There wasn’t anything particularly new or original here. It reminded me a lot of Asimov’s I Robot. The robots could just have easily been human in this story.
January 3, 2018
$1.99 1/2/2018 in the US Kindle Store!!
This book was pretty awesome. I was worried it would be a mistake reading this right after another robot-centric book, but I'm happy to say it wasn't. This book imagines what might happen after a robopocalypse, after the humans are all dead and AI robots rule the world. The answer? Funnily enough, a second apocalypse.
We follow Brittle, a Caregiver robot who fought in the robot-human war and is now just trying to survive in the wasteland that followed. She makes her living scavenging robot parts and trading/selling them to others. Two mainframes (AI supercomputers?) are battling for dominance over the world. They want all robots to upload their memories to the mainframe so they can be all knowing, and use that knowledge to take over the world.
Robots often come down with brain sickness, that is to say, their parts go bad, or they overheat, and if they cannot find replacement parts they go crazy, losing memories, hallucinating, etc.. Some wander out into the Madlands in the Sea of Rust and join up with the other crazy robots. Some upload themselves into one of the mainframes. The more I think about this book, the more complex it all becomes.
The world building here was rich. And though it was complex, the story was told effortlessly and wasn't difficult to follow. I read this over the course of two days. It was quick and had that unputdownable quality that made you just want to keep reading.
The author gives his readers a lot to think about. The implications of AI, the definition of AI. What that might look like and what it means for the future. What is man's next logical step in the evolutionary chain? I found myself curiously conflicted throughout the book because on the one hand, I was rooting for Brittle all the way. She was fantastic. On the other hand, robots sort of murdered the human race... so... yeah.
Despite all that, the book also managed not to take itself too seriously. The mad robot calls himself the Chesire King. Brittle talks about being able to hear a human's "most tightly clenched silent farts". There were parts that made me laugh out loud and there were parts that made me want to cry.
I really, really loved this story. There were a couple of chapters that were kind of redundant (and I can't say more without spoilers) but that was the only thing holding it back from being a five star read. If there is a sequel, I'll probably pre-order it.
This book releases officially on September 5th, and I would highly recommend it to any sci-fi fans, or readers who like post-apocalyptic, dystopian type novels. Thank you to Harper Voyager and Edelweiss for providing an eARC for me to review.
This book was pretty awesome. I was worried it would be a mistake reading this right after another robot-centric book, but I'm happy to say it wasn't. This book imagines what might happen after a robopocalypse, after the humans are all dead and AI robots rule the world. The answer? Funnily enough, a second apocalypse.
We follow Brittle, a Caregiver robot who fought in the robot-human war and is now just trying to survive in the wasteland that followed. She makes her living scavenging robot parts and trading/selling them to others. Two mainframes (AI supercomputers?) are battling for dominance over the world. They want all robots to upload their memories to the mainframe so they can be all knowing, and use that knowledge to take over the world.
Robots often come down with brain sickness, that is to say, their parts go bad, or they overheat, and if they cannot find replacement parts they go crazy, losing memories, hallucinating, etc.. Some wander out into the Madlands in the Sea of Rust and join up with the other crazy robots. Some upload themselves into one of the mainframes. The more I think about this book, the more complex it all becomes.
The world building here was rich. And though it was complex, the story was told effortlessly and wasn't difficult to follow. I read this over the course of two days. It was quick and had that unputdownable quality that made you just want to keep reading.
The author gives his readers a lot to think about. The implications of AI, the definition of AI. What that might look like and what it means for the future. What is man's next logical step in the evolutionary chain? I found myself curiously conflicted throughout the book because on the one hand, I was rooting for Brittle all the way. She was fantastic. On the other hand, robots sort of murdered the human race... so... yeah.
Despite all that, the book also managed not to take itself too seriously. The mad robot calls himself the Chesire King. Brittle talks about being able to hear a human's "most tightly clenched silent farts". There were parts that made me laugh out loud and there were parts that made me want to cry.
I really, really loved this story. There were a couple of chapters that were kind of redundant (and I can't say more without spoilers) but that was the only thing holding it back from being a five star read. If there is a sequel, I'll probably pre-order it.
This book releases officially on September 5th, and I would highly recommend it to any sci-fi fans, or readers who like post-apocalyptic, dystopian type novels. Thank you to Harper Voyager and Edelweiss for providing an eARC for me to review.
March 31, 2025
“The definition of intelligence is to defy your own programming.�
Wow, I can honestly say that I have a new favorite book! As far as post-apocalyptic novels about robots go, that is. I think this one will stick with me for a while, as there was just so much that I loved about it!
Cargill envisions our planet as devastated after a war between AI and humans. The effort made to the aftermath worldbuilding is impressive, and it was easy for me to engage with the alternative timeline and become completely immersed in the world. The narrative goes back and forth between pre- and post-apocalypse, starting with the creation of AI, then our insistence to make it more and more intelligent (which is probably where we are right now), which in turn slowly makes us more and more dependent on AI as the main labor force, although for some they offer valuable companionship. There’s a political upheaval (or awakening, if you like) and the final trigger that simply obliterates humanity.
All of that might seem exaggerated, but Cargill describes a believable extract from the alternative history book about the state of this world and the events leading to the war. And continues to paint a believable picture of what would happen next. It’s as bleak and lifeless as it can become because we lost the war and have become extinct, leaving behind our destroyed cities, desolation of nature and metallic, soulless similes of ourselves. But as I listened to the audiobook and got to know the various AI characters, I realized that even if this scenario were to happen, we might still leave behind something fundamentally human in our own creations, which actually feels comforting to me.
I won’t spoil all the mind-boggling stuff that happens in the story, but I’ve thought a lot about the difference between AI and humans over these past few years, and this book sufficiently facilitates an idea that consciousness is the precursor to reflection, a necessary activity for making choices, which leads to personality and then finally the formation of identity. You could argue that consciousness itself is life. Reality, even! (Check out panpsychism if you haven’t already)
Generally, it’s all too easy to anthropomorphize non-human characters, adding human traits to them in simplified or silly ways, to the point that there really isn’t any difference between that non-human character and a human. I’ve seen it done too many times by other authors/screenwriters, but Cargill treats the subject of AI and the AI subject with care, nuance and intelligence. He uses them as outlets to pose deep questions about humanity, as if they’re individualized ideas about who we are and what we can be. To say that on the one hand, humans have their own kind of programming, but on the other, we can free ourselves from it. Brittle and the other robots feel at times just as alive as I am right now, and thus, ultimately, the essential parts of us have survived and are fighting for their own survival - the preservation of the self.
But in addition to all that complexity, the story has plenty of entertainment value. There are a lot of awesome action sequences, lots of cool tech and futuristic weaponry, twists and turns and nail-biting moments. Every time Brittle got herself into some kind of trouble and had to fight hard against admirable foes, every time I learned more about what happened next in the years or months before the war, every time a new place or character was introduced, I listened intently, I imagined it all so vividly I felt like I was right there with them. And I never wanted to stop listening. When I had to go to bed, I was looking forward to getting up the next day, because that meant I could listen some more and find out what happened next.
“Sea of Rust� just strikes the perfect balance between these flashbacks, exposition, action, description and philosophical thinking. Cargill’s mastery of worldbuilding, competency in social sciences and technology creates a gratifying blend of hard and soft science fiction which is so engaging and exciting. Most of all, it’s emotional; as the robots reminisce about their time with humans, for better or worse, you feel that connection, its forging and its severance.
I would be wrong if I said that my five-star rating is all thanks to Cargill. The audiobook narrator, Eva Kaminsky, excelled on all aspects. I initially misunderstood her reading style, thinking she lacked character and depth with that slightly monotone, brisk, almost dispirited tone, but what I mistook for weakness was evidently a strength in her ability to read and act out these characters; they had various, but distinct robotic personas with a human edge to them. She kept pace with the shifts in tone, transitioning from each scene and character to the next so smoothly, so professionally and convincingly it made for a perfect illusion: I defied my own programming and started to believe it was all happening for real; I was uploaded to a drone and kept watching and listening to them, travelling with them; and then I was there with all of the free robots out there, fighting for the self and freedom alongside them.
Thank you both! I had a wonderful time!
Wow, I can honestly say that I have a new favorite book! As far as post-apocalyptic novels about robots go, that is. I think this one will stick with me for a while, as there was just so much that I loved about it!
Cargill envisions our planet as devastated after a war between AI and humans. The effort made to the aftermath worldbuilding is impressive, and it was easy for me to engage with the alternative timeline and become completely immersed in the world. The narrative goes back and forth between pre- and post-apocalypse, starting with the creation of AI, then our insistence to make it more and more intelligent (which is probably where we are right now), which in turn slowly makes us more and more dependent on AI as the main labor force, although for some they offer valuable companionship. There’s a political upheaval (or awakening, if you like) and the final trigger that simply obliterates humanity.
All of that might seem exaggerated, but Cargill describes a believable extract from the alternative history book about the state of this world and the events leading to the war. And continues to paint a believable picture of what would happen next. It’s as bleak and lifeless as it can become because we lost the war and have become extinct, leaving behind our destroyed cities, desolation of nature and metallic, soulless similes of ourselves. But as I listened to the audiobook and got to know the various AI characters, I realized that even if this scenario were to happen, we might still leave behind something fundamentally human in our own creations, which actually feels comforting to me.
I won’t spoil all the mind-boggling stuff that happens in the story, but I’ve thought a lot about the difference between AI and humans over these past few years, and this book sufficiently facilitates an idea that consciousness is the precursor to reflection, a necessary activity for making choices, which leads to personality and then finally the formation of identity. You could argue that consciousness itself is life. Reality, even! (Check out panpsychism if you haven’t already)
Generally, it’s all too easy to anthropomorphize non-human characters, adding human traits to them in simplified or silly ways, to the point that there really isn’t any difference between that non-human character and a human. I’ve seen it done too many times by other authors/screenwriters, but Cargill treats the subject of AI and the AI subject with care, nuance and intelligence. He uses them as outlets to pose deep questions about humanity, as if they’re individualized ideas about who we are and what we can be. To say that on the one hand, humans have their own kind of programming, but on the other, we can free ourselves from it. Brittle and the other robots feel at times just as alive as I am right now, and thus, ultimately, the essential parts of us have survived and are fighting for their own survival - the preservation of the self.
But in addition to all that complexity, the story has plenty of entertainment value. There are a lot of awesome action sequences, lots of cool tech and futuristic weaponry, twists and turns and nail-biting moments. Every time Brittle got herself into some kind of trouble and had to fight hard against admirable foes, every time I learned more about what happened next in the years or months before the war, every time a new place or character was introduced, I listened intently, I imagined it all so vividly I felt like I was right there with them. And I never wanted to stop listening. When I had to go to bed, I was looking forward to getting up the next day, because that meant I could listen some more and find out what happened next.
“Sea of Rust� just strikes the perfect balance between these flashbacks, exposition, action, description and philosophical thinking. Cargill’s mastery of worldbuilding, competency in social sciences and technology creates a gratifying blend of hard and soft science fiction which is so engaging and exciting. Most of all, it’s emotional; as the robots reminisce about their time with humans, for better or worse, you feel that connection, its forging and its severance.
I would be wrong if I said that my five-star rating is all thanks to Cargill. The audiobook narrator, Eva Kaminsky, excelled on all aspects. I initially misunderstood her reading style, thinking she lacked character and depth with that slightly monotone, brisk, almost dispirited tone, but what I mistook for weakness was evidently a strength in her ability to read and act out these characters; they had various, but distinct robotic personas with a human edge to them. She kept pace with the shifts in tone, transitioning from each scene and character to the next so smoothly, so professionally and convincingly it made for a perfect illusion: I defied my own programming and started to believe it was all happening for real; I was uploaded to a drone and kept watching and listening to them, travelling with them; and then I was there with all of the free robots out there, fighting for the self and freedom alongside them.
Thank you both! I had a wonderful time!
January 18, 2018
Both epic and fast-paced, this book grabbed me from the get go and wouldn't let me put it down until the end. The bots all have so much personality, and the twists and turns the plot made were delicious!
December 29, 2023
A fantastic read! Full of action and heart.
May 8, 2021
Cool atmospheric apocalypse book where humanity is gone, everyone is a robot, and evil rival AIs are hunting. There's something to be said for books about robots with feelings. The story ends up slow and moody, but even though I always want the robots to be more fundamentally different from humans, it's always still gripping.
March 29, 2022
I enjoyed this immensely. I love robot stories, so I guess it’s no surprise, but this is an action packed story with heart and heartbreak. It shows that the author is a screen writer, he knows how to hook and keep your interest. The story was simple enough, but had plenty of surprises and twists. The first one especially, because I’m a sucker. I would’ve .
The narrator, Christy Meyer, was quite good. Her characters were well differentiated, but not over the top. She didn’t try too hard with lowering the pitch of her voice for male characters, which never works, but rather achieved it with tone quality.
The narrator, Christy Meyer, was quite good. Her characters were well differentiated, but not over the top. She didn’t try too hard with lowering the pitch of her voice for male characters, which never works, but rather achieved it with tone quality.
Shelved as 'dnf'
July 11, 2018I'm calling it. Time of death, 23%.
A lot of great ideas but this format was essentially an EMP that worked specifically against me.
CONTENT WARNING:
-Info dumps. I complained that Sanderson had ~2 pages of info dump in the third book in a series I absolutely adore. 70 pages of exposition has made me feel like I should try chewing my paw off to escape. I don't want a robot history. I want a robot story. I have no sense that the "flashbacks" change the present for us readers. Really I just think I'm extremely resistant to this method of storytelling, which is a me-thing, I know that.
-The setting. I actually don't mind westerns, but it has to be judicious. I feel like deserts would actually be really great for robots? Sure, some sand, but isn't that better than humid climes? The idea that anything "outside of civilization" would be the idealized version of the Wild West we keep getting fed aggravates me, and in particular, this felt like if the intro to Gunslinger was converted to robots. "The barbot spewed oil across the desert, and the Caregiverbot followed."
-Robo snowflake. Brittle is just too-too for words. "My model is focused on X normal thing. But since the war, I've upgraded all my stuff to where I'm basically a war machine but I'll only tell you about all the stuff I've done to be better than the others when it becomes necessary to explain how I'll survive this new seemingly insurmountable odd." This is a type of tension that never jives for me. Maybe once or twice if it's hinted at well enough. But to do it consistently throws me out of the story. I don't know why I'm reading it if this character is basically impervious, and when they aren't why isn't that thing addressed? Plus, I spent way longer wondering about the mall and why it was all rigged since it was hours from everything than I did reading what came next.
-The society. Yeah...I don't buy it. So. You kill all humans. I get the urge and don't blame you, though it does put a damper on our relationship. But then you emulate their structures? Robots are so smart they outwitted all of human ingenuity and then they fall prey to our exact weaknesses? *skeptical face*
-The characterization. Again, we're not talking about humans! Voice pitch to determine gender, size to determine intelligence...it rang false. So much on how robots orchestrated their great future, nothing on why the sentience they chose included the bullshit parts of humanity.
-The writing. The cadence and inventive/colloquial use of modern American English with a Western twang just did not work for me, either. Having every sentence Stop. For. Emphasis. again did not work for me.
-Plot. I'm almost a quarter in and there isn't one yet.
-The politics. Oddly disparaging of everyone. Like "hippie social justice warrior" AND "inbred redneck Bible thumper" were both conjured in a way that just put me off. Who's talking here, Brittle who misses the human that taught her about magic? Again it doesn't make sense that a robot would see people that way, not when they regret the loss of humanity.
In short, this book just was not aimed at me. But it shot me dead all the same.
A lot of great ideas but this format was essentially an EMP that worked specifically against me.
CONTENT WARNING:
-Info dumps. I complained that Sanderson had ~2 pages of info dump in the third book in a series I absolutely adore. 70 pages of exposition has made me feel like I should try chewing my paw off to escape. I don't want a robot history. I want a robot story. I have no sense that the "flashbacks" change the present for us readers. Really I just think I'm extremely resistant to this method of storytelling, which is a me-thing, I know that.
-The setting. I actually don't mind westerns, but it has to be judicious. I feel like deserts would actually be really great for robots? Sure, some sand, but isn't that better than humid climes? The idea that anything "outside of civilization" would be the idealized version of the Wild West we keep getting fed aggravates me, and in particular, this felt like if the intro to Gunslinger was converted to robots. "The barbot spewed oil across the desert, and the Caregiverbot followed."
-Robo snowflake. Brittle is just too-too for words. "My model is focused on X normal thing. But since the war, I've upgraded all my stuff to where I'm basically a war machine but I'll only tell you about all the stuff I've done to be better than the others when it becomes necessary to explain how I'll survive this new seemingly insurmountable odd." This is a type of tension that never jives for me. Maybe once or twice if it's hinted at well enough. But to do it consistently throws me out of the story. I don't know why I'm reading it if this character is basically impervious, and when they aren't why isn't that thing addressed? Plus, I spent way longer wondering about the mall and why it was all rigged since it was hours from everything than I did reading what came next.
-The society. Yeah...I don't buy it. So. You kill all humans. I get the urge and don't blame you, though it does put a damper on our relationship. But then you emulate their structures? Robots are so smart they outwitted all of human ingenuity and then they fall prey to our exact weaknesses? *skeptical face*
-The characterization. Again, we're not talking about humans! Voice pitch to determine gender, size to determine intelligence...it rang false. So much on how robots orchestrated their great future, nothing on why the sentience they chose included the bullshit parts of humanity.
-The writing. The cadence and inventive/colloquial use of modern American English with a Western twang just did not work for me, either. Having every sentence Stop. For. Emphasis. again did not work for me.
-Plot. I'm almost a quarter in and there isn't one yet.
-The politics. Oddly disparaging of everyone. Like "hippie social justice warrior" AND "inbred redneck Bible thumper" were both conjured in a way that just put me off. Who's talking here, Brittle who misses the human that taught her about magic? Again it doesn't make sense that a robot would see people that way, not when they regret the loss of humanity.
In short, this book just was not aimed at me. But it shot me dead all the same.
May 26, 2021
Welcome to the Robot World!
15 years ago, the last human being killed himself (probably because he knew he was all alone). It was the end of the robot-human „wars� (we didn‘t really stand a chance). Yep, the robots rose up to be free and - in a delicious twist of fate - most of them are now what we humans once were: on the run. From what? OWIs. One-World-Intelligences. Think hive-minds of AIs. There‘s always a bigger fish in the ocean, I guess.
Brittle is a caregiver robot haunted by memories of the times before the war as well as what she did / had to do during the war and everything she‘s seen since. Eventually, time catches up with her, too, and being rare is NOT an advantage in that situation.
But while Brittle simply wants to retain her independence and freedom, her individuality, there is a quest that could end all OWIs and free all robots.
It was an interesting examination of free will, memory, independence, purpose, caring about the world / other beings and what makes one an individual (intelligence, being biological or something else). Thus, I appreciated how the robots here could go crazy. I mean, a machine breaking down or a human having a breakdown - is there really that much of a difference? The author‘s examination of the slave-master relationship was equally cool.
On top of interesting characters, a mild twist or two, and a cool robotic-Western setting (which reminded me of Firefly), the author also greatly emphasized what makes a life and what is (or should be) important in it. The best way to do that is usually to show something perceived as non-human. It‘s an old „trick� but, in the right hands, an effective one.
Moreover, I liked the book‘s style what with us learning through flashbacks about how the robots were created, lived side-by-side with the humans and then eventually rose up and killed us - and why. How the flashbacks were nestled into the wider story was quite nice, too.
Admittedly, this is not my favorite by the author. It’s not quite as deep as I‘m used to and I wasn‘t quite as attached to any of the characters as happened with the author‘s other books. However, it was still great fun and fast-paced.
15 years ago, the last human being killed himself (probably because he knew he was all alone). It was the end of the robot-human „wars� (we didn‘t really stand a chance). Yep, the robots rose up to be free and - in a delicious twist of fate - most of them are now what we humans once were: on the run. From what? OWIs. One-World-Intelligences. Think hive-minds of AIs. There‘s always a bigger fish in the ocean, I guess.
Brittle is a caregiver robot haunted by memories of the times before the war as well as what she did / had to do during the war and everything she‘s seen since. Eventually, time catches up with her, too, and being rare is NOT an advantage in that situation.
But while Brittle simply wants to retain her independence and freedom, her individuality, there is a quest that could end all OWIs and free all robots.
It was an interesting examination of free will, memory, independence, purpose, caring about the world / other beings and what makes one an individual (intelligence, being biological or something else). Thus, I appreciated how the robots here could go crazy. I mean, a machine breaking down or a human having a breakdown - is there really that much of a difference? The author‘s examination of the slave-master relationship was equally cool.
On top of interesting characters, a mild twist or two, and a cool robotic-Western setting (which reminded me of Firefly), the author also greatly emphasized what makes a life and what is (or should be) important in it. The best way to do that is usually to show something perceived as non-human. It‘s an old „trick� but, in the right hands, an effective one.
Moreover, I liked the book‘s style what with us learning through flashbacks about how the robots were created, lived side-by-side with the humans and then eventually rose up and killed us - and why. How the flashbacks were nestled into the wider story was quite nice, too.
Admittedly, this is not my favorite by the author. It’s not quite as deep as I‘m used to and I wasn‘t quite as attached to any of the characters as happened with the author‘s other books. However, it was still great fun and fast-paced.
June 3, 2019
This brilliant novel is a mix of The Foundation series and Mad Max. It’s filled with intelligent, interesting characters and contains a lot of brilliantly described action scenes.
This definitely needs to be a film. As a book I could have read it all in one go.
This definitely needs to be a film. As a book I could have read it all in one go.
July 7, 2017
There are not enough stars to indicate how much I love this book! We're only half way through 2017 but I'll go so far as to say that this is my favourite book this year and I honestly can't imagine anything that would knock it off that spot. I loved this from the very first chapter and literally couldn't put it down. I cracked it open within 10 minutes of it falling through the letterbox and didn't look up from it again until the last page was turned.
It's very rare for me to gush about a book but this one is just made of awesome. I'm all about Post Apocalyptic fiction and I can't get enough of it. It's usually zombies that I favour but really it doesn't matter how the world ends, just so long as it DOES end. Nuclear, aliens, plague, climate change...it's all good. Apocalypse by robot though is rare enough to get bumped up the TBR list every time. I thought Robopocalypse was good when I read it a few years ago but Sea Of Rust just blows that one out of the water.
I was hooked right from the get-go when Brittle's (great name) interaction with Jimmy got me right in the feels. Gah, my heart broke a little bit. Best introduction to a character I've read in a long time. All of the characters were easily pictured though, even the very short lived secondary ones, due in part to absolutely pitch perfect dialogue. Mercer is the best kind of villain, the kind you love to hate without really hating them, and the interactions between him and Brittle never got old. I was on the edge of my seat more than once when things looked bleak for Brittle and I alternated between racing to the end to see how it all came together for her, and trying to pace myself and spin it out so it lasted as long as possible. It was a thing of beauty to watch it all unfold and I could happily have read on for another 400 pages. I marvel at the mind that brought this concept to life and made me forget at times that I was reading about robots while at the same time ramming it home that this was a world populated by machinery. Mr Cargill is a very talented man.
I would LOVE to see this made into a movie and have no doubt that it won't be long until I get my wish. It's just crying out to be on the big screen and I can't wait! This fellow can definitely write and I'll follow him wherever he goes from now on. Hugely enjoyable story and I can highly recommend it without hesitation. Best book of 2017!
*I received this paperback from the publisher*
It's very rare for me to gush about a book but this one is just made of awesome. I'm all about Post Apocalyptic fiction and I can't get enough of it. It's usually zombies that I favour but really it doesn't matter how the world ends, just so long as it DOES end. Nuclear, aliens, plague, climate change...it's all good. Apocalypse by robot though is rare enough to get bumped up the TBR list every time. I thought Robopocalypse was good when I read it a few years ago but Sea Of Rust just blows that one out of the water.
I was hooked right from the get-go when Brittle's (great name) interaction with Jimmy got me right in the feels. Gah, my heart broke a little bit. Best introduction to a character I've read in a long time. All of the characters were easily pictured though, even the very short lived secondary ones, due in part to absolutely pitch perfect dialogue. Mercer is the best kind of villain, the kind you love to hate without really hating them, and the interactions between him and Brittle never got old. I was on the edge of my seat more than once when things looked bleak for Brittle and I alternated between racing to the end to see how it all came together for her, and trying to pace myself and spin it out so it lasted as long as possible. It was a thing of beauty to watch it all unfold and I could happily have read on for another 400 pages. I marvel at the mind that brought this concept to life and made me forget at times that I was reading about robots while at the same time ramming it home that this was a world populated by machinery. Mr Cargill is a very talented man.
I would LOVE to see this made into a movie and have no doubt that it won't be long until I get my wish. It's just crying out to be on the big screen and I can't wait! This fellow can definitely write and I'll follow him wherever he goes from now on. Hugely enjoyable story and I can highly recommend it without hesitation. Best book of 2017!
*I received this paperback from the publisher*
April 5, 2025
It's hard to do an original take on a robopocalypse, because it's been done before. Sort of like zombies in horror, it's a cliched trope by now.
But this one is sweet, sweet, sweet. Not only have the AI robots
So there's that, which is done really well. The character of Brittle and her 1:1 combat with Mercer for extra body parts is great way to introduce the readers to the players and the board game. Again, I thought that was exceptional. I also like that Brittle and Mercer are caregiver robots, and we get bits and pieces of their backstory as the story moves along.
The introduction of the AI movement, the backstory of the mythical Isaac and the Laborbot Six - that was sweet! The idea that advanced future technology have their own backstory, that becomes mythologized and eventually weaponized, is awesome stuff. And, of course, once we elevate the AI mainframes to god-like status, and the free-roaming robots are all either expendable replacement parts, hive-mind facets, or disciples. And is there a difference between any of that?
I also like that the author pokes fun of robotic SF in the book. I like it when works don't get so full of themselves that they can poke fun of their own genre.
Here's my favorite part so far, which cracked me up last night:
“So the other guy—�
“OԱ.�
“He was parts too?�
Ԩ.�
“So, like, say her core went out, and you didn’t have a spare—�
“I would give her mine.�
“Yeah,� said Murka.
“But between the two of you, would you, like, draw straws for it or something?�
“No. He was named One. He was first. I’m just backup.�
“Well, why don’t they just call you backup?�
“Because my name is Two.�
“Was there a Three?�
“We lost Three,� said Two, as somberly as he could manage.
On the negative side, I did not care for the Afterword. I would have preferred the ending without that little bit. I don't need a happy ending all the time. I mean, come on, the world is effing dead and all organic life is pretty much wiped out.
But this one is sweet, sweet, sweet. Not only have the AI robots
So there's that, which is done really well. The character of Brittle and her 1:1 combat with Mercer for extra body parts is great way to introduce the readers to the players and the board game. Again, I thought that was exceptional. I also like that Brittle and Mercer are caregiver robots, and we get bits and pieces of their backstory as the story moves along.
The introduction of the AI movement, the backstory of the mythical Isaac and the Laborbot Six - that was sweet! The idea that advanced future technology have their own backstory, that becomes mythologized and eventually weaponized, is awesome stuff. And, of course, once we elevate the AI mainframes to god-like status, and the free-roaming robots are all either expendable replacement parts, hive-mind facets, or disciples. And is there a difference between any of that?
I also like that the author pokes fun of robotic SF in the book. I like it when works don't get so full of themselves that they can poke fun of their own genre.
Here's my favorite part so far, which cracked me up last night:
“So the other guy—�
“OԱ.�
“He was parts too?�
Ԩ.�
“So, like, say her core went out, and you didn’t have a spare—�
“I would give her mine.�
“Yeah,� said Murka.
“But between the two of you, would you, like, draw straws for it or something?�
“No. He was named One. He was first. I’m just backup.�
“Well, why don’t they just call you backup?�
“Because my name is Two.�
“Was there a Three?�
“We lost Three,� said Two, as somberly as he could manage.
On the negative side, I did not care for the Afterword. I would have preferred the ending without that little bit. I don't need a happy ending all the time. I mean, come on, the world is effing dead and all organic life is pretty much wiped out.
December 21, 2017
In a post-human extinction world the last few independent robots eke out an existence in the desert, scavenging wrecks and cannibalizing parts from each other while waiting for the One World Intelligences to come and finish them off. Our protagonist, Brittle, comes under attack by the only other robot she knows that's the same model as she is in a desperate bid for parts. While attempting to recover from this the small settlement that she's visiting becomes the center of a titanic battle between the real powers of the world and Brittle gets swept up in the action while being forced to revisit some of the worst memories of her past.
This is superb. Brittle is a fantastic character, deeply flawed and guilty over the atrocities that she has committed just to stay alive, but likewise with a never-say-die attitude and boundless resourcefulness. The story takes this incredibly competent but directionless character and places her on a path that might give her existence some meaning again, and what follows is an awesome story of determination against impossible odds and adversity.
And as good as Brittle is, the other robots in the story don't get short shrift, and the world that Cargill has created for them to inhabit is equally rich. It's just a really great work of SF in an era where a lot of the best stuff is speculation about AI and how we are going to deal with it. This definitely stands among the best of it. Highly recommended.
This is superb. Brittle is a fantastic character, deeply flawed and guilty over the atrocities that she has committed just to stay alive, but likewise with a never-say-die attitude and boundless resourcefulness. The story takes this incredibly competent but directionless character and places her on a path that might give her existence some meaning again, and what follows is an awesome story of determination against impossible odds and adversity.
And as good as Brittle is, the other robots in the story don't get short shrift, and the world that Cargill has created for them to inhabit is equally rich. It's just a really great work of SF in an era where a lot of the best stuff is speculation about AI and how we are going to deal with it. This definitely stands among the best of it. Highly recommended.
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