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 … 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.
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Really well written. This writer has a vast “tech” knowledge and packs this book full of details that somehow make sense to those of us that aren’t so familiar with advanced technology. I didn’t get lost in it at all. And on top of it all, the storyline was incredible. Great read!
Sea of Rust is a forty-megaton cruise missile of a novel-it’ll blow you away and lay waste to your heart. It is the most visceral, relentless, breathtaking work of SF in any medium since Mad Max: Fury Road.
Well written, unique setting and good plot.
Boring with lazy cliche-filled writing.
Truly, this is a highly intelligent SF book. It even includes a definition of sentience that was stunningly simple and true. (No spoilers) AI is probably the most existential threat to humanity.
Set in a post-apocalyptic future where humanity has been hunted down to the last human by robots, Sea of Rust takes us on a thought-provoking journey of trust, camaraderie, survival, and heroism…but with robots.
The story is told through the perspective of Brittle, a caregiver model turned scavenger, as she struggles to find the pieces that would keep her body ticking. The problem is her model is rare to find, and another caregiver is also in desperate need of her pieces as she is of his. But not everything is as it seems in this robot dominated Earth, and both are thrown into a journey to save their fellow AI from being consumed by super computers.
I found this book to be different from anything else I’ve read. These are the robots that exterminated humanity, yet Cargill does a great job on writing them sympathetic. This achieved by a first person point of view in Brittle’s perspective. She’s nuanced and has that spark of personality some authors fail to give their human characters. The others robots are pretty unique too, and the way their relationship develops as they take on their journey is pure gold. You will get attached to them. Despite them being robots that exterminated humans, you can’t help but root for them, and this is a testimony of how good Cargill’s writing and storytelling skills are.
Worldbuilding was excellent. Brittle’s narration of her current story is alternated with a narration of how human extinction came to be what it meant for the robots and what it meant to Brittle. Things are not as they seem. Expect some shocking plot twists along the way.
This is an action packed novel. There’s not a second of it to get bored. However, the action dragged too long for me. I love action in my reads, but the way every movement was described to every detail dragged a fight that probably lasted a minute for 2 pages. There’s an initial chase scene that went on for pages and pages and almost threw me off the book. However, this is just a personal gripe of mine. Other readers might enjoy this style. I’m glad I stuck to the end because this is a great book.
Sea of Rust is skillfully written and a must read for Science Fiction lovers. If you read The Murderbot Diaries and enjoy enjoyed it, definitely Sea of Rust must be your next read.
Great
This was a decent post-apocalypse shoot-em-up, robot vs robot. I enjoyed it.
For a book that’s characters are all robots this has more humanity In it than most books.
Really, one of the best SCIFI books I have read in years.
Intelligent robots struggling to stay “alive” by scrounging — cannibalizing — their fallen comrades. Mysterious leaders out in the wastelands. It’s been done before, but this was still a very entertaining read.
A great read, but even more, makes one think about the current state of the world, and the future of humanity. Reads like a standalone story, but leaves open the possibility of a series. Fingers crossed!
Great book! Written from the point of view of a robot after humans have been hunted to extinction, robots now fear their own future is in danger.
Incredibly good book. I couldn’t put it down.
I loved Sea of Rust, and still, after 4 months, I find myself thinking of what an Earth future would be like if all that remained were the articial intelligence beings that humans developed. It was a very thought-provoking story. It had me rooting for Brittle, the main female character and hers and others daily struggles to stay “alive” and functioning in the area known as Sea of Rust. Almost constant action, which I enjoyed, surprisingly.
An interesting series. Kept me interested and wanting more.
It takes some real writing talent to get the reader to relate to the protagonist, when the protagonist is a robot. Excellent action scenes. A very realistic post-apocalyptic scenario.
Honestly, I bought this book on a whim (like I do most books) and had never heard of the author. I am very impressed with the quality writing and how well the characters were developed. Not only that, the plot was brilliant and original.
Boring
It took a few chapters, but I began to care about these intelligent persons. I liked this story more than I thought I would. After they brought about the extinction of humans, the AI’s behaved remarkably like humans. Interesting, how AI perpetuated both the most noble and the most depressing attributes of their predecessors. If they do take over, I wonder if they can read this book and be able to avoid making mistakes that put their existence in jeopardy. This is a very thought provoking book. I hope a lot of people read it. I hope a lot of scientists read it.