Sea of Rust: A Novel

by C. Robert Cargill Narrated by Eva Kaminsky

Overview

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.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

★ 09/04/2017
In Cargill’s effective postapocalyptic thriller, robots inherited the Earth after slaughtering their human progenitors; decades later, they in turn are imperiled, as the massive AIs that control the world seek to stamp out and assimilate the last of the individual units. One holdout is Brittle, a skilled scavenger who makes her living by selling parts of robots reaching the end of their operational lifespan. Damaged and dying, hunted by the implacable forces of an all-knowing enemy, and haunted by the memories of what she did during the war against humans, she joins a desperate band of refugees who set off through danger-filled badlands in search of a better future, a quest that forces her to confront her own mortality, guilt, and drive to survive. Cargill (Queen of the Dark Things) effectively takes a grim look at a war-torn future where our nonhuman successors face complex moral dilemmas, exploring what it means to be alive and aware through the trials and tribulations of Brittle and her allies. This action-packed adventure raises thought-provoking and philosophical questions. Agent: Peter McGuigan, Foundry Literary + Media. (Sept.)

Seattle Book Review

Sea of Rust is compellingly original and executed with irresistible storytelling. Its straightforward plot will appeal to sci-fi novices and experts alike. Brimming with exciting action, unexpected twists, and honest feeling, C. Robert Cargill’s novel is a must-read.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Joe Hill

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.

Kirkus Reviews

2017-08-08
Cargill (Queen of the Dark Things, 2014, etc.) takes readers to Earth's post-human future in which robots struggle to survive and remain free of their own robot overlords. The last human died 15 years ago at the end of the human-robot war that arose from a robot uprising. The robots fought for their freedom, but it was short-lived: now the world is dominated by One World Intelligences, massively powerful AIs bent on absorbing individual robots into their ever growing hive mind. North America is the battleground for two OWIs, VIRGIL and CISSUS, with unclaimed territories shrinking every year before the OWIs' expansion. As the OWIs have seized the means of production, the robots who remain must trade, fight, and scavenge for parts to keep surviving. One such scavenger is Brittle, a former Caregiver robot haunted by memories of the war and the fates of the humans she once served, first as a nurse and then as a friend. All Brittle wants is to retain her independence and keep ticking, but some of her vital parts are failing, and Caregiver robots are rare—rare enough that the only other one around, Mercer, wants Brittle's parts, too. An attack by Mercer locks both robots into a race for time, and an attack by CISSUS drags Brittle, Mercer, and other bots into a tense secret mission that may end the OWIs' hungry rule—if our heroes can survive explosions, plasma cannons, four-oh-fours (robots who have gone entirely insane), betrayal, and their own deterioration.Innovative worldbuilding, a tight plot, and cinematic action sequences make for an exciting ride through a blasted landscape full of dying robots.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170239498
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/05/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	633,749

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