Sea of Rust

A Novel

By: C. Robert Cargill

Narrated by: Eva Kaminsky

Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

A scavenger robot wanders in the wasteland created by a war that has destroyed humanity in this evocative postapocalyptic "robot Western" from the critically acclaimed author, screenwriter, and noted film critic.

It's been 30 years since the apocalypse and 15 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 personalities - 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.

©2017 C. Robert Cargill (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

Issac Asimov would love this book

If you like, I Robot, then you will also enjoy this book. Lots of soul searching, the meaning of life, and other universe spanning conundrums throughout, but with plenty of action and suspense to keep you reading.

Creative but profane

Intriguing story and well written. Interestingly insight into the possible dangers of developing A.I. However, way too much profanity. There are few things more disappointing than a woman with a drunken sailor’s mouth.

Fantastic

The writer has an amazing way of making you care about the characters and then having then get blown into pieces. #robots #Tagsgiving #Sweepstakes

A gem

The surprise of finding a real gem like this, totally unexpected, caused me to reconsider the 5 stars I’ve given more famous sci-fi books. There were a couple small confusing parts to me but the writing is so good, it’s more likely to be a result of my hard hearing and not the writer. The story is as if a resurrected Louis L’Amour took up sci-fi at the top of his game. Since the most dedicated sci-fi fans might not get the reference, it’s good enough that even classics like Firefly and Star Trek could have benefitted from a writer like Cargill. And the voice artist is now one of favorites that I’ll be prioritizing my wishlist by.

Good story! Will definitely entertain.

The story was interesting, really fun concept (no spoilers), but I thought the performance was...I don’t know. Narrator is good, professional, but there was something that annoyed me. That’s just my take. It didn’t keep me from enjoying the audiobook, so four stars all the way around. 👍🏼

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Really great book with big concepts and ideas. It's a good r read for any scifi fan.

Good start.

good start to what feels like a series, i would of liked more of a robotics feel to the character she felt more human than machine, i get that is what the story is about but needed to feel she was a robot not just another female protagonist.

Very well done... and not predictable

This the first book I have read from this author and while I am not normally a robot-book reader, I took a chance on this book and WOW! Really well done. Like most good books, this a character driven book, not hard sci-fi. The world was well developed as well. I will probably pick up the other book written in this world.

Wanted more

Story is wonderful. performer is perfect for this story .Many authors out do their selves and Robert Cargill is one of those people. Outstanding!!!

it's Ok!

I really wanted to love this book but honestly lost interest very quickly and mostly had it played in the back.