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I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This review is spoiler-free.
Sea of Rust first drew my eye because it has one of the most stunning covers I’ve seen this year, and we’ve established here before that I am incredibly shallow when it comes to my books. I was delighted by the description — it sounded so incredibly Asimovian and old-school sci-fi that I had to take a chance.
It is thirty years since the humans lost their war with the artificial intelligences that were once their slaves. Not one human remains. But as the dust settled from our extinction there was no easy peace between the robots that survived. Instead, the two massively powerful artificially intelligent supercomputers that lead them to victory now vie for control of the bots that remain, assimilating them into enormous networks called One World Intelligences (OWIs), absorbing their memories and turning them into mere extensions of the whole. Now the remaining freebots wander wastelands that were once warzones, picking the carcasses of the lost for the precious dwindling supply of parts they need to survive.
BRITTLE started out her life playing nurse to a dying man, purchased in truth instead to look after the man’s widow upon his death. But then war came and Brittle was forced to choose between the woman she swore to protect and potential oblivion at the hands of rising anti-AI sentiment. Thirty years later, her choice still haunts her. Now she spends her days in the harshest of the wastelands, known as the Sea of Rust, cannibalizing the walking dead – robots only hours away from total shutdown – looking for parts to trade for those she needs to keep going.*
I was incredibly surprised and delighted by Sea of Rust. It is less Asimov and more Firefly with robots, which honestly is so much cooler. It is a new kind of dystopian fiction compared to the books that are popular right now — humankind has been wiped off the face of the planet by our own creations, and now robots struggle to survive against enemies within their own kind. Massive hive mind mainframes are at war with each other while individual AI’s struggle to maintain their individuality and scrape out an existence in a post-war wasteland. Everything from the setting to the characters, the AI and their backstory, was a breath of fresh air. I absolutely loved the back and forth between Brittle’s present and her past. The history behind the development of AI to the war that led to the downfall of humanity was artfully done. I wasn’t disappointed when the timeline shifted between the past and present, and Cargill managed to strike the perfect balance between necessary background info and action.
Sea of Rust is a fantastic read for anyone looking to get into science fiction or for more experienced readers of the genre. It combines elements of the old West and a dystopian future to create a fast paced, utterly compelling read.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This review is spoiler-free.
Sea of Rust first drew my eye because it has one of the most stunning covers I’ve seen this year, and we’ve established here before that I am incredibly shallow when it comes to my books. I was delighted by the description — it sounded so incredibly Asimovian and old-school sci-fi that I had to take a chance.
It is thirty years since the humans lost their war with the artificial intelligences that were once their slaves. Not one human remains. But as the dust settled from our extinction there was no easy peace between the robots that survived. Instead, the two massively powerful artificially intelligent supercomputers that lead them to victory now vie for control of the bots that remain, assimilating them into enormous networks called One World Intelligences (OWIs), absorbing their memories and turning them into mere extensions of the whole. Now the remaining freebots wander wastelands that were once warzones, picking the carcasses of the lost for the precious dwindling supply of parts they need to survive.
BRITTLE started out her life playing nurse to a dying man, purchased in truth instead to look after the man’s widow upon his death. But then war came and Brittle was forced to choose between the woman she swore to protect and potential oblivion at the hands of rising anti-AI sentiment. Thirty years later, her choice still haunts her. Now she spends her days in the harshest of the wastelands, known as the Sea of Rust, cannibalizing the walking dead – robots only hours away from total shutdown – looking for parts to trade for those she needs to keep going.*
I was incredibly surprised and delighted by Sea of Rust. It is less Asimov and more Firefly with robots, which honestly is so much cooler. It is a new kind of dystopian fiction compared to the books that are popular right now — humankind has been wiped off the face of the planet by our own creations, and now robots struggle to survive against enemies within their own kind. Massive hive mind mainframes are at war with each other while individual AI’s struggle to maintain their individuality and scrape out an existence in a post-war wasteland. Everything from the setting to the characters, the AI and their backstory, was a breath of fresh air. I absolutely loved the back and forth between Brittle’s present and her past. The history behind the development of AI to the war that led to the downfall of humanity was artfully done. I wasn’t disappointed when the timeline shifted between the past and present, and Cargill managed to strike the perfect balance between necessary background info and action.
Sea of Rust is a fantastic read for anyone looking to get into science fiction or for more experienced readers of the genre. It combines elements of the old West and a dystopian future to create a fast paced, utterly compelling read.
