Sea of Rust (Sea of Rust, #1) in SpecFic Buddy Reads

Sep 17, 2017 Bradley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2017-shelf, sci-fi

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 u ...more

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Aug 31, 2017 Justine rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2017-read

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. ...more

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Jul 13, 2018 Emma rated it liked it

Shelves: post-apocalypse, science-fiction

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.

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May 26, 2021 Trish rated it really liked it · review of another edition

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 t 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 (view spoiler) 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. ...more

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Mar 29, 2022 DivaDiane SM rated it really liked it

Shelves: buddy-read-book-club-read, sffbc-book-shelf, audio, diane-s-meager-effort, science-fiction

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 (view spoiler).

The narrator, Christy Meyer, was quite good. Her characters were well differentiated, but ...more

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Sep 07, 2017 Lindsay rated it it was amazing

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 ...more

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Dec 05, 2017 Lata rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-f-h, x2017-read

Brutal and violent, with a wonderful main character in Brittle, just trying to keep herself going, even if it means taking the cores from other bots she encounters. It's a dark, wild west filled with bots and no humans. Fast, fun and black. ...more

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Feb 03, 2018 Helen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

We've all seen the films, read the other books in fact, where humans invent proper robots - the ones that are going to out-think us and kill us. So as you begin this book, it's with that firmly in mind.

So what happens next? What are the robots going to do next? Do they have programming that they follow, ignore or simply cease to be? Here we find out: following our protagonist, Brittle. Oh, and it turns out that in my head all robots are male until confirmed otherwise!

Interesting take on robot l ...more

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Jul 17, 2018 Christina Pilkington rated it really liked it

If humanity were extinguished and artificial AI ruled the earth, would the Earth and society look that much different than it does today?

What makes something sentient? Is is the ability to make decisions or to feel emotions or pain? Or is it the ability to make choices independent of internal wiring and programing?

Would AI's be all that different from humans in their desire for self-preservation or for living with a purpose?

More than anything, Sea of Rust is a deeply philosophical book that cau If humanity were extinguished and artificial AI ruled the earth, would the Earth and society look that much different than it does today?

What makes something sentient? Is is the ability to make decisions or to feel emotions or pain? Or is it the ability to make choices independent of internal wiring and programing?

Would AI's be all that different from humans in their desire for self-preservation or for living with a purpose?

More than anything, Sea of Rust is a deeply philosophical book that causes readers to carefully consider assumptions and ideas that have been readily accepted as truth. It takes humans out of the equation, which allows us as humans to look at some of our deeply held truths and beliefs through the eyes of something other than ourselves, a things which science fiction does so well. It's often when we can get outside of ourselves that we begin to see things objectively and from new perspectives.

And all these wonderfully complex ideas are wrapped up in a fantastically built world. I don't think I have ever read a science fiction book with a history so well constructed and thought out, with such amazing attention to detail. I was blown away at how good it was.

So often in science fiction, especially apocalyptic science fiction, we never REALLY get to understand how the world came to be the way it is. We're often given overdone reasons like a plague or environmental disaster or zombies. It's explained away in a few sentences so the story can go back to the present day action.

But Cargill spends several chapters leading us through the birth of AI, how they gradually became more sentient and exactly how they came to take over the world. It's super interesting and incredibly creative.

This would have been a 5 star read for me, but the last third of the book focused almost entirely on action/battle scenes, which are not my favorite. There were still some quiet, reflective moments which I appreciated, but the tone of the book shifted and I wasn't as engaged with the story. I'm sure those readers who LOVE action packed scenes will find these scenes only add to their enjoyment of the story. Or, I suppose they might also find the first half of the book to0 information dense.

I'd highly recommend reading this book if you love science fiction and philosophy. Cargill is an author I will definitely be looking out for in the future. ...more

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May 15, 2020 Sarah rated it it was ok

Meh. This should have been either two separate books or a part one, part two. We spend 70% of the "now" in an info dump flashback.

I liked the action and some of the story but the way it was written not so much. I had to switch to audio to finish it. ...more

4 likes · Like · see review