Sea of Rust
2017 • 384 pages

Ratings17

Average rating4

15

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.

Become a Librarian

Series

Featured Series

1 primary book2 released books

Sea of Rust

Sea of Rust is a 2-book series with 1 primary work first released in 2017 with contributions by C. Robert Cargill.

Day Zero
Sea of Rust

Reviews

Popular Reviews

Reviews with the most likes.

April 7, 2020

Mechanized vulture
picking metallic bones clean
living just because.

July 3, 2018

A must read for everyone

A very well written, engaging, and interesting story about a post human robot apocalypse. I wasn't excited about the premise before reading, but a few chapters in had me hooked.

September 23, 2018

Top Lists

See all (16)

List

838 books

Signed

Macbeth
Red Country
Wool
Dust
Shift
One Word Kill
Limited Wish

List

340 books

Small Press

Wool
Dust
Shift
Lies of the Beholder
Sharp Ends
The Light Fantastic
Provenance

List

631 books

Numbered

Wool
Dust
Shift
One Word Kill
Limited Wish
Dispel Illusion
Lies of the Beholder