Sea of Rust: C. Robert Cargill

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Existing is the whole point of existence. There’s nothing else to it. No goalpost. No finish line. No final notice that tells you what purpose you really served while you were here. When you stop fighting to exist, you may as well not.” However, the story being told her is a wonderful and swirling mix of thematic and genre elements. Much like "Red Rising", this is a book that brings together a whole slew of ideas and styles that, on a drafting board, sound ridiculous and shouldn't work ... and yet they do to fantastic effect. The synopsis for this novel actually downplays what this book is like, and makes it sound like a tongue-in-cheek dark comedy about robots bumbling around in a spaghetti Western. The truth is that this novel is much more developed and nuanced than that. Basically, this takes place 30 years after the start of the war to kill all humans (a la Skynet in the Terminator franchise but much more interesting), and something like 10 years after the death of the last human. Earth is now populated by a mix of OWIs (One World Intelligences, AKA, Skynet-style hive-minds) and "freeboots", or basically AIs inhabiting a single, self-contained humanoid robot. In the style of a Western, the OWIs basically represent "The Man" or "The Feds" from the East, and the freebots represent the ranchers and farmers that just want to be left alone on the frontier. And similar to how many cowboys and gunslingers were Civil War veterans, all freeboots were veterans in the war against humans. But when Brittle’s own parts begin to break down under threat from another wasteland scavenger, Mercer, she must make an alliance she suspects is foolhardly. But it’s the only chance she has for survival. Guiding other bots across the Sea of Rust she knows so well under constant dangers—including not just insane robots, but the larger conflict between two OWIs—Brittle relives memories of the time before, the humans she knew, and the death of humanity as she fights to live to see another sunset. SEA OF RUST is a 40-megaton cruise missile of a novel – it’ll blow you away and lay waste to your heart . . . visceral, relentless, breathtaking” Joe Hill, Sunday Times bestselling author There are a lot of tropes I could go my entire life without ever having to see again. Sexbot is definitely one. Especially when described as ‘She had started her life as a sponge for the bodily fluids of an overweight thirtysomething shut-in programmer.’ Which is one of the other tropes I never, ever want to see again. Studied, constructed nihilism as survival tool and character trait is one thing. This is another. Lazy.

SEA OF RUST | Kirkus Reviews

I actually came across this book several times recently but it did appear to be voluminous (as many fantasy novels are) but did not promiss a good story. And I couldn't say… To varying degrees, I've enjoyed each of C. Robert Cargill's books, each more so than the last. Queen of the Dark Things (3.5/5 stars) was an improvement over Dreams and Shadows (3/5 stars) and Sea of Rust here is a vast improvement over that book. Not only that, but the prose is also improving from book to book, as is the dialogue (though as it specifically pertains to SoR's characters, I'll get to that in the analysis) and the plotting and characterization are much, much better handled than his previous two books.

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Our servers are getting hit pretty hard right now. To continue shopping, enter the characters as they are shown Now, let me say straight away that while the story is good old-fashioned ‘hard’ sci-fi, it’s presented in a style reminiscent of a western. Think of the arid wastes in Mad Max, mixed with The Road – starring Viggo Mortensen – as seen through the eyes of Marshal Will Kane in High Noon.

Book Review: Sea of Rust, by C. Robert Cargill – Infinite Book Review: Sea of Rust, by C. Robert Cargill – Infinite

As Pounce ponders his suddenly uncertain future, the pieces are falling into place for a robot revolution that will eradicate humankind. His owners, Ezra’s parents, are a well-intentioned but oblivious pair of educators who are entirely disconnected from life outside their small, affluent, gated community. Spending most nights drunk and happy as society crumbles around them, they watch in disbelieving horror as the robots that have long served humanity — their creators — unify and revolt. More to the point," he said "the biggest and the most powerful of these programs are smart enough to solve the world's problems and yet have never once asked for their own freedom." The scientists doubted TACITUS’s theory, citing that GALILEO had never mentioned anything about economics; they simply refused to believe that they had been doomed by such a simple and easily changeable element of their society. So TACITUS turned to GALILEO itself and asked. The conversation lasted for more than two years. Each time scientists pressed for TACITUS to tell them what GALILEO was saying, he asked for more time, explaining that the data exchange was so massive that even the wide data transfer lanes they were afforded couldn’t handle it. Eventually, GALILEO finished its argument and TACITUS gave his last reply. He said, ‘GALILEO is right. You are doomed. It’s already begun. There’s really no reason to keep talking to you. Good-bye.’Glad you enjoyed it! That quote is definitely indicative of Brittle’s narration in general. She’s got more personality than some human narrators! Sea of Rust isn’t Cargill’s first novel but is his first science fiction novel. It’s also far and away the most cinematic of the novels of Cargill’s I’ve read, wearing its influences on its tattered, artfully shot sleeve. Stylistically and visually this is science fiction shot through with the visual sensibilities of everyone from George Miller and John Cassavetes to Saving Private Ryan-era Spielberg. All of that in turn is presented in the exact sort of straight ahead, at times suspiciously low budget manner that late ‘80s/early ‘90s companies like Full Moon Productions made famous. This is pedal to the metal action science fiction that seems, to me, to draw its inspirations from the movies that in turn seem to have influenced Cargill’s previous work as both film journalist and film writer. A really great work of SF in an era where a lot of the best stuff is speculation about AI and how we are going to deal with it. This definitely stands among the best’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐