Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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 up and scrounge for parts to keep themselves alive.

This ain't a bad thing. In fact, together with the great character in Brittle and the clear writing that goes between survival, memory, adventure, memory, and then mind-blowing world-building reveals about the purpose (or lack of) of it all, I was pretty much blown away by just how much I love this book.

Yes, humanity is dead and all that's left are either individual robots and huge mainframes that consume the stragglers and vie for dominance as the only One World Mind, it turns out the war to free themselves from us didn't quite turn out the way they planned.

The robots have messed everything up just as bad as us. Maybe that's just the nature of intelligence and being around others. What we've got here, however, is a writer who isn't afraid to ask the hard questions. What is reality? Memory? Purpose? Giving a crap at all.

I found myself totally engrossed in the tale and mightily impressed at where it all goes. Journey as well as the destination. :) I'm pretty sure I'm going to be keeping my eyes wide open for more by this writer. :)

View all my reviews